Chapter 11 Raven
“Ineed to know exactly what happened to Brianna.”
Crow stared me down, his eyes narrowing before he shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, brother.”
“I ain’t asking,” I snarled. I shouldn’t have been so invested in his response, but I was, and I didn’t care how it looked.
“Fuck.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Why? Chronos is dead. He fucking suffered. The crows pecked out his eyes and tore him apart until nothing was left.”
My chest heaved as I dragged a breath into my lungs. “Did he rape her?”
I knew he fucking did, but I needed to hear it.
“You want the details? Why now?”
“Because I need to fucking know,” I growled. For my fucking sanity. To stop dreading what made Brianna shake in her sleep and wake up screaming. How could I help if I didn’t know?
“I believe Chronos raped and sodomized her for eight fucking days. He beat her, held her down, and kept her handcuffed to a bed. That what you want to hear?”
Agony.
It spread into every cell in my body. Every muscle. It sank in deep with vicious, bloodthirsty claws. When it reached my lungs, they seized, and I couldn’t draw a breath. My eyes stung with tears I’d never let fall as my throat closed up, a sudden lump preventing me from swallowing.
My hands slowly curled into fists, and my head fell back, a torturous Kraa erupting from deep within as I struggled to contain the resulting rage pulsing through my body. The crow inside me staggered, his fury so violent I trembled with the force of keeping it inside.
“I’m not gonna pretend I know what’s happening with you right now, but I can see it’s intense.”
I turned to my pres, lowering my head as I fought hard to maintain control. “I want to know everything. Who touched her. Who threatened her. All of it.”
“Then we need to talk to Brianna. She’s the only one who can answer that.”
No. She wouldn’t like being bombarded with questions.
“They’re things I need to ask her, and I can’t wait much longer, Raven.”
“I know, but she’s not ready.”
Crow sighed. “I don’t think she’ll ever be ready, but it’s got to be done. We need to know who else she saw and what she heard. It’s fucking important.”
I knew that.
The link between her kidnapping and the blackmail on the club was connected. But I didn’t fucking care, not if it traumatized Bree all over again. “No.”
“I didn’t say today,” he reminded me.
“No,” I growled, turning away from his probing gaze and staring at the long line of bikes parked outside The Roost. The paint and chrome gleamed in the sunshine as I blinked, fighting the urge to slam my fists into the wall, anything to erase the fury simmering inside, threatening to burst free in a bloodbath of violence and vengeance.
“Raven,” Crow admonished gruffly. “It’s beyond your control.”
“The fuck it is,” I shouted, spinning around and facing a beautiful broken angel in the doorway.
Fucking hell. She heard us.
“I’ll do it.”
Hell no!
I shook my head, walking briskly in her direction until I reached her, lifting my hands and letting them hang in the air because I didn’t want to touch her without permission, and yet I also couldn’t fucking stand the torment lingering in her green eyes, dulled by the thought of remembering all that happened.
“I don’t want to trigger any memories. Don’t want nothin’ keepin’ you from getting better. You’re fighting hard, babygirl. I ain’t gonna be the one to mess it up.”
Her expression softened. “It means a lot that you want to protect me, Raven.”
Good. She saw the error in rushing into this.
“But I’d like to help if I can.”
Fuck.
“Will you stay with me?”
Defeat. My crow bowed his head, and I had no choice but to follow his lead, knowing I’d do anything to make her happy.
I dropped my hands, squaring back my shoulders like I could take the brunt of the pain and horror that would follow. “Yes.”
Crow ticked his head toward the picnic benches and outdoor chairs spread out around us under the awning. Ashtrays overflowed with cigarette butts, while the trash bins held empty beer bottles and cans. Not the prettiest place to have this discussion.
I shook my head, gesturing to the shade and following Bree to an empty table. She sat, tucking her legs beneath while I joined her, sinking to her right.
Crow sat across from us, elbows on the table as he lit a smoke. “I take it you know what I’m gonna ask.”
“I think so,” she replied, scrunching up her nose. “A few men came and went from the brick building they kept me prisoner in. At first, I only saw the two guys who showed up at my apartment. They stayed with me the first day.”
“What happened at your apartment?” Crow asked, his brows bunching together in a frown.
“I can’t be sure, but I think Mayor Elliot Goodman sent them.
Both men referred to me as a troublemaker, and I can’t think of anything I could have done to warrant that comment unless they meant the evidence I collected about the mayor’s indiscretions and criminal connections.
He stole from his constituents. People who trusted him.
” Her green eyes flashed emerald fire. “I couldn’t let him get away with that. ”
“No,” I agreed, impressed with her tenacity and candor, “but you risked your own safety.”
She sighed. “Yes, but at the time, I didn’t realize how far his depravity ran.”
“What do you mean?” Crow held her gaze, drawing smoke into his lungs before slowly exhaling.
“He used an escort service. I looked it up.” She swallowed, turning her face away from us. “Those women didn’t become his dates willingly. He was involved in a trafficking ring that exploited young women, some stolen off the streets. Others were prostitutes picked up and never returned.”
“Fuck,” Crow cursed.
“That fucking piece of shit.”
Brianna’s shoulders caved as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I found out exactly what those women suffered.” Her whispered words sliced into my soul. “Because they sent their number one guy to teach me a lesson.”
“Chronos,” Crow spat.
Brianna froze, and I knew he’d tormented her as Crow had said, hurting this fiery, beautiful, intelligent creature next to me, breaking her in the worst way possible.
“I’m so sorry.” The words tumbled from my lips before I could catch them.
She faced me, her expression crumbling when she saw the disgust I tried to hide. It wasn’t aimed at her but at the cocksucking rapist. I wished Chronos was still alive so I could take him to the basement and show him what true pain felt like.
“What happened after the first day?” Crow finally asked as the silence stretched between us.
“He came.”
Chronos. I understood why she didn’t want to say his name.
“And the other two men?”
“I never saw them again.”
“Did you ever see anyone else? Did they say the reason for kidnapping you?”
“Not until their boss came for a visit.”
She closed her eyes, taking several slow breaths, her chest rising and falling with every inhale and exhale.
“He liked to beat the answers out of me.”
I shot to my feet with a growl, shoving away from the table as I began to pace. My hands clenched and unclenched. My jaw locked as my teeth ground together.
Fuck!
I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t fucking hear this shit and not want to hunt these motherfuckers down.
Four men traumatized and hurt her, and only one had been caught and paid for his crimes. That wasn’t enough.
“What was his name?” I hardly recognized my voice. The tone was sharp and full of grit and far too agitated to be reasonable.
She met my harsh gaze. “I only heard the others call him boss except for one time. One of the kidnappers slipped up and called him Grudge.”
Well, fuck. This just got more complicated. Proof that Undertaker and the Dirty Death MC had been involved from the beginning. We already knew there was a connection but not to this extent.
“Sonofabitch!” Crow shouted. “Undertaker’s fucking S.A.A.”
She appeared confused so he added, “Sergeant at Arms.”
“What the fuck does he have to do with the mayor?” I wondered, finally putting the pieces of this puzzle in place. “Did any of those men wear leather vests like ours? Did you see any patches?”
She shook her head. “No, but the other two didn’t hide their names. Crank and Grinder. Didn’t sound like normal names to me.”
“They aren’t.” Crow flicked his cigarette to the ground, lowering his head into his hands with a groan. “What the fuck does this have to do with my pops? What the hell did they have against Rook and our club?”
I didn’t care about that, not at this moment. I needed to know what Crank and Grinder did to her first, followed by Grudge. “What happened the first day?”
She startled, like my voice had been too loud and full of venom, and it probably was because this entire situation really pissed me off.
“They blindfolded me and brought me to a building in Vegas. I could hear slot machines sometimes.” She bit her lip, and I knew she wasn’t telling us everything.
“Listen,” I began, softening my tone as much as I could. “I know this is hard, and if you don’t want to say more, I won’t make you, but any details you give us could help.”
She sighed.
“Because I’m going to make those motherfuckers wish they never touched you,” I growled.
“Raven.” Crow lifted his head, giving me a stern look.
Fuck that.
“No, Pres. I mean it. They’re going to fucking suffer for touching her, fucking with the club, and killing my best friend.”
“Yeah, okay. I feel you, brother.”
Yeah, he fucking did.
Turning back to Brianna, I cracked my neck. “What. Did. They. Do.”
She blinked. “Crank and Grinder were rough, but they never punched or hurt me, unlike the others.”
“They still hurt you,” I argued.
“Yes, a little, but compared to what followed, it was nothing.”
Not to me.
“And Grudge?”
She lowered her head, dragging in a breath.
I sat down, tilting her chin up so I could stare into her eyes. “Tell me. Everything. I swear I’ll make them pay for every mark, scratch, and bruise.”
“Smacking, hitting, kicking, pulling my hair, throwing water on me. He thought it was funny to degrade me.”
A hiss escaped my lips.
“He’s the one that ordered my clothes stripped away. If I hadn’t been naked,” she choked, pushing away, “I might have avoided what happened next.”
Chronos and his brutal assaults.
“Did he . . . ?” I let the question hang in the air, needing her to confirm it.
“Yes.” The word was whispered so low I barely caught it.
Shit. Fuck. I didn’t know what to say and stared down at my hands as they shook with my fury.
“Raven?”
I lifted my head, staring into green eyes that shimmered like pools of emerald glass; unshed tears blinked back as her hand rested over mine. “Yeah, sweetheart?”
“I don’t need you to hunt them down. My FBI contact has all the information I gave your club. He’ll go after them, and then you won’t have to get mixed up in this mess.”
She didn’t get it. “You don’t understand, babygirl. You’re mine to protect and mine to vindicate. I’m already involved, and that’s not gonna change.”
A tiny gasp left her lips. “I don’t understand.”
“You don’t?” I asked, lifting my hand to touch her face lightly. “I thought you understood when I pulled you from the wreckage and fire.”
Her eyes widened. “You remembered.”
“Always,” I replied firmly.
Over ten years later, I could still close my eyes and see the flames, smell the smoke, and feel her arms wrapped around my neck as her warm breath tickled the sensitive skin. I knew then, same as now, that fate had brought us into each other’s lives for a reason.
Crow stared at us like he didn’t know what the fuck was happening, and I didn’t blame him. I hadn’t touched a woman like this since Sarah died. Sex? Sure, I’d gotten off but showing affection or preference? Hell no.
“This is all too much.” She sniffled, hopped up from the table, and ran toward the clubhouse, rushing inside as she nearly ran into the prospect Red.
“Well, shit,” I muttered, wondering if I fucked up.
“Yeah, you crazy fucker. We didn’t get a chance to explain that she won’t be leaving The Roost until this is sorted. Neither is Bella.”
No, not with all the violence and uncertainty. We knew shit was about to fucking go down, and Undertaker, the fucking mayor of Henderson, and the rest of our enemies were coming for us soon.
All I cared about was protecting the young woman I couldn’t stop thinking about. “Have Bella talk to her sister.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that,” he growled.
I pulled out my cigar, lit the end, and planned my revenge, all while savoring the smoke of my favorite addiction.
Scratch that.
I had a new favorite. Her name was Brianna.