Page 65

It happened to an accountant who stole from Bastien. The idiot cooked the books in his favor, and when he was caught, they assaulted and raped his wife and daughter in front of him for days.

Before I can block the image of their broken bodies from my mind, it shudders through me. My grip on the steering wheel tightens, and I shake my head to get rid of it.

Besides Katherina, the accountant and his family are the only mercy killings I’ve ever done.

Bastien was so fucking angry that he had me locked up in one of the cells beneath the club for three long months. Absolute darkness and solitude, with only one meal a day.

By the time he opened that door, I was savage, nothing more than the Wolf he loved so much.

That will not happen to us.

Annie turns onto her other side and presses her face into my abs. I move my hand to the back of her head and soak in the feel of having her so close to me.

“Are you okay?” she whispers.

“Yeah.”

She tugs at my hoodie, then says, “I can feel the tension coming off you.”

“Just very bad memories,” I whisper.

“Want to talk about them?”

“No.” I shake my head hard. “It’s in the past.”

She sits upright and leans her head against my shoulder. “How bad is it?”

“What?”

“Your past.”

I pause while I think about how to word it. “It’s the stuff nightmares are made of.”

I’m surprised when Annie takes hold of my right hand and weaves her fingers through mine. “I’m so sorry, Rowan.”

“For?”

“The life you were forced into as a boy. I wish I could turn back time and stop you from getting on that bus.”

“That makes two of us.”

I can see she’s upset about everything that’s happened over the past two days, but she still tries to comfort me.

The calmness she gives me chases the dark memories away, and everything quiets down inside me.

Annie

I feel Rowan relax beside me, and the tension in the air eases.

Feeling sweaty and hot, I pull my hand free from his and move closer to the passenger door. When I crank the window open, I’m hit with a blast of air that doesn’t do much to cool the heat in the cab.

“We’ve been in the desert for hours. How much longer?”

He keeps his eyes on the road as he replies, “Give or take a week.”

“What?!” I gasp, not liking the sound of that at all.

He reaches across between us and gives my thigh a squeeze. “It will be worth it in the end.”