Chapter Twenty-Three
Grayson
“ I ’m sorry, what?” I stumble over my words, my eyes widening in shock. I know there is evil out there. I know some people are just downright awful, but some things you just can’t ever prepare yourself for, and this is one of them.
Everyone in the room has stopped what they are doing and seems to be trying not to stare at the poor boy in shock.
He stares at the ground, showing no emotion as he explains, “I’m Anthony. My sister, Anna, and I are twins. We are fifteen. Our parents divorced when we were ten, and somehow our father got full custody of us. Things were fine until he started going out almost nightly.” He shrugs, making a face before it goes emotionless again. “He’d come home drunk or high and cause problems.
“Then one night he came home and told us we were going on a trip. He blindfolded us and took us to some rank place where we heard him talking to a man about us. He explained we are twins and our ages. The guy offered him lots of money for us, but our father asked for a credit instead.”
“A credit?” I question, furrowing my brows, but I can already feel the blood draining from my face.
“Credits to buy or rent people instead of paying for them,” he spits, clenching his fists tightly.
“Fuck,” Nerds says under his breath behind me.
I inhale sharply, trying to keep my voice level. “I know it doesn’t change anything, but I am so sorry that you had to go through this. Just know that it’s over now—”
“You can’t promise that. Especially not to my sister, whose only wish has been to return home to our mom. But we can’t do that with our father out there.” His voice drips with venom as he spits out the word father .
“I actually can. And I will,” I promise him, not breaking eye contact and making sure I sound confident.
I may not know everything about the club, but I do know from Nerds about some of their side work they do, which is how they know Vance. So, it is possible to make sure their father can never do this again.
“It is over now. We will keep you and your sister safe. And if you want us to find your mom, we will. We will make sure she is safe for you guys to go back to. Tell us what you want, and we will help you,” I swear to him.
I force myself to put confidence in my words as I speak to him even though I actually feel sick to my stomach about all of this. But coming off strong for him, letting him see that someone else has him—has both of them—allows him to stop for just a moment and feel the pain that I know he has been keeping deep inside just to keep his sister calm and protected.
He’s been the rock. The strong leader, and now he can finally realize that he doesn’t need to be. We’ve got him. I have him.
His shoulders drop, and he takes a shuddering breath as a few tears leak from his eyes.
I reach forward and place my hand on top of his. “You’re safe now,” I tell him.
He stares down at my hand and then slowly looks up at me. His lower lip trembles, and then he finally releases it all and bursts into tears. Standing up, I move to sit on the edge of his bed by his hip, and he immediately sits forward and wraps his arms around me as he cries.
We can only imagine what he went through. We don’t even know how long they were there or how many times they might have been taken to different homes.
He may be a boy, but that doesn't lessen his trauma, and him finally breaking down doesn’t make him less of a boy or a man. The realization hits me hard in the chest that I am no less than Ryker or Cade, or anyone else just because I have to feel things more openly and in different ways than other men do.
Rubbing his back, I continually remind him he is safe and allow him to let it all out.
(Section Break)
A while later, Anthony has calmed down enough to sleep while his sister is still out from the sedatives that Brielle and Doc gave her. We were able to get some more information we needed from him so we can look into his parents and figure out next steps for them. Tia was looked over and taken care and then given something to help her sleep, so we won’t get to talk with her until tomorrow.
Now, Harley and I are finally leaving the med room where we find Ryker leaning against the wall opposite the door in the hall. Once I shut the door softly behind us, Ry steps towards us and holds his arms out.
“Group hug. We all need it,” he says, beckoning us closer with a wave.
Harley lets out a tired chuckle, and I shake my head, but we walk into his arms.
Ryker kisses each of our foreheads and says, “Everyone did so fucking amazing today. It was so much, but we did it, and we helped these people. We gave them safety and peace. We did that.”
Smiling softly, I rest my head against his shoulder and let my eyes fall shut. We haven’t really talked about us or what is going to happen, but right now, this is exactly what I needed. What we needed.
We finally pull away, and Harley rubs her eyes before saying, “I want to go sit with Oakley for a bit now that the others are all sleeping.”
Ryker purses his lips. “She is also out, and we don’t know when she’ll wake up. Someone will always be watching over her for whenever she does. We need to all go to sleep. You can check on her tomorrow. Cade went to run off his energy and just take some time to himself, but he should be back any minute, so let’s go to Rage’s and get some sleep.”
Harley opens her mouth but is cut off by Ryker quickly kissing her and then pulling back.
He tuts, “Nope. Let’s go.” He puts an arm over her shoulder and nudges her in front of him before leading her out the back door toward Rage’s house.
I chuckle while following them out where we find Cade and Bear walking back through the large yard from the woods.
He nods at us. “I’m going to feed Bear, then I’ll be over.”
Harley
After a much-needed shower, I finally climb into bed with the guys following suit into what is apparently our new normal sleeping arrangement. Cade on one side of me, with Gray on the other side and Ryker squeezing in between Grayson and I’s legs.
“Fuck,” Ryker groans as he lays on his stomach and presses his face into the blankets.
“Yeah,” I sigh and run a hand down my face. “Today was something.”
“It doesn’t really feel real. Like we’ve talked about this stuff for so long, and now it’s really happening, but it just didn’t feel like we did that today,” Grayson comments.
Cade rolls onto his side, facing me and scooping all of my wet hair out from under my head before laying it on the pillow above me.
“I really need to braid it or I’m going to regret it when I wake up,” I grumble.
“I’m going to learn how to braid hair,” Cade says so low I doubt even Ryker or Grayson heard, but it brings a small grin to my lips.
“I can do it!” Ryker sits up on his knees and wiggles his brows at me.
“Can you actually?” I ask skeptically.
He scrunches his lips. “Not really, no. Well, I can, but it never turns out right. But for some reason I mastered a fishtail braid super quickly. So I can do it. Sit up,” he demands.
As I sit up slowly, Ryker stands on the bed and steps over me so he is behind me before plopping down and spreading his legs on either side of me.
“Ry, you just put your butt directly in my face. Did you have to do it that way?” Grayson groans, trying not to laugh.
“You love the view, don’t lie,” Ryker snarks and then runs his fingers through my hair.
“Where did you learn to do a fishtail braid? My mom never did that kind of braid, and I’ve never learned it either,” I ask as he begins.
Ryker shrugs. “I used to play with my aunt’s hair when she was sad. It kept me focused enough to behave and made her feel better. I taught myself by watching some videos.” He chuckles.
“That’s adorable.” I grin.
Cade snorts as I feel a sharp tug on my hair, making my head tip back until Ryker can look down at my face. “Say that again. I dare you.”
“You’re adorable? You are.” I grin up at him as I reach up and tap the tip of his nose. “You don’t scare me.”
Ryker snarls at me and then yanks slightly harder on my hair, exposing my neck to him where he leans down and bites hard. I yelp and slap his head while Cade and Grayson laugh next to us.
“You asshole,” I grumble, biting my bottom lip to stop myself from laughing.
He finally gets back to braiding my messy wet hair, and the room falls into silence for a few minutes before Grayson asks, “Is everyone truly feeling okay after today?”
“I feel pretty good. I was worried about you guys, but it just felt right, honestly,” Ryker responds first.
“I had moments where I felt like I might crumble, but then I’d get to look at one of you and calm myself or just remind myself that we are saving innocent people. I didn’t feel uncomfortable with going in or anything,” I add.
“You did amazing today,” Grayson praises. “You were the woman that those girls needed. You showed them what strength looks like when they felt hopeless and lost.”
Smiling at Grayson, I kiss the back of his hand that I’m holding in my lap.
“Thank you,” I respond, blinking away the tears that threaten to fall. There’s so many—too many feelings from everything today, so I glance over at Cade and move the conversation away from me. “What about you?”
“Everything felt good. Right, even. I honestly felt like I finally found an outlet for my darkness that means something. A way to turn…” He pauses, and none of us speak, giving him the time to collect his thoughts. “A way to take the evil my father created within me and manipulate it into what I want. To do something better. Be better.”
Be better. That’s what we all want in the end. To be better and do better than the people who hurt us. Who manipulated us or turned us evil.
The next morning, we all get up and quickly get ready for the day so we can head over to the club for breakfast and a big discussion about yesterday before people start heading home.
As I finish putting my hair up into a ponytail, Cade appears in the doorway. He leans against the door in his tight-fitted t-shirt and jeans that outline his thick thighs perfectly.
It’s very tempting to ask him to turn around so I can check out his—
“Ahem.” He clears his throat, and my eyes shoot up to his. He smirks at me while walking further into the bathroom, bringing us chest to chest. “Very soon, and I mean very soon, you are staying in my room with me and not leaving my bed until I’m done with you.”
He raises his hand and skims a finger along the seam of my V-neck sports bra as he licks his bottom lip.
“And I can’t wait,” he murmurs, stepping back before I can say anything. As he walks out of the bathroom, he stops at the door and glances back. “We’re ready, so let's get going, baby girl.”
Blinking rapidly, I finally realize what he said and shake my head before tossing on my sweatshirt and walking out to meet the guys so we can walk over to the club. We are some of the last ones to meet in the main room, so we quickly grab breakfast that the ladies made and eat before Gabe starts the meeting with everyone.
The women and Parker, the prospect, leave the room shortly after, and Gabe gets everyone’s attention. “Let’s get this meeting going so we can discuss everything and people can start heading home.”
“We will start,” Gabe says, gesturing to Doc, who stands beside him.
“As far as victims go, we have two deceased and five who are doing well and will get the help they need before they go back home or to wherever we can find that is safe for them. Four of them were from the warehouse, and one other was found at a house that was raided.”
“Thank you, Doc and Brielle, for taking care of them and making sure they get back to good health. They will be staying here until we can figure out next steps for them, as Doc said. Thankfully, we had no casualties on our side of things,” Rage explains, gesturing to the other MC presidents.
The North Carolina chapter president stands. “Everything went smooth and quick. We took out all our targets and found no victims.”
The Tennessee president rises to his feet next. “All well for us, too. We found one victim. Unfortunately in a bad situation, but we were able to safely get her out and kill the child-fucker,” he spits out angrily.
Rage nods, glancing around the room. “Thank you to everyone. We appreciate all the help, and I know the victims we saved are grateful as well. We owe all of you a favor, so don’t hesitate to call us if needed.”
“How about next time, we all come for a fucking party and not depressing shit?” someone yells.
A few laugh, and then another person shouts, “Don’t act like the bloodshed isn’t also a fucking party.”
Rage smirks as he shakes hands with the other presidents and both clubs take their leave. Now, it’s just our club and Vance with his men, the Kings of Hearts.
Vance comes over to where Rage is standing with us and a few others. He looks at Nerds. “Do you have all the information we need?”
Nerds nods and types on his laptop that seems to be glued to his hands lately. “I just sent it all over to your guy.”
“What’s going on?” I ask, looking between the two of them.
“I filled everyone in on what Anthony told us last night. Vance and his guys are going to take care of the father on their way out of town for us,” Nerds explains.
Pinching my lips together, I give a jerky nod. Listening to Anthony explain what happened made my blood boil, and I wanted to go hunt down his dad and make him suffer.
Vance glances at me, and a slow smile spreads over his lips. “Don’t worry. We will make him pay in very special ways. I’d say you and your boys could tag along, but daddy Rage seems a little to anal for that.” He rolls his eyes.
Gabe glares at him while I look on in confusion. What is he talking about? Glancing up at Colton, he runs a hand over his mouth and sighs but won’t look at me.
“It’s time for you guys to go,” Gabe growls.
Looking over at my guys, they all appear just as confused as me as we watch Vance and his men depart. As soon as they’re gone, I look at Gabe. “What was he talking about?”
By the way Gabe grimaces and then glances away, I know he is about to lie to me, so I cut him off, “Please don’t lie. What was he talking about?” I try to keep my voice calm and steady, giving him a chance to talk before letting myself get worked up over what could be nothing.
“I just… I was concerned about this being your first situation like this, and I wanted to make sure it didn’t go too far for you.” He blows out a breath.
Feeling myself getting heated, I cross my arms over my chest. “Yeah, I’m going to need a little more than that. What happened to trusting each other?”
He frowns. “Harley, I trust you. I do. I just worry about you, and as your dad, I think I’m allowed to be worried.”
“You are. But after everything I’ve been through and all the conversations we’ve had, you know to just talk to me. That’s how we build a relationship. So just fucking tell me what the hell Vance was talking about.” I begin to raise my voice.
Ryker’s hand lands on my shoulder, and he gives it a reassuring squeeze, but I don’t look at him, instead choosing to keep my eyes on Gabe.
“Before we left, I asked everyone who was going to the warehouse, besides you and the boys, to kill before you could get a chance to. I didn’t want you tainted in that way. I didn’t want you dealing with even more when it was already so much.”
Closing my eyes, I inhale and then exhale. I want to understand, I want to tell him that he is just trying to be a good dad, but why wouldn't he tell me this? Why did it have to be another secret? I know I can get defensive, but am I really that bad?
Not ready to get into it or say something I shouldn’t, I just huff, “I need a minute.”
And then I walk away. Heading upstairs, I go to our guestroom where I know they have Oakley and find Brielle sitting in a chair next to her.
She smiles softly at me. “You alright?”
I nod and take the seat beside her. “How is she?” I ask.
Avoiding thinking about Gabe and what he just said, I try to shift my thoughts to Oakley and the other victims. I understand. I really do, yet a small part of me wants to be annoyed with him that it still kind of feels like he doesn’t think I can handle things.
Or he just wants to protect you, Harley, I remind myself.
“Hasn’t woken up yet, but she was severely dehydrated and malnourished, so we gave her another sedative late last night just to let her rest longer. We don’t know how long she was in the room you found her in,” Bri murmurs with a shrug. “It could’ve been days. We don’t know what they had her on, which worries me.”
“Pills. Opioids,” Nerds’s voice sounds from the doorway. He enters along with Gabe and my guys. “Based on what Noah said about how she was acting, that's my best guess. It also means they probably just cut her off for whatever reason.”
“More than likely as some kind of punishment,” Gabe seethes.
Letting my eyes fall shut, I inhale, hold, and then exhale. I know the kinds of torture these kids went through, and it’s so fucking unfair to all of us. All I want to do right now is destroy every person who has ever harmed any of them. Who has harmed me.
“Yeah,” Nerds sighs. Before he can continue talking, Oakley groans and moves her head around before very slowly blinking her eyes open.
“Oakley?” Bri asks gently as she stands and runs a hand over her clammy forehead.
Oakley sucks in a sharp breath, and her hand shoots up to grip Bri’s wrist. “Please. I need them. You can’t take them away anymore. Please!” she screams at Bri.
Based on the way Bri gasps, Oakley is squeezing her wrist pretty hard. Ryker moves to Bri’s side before anyone else can and helps pry her fingers off. Once she’s free, Bri steps back and Oakley mumbles incoherently. Her pupils are so dilated you can hardly see the steel blue color of her irises.
Stepping up to the bed, I say, “Hi, Oakley—”
Her eyes grow wide when she finally looks at me, and she cuts me off as she shoots up in the bed. “I told you no more! I told you to stop. You have to stop. They are mad. I took the blame this time, but next time—”
She reaches out for me, but Cade quickly yanks me back.
“Stop it! Stop it!” She keeps screaming it over and over again and begins rocking back and forth while scratching at her arms.
“What do we do?” Ryker asks, his eyes wide with panic.
Gabe steps forward and tries to get her attention, but she seems delirious and trapped in her head.
“We need to give her something.” Nerds says over her yelling.
“I don’t want to give her more sedatives. We can’t just keep her knocked out forever. She needs to eat and move. We aren’t a hospital and can’t do long-term sedation,” Bri chides.
Nerds shakes his head and looks down at Oakley. His eyes soften in understanding and then with one big deep breath, everything in the room changes. “I have some pills we can give her. That way she can become coherent enough to speak with us, and we can get information from her and figure out next steps.”
Nerds kept his eyes focused on the ground the whole time he spoke, but now he raises them and hesitantly looks at Gabe.
My brows dip in confusion as I also look over at Gabe, who is standing about ten feet from Nerds, a murderous yet look of extreme disappointment on his face. “What did you just say?” Gabe asks slowly, his voice low in anger.
“Rage—just, just let me—” Nerds stammers, but he shuts up with just a simple hand raise from Gabe.
“Okay, hang on, whatever this is needs to be paused for a moment,” Bri commands, fully in nurse mode. “If you have something, go get it now. We have to get her calm before she makes her arms bleed.”
Nerds nods and quickly leaves the room.
Gabe stands frozen just staring at the door Nerds just walked out of. I want to say something, but I don’t know where we stand right now, and I have a feeling Gabe is very on edge, so I leave him be and watch as Ryker and Bri continue to try to calm Oakley down.
“I’m going to run downstairs,” Grayson whispers in my ear. Looking back into his worried eyes, I nod and he leaves.
By the time Nerds comes back in carrying a bottle of pills squeezed tightly in his fist, Grayson also walks back in with Colton and Axe in tow.
Colton glances at the bottle of pills that Nerds hands Bri and frowns. “It’s Percocet,” Nerds explains.
Bri nods and takes out two pills, holding them out to Oakley. “Here you go, sweetie. You’ve done so well. Here’s these.”
Oakley’s eyes light up, and she snaps them up, swallowing them dry before Bri can even pick up a water bottle for her.
Oakley breathes out a sigh of relief and collapses back on the bed, seeming to just wait for the pills to take effect.
“Hallway. Now,” Gabe snaps to Nerds. “Bri, are you good with her?”
Bri nods and Gabe turns around to storm out to the hall, the rest of us following with Nerds coming out last.
Gabe immediately closes in on Nerds, shoving him against the wall. “What the fuck are you doing? What are you on? How long ago did you relapse? Where the fuck did you get the pills?” he yells in his face.
Holy shit. I’ve never seen Gabe like this before. His body shakes with fury, but after getting to know him over time, I can see how this fury comes from a place of concern. Like he has been down this path with Nerds before and finding out about these pills is really bad.