Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
NADINE
Fingers gently glide down the side of my face.
I turn my head, and finally, my eyes flutter open.
I’m not sure who I expect to see sitting beside me, but it’s not Colette.
She has tears swimming in her eyes.
“Hey,” she whispers.
I open my mouth to say something, but my throat is so dry that nothing comes out.
She shakes her head as she rises from her chair.
“Let me get you some water.”
Colette walks away, but another figure moves to the side of the bed.
It’s Lucille.
She tilts her head to the side, her eyes searching mine before she speaks.
I hold my breath for a moment because I have no idea what she is going to say.
With her, you never know what is going to come out of her mouth.
“I wish I could ruin him more than I already have. I’ve drained his accounts—offshore and here. His credit is tanked, but none of that really matters because he will not be alive much longer. I wish there were another way I could hurt him,” she whispers.
Reaching out, I take her hand, curling my fingers around hers.
“You’ve done more than you ever needed to, Lucille. I appreciate it so much.”
She shakes her head.
“Bullshit,” she snaps.
“Give me five minutes in a room with him, and I’ll make him regret his existence.”
Smiling, I squeeze her fingers and give her hand a small shake.
“I’m okay. Really, I am.”
Colette rushes back into the room, a bottle of water in hand.
“I couldn’t find a straw,” she says, her voice almost panicked.
Inhaling a deep breath, I place my palms on the mattress and slowly push myself up to a seated position, trying and failing not to wince as I do.
Resting my back against the headboard, I look around, trying to place where I am, but I can’t.
“You’re at Grayson’s,” Lucille murmurs.
“He wouldn’t let them take you anywhere else. It got kind of ugly with your brother.”
Lifting my hand to my mouth, I gasp.
“Is Brody okay?” I ask as Colette hands me the bottle of water.
As I take a sip, they share a glance with one another, a look that I cannot decipher.
My heart begins to race, and I swallow the water with a groan.
My throat is raw and tender, no doubt from being choked.
“Brody is okay,” Lucille says before she clears her throat.
“He’s okay.”
Clearly, she has something else to say, so instead of pushing her, I wait, and when she does speak again, my heart races and I’m filled with anxiety.
But I listen.
Mainly because I can’t do anything else.
Every ounce of my body doesn’t just ache, it hurts.
“Tell me,” I demand.
“Well, Brody and Grayson kind of got into a physical altercation…” Lucille starts, her words trailing off.
I blink, staring at them in disbelief.
I can’t imagine Grayson fighting with anyone.
I mean, he’s grumpy and serious, maybe he says things gruffly, but fighting with Brody?
Although I can see Brody fighting with anyone, mainly because I’ve seen him in dozens of fights.
“Are they okay?”
Lucille smiles, but it’s Colette who speaks.
“Both ended up with black eyes and swollen cheeks, but I don’t think anyone lost any teeth. Brody wanted to take you back to his clubhouse, but Grayson wanted you at his place.”
Hearing that they fought over me in any way makes me feel sad.
That feeling washes over me.
It’s not something that can just dissipate, either.
The last thing I want is for the man I’ve fallen in love with and my only family member to fight.
“I take it Grayson won,” I whisper.
Lucille shrugs her shoulders.
“Under protest and only because the other men broke it all up. Brody also promised to be back tomorrow, and every other day to ensure your recovery and safety.”
I can’t deny that it feels good.
I know that the circumstances surrounding all of this are heinous, but I have two men who care for me and want to protect me.
Hopefully, all of this means that I no longer have to worry about Landon.
There is an ugly slithering snake in the bottom of my belly, and just the idea of Landon no longer being an issue makes that snake shrink.
I will have to deal with what he did to me later, but right now, I’m safe.
My brother is safe, and so is Grayson, along with the rest of the people in my life.
That is all that matters.
“Your parents, though,” Colette whispers.
“Are dead. Yes, I know. I actually thought they died years ago. That’s what Landon had told me, that they were making drugs and their house exploded.”
I sound mean, unfeeling and uncaring.
I know I do, and it’s because I am when it comes to my parents.
They created life, me and Brody, and then didn’t just neglect us, but they abused us in so many ways.
Then shipped me off to a man to save their own skin.
A man who lived for the torture of me.
Reveled in it.
I will never be sorry that my parents are dead.
I will also never be sad that I watched it happen.
They died the best way possible, consuming the only thing they ever loved.
Their bodies riddled with their choice of drug.
Lucille’s eyes widen.
She clears her throat and dips her chin, but thankfully doesn’t say she’s sorry, because I wouldn’t accept anyone being sorry about the trash being taken out.
I’m glad they’re gone, and now I know for sure that they are.
I witnessed it with my own eyes.
“So, what happens now?” I ask, my eyes searching Lucille’s, hers widening before her lips curve up into a grin.
“Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
“I’ll get some food delivered,” Colette calls out.
Lucille turns on the television before she climbs onto the bed beside me.
She doesn’t say anything, and I’m glad for it.
The moment of silence is almost too much, but when she reaches out for me, her fingers wrapping around my hand, tears fill my eyes.
For a moment, the sensation of relief that had flooded me and the blanket of safety vanish, and I’m filled with vulnerability.
My body is in pain, and even though I don’t know exactly what Landon did to me, at the same time, I know exactly what he did to me, and that hurts my soul.
Hurts my heart.
I thought I had healed from the trauma I endured with Landon, but his doing it to me all over again ripped me apart emotionally…
and judging by how sore and tender I am, physically as well.
“It’s going to be okay,” Lucille breathes as she stares straight ahead at the television.
She flexes her fingers around my hand in a supportive move.
“It will,” I agree.
An hour later, the three of us are sitting in bed, eating pasta, garlic bread, mozzarella sticks, and have six different desserts to taste test waiting for us.
I’m sure that Grayson will have an issue with us eating food in his bed, but I don’t care.
Not today.
I’ll wash his sheets tomorrow.
GRAYSON
Landon Tate sits in front of me, his ass bare, his face bloodied, and his hate-filled gaze is focused on me.
We’re waiting for Hale to appear.
Brody grunts in the corner of the room, his gaze burning a hole into my back.
He’s pissed at me, but he can’t be as pissed off as I am at myself.
I fucking hate myself.
Walking in on my woman being assaulted was not on my goddamn list for the day.
I run my fingers through my hair, tugging on the ends, then tear my gaze from Landon and turn around before I walk toward the wall.
“You got a computer?” I ask Theron.
He hums, jerking his chin toward the back wall behind the fucker.
Spinning around, I walk over to the computer, grab it from the table, then bring it back to the rest of us.
Opening it, I turn it on before I take the thumb drive out of my pocket.
I shove the thumb drive into the side of the computer, open the drive, and the first thing I see is an image of a government official.
I recognize him from posters and flyers.
He ran for a government office and won.
He’s younger here, and naked, so I’m surprised I recognize him at all.
Then there is a moment of silence after I step to the side.
Touching a button on the keyboard, I watch as the next picture appears.
It’s one that I don’t want to see because it involves my woman.
Then there’s another where he’s handing cash to Landon.
Sucking in a breath, I hold it and let it go slowly before I turn my head and look over at Landon, still half-naked on the floor.
“Any idea why the fuck you are getting cash from a government official?” I ask.
Landon jerks his chin toward me.
But he doesn’t say anything.
There’s no use in his staying quiet at this point.
What’s done is done.
Whatever money he got is now gone, and so will his life be soon.
“When do we get to kill him?” Brody asks.
“Soon,” I say.
Before I can say anything else, before Brody can ask anything else, the door opens, and Hale walks through and into the room.
“I see you found the drive,” he says, “and have started looking at the files.”
“I personally don’t want to see any more if I don’t have to,” Brody grunts.
I don’t want to see any more, either, at all.
But this whole thing isn’t about me being comfortable.
This is about justice.
For both of us.
For Nadine and me.
Because honest to fuck, I do not want to see my woman abused for one more fucking second.
Pressing my lips together, I don’t say anything.
I wait for Hale to do whatever the fuck he’s got planned to do.
He moves farther into the room, straight for Landon, and I watch as he plants his legs wide, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Your insurance is shit, and every single person is going to know that you are the reason for it.”
“Fuck you,” he snaps, blood and spittle flying everywhere.
Hale laughs, “No. I don’t think so. However, I can arrange for you to be fucked—if you want.”