“I know.” I squeezed his hands and released them, smiling when his head jerked up in an attempt to read my response. “We’ve all seen it happening. All I’m gonna say about that is remember who her daddy is and be smart.”
“It’s not—”
“It will be. But for now, just be the friend you have been.”
“I can’t promise not to kill the fucker when we have his name, Ayda. I’m a fucking Hound. We take care of what’s ours.”
“We’ll climb that hill when we come to it. For now, we have to make that girl feel loved and safe again. Her whole world has been shaken.”
Kenny nodded, but his knuckles cracked as he flexed his fists in agitation. I hadn’t appeased him, but then I hadn’t expected to. All I needed from him was to keep his head on his shoulders until we knew more. I needed him to support SloaneandSutton, and the only way I could get that assurance from him was to give him one of my own.
“Please, hold onto your head. I promise you that as soon as we know something, you will know, too. You will be in the loop. You just can’t go off half-cocked without any real information. You know Drew won’t let this go. None of us will.”
Kenny nodded tightly, but his shoulders fell in defeat. “I promise. We keep this in the pack.”
I nodded in agreement and picked up the other glass. I wasn’t sure if I should be leaving him alone, but when I saw Deeks stroll out from the back of the bar, I left Kenny and approached Deeks with another sad smile that hopefully relayed how happy I was to see him.
“You have amazing timing.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not,” Deeks replied with his own sad smile.
“Kenny’s not taking this well.”
“And you want me to babysit?”
“Nothing that insulting,” I replied quietly. “Just keep him company. I don’t want him heading to the school and tearing the damn place apart looking for something he won’t ever find. We have to trust Sloane to give us the details, Deeks.”
He sucked in a deep breath and looked over at Kenny who was pouring himself another drink.
“It’s the top shelf stuff. I’m sure I can force myself to drink with the kid.”
Kissing him on the cheek earned me a huff of indignation before Deeks headed toward the bar and the despondent Kenny, leaving me feeling less guilty about my own exit.
I slipped back into my room and pushed the door closed behind me, already feeling exhausted. Autumn was still on the bed, her back against the headrest, but Sloane was nowsat cross-legged facing her. I could tell that her hands were wringing in her lap and her back straightened as she heard me approach.
“It’s just Ayda, darlin’.”
Sloane relaxed and glanced over her shoulder at me. Her eyes were so red and swollen they looked like someone had punched her. It was only the lack of bruising that gave me any reassurance that the swelling was the effects of her tears. I joined the two already on the bed and handed Sloane the glass at Autumn’s nod, watching as Sloane drank the scotch down in one gulp, spluttering as the fire probably scarred and burned its way to her gut.
“What the hell was that?” She hacked, the back of her hand pressing to her mouth, only to wince when she disturbed a tiny cut on her bottom lip.
“Something to take the edge off,” Autumn answered, crossing her ankles. “Sometimes a little liquid courage is needed to get things done.”
Sloane laughed maniacally, her hand moving to her throat and squeezing as though the pain would make everything better. The sound was disturbing but better than the sobbing that had been shaking her since Drew found her on the side of the road going who the fuck knew where. I looked to Autumn, but her eyes were on Sloane, watching the emotions roll around her like she was the eye of a hurricane. Nothing stuck, just more emotions and reactions all piling and spinning with more force until I felt my own anxiety rising to meet hers.
“Sloane,” Autumn said in that serene way of hers. Sloane rocked like someone had slammed on the brakes too hard, her wild eyes meeting the older woman’s. “Breathe, baby.”
“I… I can’t.”
“Yes, sweetheart, you can. Same as always. Breathe in and let it go.”
“I just—”
“No talking yet. Just you find your breath. The rest we can deal with later.”
The breaths started roughly at first, the oxygen inhaled with rattles as it filled her anxiety-narrowed lungs. The release wasn’t much better, but they improved the more she forced herself to concentrate on the vital task. As the seconds ticked by, the wild panic in her eyes started to regress, and sadness and guilt replaced it. My heart burned for this young girl. Everything she’d known and been sure of had just been replaced with a harsh reality and uncertainty of the world that now surrounded her. It didn’t matter that she’d been sexually active for a while with my younger brother. Her innocence had still been taken away. Gone was the reassurance that she was safe in the places most familiar to her. Her world had crumbled down around her, narrowed in one violent interaction.
I wanted to castrate the fucker who had done this to her.
