Page 86 of Where Sinners Repent

Maybe I can have a sleepover with Maddy. Finally tell her about all my sexcapades and get everything off my chest. Turning, I make my way to the back door, but I run straight into a looming man.

A scream tears out of me as he shoves me against the side of the club.

“Roxanne fucking Kavanagh,” he drawls. “It’s been too long since I laid my eyes on you last. And here you are, hanging around the Devils like a little groupie whore.”

He laughs, and it’s a cruel sound.

In the darkness, it’s hard to make out his face. When the realisation hits me, I have to fight the urge to vomit.

“Harrison,” I gasp.

Another one of my fucking brother’s friends. Although he never touched me, because Jacob had claimed me as his, I’ve seen Harrison do some vile things to women. He’s about as fucked as a man could get, and being here, pressed against him, makes me sick.

“Let me go,” I growl, reaching for Kitty.

Only now do I realise, that I don’t fucking have Kitty. That I didn’t even bring her to the club. Stupid. So fucking stupid. I’ve grown complacent in only a few days. Grown used to my shadows and their skilled hands.

“Been watching this little clubhouse all night,” he drawls, a grin stretching across his face. “Didn’t think I’d find you gift-wrapped outside all on your own.” His head tilts. “Your brothers are going to love this.”

I scream, but no one inside would hear me over the music. So instead, I lift my knee, connecting instantly with his cock.

Doubling over, he curses, giving me enough space to slip from his grip and run. My slippers crunch over gravel, but it only takes a few seconds before he’s tackling me to the ground, rocks biting into my skin.

Distantly, I feel the wounds on my legs open up, along with new ones forming on my back.

“Fuckin’ bitch,” he roars, gripping my ankle and dragging me further away from the club.

Kicking and screaming, I thrash and fight against him. My hands grapple at the ground, skin tearing from my palms. Gravel bites into my skin, pain flaring through my body.

“Get the fuck off me!” I lash out blindly, my boot connecting with his forearm.

“Fuck!” he snarls.

His grip slips just enough for me to hit the ground, the breath whooshing from my lungs. Before I can scramble away, he’s towering over me again, face twisted with ugly anger. Flexing the arm I kicked, his lip curls into something terrifying.

“You should’ve stayed still, little Kavanagh.” He crouches, grabbing a fistful of my hair and forcing me to meet his eyes. “Jacob always had dibs on you. Always made claim to the little Kavanagh sister.” A cruel smile curves over his lips. “Well, Jacob isn’t here anymore.”

Sickness roils through me as his words land.

“Your brothers will get you back,” he says, his voice low and sickeningly calm. “Eventually.” His grip tightens, strands snapping under it. “What condition you’re in by then...” He gives a bored shrug. “That’s to be determined.”

One single tear rolls down my cheek as the fight dies inside of me.

My eyes fall closed and I prepare to endure whatever happens next. But then... The pressure on my hair suddenly disappears. Harrison grunts, stumbling sideways as someone tears him off me with enough force to send him sprawling across the gravel. Instinct has me scrambling backwards, sobs heaving through me. A large body steps between us.

I see ink and leather before my eyes rise, and Ash stares down at me, eyes wild with unrestrained anger. The relief that courses through me is palpable.

“She’s ours,” Harrison snarls, pushing himself off the ground.

Ash fists the front of his shirt and lifts him like he’s nothing but a toy. The difference between the two men is insane. One, a man carved in muscle and leather, the other... Just a boy.

“What,” Ash murmurs quietly, “did you think you were doing?”

Harrison opens his mouth, but before words fall out, Ash’s fist crashes into his jaw. A satisfying crunch echoes through the night air, before he crashes to the ground with a pained moan.

He tries to crawl, real terror flashing in his eyes, but another pair of boots steps into my line of sight.

One of the twins.