by Lilly Atlas
“The doctor’s a woman, babe. A close friend. I promise she’ll be gentle and discreet. She’s used to dealing with…delicate situations.”
Fia nodded. “I trust you, Acer.”
She was a fool to give anyone her trust, but this wasn’t the time for that conversation.
Acer wedged the flat end of the crowbar under a corner of the metal plate that held Fia trapped. It wasn’t difficult; the plate was loose. Fia must have been working on it for days. Had she been in here much longer, she might have been able to pry it out. Pride at the way she fought to free herself flared. She could have easily given up, but she was a fighter through and through.
He slammed his foot down on the bar and the metal plate popped right out. He whirled around when a soft chuckle sounded behind him.
“Sure, it’s easy when you have a giant crowbar.” Her voice was weak, but now that she was free, it was growing stronger, and a tiny grin curved her pretty mouth.
He blinked at her. Christ, she was nothing short of amazing. Covered in bruises, sweat, and dirt, and obviously in pain, she was still able to bust his balls. So damned admirable. It was no wonder she’d turned his world upside down these past six months. He chuckled. “Smartass.”
It would take her a long time to heal, both physically and mentally, there was no question, but in that moment, with the small glimpse of the sassy Fia he was so drawn to, Acer had no doubt she would survive this ordeal.
Whether or not he would recover from the horrifying sight of her injured and chained to the floor like a dog was another question entirely. And the last question—what would he do about the burning need for revenge—well that was a question he had a firm answer to. Mike was a dead man walking.
~ ~ ~ ~
If it wasn’t for the reality of a physical agony and burning humiliation, Fia would have thought she was dreaming. Or maybe that she’d been held by a psychopath long enough she went crazy herself. But the agony and the heat in the house were too real to be conjured up by her mind.
“Fia?”
She jumped. Geez, was she doomed to be so skittish now?
She glanced up at Acer’s handsome face. He looked rattled and a bit unsure of himself. This was the first time she’d seen him looking anything other than strong and confident.
“Can I pick you up? Would you rather try to walk on your own?”
The thought of anyone, even Acer, touching her made her want to throw up. And that made her angry. For months, she’d craved his touch and now…
“I can do it myself.” Her voice sounded like someone had taken sandpaper to her vocal cords.
He frowned and a brief flash of hurt crossed his face, but he recovered in an instant.
Fia braced one hand against the wall and forced her legs to uncurl. As she rose to her feet, the cuff around her ankle shifted and the heavy metal rubbed her mistreated skin. She gasped. The area under the shackle burned with a raw intensity and a trickle of blood rolled down her foot, leaving an itchy path in its wake.
The waves of Acer’s fury were palpable. At his sides, his fists were clenched so tight veins popped out. She appreciated his restraint when he obviously wanted to snatch her up and run from the house.
She struggled to her full height and the room flipped upside down. “Woah.” She sucked in a breath and reached for the wall with both hands, needing a stable surface to ground her. Her legs shook so hard, her knees banged together. “Ouch.”
“Fia, please. You’re two seconds away from falling over. I swear on my life, hell I swear on my bike, I won’t hurt you.”
Acer’s sweatshirt fell well past her ass, down her mid-thighs, but, with a lack of undergarments, she still felt exposed and vulnerable. She sagged against the wall and a ghost of a smile twitched her lips. “So you value your bike more than your life?”
“Fia…”
The anguish in his voice was her undoing. She sighed. “I can’t walk. I’m too weak and dizzy.”
Before she finished her statement, Acer was at her side. One arm slid around her shoulders and the other slipped behind her knees. He lifted her in a hold so gentle, tears stung her eyes. Somehow, he managed to drape the metal chain over his shoulder so it hung in as painless a position as possible.
“Thank you.” She rested her head against his chest. Despite the intense temperature of the house, the warmth of his body comforted her. After days of harsh treatment, his tender touch was almost more than she could handle. She owed him so much more than she could ever repay. If he hadn’t been here tonight… She forced the sickening thought out of her mind.
“When is the last time you had anything to eat or drink?”
Fia shook her head against the firm muscles of his chest. She’d loved the way it had felt pressed against her as he rocked into her, so strong and sexy. Would she ever find anything sexy again? Was she doomed to live out the rest of her life fearing and detesting a man’s touch? What a depressing thought. “I…um…I haven’t eaten since I’ve been here. I had a little water today. No, wait—I think it was yesterday.” She shrugged. “I’m sorry, everything’s a blur in my head.”
“Fucking animal,” Acer ground out. He walked with her into the hallway and out into the dark night. Cold air washed over her and she shivered in his arms. “Do you want me to see if someone has a blanket?”
The genuine concern in his voice warmed her. He probably wouldn’t agree with her, but he was a damn good man. She was now well acquainted with the difference between good and bad men. “No. It’s chilly, but it was so hot in there that it feels really good.”
Acer grunted. “Fucker had all the doors and windows closed. Makes it like a pressure cooker.”
“Lila is on her way here. She’ll drive you guys to the hospital.” The unfamiliar voice startled her so bad she visibly flinched in Acer’s arms.
“Shhh, it’s okay, baby. Fia, this is Striker, he’s our VP. Lila is his wife, and she’s the physician I mentioned.”
Fia stared at the handsome man with disheveled dark hair and chocolate dark eyes who’d spoken. He stood about ten feet away and nodded at her, but didn’t make a move to get closer. His face was tight, angry, almost as angry looking as Acer’s.
Striker spoke again. “She’s going to take you in the employee entrance of the hospital. It’s much more discrete, and she can get you in and out without being seen by too many people.”
“Thank you,” Fia said. She did not want word of this getting out. Her family was well known enough that it had the potential to be splashed across national headlines.
A small sedan pulled up in front of the house and a petite, beautiful woman emerged. Striker met her at the curb and gave her a quick kiss before taking her hand and leading her up to where Acer stood with Fia.
Fia watched the effortless way with which the couple interacted and touched. She’d been like that once, but that easiness was wiped out in just three days. She didn’t feel comfortable in her own skin anymore, let alone with other people. She tolerated Acer’s touch in this moment because the alternative was falling flat on her face.
“Fia, is it? I’m Lila, his wife,” she said with a smile as she tilted her head in Striker’s direction. “We’re going to get you to the hospital so I can examine you and provide whatever treatment you might need.”
“Thank you,” Fia said. She must have said it fifty times in the last ten minutes. It was about all she had the energy to say; her reserves were draining fast. It wouldn’t be long before she fell asleep whether she wanted to or not.
The smile fled Lila’s face and she turned all business. “Acer, you are sweating like a pig. Why don’t you hand Fia off to Striker and he can load her in the car while you take a second to wipe off.”
“No!” Panic clawed at her at the thought of another man holding her. As soon as the word left her mouth, embarrassment flooded her. “Sorry,” she whispered.
Acer gave her a slight squeeze. “Thanks, Stitch, but as long as Fia doesn’t mind the smell, we’re go
od. I’ll ride with her in the back of your car. I left my phone and cut on the floor in there. Can someone grab it?”
“Got it.” Jester’s voice came from behind him.
Lila nodded. “Okay, let’s roll.”
“Close your eyes, babe. It will take us twenty minutes or so to get to the hospital. I won’t let you go until I’m sure you are awake and aware of what’s happening. Okay?”
Fia nodded and took a moment to study Acer’s face as he spoke to one of his MC brothers. Something would have happened with him three nights ago if they’d been able to meet up at her motel. Whether it would have just been another night of mind-blowing sex, she couldn’t say for sure. But she didn’t think so. The deep connection they seemed to share would have only been ignored for so long. No, she had a feeling something significant may have started between them that night.
Sadness lay on her as heavy as a lead blanket. Mike stole that chance from her. He stole a lot from her, but that might have been the greatest offense. Because now? Now she was damaged, emotionally and physically. And what man wanted a woman with so much baggage? Especially if there was a chance that woman had lost all ability to be intimate with a man. Not a confident, sexual man like Acer, that was for sure.
Despite her churning thoughts, her muscles finally relaxed into Acer’s hold. His comforting words gave her body the permission it needed to shut down for the first time in three days. She trusted he’d keep his word, keep her safe. Her heavy eyelids dropped closed and fatigue overwhelmed her. Plenty of time later to despair over missed opportunities.
Chapter Ten
Cool air blew from a vent in the ceiling and wafted down onto Fia’s mess of a body. It was wonderful to no longer be pouring sweat and sucking in hot, stale air. She felt a bit strange—disconnected and floaty. Lila had given her some pain medication and promised it wasn’t too strong. The prospect of being out of control terrified her, but the pain had subsided to a dull ache, and she had to admit the floaty feeling wasn’t unwelcome.
She’d take it. She’d pretty much take anything to be free.
The door pushed open at a slow pace and her body lurched. This new and oversensitive startle reflex was going to take some getting used to. Though she supposed she should cut herself at least a little slack since she’d only been free for two and a half hours.
Lila poked her head into the room. “Hey, sweetie, okay if I come in? I knocked but I don’t think you heard me.”
“Sorry, I was lost in thought.” She chuckled. “Or maybe that was the Vicodin. Please, come in.”
Lila stepped into the room. She’d changed from the jeans and T-shirt she’d had on when Fia first met her, and now wore a pair of green hospital scrubs. “How are you feeling?”
Fia sighed. Good question. She took inventory of her aches and pains. “Not too bad, physically. Whatever you gave me really helped with the discomfort.”
Lila sent her a sympathetic smile. “I know it’s not the same thing at all, but I was attacked and kidnapped about a year ago. I was luckier than you, but I know a little something about fear and trauma. So, if you need to talk, please consider me.”
Nothing but kindness and sincerity radiated from Lila’s gaze. From the moment she was rescued, every person Acer introduced her to had been above and beyond kind. Here she was, supposedly in the presence of dangerous motorcycle gang-bangers, and they couldn’t have been nicer. Couldn’t have treated her any better than they did. She tried to think of who, in her real life, would have had such compassion and taken such good care of her, and she came up blank. It was a sad commentary on her group of uppity friends.
“Thank you. My brain feels a little numb now, but I’m sure it’s all going to come crashing down around me at some point.”
Lila nodded. “Yeah, it probably will.”
“Is, um, did Acer stick around?” Lord, she sounded like a middle-schooler with a crush on the cool kid.
Lila laughed, a genuine full out laugh. “Is Acer still here? Honey, if I don’t let that man in here in the next thirty seconds, Striker might have to knock him out cold to keep him away. No man acts as anxious to see a woman as he is if she’s a stranger. You know him, don’t you?”
She knew him all right. Every sexy inch of him. Fia nodded.
“Well, it’s obviously your story to tell, and I’ll let him in here in a minute. I just wanted a private moment to go over a few medical details with you.” She turned to the computer on wheels next to Fia’s bed, typed in a password, and opened the electronic medical record.
Fia picked up the bed control unit and raised the head of the bed. “Lay it on me.”
Lila slipped into professional mode. “The rape kit came back positive. We collected enough DNA to send to the police if you’d like us to.”
Fia forced her face to remain neutral as she listened to Lila. Of course, the damn rape kit was positive. She was raped. She took a deep breath. Lila was just doing her job.
A soft hand wrapped around hers and squeezed. “I’ve given this speech more times than I should have to, but it never gets any easier. I’m so sorry this happened to you, Fia.”
“Thanks,” she managed to squeak out. What else was there to say? Everyone would be sorry it happened to her, and while she probably would have said the same thing to others, it didn’t help anything. Everyone’s sorrow wouldn’t diminish her pain or fear. It wouldn’t get rid of this new flare of anxiety she experienced every time a man came near her. She sighed. Again, not Lila’s fault. She just said what one says in these types of situations.
“I sent the swabs off to the lab with a rush request, but at this time of night, the best we can hope for is results in a few hours. I recommend you get tested again in a few weeks because some diseases can take longer to show up.”
Her stomach turned over. She hadn’t even thought about diseases. As if this situation wasn’t shitty enough, she now had to worry that Mike had left her with a horrific parting gift. Anger bubbled under the flat mask she forced her face to show. Rage was a hundred times preferable to the numbing fear and despondency she’d been battling for days. Rage she could work with.
“You have an IUD, so pregnancy isn’t an issue,” Lila continued.
Thank God.
“As for the rest, you’re severely dehydrated, which I’m sure comes as no surprise, so I’m going to keep you until tomorrow afternoon so I can give you a few more bags of fluids. The wound on your ankle was showing signs of a pretty significant infection, as were the burns on your torso. I cleaned and bandaged each of those wounds as well as started you on a broad-spectrum antibiotic that will basically knock out any type of skin infection. The MRI showed the bone is clear of infection, which is very good news. Other than that, it’s bruises and scrapes, which I’m sure are painful, but not life-threatening.”
The barrage of clinical details was just too much information to fully process. Half of her mind wasn’t fully convinced she was out of that house and safe. The other half was trying to process what to do now that she was free. There simply weren’t enough narcotic-soaked brain cells left to digest the mountain of medical data.
Lila plowed on, seeming unaware of the fact that half the information was falling right back out of Fia’s ears. “I strongly recommend counseling, Fia. These kinds of things are difficult to move past without help.”
Right, counseling. Because talking about it would be a piece of cake. Geeze, she sounded like an ungrateful bitch. Lila was amazing, and of course, she was right. How did someone get on with their life without some assistance after this kind of trauma? “Thank you for being so amazing about this, Lila, and for getting me in here without being seen. You don’t know me and didn’t have to go so far out of your way for me.”
“It wasn’t a problem at all, sweetie. You obviously mean something to Acer, so I’ll do anything I can to help because he means something to me. Now, I need to let him in before he self-destructs.” She winked.
Fia’s heart rate kicked up and she
smoothed a hand over her hair. It was a pointless gesture. He’d seen her when there was no lower to go, but she wanted to somehow erase the mental image of her in that house from his mind. A boxy hospital gown and ratty hair weren’t the way to do that.
If it was even possible for him to forget.
Lila returned with Acer and Striker in tow. Dark circles rimmed Acer’s eyes. He looked like he needed to sleep for a decade. He shouldered Striker out of his way and stood next to the bed. He lifted a hand as though to touch her, but dropped it back down to his side. Sadness swamped her. Just a week ago, she would have begged for that touch. Now, she was relieved he knew enough not to crowd her. Depressing.
“Hey, baby,” he whispered, his eyes bleak and stormy.
“Hi.”
“Hey, Fia,” Striker addressed her.
He stood at the foot of the bed with an arm around his wife’s shoulders. There they were again, the happy couple, relaxed and completely at ease with each other. Was there even a smidge of a chance for that in her future? “Hello, Striker.”
“Look,” Striker ran his free hand through his dark hair, mussing it further. “I hate to have to do this now, but I have to bring it up and I don’t know if I’ll see you again.” He sighed and flicked a glance toward his wife. “I need you to leave our involvement out of this, with the cops I mean.”
Beside him, Lila gasped and slapped his chest. “Striker! Now is not the time for this discussion. Geez, if I’d known you were going to talk about this, I would have made you wait in the hall.” She scowled and Fia couldn’t help but smile at her mamma bear proactive attitude toward her patient.
Striker gave Lila a look that would have had most people quivering in their shoes. Not his wife, though. She gave him her own obstinate look right back.
He relented first with a roll of his eyes. “Babe, there is no other time. Her parents will be here in a few hours.”