21. Roxy
Roxy
I’m not sure if I ever went to sleep after they carried me upstairs to their apartment and put me into one of their beds. It feels like I’m more in a daze.
The scent of them surrounds me and I groan into the pillows. Heat creeps into my cheeks as flashes of last night surface. Squeezing my eyes shut as my stomach does flips.
Fuck. Something is seriously wrong with me.
The room is silent except for the distant thump of music vibrating from somewhere below, the Devils partying or fucking or whatever they do. Rolling onto my side, I hiss. The backs of my thighs feel tight, and I run my hands over where the cuts are.
Vaguely, I remember one of them holding me while I nuzzled into them, the other coming behind me and cleaning the wounds.
It fucking stung, the antiseptic cream making me whimper and weakly shove them away. They are dressed now, secured neatly against the skin.
Biting my lip, I nearly swoon over the memory. Which is fucked because they put the cuts there in the first place. I must be losing my damn mind.
Even the dark shirt that Kai, I think, pulled over me makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Like he wanted to see me in his clothes. His scent still clings to the fabric, and I feel high being able to sniff it whenever I want.
I drag the sleeve over my hand, hiding my face inside it, groaning.
“This is fucking ridiculous,” I mutter, even though no one is here.
I’ve known them for a few weeks, if that.
One kidnapped me! The other killed a man right before my very eyes.
So why does lying here without them feel wrong?
In a fluster, I shove aside the blankets and swing my legs off the bed. Each movement pulls at the cuts on my legs, grounding me as I scan the dark room.
“Nope,” I mutter, searching for my Ugg boots, hoping one of them thought to bring them up. “Absolutely not.”
I spot them in the corner, and practically sprint to slide them over my feet. I need to get out of here before they return. This whole mess is screwing with my head. How have my morals changed so much after that night, that I’m sleeping with the very people I swore off?
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I inhale Kai’s scent one more time before striding out of the apartment. Running away.
Each step winds down and down and down, taking me closer to the raucous noise and vibrating music. Are Kaleb and Kai down there partying? Celebrating?
For some reason, I already know the answer is no. Those two don’t party.
They’ll be down there somewhere talking logistics. So hopefully I can slip out without being noticed and get the space I so desperately need.
The heavy club door comes into view. But I notice a second door, opposite it. Holding my breath, I reach for the handle and ease it open.
Freezing cold air bites into me, stealing all warmth from my skin in a second. My teeth instantly start chattering, and goosebumps erupt beneath the oversized shirt. At the back of the club, factories loom all around. Relief floods me as I quickly dart out the door.
It’s sprinkling, but it’s light. I can survive until an Uber comes. Opening my phone, I request the first one I see without worrying about the price. I’d pay an arm and a leg for a moment of quiet right now.
My phone dings.
Your ride has been cancelled.
Fuck.
I request another, wrapping my arms tightly around my body while making my way to the front of the club.
Your ride has been cancelled.
“Motherfucker,” I grit out.
Every time I request one, it cancels. What the fuck is happening?
But I’m not stupid.
No driver in their right mind will venture out to the Devil's clubhouse. Especially not at two in the morning. Glaring at my phone, I see that the map pins my location with brutal accuracy, and I stare at it for half a beat before letting out a humourless laugh.
Yeah. Not happening.
Maybe I can have a sleepover with Maddy. Finally tell her about all my sexcapades and get everything off my chest. Turning, I make my way to the back door, but I run straight into a looming man.
A scream tears out of me as he shoves me against the side of the club.
“Roxanne fucking Kavanagh,” he drawls. “It’s been too long since I laid my eyes on you last. And here you are, hanging around the Devils like a little groupie whore.”
He laughs, and it’s a cruel sound.
In the darkness, it’s hard to make out his face. When the realisation hits me, I have to fight the urge to vomit.
“Harrison,” I gasp.
Another one of my fucking brother’s friends. Although he never touched me, because Jacob had claimed me as his, I’ve seen Harrison do some vile things to women. He’s about as fucked as a man could get, and being here, pressed against him, makes me sick.
“Let me go,” I growl, reaching for Kitty.
Only now do I realise, that I don’t fucking have Kitty. That I didn’t even bring her to the club. Stupid. So fucking stupid. I’ve grown complacent in only a few days. Grown used to my shadows and their skilled hands.
“Been watching this little clubhouse all night,” he drawls, a grin stretching across his face. “Didn’t think I’d find you gift-wrapped outside all on your own.” His head tilts. “Your brothers are going to love this.”
I scream, but no one inside would hear me over the music. So instead, I lift my knee, connecting instantly with his cock.
Doubling over, he curses, giving me enough space to slip from his grip and run. My slippers crunch over gravel, but it only takes a few seconds before he’s tackling me to the ground, rocks biting into my skin.
Distantly, I feel the wounds on my legs open up, along with new ones forming on my back.
“Fuckin’ bitch,” he roars, gripping my ankle and dragging me further away from the club.
Kicking and screaming, I thrash and fight against him. My hands grapple at the ground, skin tearing from my palms. Gravel bites into my skin, pain flaring through my body.
“Get the fuck off me!” I lash out blindly, my boot connecting with his forearm.
“Fuck!” he snarls.
His grip slips just enough for me to hit the ground, the breath whooshing from my lungs. Before I can scramble away, he’s towering over me again, face twisted with ugly anger. Flexing the arm I kicked, his lip curls into something terrifying.
“You should’ve stayed still, little Kavanagh.” He crouches, grabbing a fistful of my hair and forcing me to meet his eyes. “Jacob always had dibs on you. Always made claim to the little Kavanagh sister.” A cruel smile curves over his lips. “Well, Jacob isn’t here anymore.”
Sickness roils through me as his words land.
“Your brothers will get you back,” he says, his voice low and sickeningly calm. “Eventually.” His grip tightens, strands snapping under it. “What condition you’re in by then...” He gives a bored shrug. “That’s to be determined.”
One single tear rolls down my cheek as the fight dies inside of me.
My eyes fall closed and I prepare to endure whatever happens next.
But then... The pressure on my hair suddenly disappears.
Harrison grunts, stumbling sideways as someone tears him off me with enough force to send him sprawling across the gravel.
Instinct has me scrambling backwards, sobs heaving through me. A large body steps between us.
I see ink and leather before my eyes rise, and Ash stares down at me, eyes wild with unrestrained anger. The relief that courses through me is palpable.
“She’s ours,” Harrison snarls, pushing himself off the ground.
Ash fists the front of his shirt and lifts him like he’s nothing but a toy. The difference between the two men is insane. One, a man carved in muscle and leather, the other... Just a boy.
“What,” Ash murmurs quietly, “did you think you were doing?”
Harrison opens his mouth, but before words fall out, Ash’s fist crashes into his jaw. A satisfying crunch echoes through the night air, before he crashes to the ground with a pained moan.
He tries to crawl, real terror flashing in his eyes, but another pair of boots steps into my line of sight.
One of the twins.
No... Kai.
His face is devoid of any emotion. Staring at the man on the ground. Harrison whimpers, and the sound satisfies something dark inside of me. Kai’s boot lands against his ribs, and before I can see the rest of the show, Maddy bursts through the rear door, panic etching her face.
“Roxy!” she breathes, coming to my side.
She helps me up; my shaky legs barely holding me upright. “I’m okay,” I whisper.
Just.
She brushes the hair away from my face, eyes scanning me up and down.
“No, you’re not,” she grits out, a side of her that I haven’t seen before flashing in her eyes.
Numbly, I let her lead me to the club. To the party that falls on my deaf ears. Ash is behind us.
“The party’s finished,” he growls, and everyone listens. “Everyone out.”
“No way, Boss,” one of them cheers, a drunk slur in his voice. “We are just getting started!”
Ash narrows his eyes in the direction of the voice. “You have three fucking seconds to drop your drinks and your cocks before I start shooting.”
That gets them moving, believing every threat.
Ash waits until the last one leaves before shutting the heavy doors. His hands are balled into fists when he turns to face me.
“Sorry,” I whisper, unable to hold his wild eyes. “I was just going to duck home and...”
“No, Roxy,” he interrupts, his voice quiet. “I’m sorry.” He shoves his hands through his hair. “Fuck. What a fucking mess.”
It’s only now that I see the marks under his eyes and the strain in the way he moves.
He looks exhausted.
Maddy kneels in front of me, running a warm washcloth over my scraped knees and the fresh cuts that decorate my legs. This time, I barely feel it.
I feel weak. Tired and broken in a way that I’m not sure how I’ll recover.
My eyes drift to the exit, searching for Kai. Wondering what sort of punishment he is doling out to Harrison right now, just outside these walls. Is he dead yet? Crying and begging?
Fuck, I hope so.
The front door swings open, and we all turn to see Kaleb take one step inside. The second his eyes find me, he freezes. Slowly, his eyes slide down my body. To the blood and marks, ones that he didn’t cause. Back up to my knotted hair and dirt covering my body.
Goosebumps crawl over my skin as his eyes turn cold on mine.
“What happened?” His voice is a quiet murmur.
“Nothing,” I go to say.
At the same time, Maddy says, “She was attacked.”
Kaleb doesn’t look over to Maddy. Doesn’t look towards his boss. Those dark eyes remain on me. For one long moment, everything else disappears. The pain. The weakness. Just his gaze holding mine.
But then he turns.
Without a single word. Without a reaction. Just turns and walks straight back out the door. When it clicks shut behind him, my shoulders fall.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that.