I let him hold me the rest of the ride. I don’t say a word because I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how he’s here. I don’t know how he got away from the assholes that took us to begin with. I have so many questions, but none of them matter right now. All that matters is that I’m here, breathing and safe in his arms.
“You’re okay,” he whispers as tears fall down my cheeks, wetting his shirt. I hold on for dear life. I don’t think I can let him go after this. I don’t want to.
“You’re gonna be okay,” he says once more. And I believe him. I’m going to be okay now.
Chapter 19
Tide
The thought of storming into that house and ripping Padgett’s throat out crossed my mind a few times. I had to hold myself back so that I wouldn’t do something I’d regret later. Patch told me what he does to women, and when they put Mylah in the back of that van, and I saw her body…I was pissed. Beyond pissed.
Now we’re back at the clubhouse, and Doc did his thing. He checked her over and made sure she was okay and taken care of before he left. The cuts will heal. That’s what he told me, but what they did to her? She’ll never forget.
“She’s sleepin’” I tell Patch when he walks up and nods toward the hall.
“Good. She needs her rest.”
“You used to do that?” I ask him. I know he doesn’t do that shit anymore. I know he doesn’t harm women in that way anymore.
“At one time, I did. Not that bad though. I didn’t leave marks on them,” he tells me.
“So you’re not the same,” I say.
“No. I’d never beat them. Spank them, yeah, but what he did to her? No.”
“I want him dead.”
“He’s a big player in this game. It’s gonna be hard to get to him.”
“I don’t care how hard it is. I want his ass, Patch.”
“I get it, Tide. What he did was fucked up, but I’m tellin’ you we need to find out who sent her there first. That’s who we need to go after,” he tells me. He’s right. I do want the asshole that had us grabbed to begin with. I want the motherfucker that sold her out.
“You’re right. How do we find that?”
“Mystic is followin’ the trail. He should have somethin’ for us soon.”
“Good. I don’t know how long I can wait on this,” I tell him truthfully.
“I get it, brother. It’s hard to wait but it shouldn’t be long now,” he assures me. I nod my head before taking my beer from the table and bringing it to my lips.
“I’m gonna go check on her,” I tell him before standing and walking away from the table. I head down the hall and straight for my room. Pushing the door open, I see her lying on the bed. Her eyes come to meet mine, and I smile.
“You’re supposed to be sleepin’.”
“I’m not tired.”
“Doc checked you out. He didn’t…they didn’t…” I can’t say it. I can’t bring myself to say it.
“They didn’t rape me.” I nod once more. Good. I’m glad they didn’t touch her like that. “Come lay with me.”
I walk over and pull my cut off before laying it on the chair next to the bed and climbing in next to her. I lean in and press my lips to hers for the briefest of seconds.
“You’re safe now.”
“I thought I was safe before,” she whispers. I reach up and wipe the stray tear that’s falling down her cheek.
“You are now, I promise.”
