5. Connor
5
Connor
M y gut tightened as I watched through the door. I’d had to leave when she told us who her brothers were. The rage in me would’ve scared her even more.
Ivette wrapped her arm around the woman. Shit, we still didn’t know her name. She’d been in such a panic, I forgot to ask.
She accepted the comfort, but she was stiff. Her shoulders taut as she stared blindly at the wall. Her nails dug into the back of her hand as she held them tightly in her lap. I could see the indent marks from here in the hallway.
She was so fragile. But I couldn’t deny she was also fucking beautiful. I was a sick bastard for even noticing.
“Fucking Craig McCabe.” Maverick cursed, running his fingers through his buzzed hair. “We should have fucking killed him.”
As I stared at the bruises on her neck, I agreed. But that wasn’t the first thing that had to happen.
“We have to tell her.” Addressing my brothers, I turned my back to the door.
My hand went automatically into my pocket. My fingertips ran over the deck of cards I always kept there. The corners were old and worn. It was a habit that had brought me comfort for years. I wondered if she’d known a moment of comfort in her life.
“We can’t.” Reid gestured violently towards the office, but he kept his voice a whisper like we did. “She’s barely hanging on. What do you think will happen when she realizes everything Simon did to her was for nothing? She’s survived because she thinks she was saving her brothers.”
“Fuck.” Maverick’s jaw clenched. “If she learns Aaron and Craig are the biggest sex traffickers in the state, she’ll break.”
We were supposed to be rid of them. We’d driven them out of the club and our town. Last I’d heard, Aaron was in Sayton City, trying to set up shop. I guess Craig had stayed here. Became a festering sore on our backs.
Reid glanced towards her, clouds churning behind his gaze. “She’s only been able to justify everything because she had something to hang onto. We can’t take that away from her.”
Motherfucker!
“Do you…” I swallowed past the tightening of my throat. “Do you think they sold her?”
No one said a word, but the hard set of their jaws was all the answer I needed.
Her own fucking brothers.
Looking at the men in front of me, it confirmed what I already knew. Blood meant nothing. Trust and loyalty were the essence of a family.
I had no idea where I’d be without my brothers. They’d saved me. Pulled me from the edge. From the pit of loneliness I lived in.
Now, I had a life. A reason.
“It doesn’t make sense.” I turned my gaze to Maverick as he spoke. “How could it happen without her knowing?”
“You saw her, man.” I sighed. “She was drugged. He’s probably kept her like that the whole time. She’s lucky it was just GHB. He could’ve gotten her addicted to something else.”
Somehow, she’d been protected from the truth. And I intended it to stay that way. This urge to keep her safe spread from somewhere in my chest until it took over every part of me. It was deep and warm. Something akin to what I felt from my brothers.
“I’m going to enjoy destroying him.” Maverick’s smile was evil, sending a shiver down my spine. We were all a little off; he had a desire for violence I didn’t feel. But in this moment, I understood it.
“Later.” Reid moved past us, stepping into the room again.
Her body visibly flinched as we approached. Her eyes filled with fear. Anger churned in my stomach. I hated that terror was her natural reaction.
I leaned against the desk, trying to make myself appear smaller. Maverick dropped into the chair next to me. Reid hovered by the door like he was ready to bolt.
“What’s your name, little bloom?”
She avoided eye contact, her gaze fixed on the floor. “Violet.”
I suppressed a smile. The floral nickname could’ve been a weird coincidence, instead it seemed like fate.
“Violet.” Her head shot up. Her eyes focusing on Reid. His voice commanded the attention. “Your brothers are safe.”
“You don’t know that.” A whimper fall from her lips. It made me think of the sounds that had escaped her in that room. My guts clenched. I loathed myself for touching her. For not realizing sooner that she hadn’t consented. “Please, just let me go back to him.”
My teeth snapped together. I hated the sound of her pleas. Hated that she was so brainwashed.
Her eyes swept around the office, looking for the weak link. For one of us to break. But we wouldn’t. We couldn’t. Simon would be dead soon; there was nobody for her to go back to.
“We can’t do that.” Maverick spoke to the desperation in her gaze.
A tear slip down her cheek. My heart jerked in my chest. The strings that sewed it together seemed to come undone at the sight.
I wanted to wipe it away. Gather her in my arms and promise she was okay. I wanted to keep her.
But I couldn’t. We couldn’t.
Violet wasn’t for us. She was too sweet. She deserved better than a couple of criminals.
“I want to go home.” I wondered how many times she’d said those words before. How often they’d been ignored.
“We’ll take you.” Her lips parted as she looked at me with surprise. She didn’t trust us. She thought we were going to hurt her like Simon. And I couldn’t blame her.
“But first, we’ve called a doctor. Why don’t—.”
“No!” She shouted, cutting off Reid. Jumping to her feet, she lunged towards the door. “I want to go now!”
It was as if our tiny sign of hope had sparked something inside her. Like she had to grasp onto her freedom before it was ripped away again.
He held his hands up in a calm down gesture. “Okay.”
Violet stood in the middle of the room, swaying and shaking in fear. She wanted to leave, but Reid was by the door. She didn’t want to get close.
“Why don’t you clean up first?” Maverick suggested. “There’s a shower—.”
“No!” Her scream echoed in my soul. “You’re just like him. You’re trying to trap me!” She collapsed to the ground. Her legs drew to her chest, her arms encircled them. “No. No. No.”
She repeated the words over and over again like she was making up for all the time she hadn’t said them. Another string around my heart snapped. The organ tried to jump out of my chest to comfort her.
“Okay.” I looked at my brothers and they nodded. “We’re going to take you home. Right now.”
“Really?” Those beautiful green eyes rounded, hope filled them.
I’d do anything in the world to protect that hope. To make sure it was never crushed again.