Now that the imminent danger of both the threat and her dying was over, she could feel the tension vibrating through Gunner. She was woozy from the drugs, and the adrenaline rush from earlier had most definitely passed.
The thought of seeing Key, Grace and Dare made her stomach clench. The fact that she couldn’t recall anything from the files Landon showed her made her angry, and the guilt about not telling Gunner or Jem about it was crushing.
“I hate seeing you look like that,” he said quietly. “I know you’re thinking about him.”
She couldn’t deny it.
“I will kill him, Avery.” He could barely get the words out. They were clipped, forced, coming through gritted teeth. It was the way he’d spoken to her when she and Jem were interrogating him, and she didn’t want that.
“No. You’ll go to jail.”
“It’ll be worth it.”
She pulled in a deep breath, despite the fact that it hurt, and blurted out, “I’m going to be the one to take him down. I’ll need all of S8 to do it, but I will be the one who disgraces him and pulls the trigger. It’s not just for me, Gunner. It’s for us. I won’t let anyone get between us again, and that’s exactly what he’s done.”
Her voice was firm and Gunner’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t say anything more. She closed her eyes and let the pain meds wash over her.
She wouldn’t remain a broken woman. She would save herself, Gunner and Section 8. And she would take the consequences, no matter what they were.
“I don’t want you taking on my burdens, Avery,” he said finally.
“Our burdens,” she told him, reached for his hand. The hum of the road quieted them both for the rest of the trip as she drifted in and out of sleep. She didn’t know how long it took to get to the next safe house, but she woke, blinked blearily as they pulled into a lit garage. Gunner watched the rearview mirror until the door closed firmly. She heard the beep of a house alarm and he said, “Dare and Grace are here. Jem and Key are close behind.”
“They have Drea?”
“Yeah, she’s safe.”
“Good.” She wished she could go into the house on her own steam, because that would go a long way in reassuring both Gunner and Dare that she was fine. Grace would know she was full of shit either way, but dealing with the men required a little more subterfuge.
Even if she could have walked on her own, Gunner wasn’t having it. He carried her the short distance from the attached garage through the doorway into the kitchen and finally into the living room where her brother and Grace waited.
“I’ve got the bedroom over here all set up,” she heard Grace say, then felt the woman’s cool palm grip hers. She knew if she looked into Grace’s eyes, she’d lose it, and so she didn’t. Just squeezed Grace’s hand and Grace squeezed back.
When Gunner put her down on the bed, Dare was hugging her gingerly. “Avery, fuck, you have no idea . . .”
His voice broke and she did know. They were the only family each other had, barring S8. And they’d only found each other months before. “I’m okay, Dare. I will be. Please . . . it’s not Gunner’s fault.”
He didn’t say anything about that. But he knew enough to avoid touching her in any of the places she’d been cut. He eased away from her, helped her back onto the pillows and she saw they were alone in the room. “Avery . . . don’t do that to me again.”
She’d feel the same way if Dare had done something like this. “I had reasons.”
“Not good enough. You’re my family.” He squeezed her hand. “You rest, okay? We’ll deal with all of it when you’re better. I don’t want you to worry. About anything.”
She nodded and then Grace was in the room and Dare was leaving. She grabbed Grace’s wrist, told her, “Don’t let them treat me like . . .”
“Like a woman?” Grace finished. “Good luck with that.”
There was a knock on the door and after Grace called, “Come in,” the door opened and Drea stuck her head in hesitantly.
“Sorry, I just wanted to see if you needed anything.”
Avery waved the woman in. “Grace, this is Drea. She’s the doctor who helped me.”
“We owe you, Drea.”
“And now I owe all of you.” Drea hugged her arms around herself.
“Seems to be an epidemic around here,” Grace murmured.
Chapter Twenty-one
Drea had stayed in the room with Avery and Grace until the meeting with the guys had broken up. Without Grace or Avery there—especially without Avery there—it hadn’t felt right.
But at least they were all in agreement that she needed a part in this. That none of them would ever rest if they’d been in her shoes.
Now Drea came out of the bedroom behind Grace, after Gunner went inside and closed the door. Grace took Dare’s hand and Jem motioned to the couch. “It pulls out. You can sleep there and I’ll take the chair, okay?”
He’d given Key the last bedroom, mainly because he needed to figure some shit out about their newest houseguest. He pulled out the bed—Grace had already put sheets on it, and put pillows and a comforter on the chair. When he finished, she stripped out of her jeans and crawled under the covers.
He snagged a pillow and made himself comfortable in the recliner closest to the door, his weapon tucked in by his side. The security cams were in easy viewing range and so far it was all quiet.
“Was Avery okay?” he asked.
“I think so. She and Grace have both been through a lot, it sounds like. They’re . . . nice. I didn’t expect them to be so nice to me,” she said honestly.
“They’re good judges of character.”
That got a small smile from her. “I feel like I’ve lived a thousand lifetimes in the past twenty-four hours.”
When she’d left the house, he’d destroyed her SIM card and left her phone behind. No reason to let the past follow her. A clean break was what was required and necessary, for her safety and her sanity.
Now he just needed to know what, exactly she was running from.
She wiped a tear away. “Sorry. Just . . . hearing Grace talk about what she went through and Avery . . . I know what she’s been through. Brought up a lot.”
She didn’t elaborate and he didn’t push. Hopefully, she’d talk to Grace and Avery about it, if for no other reason than catharsis.
He knew that Landon hadn’t raped Avery. But, as Drea had told Avery earlier, what he’d done to her was most definitely a violation. No mistake on that. “Did something similar happen to you, Drea?”
“In a way.” Her voice had that quiet strength he’d come to expect from her over the past twenty-four hours. He wondered if she’d always been this strong, or if life had forced that strength into her.
He didn’t push for a better answer. “Been a shitty couple of days for all of us.”
“Tomorrow, I can find someplace to stay. I have a bank account set up for this eventuality, and I have other IDs. I can use that for a while . . .” She trailed off. “Or, I mean, I’ll take care of Avery until she’s healed and then—”
“Drea, we don’t expect anything from you. We got you out of there because we compromised you. I didn’t know your ex watched your every move. It’s our fault and—”
“What? You’re not going to force me to perform medical services,” she asked wryly.
“Something like that.” He paused. “You were in danger back where we found you, but you’re in danger with us too.”
“Because whoever did that to Avery is still out there?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re not kicking me out?”
“No.”
She stared at him, her gaze a cross between grateful and suspicious. “I want to ask why, but really, I should just shut up and be grateful.”
“Why suspicious?”
“Because t
he last time I let someone help me out of a bad situation, I ended up in something much worse.” Her hands were fisted in front of her on the blanket. She was sitting up, refusing to get comfortable. She looked like she didn’t know the meaning of the word anymore.
He hated that. Wanted to make it his mission in life to make her goddamn smile, just for the way she’d helped Avery alone. “This isn’t anything like that, Drea. I can promise you that.”
And he could, because he had connections. He could make sure, even if shit rained down on S8, she could escape without a scratch.
“Don’t, please. Promises . . . I don’t believe them anymore. Just tell me you’ll try—I’ll believe that much more.”
“I’m a man of my word. I don’t think you’ve met many of them—any of them—so you might find it hard to recognize them. Recognize.”
She stilled and stared at him. Raised her chin like she wanted to defy him, but fuck it, he wouldn’t let her—not for something like this. “I’ll try.”
“Talk to me, baby. Tell me what I need to know. Always helps to know what I’m up against and why.”
“I figured,” she said softly. So reluctant and he couldn’t blame her.
He started, leading her. “What’s your connection to the OA?”
Drea stared up at him, her amber eyes troubled. “Danny’s my ex. Danny Laurel. He’s the enforcer of the New York chapter of the OA. Wherever I move, he’s got people . . . following me.”
“Because he doesn’t want to be your ex?”
She nodded, chewed her full bottom lip for a second. “You bought a world of trouble when you kidnapped me, Jem.”
“Don’t you worry about me.”
Her face clouded when he said that, but she schooled her expression quickly. “Right. Because this is what you do. You save people.”
“Right.”
“So you guys could just put me somewhere to start over. Maybe you know someone who could just switch the names on my medical license? It’s not like I didn’t earn it.”
“I know someone who could do that,” he agreed. “But if you stayed with us, you really wouldn’t need to. Course, you couldn’t work in a hospital either, but I’m betting we could keep you busy.”
She nodded, relaxed her hands a little.
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Tell me more about Danny. I know you didn’t just meet him one night and ended up not being able to shake him.”
“No, that’s not the way that happened. We went to school together in New York. I was raised in Hell’s Kitchen by my grandmother. At least until my mom got her shit together—pretended to. Grams never would’ve given up custody, but she had a bad heart. She died when I was twelve and I went to live with my mom. God, it was horrible.”
He’d been there. Wanted to get into bed with her and give her a hug, but couldn’t afford to let her stop talking. And if he got closer to her, he’d be kissing her.
“Danny was . . . he saved me when we were in high school. He got me out of my house when I was just a freshman. And I couldn’t have stayed there, not much longer. His father was a member of the OA, so Danny was a legacy, although he still had to prove himself. But his father didn’t care that Danny moved a girl into his bedroom. And I was never so grateful for that kind of permissiveness. When my mom came around, demanding I come back, Danny and his father . . . they made sure she was too scared to ever try to get me again. Talk about out of the frying pan.” She had her arms wrapped around her knees, and her hands were white because she clutched them together so hard. “At the time, I needed him. He was my whole goddamned world. And as long as he stayed that way, we were fine.”
Her voice got thin in the dark. He reached over and turned the light on dim, and she nodded her approval, looked around as if she expected to see Danny in the room. And Jem would motherfucking kill the bastard when he saw him. And he would make certain their paths did cross again.
“I tried to separate from him. He knew I wasn’t comfortable with the club stuff. Didn’t want to become anyone’s old lady in any way, shape or form. I had to pull myself up and out of that shit. Too much poverty. I had to break the cycle. And I did.”
“You were in the Army.”
She didn’t seem surprised that he knew. “I was a reservist. Paid for my schooling.”
“You lied about the loans.”
“You were doing background checks on me. I’m surprised you didn’t find that.”
He grinned. Held up his phone with her Army record. “I did.”
She shook her head. “Maybe I should’ve stayed in. Danny couldn’t touch me there.”
“So why didn’t you?”
She shrugged. Didn’t want to tell him, not yet, and he’d respect that as long as he could. But if it meant the OA would come knocking at his door sooner rather than later, Drea would have to spill.
“Danny’s still in New York, right?”
“Yeah, but he finds me every time, because of my medical license. I chose Tennessee because the charter’s pretty small. I figured they wouldn’t bother me all that much—their violence seemed pretty low-key. More petty stuff like robbery. Small-time. But it didn’t stay that way. They saw pretty quickly that taking care of me the way Danny wanted entitled them to a lot more of the club’s respect. Danny made sure they got in on some of the drug business. Pretty soon, I was on call constantly for them.”
“Dammit, Drea. You should’ve gotten out of there.”
She glanced at him. “I don’t like running. And I can take care of myself, you know. Those guys . . . they don’t force me to do anything but fix them up after they’ve been fighting. A few bullet holes here and there.”
“I’m sure dating’s a real bitch.”
“Honestly? I haven’t even bothered trying.”
“Worried about him?”
“More like burned by him. I dated him in high school and it’s still haunting me, Jem. One mistake like that and . . .” She shook her head. “It’s been thirteen years and I can’t shake him. My past will not stay past. Do you know what that’s like?”
He glanced up at the ceiling and gave a full-body sigh. “Little bit.”
“Did your brother really beat up three OAs?”
“Without breaking a sweat.” She gave a low whistle and he smiled. “Sometimes the good guys do win, you know.”
Of course, they had to have enough bad in them to do so, but he kept that part to himself. She’d discovered that already.
“You’ve got a lot of security here?” she asked now.
“You mean, besides me?”
Her next words were so soft he barely heard them, but they were enough to make him go cold. “If they find me, they’ll break my hand, smash it with a hammer until they pulverize the bones. And they make good on their threats.”
He was out of his chair and next to her in seconds, her hand in his as he stroked the nimble fingers. “I will kill them before they touch you.”
“Can’t keep me in your sight forever.”
“Watch me.” He got into bed with her. Pulled the covers off and yanked her close to him, her body so hot against his.
“Boundaries?” she inquired.
“Were made to be crossed,” he finished. “Consider yourself crossed.”
“Why don’t I mind hearing that from you?” she asked, then pulled him in for a kiss before he could do so first.
Chapter Twenty-two
A week passed. A week of Avery sleeping for most of the time, thanks to pain pills and Drea’s insistence that she listen to her body, because sleep equaled healing.
The antibiotics that were preventing infection were also not helping in the staying-awake department. She was aware that Gunner rarely left her side, only conceding when Drea and Grace came to check on her. They’d bathe her and change her bandages . . . didn’t make her feel helple
ss, which she appreciated, even though she was helpless, and more than a little high from the meds.
“Gunner’s mad I won’t let him do this,” she remembered saying.
“Honey, he understands,” Grace reassured her.
“Things are healing well,” Drea told her another time when Avery complained she was itchy.
Now she realized she was wide awake and staring at the ceiling. This was good that she wasn’t in a fog any longer, but she was still tired. And every time she closed her eyes, she saw Landon’s face. Heard his voice. It made her body throb more.
She glanced over at the night table, where Drea had left her pain pills. She’d started reducing them, with Drea’s help, and the two she’d taken earlier that afternoon had obviously worn off. Although she wanted to do it without their help, there was no way.
“No reason to suffer, baby. Take the goddamned pills.” Gunner’s voice, low and rough, still made her tingle, even now. She took that as a good sign.
“Here, let me.” The bed dipped and he came around to her side, fixed the pillows so she was more upright, which actually made the pain lessen. Then he handed her water and pills and watched her take them. “You hungry yet?”
“Not really.”
He produced some crackers that he must’ve brought in with him earlier. “Have a couple—can’t take too much of that shit on an empty stomach.”
“Thanks.” She nibbled on one as he got back into bed next to her. The glow from the TV was enough light, the house was alarmed and no one was getting past Jem or Key or Dare—she knew they’d be taking shifts watching the house tonight.
And obviously, Gunner wasn’t planning on sleeping. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
When the words slipped out, they surprised her. She hadn’t been thinking about S8 or anything like that, just eating the cracker. The pills hadn’t even started taking effect yet, so she couldn’t blame them. And even though what she said could’ve been construed as anything, Gunner knew exactly what she was talking about—she saw it in his eyes.
“Forget it. I don’t mean that,” she said quickly, but Gunner’s gaze held hers, his blue eyes locked on to hers.
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