13. Theo
THIRTEEN
THEO
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD
“What the fuck, man?” Kane hissed it low as he looked between Theo and the girl who was on the couch in the living room.
The two of them were in the hall, their voices hushed.
Agitation rolling through him, Theo roughed a hand over his head as he glanced at the girl curled up on the couch.
Hugging her knees to her chest as she rocked.
Her hair was still wet from her shower, and the dark brown tendrils stuck to Theo’s plain black tee that she wore.
Raven had also given her some casual shorts and undergarments.
Every piece of it hung off her frail frame.
“What did you expect me to do? I couldn’t just leave her there.” Theo’s words were low and hard.
“But you brought her here? To our home?” Kane pressed, brows cinching tight as he studied Theo.
Theo blew out a sigh.
It wasn’t even an unspoken rule that they didn’t bring strangers here.
It was clear and patent.
A promise they’d made to this family that they would keep this house pure and untainted.
“The rest of the guys are gonna fuckin’ flip when they get back,” Kane continued.
Unease stirred through Theo, and he rubbed at the back of his neck as he looked at his boots. “Know it. I just didn’t know what the fuck else to do.”
Sighing, Kane rocked back on his heels as he looked at Scarlett again. Scarlett who was chewing at her thumbnail, constantly peeking in their direction.
No chance was she oblivious to the heated conversation, of which she was the topic.
“Take her to the fuckin’ hospital, that’s what. She’s beat to shit, man.”
“She said she couldn’t go there.” He paused, anger making a rebound as he muttered quietly, “You know she’s in trouble.”
“Yeah, her and half the population of this city,” Kane said.
“And she’s the one who was put in my path.”
Air huffed from Kane’s mouth, and he slowly shook his head. “So, what do you want to do?”
“Gonna see what the rest of the crew thinks of her sleeping on the couch for a couple nights. Just until she heals enough that she can take care of herself.”
Theo jolted awake to the light tapping at his door. He sat up in bed and scrubbed a hand over his face as he tried to orient himself. “Yeah?” he called softly.
The door clicked open.
Scarlett stood in the middle of it.
Cloaked in darkness, the barest light illuminating her brittle shape.
Theo squinted as he studied her. “You okay?”
She itched on her feet.
“I can’t sleep.” Her words barely broached the dense air.
Theo gave her a tight nod. He got it. The unease and fear she felt.
It’d been a whole showdown with the rest of his brothers after they’d arrived back from a run they’d done for the MC.
He doubted she felt that welcome, and on top of it, she was in pain.
Likely both the physical and emotional kind.
Raven, the sweetheart, had tended to her wounds and given her a couple Tylenol, so Theo was honestly surprised that Scarlett didn’t go knocking at her door rather than his. But maybe there’d been some kind of trust formed between them.
A bond just in the fact that he’d helped her to stand.
Her gaze dipped for a beat before she rushed, “Can I sleep with you?”
A frown drew across Theo’s brow. Something unsettled flopped around inside him.
Still, he dipped his chin and lifted his covers. “Sure.”
Scarlett tiptoed to his bed then curled in beside him.
She released a weighed breath, like she was giving every trial and tribulation she carried to him.
And maybe he was meant to hold it.
Maybe there’d been a whole reason he’d stumbled on her.
“I want to know who hurt you so I can handle it.” He mumbled it quietly at her head.
A surge of protectiveness boiling inside him.
Like he was holding someone he was supposed to fight for.
“He’s not worth it,” she mumbled, clinging to him. “And I don’t want you getting into trouble.”
Trouble.
He almost laughed.
Obviously, she didn’t have the first clue.
“Someone does this to you, they’re bound to do it to someone else.”
He’d gladly do it just for her, but he had a feeling it would be the only way to talk any sense into her.
He could tell she was innocent.
She’d been nothing but shy and sweet the whole night.
“I…”
“I’m going to take care of you, Scarlett.”
He didn’t know why he felt compelled. He just knew he found her for a reason.
She warred, her fingertips just barely scratching into his chest as she snuggled closer. “His name is Jimmy. He let me sleep on his couch, but the next night, he told me I owed him…that I had to work for him.” Her voice creaked with horror. “When I refused, he did this.”
It was exactly as Theo had feared. Fuckin’ scum preying on innocent girls who came to this city.
And that scum was fuckin’ dead.