At the mention of the departed dog, Alex whimpered. “I’m sorry, babe. I’m so fucking sorry,” I muttered over my shoulder. When she didn’t respond, I went on to the sink. I ripped my shirt over my head, wiping some of the blood off my arms. As I turned on the hot water, I craned my neck to watch what Rev was doing.
Taking a knife from his pocket, he slowly approached Alex. “Alexandra, it’s Rev. Will you let me cut you down?”
She stared at him with eyes like a wild animal that had been caged. But Rev didn’t back down. He kept inching closer and closer to her. “None of us are going to hurt you. I want to cut you down, so we can get you out of here and back to the compound. You’ll be safe there, and we’ll take good care of you.” Rev spoke evenly and in a soothing tone. Finally, it seemed to be getting through to Alex.
“I’m going to cut you free now.” She eyed him warily, but she didn’t try to move away. Rev sawed at the bindings that held her to the kitchen light fixture. When she was free, he eased her arms down, rubbing them to help the blood flow back into them. “Will you let me cut the gag now?”
Slowly, she nodded her head. He reached behind her and sliced the cloth. He peeled it gently away from her mouth. Tenderly, he rubbed her cheeks, which were lined red where the gag had been. “Go get her a blanket, B,” Rev instructed.
Bishop nodded and disappeared into the living room. Now that she was down and being comforted by Rev, I dipped my head under the water to wash away the blood. I was only halfway through rinsing my face and hair when I heard Alex scream my name. I jerked up, water cascading down my back. “Deacon!” she cried again.
I didn’t even bother with a towel. All I cared about was getting to her. When I reached the table, she dove into my arms, pressing her face against my bare chest. “Shh. I’m here. It’s all right,” I said. I tried not to wince as she dug her fingernails into the skin over my shoulder blades. I didn’t think she was going to be satisfied until she had completely climbed into my skin.
“He wanted to draw you out—he wanted to use me to draw you out so he could hurt you.”
Pulling back, I stared into her face. “What are you talking about?”
“The man said his boss wanted to draw you out. That he couldn’t get to Willow, so he had come for me.” Her wild gaze met mine. “Don’t let him get to you, Deacon.” She gripped my shoulders tighter. “Promise me no matter what that you’ll stay safe.”
“I promise,” I said, fully aware I was lying through my teeth. Now that Sigel had struck against me, there was no way I could promise her I would be safe.
Bishop returned with the blanket, and I wrapped it around Alex as well as I could before I reached down to grab her up in my arms. As I cradled her to my chest, my gaze swept over to Rev and Bishop. “Will you two get some of her stuff together? Take care of the dog and all this mess. I’m going to get her back to the compound.”
Bishop nodded while Rev jerked his chin over to where Alex’s attacker remained unconscious. “What about him?”
My lip curled in disgust. “Case and Mac can get him back to the compound, but no one touches him except me.”
“Okay,” Rev replied. As I started to the door, I felt Rev’s hand on my back. “Take good care of her, D.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I took in his agonized expression. Part of it was worry for Alexandra, for me, and for the club. But another part held his own private anguish at the way Alex had called for me, reached for me, as if I were her only way to breathe again. The last strands of her sanity. I knew that had to fucking hurt. But the man was better than I was, always had been. “You have my word.”
Once I got outside, I found Crazy Ace and an out-of-town member, Sidewinder, waiting by the bikes. “I need one of you guys on escort back to the compound.”
“You got it,” Sidewinder said. He slid across the seat of his bike as I started down the street to the car. I found an out-of-town prospect standing beside the car, watching over it. He hustled to open up the door for me. When I tried to deposit Alex over in the bucket seat, she gripped my shoulders and molded herself tighter against me.
“Babe, I gotta drive.”
Her breath came in frightened pants against my neck. “Don’t let me go, Deacon. I’ll fall apart if you don’t hold me together.”
Crazy Ace came to my side. He took the keys from my hand and then opened the back door. “I got it, Sarge.”
“Thanks, man.”
As best I could with Alex in my arms, I dipped down onto the seat. Once we were inside, Crazy Ace closed the door and then slid behind the steering wheel. As we started down the road, Alex’s silent tears began to fall on my bare chest. Easing her back, I stared into her eyes. “Talk to me, babe.”
She drew in a ragged breath. “I’m sorry I can’t stop crying. I hurt so bad,” she moaned.
I knew she had to be in extreme pain from the welts on her body, coupled with the strain of being tied up. I didn’t know what else that fucker had done to her. I didn’t want to think what else he could have done that made her hurt. “I promise the minute we get back to the compound, we’ll get you some drugs.” I brushed the sweatand tear-soaked strands of hair out of her face. “Until then, you fucking cry all you want.”
My words caused her lips to tremble, and the waterworks started again. I spoke in low tones to her, reminding her of little things about her time with Willow. It seemed to soothe her a little, and her tears had almost stopped by the time we turned onto the familiar road to home.