Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
The wind and rain were cold and hard against my face as I slowed the bike to a stop. Not that the weather bothered me. My anger was keeping me warm. It heated me from the inside. Hell, my blood was burning through my veins.
I didn’t know what kind of sick fuck Caleb was, but if he had touched her, then he was going to die.
He was going to die anyway, just for taking her and making her scared for all of these years, but if he had touched her…
Yanking down the printed bandana I wore around my face, I waited for the others to join me.
The London chapter swarmed around me moments later.
Even though I didn’t ride with them anymore, they were still my brothers.
There were even some of the Cardiff chapter in the mix.
Men who were spoiling for a fight. Since I had taken over as president in Cardiff, things had gotten better but they weren’t great and I didn’t want to make things worse for the men who now looked to me for leadership, so I wanted them away from this.
After all, it wasn’t club business, not really.
It was personal to my London brothers because of whose daughter she was.
And it was my business because Chloe was mine. I had been such a fool to ever let her run away without looking for her. Hell, I should have at least asked questions. I had known deep down that she wasn’t sleeping with Ghost, but I hadn’t said anything. I had been a coward.
“What’s the plan?” Duke asked as he rode to a stop next to me. His eyes sparkled with the promise of violence to come.
My eyes scanned the assembled bikes until I found Domino’s. He was president of the London chapter now, so it was all up to him.
“This is your show,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine. “She’s the woman you want, isn’t she?”
“Yeah. But—”
Domino chuckled. “How do we all know you have feelings for the girl?” he asked, and around him a laugh went up.
“You were into her before you even met her properly. It was all you could talk about.” He rolled his eyes.
“The girl who saved your life. The angel. It was pretty clear from the moment she walked into the clubhouse that you were going to keep her. We all had bets that you would propose within weeks, but no,” he laughed, “you went and pulled a Legacy.”
Frowning, I rubbed my hand over my beard. “What the hell does pulling a Legacy mean?”
Duke answered, a deadly serious look on his face. “It means you made things a million times harder for yourself than it needed to be.”
“You think I should have fought for her?” Guilt tightened my chest. I thought I should have. I had been thinking about it for months.
“I think you are fighting for her now,” Domino said, his usually gruff voice gentle. “But you need to prepare yourself.”
“Prepare myself for…?” I trailed off, and taking a deep breath, I forced my shoulders to relax. “For what we might find up there.”
My eyes lifted to the block of flats that rose above me. They didn’t look like much from the outside, but I knew each one of those apartments was home to a millionaire.
“I’m ready.” That was a lie. If he had raped or murdered Chloe, there was nothing I could do to prepare myself. “Whatever has happened, as long as she is alive, then I can help her heal.”
“And her baby?” Duke asked softly. “Did you forget the fact that she’s pretty bloody pregnant?”
“I hadn’t forgotten,” I mumbled.
“What about her baby daddy?”
I closed my eyes. Of course, I had thought about the fact she might have a man now. I had been thinking about it non-stop since I had seen her at the cemetery. Exactly how far along she was in her pregnancy was anyone’s guess. But it didn’t matter.
“She’s mine, so I don’t care,” I said gruffly. “The baby is part of her and I’ll love it no matter what.”
“So you plan on keeping her?”
“Forever, yeah.” I nodded my head firmly. “If she will have me, anyway. Now let’s go get her back.”
“Do you want to share the plan?” Already off his bike, Hawk cracked his knuckles.
“Yeah — we get in any way we can. Hell, break down the door if we need to, whatever it takes to get her back.”
Hawk grinned. “And what do you want us to do with Caleb?”
I turned to him with a grin. “He’s mine. No one touches him.”
This time, Duke groaned. “You’re always spoiling my fun, brother, but I respect that. Let’s go.”
We made our way into the building, pushing through the old wooden framed doors. Half of me expected to be greeted by some kind of security. At the very least a concierge of some sort seemed likely, but the foyer was empty.
“What floor?”
“Fifth.” Someone said from behind me. Prospect. I didn’t know the prospect’s name, but I needed to. The kid rode well, and he seemed level-headed. He kind of reminded me of myself once upon a time.
“Stairs or lift?” Duke laughed.
“Lift,” Domino answered quickly, and added when Hawk nodded. “My knees won’t take all those stairs.”
We all laughed as we piled inside, but it wasn’t lost in me how absurd this was. We were heading to a mob boss’s home to rescue a woman he had taken, and we were all looking forward to the violence that was about to happen, but we were taking the elevator to do it.
Crazy.
It took less than thirty seconds for us to reach the floor and only a few seconds longer to reach the door.
Slightly in front of me, Domino paused. His eyes arched up in shock. “The door’s open,” he hissed.
Peering over his shoulder, I could see it was, but I could also now hear what was going on inside.
The loud, guttural grunting sounds were wet and sloppy.
Bile rose up my throat. There were only two things that made a man sound like that. And neither of them were good for Chloe.
Shoulder barging Domino, I pushed my way into the lavish apartment. Only it wasn’t lavish. Maybe once upon a time it had been, but not anymore. It was dirty and cluttered. And there was proof of Caleb’s insanity all over the walls. My nose wrinkled as the smell of shit hit me.
A small cry caught my attention, and it was enough to make my feet rush forward. Speeding through the corridor, I followed the sound of Chloe’s cries.
The grunts were louder now, and each one of them was like a knife being plunged into my gut.
Kicking open the door, I froze.
This room, which was clearly a bedroom, was different from the rest of the flat. It was clean and tidy, and had clearly been recently decorated in tasteful white and blue. I took it all in quickly before my eyes found the one thing that was out of place.
A flash of red on the bed.
My eyes narrowed in on it and the moment I saw what it was, I wished I could close my eyes and never see it. It was a sight that would be forever burned into my brain.
Chloe, in a red negligee, was on her back. Her face was barely recognisable because it was so busted up. Blood stained under her nose and mouth. The right side of her face was mottled with black and blue bruises, and the hair on the back of her head seemed to be matted.
I could clearly see her breasts through the lace, but it was to her stomach and legs that my eyes couldn’t look away from. The blood on them, the bruises.
Half covering her was a naked middle-aged man. And he was perfectly still but grunting.
Leaping forward, I roared. Grabbing him by the shoulder, I pulled him backwards. He fell to the side. His chest was heaving and his eyes were wide and terrified.
“I’m going to kill you. I’m going—”
“Brother.” Domino grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back slightly. “Look at him, I think nature is doing that for you.”
I looked at Caleb’s face for a second, uncomprehending, and then it hit me in a rush. The grunts hadn’t been those of pleasure, they had been of pain.
The asshole was having a heart attack right on top of her, pinning her under his disgusting weight.
Grabbing him by the throat, I heaved him upwards. “I hope you die in agony, asshole. I hope you’re fucking afraid.” I held him there and watched as his eyes widened and then went dim.
And just like that, he was gone. I almost felt cheated. I wanted to be the one to end his life, and I wanted to watch the fear seep into his eyes.
“Pocket!” Duke hissed. “Chloe needs to get out of here. She needs a hospital now.”
I turned to him. He had her in his arms. Someone had covered her body in a small blanket which covered her but it didn’t hide the fact that there was blood on her thighs.
A coldness replaced the boiling anger. The man who had hurt her was dead and that meant he could never touch her again, but just how much damage had he done to her before I had got there?
He might be dead, but I had a horrible feeling that Chloe would be living with his memory for a long time to come.
Especially if…my eyes found the blood on her thighs again and my stomach dropped at what it might mean.
“Give her to me.” Easily, I slid my hands under her body and took her from Duke. His face was sad.
“There’s a car waiting outside,” he said quietly. “This place is nice. I reckon I could get a good price for it,” he mumbled to himself.
“Not the time, brother.” Domino elbowed him. “Get her out of here, Pocket. We will clear up here.” He eyed the body of Caleb and sneered.
“Pocket?”
Walking out the room, I glanced down at her. “Hey, angel.”
“You came for me?” Chloe’s voice was weak.
“Of course I did, angel. It was my time to save you.”