11. Connor
11
Connor
T ension gripped my neck as I stared at the bedroom door, willing it to open. Dying to see my little bloom again. To know she was okay. I appeared relaxed, leaning against the wall, but my insides were strung tight as we waited for the doc.
She’d worked with us for years, mostly patching up guys at Ares. Like the rest of the city, she didn’t care what we were as long as the good outweighed the bad. Nobody would report her for working under the table with us. At least not without consequences.
The pressure inside me exploded as the door clicked open. The grim look on Susan’s face did nothing to relieve it. She shook her head as she pulled it closed again.
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at us. “Whoever this bastard is, I want a piece of him.”
My chest constricted. Maverick felt the same, if his knuckle cracking was any indication. “That bad?”
Susan swiped at her brow, almost as if she was trying to release the knowledge from her mind. “Restraint marks on her wrist and ankles. Vaginal and Anal trauma. Bruises on her thighs from being held down. Welts on her stomach and rear end. Scarring on her chest and back that I would assume came from a knife.” Her exhale was harsh. “Not that I know, because she wouldn’t talk.”
Her words hung in the air around us. I wasn’t sure what my brothers were thinking, but I was ready to rip off Simon’s head. No, I wanted to inflict each wound on him; then I’d killed him.
Even that didn’t seem like enough. I wanted to find some sick bastard to rape him, so he’d know just how it felt. So he could be the one helpless and alone. I’d get a dildo and do it myself.
The rage inside me burned hot. I wouldn’t be satisfied until he broke. Begged. Prayed for mercy.
But no god would answer. Not even the devil would want him.
“We’ll get the truth out of her.” Reid shattered the silence. His voice holding the fury I felt.
Susan’s brows pinched. “That’s not what she needs. She needs to heal. She needs family.”
“We’re her family now.” There were was a conviction in my words. A sincerity that came from deep inside. It was primal. An instinct. I’d known it the first time I saw her. She was ours.
“What?”
My gaze flicked to my brothers, looking for confirmation. For understanding. They had to feel it, too.
We were close. Always in sync. The decision couldn’t be mine alone. I couldn’t be the only one who felt this.
Maverick nodded. “We’re her family.”
Susan had a look of skepticism on her face. “I don’t think the three of you are equipped to—.”
“Did I ask your opinion?” She didn’t cower under Maverick’s glare, but the fight left her eyes. She knew her place.
We liked and respected her, but in the end, all that mattered was us. Violet was family now. We’d protect her with everything we had.
Reid was suspiciously silent. He was mistrustful because of his past. But if he could accept Maverick and me, he would embrace Violet.
“She’s ours.”
I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince.