Exposed: Book 2 MAC Security Series

by Abigail Davies

  It was real. We really had made it out.

  “I shouldn’t have left her,” I whispered. Why had I left her? I’d just gone through the door and left her with that brute.

  “Sweetheart...” Shaking my head at Ty, I couldn’t quite meet his eyes while I was admitting that I’d just left her there. That poor innocent girl had been left with all those men. The lump in my throat became bigger and I desperately tried to hold back the sob that was bubbling up.

  Ty walked me over to Lindsey and we held each other tight, neither of us looking away from the door, waiting for Ava to come out.

  Corey walked out after what felt like hours, cradling Ava in his arms. He held her tight, her face buried into the crook of his neck as she clutched onto him. Rushing forward, I tried to check on her, but as soon as I touched her, she whimpered.

  “What happened?” I asked Corey, his eyes blazing in anger.

  Shaking his head, he walked straight out of the warehouse and into the truck. Not acknowledging anyone. What had he done to her?

  “Kay, we need to get you checked out. You all need to be checked out,” Ty said, coming up behind me. Nodding my head, I moved toward the truck, Lindsey still holding onto me.

  Hearing Serena shouting, I turned my head. “Just leave it,” Ty whispered in my ear.

  Closing my eyes at the sensation, I did what he said, knowing that if I was to see her face, I wouldn’t be able to hold back from hurting her again.

  “Ty,” I whispered, the lump in my throat becoming bigger. We were out, we were actually out.

  His arms opened and I turned, going straight to my safe place. His arms came around me and I snuggled into the nook that was specially shaped just for me. At least, that’s what I liked to tell myself.

  I was tired and drained, all I wanted was a bottle of water, my bed and a cuddle from Eli.

  I hadn’t even registered the fact that Corey was here, or how they’d found us. I didn’t even want to know why Daley was stood talking to Charlie.

  “Let’s get you checked out and then we can get you home.” Nodding into his chest, I let Ty lift me up into the passenger seat. His face coming so close to mine as he did my belt for me, that I couldn’t help but lift my hand up so I could run my fingers through his scruff.

  “I missed you,” I whispered, my eyes filling with tears.

  His brown eyes told me how much he’d missed me, without having to say a word. Leaning forward, he kissed me softly on the lips and leaned his forehead against mine.

  “I missed you too,” he said, his voice deep and gruff. “So much.”

  “Guys, I know you want a reunion and all that,” Corey said from the back. “But Ava needs to be checked out. Like, right now.”

  Pulling apart, Ty grinned at me and shut the door.

  For the next few hours, we were poked, prodded and examined. We’d all been split up; Ty stayed with me, Luke turned up and stayed outside Lindsey’s room and Ava still hadn’t let Corey go.

  They stitched me up and sent me for x-rays, telling me that I had two cracked ribs and a broken finger. Something that I could have told them without the x-rays. They wrapped my ribs and feet in bandages because of the abrasions and taped my two fingers together.

  All of the other injuries were just bruises and cuts that would heal with time. Though they wanted me to talk to a shrink but I refused. There was no way that I would be telling a stranger all about my life.

  Ty wouldn’t let me walk out of there so I hobbled into a wheel chair, my feet still sore from the cuts on them, only now, I was wearing a pair of hospital issued slippers so that gave me some relief.

  We all met back up in the waiting area and waited for Ava and Corey to come out.

  “Ava?” I whispered as they came through the doors.

  Corey shook his head at me and mouthed, ‘not right now’.

  Looking down at my knees, I frowned. It was all my fault. If I hadn’t left her there alone, she wouldn’t have been like this right now.

  We all went out to the truck and piled in, my head spinning with so many different things that I thought it would explode. All I wanted to do was see Eli but Ty told me that he was with Elena and Trevor at their house. Which was probably for the best because I wanted to get all the formal stuff out of the way first. Then I could concentrate on Eli, and getting better.

  Ty’s hand drifted over to my knee, looking down at his fingers drumming his beat, I smiled. I’d missed that, the constant rhythm. Reaching down, I ran my finger over the top of his hand, running along his knuckles and down his fingers. Turning his hand over, I placed my hand inside his and looked over at him.

  Without words, I knew exactly what he was thinking. I could see that he had lots of things whirling around in his head. Lifting our linked hands up to his mouth, he planted a gentle kiss on my hand and brought them back down to rest on my leg.

  The sight of the gates had me releasing a breath, my ribs screamed at the motion but I didn’t care. This place really was home.

  You know that feeling, where everything just seems fine, even when it wasn’t? That’s how I felt when I came into the compound. That no matter what was going on, as long as I had the people behind these gates, everything would be fine.

  It was pure torture listening to Kay give her statement. Every little thing that she said made me angrier and fed to the need to find Max. I wished I could go back to change it all and for her not to get hurt again; to do more to protect her.

  I hadn’t been there the first time he’d done this to her and I hadn’t been there this time.

  The only difference between this time and last time was that she was more confident in herself. I could tell that she was being strong for Lindsey and Ava but she was also being strong for herself. Only time would tell how affected she would be by all of this, I just hoped that we’d be able to move past it all and start a fresh.

  Charlie assured all of them that Serena and Max were being charged and wouldn’t get away with any of this. It was one less thing that we all had to worry about, the only downside being that I wouldn’t be able to get my hands on Max.

  Time. I’d wait. I’d wait for twenty years if I had to but he wouldn’t get away with.

  “What will happen now?” Kay asked Charlie.

  “A social worker will be here soon to talk to you,” he said to Lindsey and Ava.

  “They’re going to be put into the system?” Kay gasped. Charlie looked away, not confirming or denying. She looked over at Lindsey and Ava, wide eyed.

  “It’s fine,” Lindsey said. “I’d rather be anywhere but there anyway.”

  She didn’t seem to bothered by it, but Ava, she was freaking out. She looked around the room, searching for something. Her guttural sob bounced off the walls and I could practically see Kay’s heart break at the sound.

  “Ava?” Kay whispered. She leaned closer to her as she whispered something back and frowned.

  Turning her head to me, and then looking at Corey who was stood behind me, she tilted her head at him and he moved forward, crouching down in front of Ava. Whatever had happened inside that place when Corey went to get her, must have been bad. Her face was full of bruises and she hadn’t stopped shaking.

  I saw the door handle move out of the corner of my eye and jumped up just as it flung open.

  “Mama!” Eli shouted, running at her, a huge grin on his face. He stopped right in front of her, scanning her body from head to toe. His little face scrunched up as he moved his hand forward, cupping her cheek.

  “What happened?” his little voice asked.

  “Mama got hurt. But I’m fine now, sweetie,” she said softly, turning her face and kissing his hand.

  Corey stood, helping Ava up and looked over to me. “I’m taking her back to the house to get some rest.”

  Nodding, I moved over to sit next to Kay, bringing Eli up onto my lap. “We need to be extra careful, bud,” I said when he tried to move closer to her.

  I spotted Ma stood at the door
and I nodded, letting her know that it was okay.

  “Lindsey? Would you like to wait out in the warehouse with me?” Charlie said, standing up and waiting by the door. Lindsey stood up, giving Kay a small smile before she followed Charlie out of the room.

  “Right!” Kay announced. “Now that all of that is over, who wants to make popcorn and watch a movie?”

  Shaking my head, I smiled. That was the woman that she’d grown into, she’d come such a long way. Even after all that she’d just been through, she was still putting on a brave face. Remembering back to the last time she was in this office, after Max had hurt her, to now. The difference was incredible.

  “You can choose the movie, mama,” Eli said as I put him down on the floor. Pushing up off the couch, I held my hand out and helped Kay up. She let a small groan slip but just smiled it off and squeezed my hand.

  “Hmmm, I think I want to watch, spider man,” she said, limping to the door.

  “Really?” Eli asked slipping his hand inside Kay’s.

  “Yep!”

  We walked slowly through the warehouse, Kay stopping to talk to Lindsey who was on her way to the station with Charlie.

  “Social worker is gonna meet us at the station,” he said to me.

  “Thought she was coming here?” I asked, keeping my eyes on Kay.

  “She was but I think Ava needs some more time.” He looked around, not wanting to say what we were all thinking. She still hadn’t given her statement yet so we had no idea what had happened to her.

  “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” I nodded.

  Lindsey walked back over to Charlie after her and Kay had hugged, and gave me a nod before she walked off.

  “I’ll be over tomorrow,” Charlie said before he walked off. I watched as he gave Kay a hug, whispering something to her before following Lindsey out of the warehouse.

  Kay turned and smiled, looking down at Eli and then back up to me. “Ready?”

  Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I said. “Always ready for you.” Winking, I moved forward, wrapping my arm around her shoulder.

  Having her back made our little family complete, only time would tell how we would move on from here. I hoped we could move past everything and start again, this time without all of the drama.

  Things had settled down after being home for a couple of days, with me they had anyway. Ava still hadn’t come out of the room that Corey had taken her to and we were all worried about her.

  Charlie had said yesterday that he couldn’t give her much longer, not only did he need a statement, but the social worker had to find her a foster home.

  “Has she still not come out of her room?” Elena asked on the fourth morning.

  Ty had taken Eli to preschool while Elena came around for a visit. I loved having her come over, not only was she easy to talk to, but she understood some of the things that I was going through. She hadn’t told me specifics but just the way that she said she understood, and the look in her eyes, let’s me know that she was telling the truth.

  “No.” I shook my head, lifting the coffee cup up to my mouth, taking a sip. “She’ll only answer to Corey.”

  “She needs to come out of there sooner or later.”

  “I know,” I huffed. I didn’t know how to try and get her out of there. I was spending all of my time and energy on making sure Eli didn’t see how much it had affected me and that in itself wasn’t easy.

  Elena pushed her chair back, placing her cup down and standing up. “Let me try.” She smirked.

  With wide eyes, I followed her out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She was actually going to go in there, I couldn’t believe that she was doing this. I’d wanted to do it, but to be honest, I didn’t think I was strong enough mentally. Yet.

  She knocked on the door and pushed it open, the room was so dark that I had to wait a couple of seconds before my eyes adjusted.

  “Ava?” she asked softly, walking into the room. “Time to get up now, honey.”

  She walked over to the windows, pulling open the curtains and looked at the bed. I followed her eyes and saw Ava lay in the middle of the bed, the blankets wrapped around her tightly as she stared at the wall. Her eyes bloodshot, making me wonder if she’d had any sleep at all over the past couple of days.

  “Let’s get you showered and changed. You’ll feel much better.” Elena sat down on the bed, lifting her hand and stroking some hair out of Ava’s face.

  “I’ll never be clean again,” she whispered, her voice so raw that I winced. I could see that she was in pain, not just physically, I recognized that look in her eyes. The one that said she’d never be the same again.

  Elena looked back at me, silently asking what she was talking about. I shrugged, having no idea. She still hadn’t told any of us what had happened, I had a feeling that Corey knew but even he wasn’t saying anything.

  “Let’s at least try though, honey.” I watched as Elena kept trying to coax her out of the bed, Ava not moving at all, not even her eyes moved from the spot on the wall that she was staring at.

  I leaned back against the wall, waiting her out. The longer I stood here, the more my resolve grew, she couldn’t stay in here forever. If I had to be cruel to be kind, then that’s what I’d do.

  “What are you doing?” A voice growled from behind me.

  I startled. “Corey! Jeez you scared the life out of me.” My hand was clutching onto my chest as I looked over at him stood in the doorway, his body filling the whole frame.

  “What are you doing?” he asked again.

  “Ava needs to have a shower and come out of this room,” Elena answered. Standing up she gave Corey the ‘mom’ look and dared him to tell her any different.

  He looked at all of us in turn, his eyes finally landing on Ava.

  Moving forward, he sat down on the other side of the bed, his hand touching her arm. “Ava? Elena’s right,” he said softly.

  I’d missed Corey so much and we still hadn’t had a proper talk since he’d been back. Not that I minded, I still had to talk with Ty. He may have thought that I wasn’t going to bring Serena up again but he was wrong. I wanted to know everything, not just what she had told me.

  Corey reached forward and helped lift Ava up off the bed slowly, she didn’t move, her body limp. He carried her to the bathroom, her head going to his chest, with Elena following right behind her.

  “You can go now,” she said to him when they were in the bathroom.

  I waited for Corey to come back out and walked down the stairs with him. “She’ll be okay,” I said when we were both in the kitchen and sat at the table.

  “I know,” he huffed. “She won’t last in the system though, sis.”

  Nodding, I agreed. She needed to be around people who understood her, not with people who didn’t care.

  “Anyway, what do you say that me and you go out and get something to eat? I’ll ask Elena to watch Ava,” I asked, hopeful.

  He grinned for what felt like the first time in forever, his hand slid across the table, grasping mine and squeezing slightly. “Yeah,” he replied. “Let’s catch up. Just the two of us.”

  I didn’t want to go out anywhere so we went to a drive through, got some burgers and then drove up to the spot that Corey always used to take me. Moaning at the first taste of my burger, I couldn’t help but close my eyes at the taste.

  I’d never missed food so much in my entire life and I savored every bite. I moved my eyes to Corey, grinning wide with a mouth full of food at his chuckle.

  “Some things never change.” He bit into his own burger, moaning at the taste just like I had.

  “See,” I said once I had swallowed my bite, and raised my brows at him. The burgers at that place were the best and it was all I could do to stop myself from eating one after another.

  We sat and ate in silence, both of us just gazing out of the window. It was nice, to just be sat with someone and know that you didn’t have to say anything.

  “So…” he sa
id, breaking the silence after ten minutes. “You and Ty, huh?”

  I cleared my throat, knowing that this was going to come up at some stage. It was inevitable, Corey had always been protective and now he knew the truth about Max, I had a feeling he would be even worse.

  “Yeah,” I said, flicking my eyes over to him. “I know he’s your friend-”

  “Does he treat you right?” he interrupted.

  “Yeah.” I sighed wistfully. “He really does.”

  “Then as long as you’re happy…” He shrugged. “I’m okay with it.”

  I raised a brow at him because even if he wasn’t happy with it, I had a feeling that Ty wouldn’t care. To be honest, it wouldn’t have made the slightest bit of difference to me either.

  After the elephant in the room had been spoken about, we talked about everything. It was good to get my brother back, have him physically in front of me instead of on a computer screen.

  I didn’t want to think about how long he would be here before he’d have to go away again. I pushed all of those thoughts to the back of my mind, not worrying about them until the time came.

  We spoke about Eli and all the stuff they’d got up to while I was ‘away’. Then talk turned to how I was doing on the jobs and whether I’d learned to shoot a gun yet.

  Telling me about when he first met Eli, I giggled and said, “I would have loved to have seen your face.”

  “I was shitting myself, honestly, sis. I freaked the fuck out.” He shook his head, his face turning bright read.

  I grabbed my side as a pain shot through me from giggling so much. Damn, that hurt.

  “Careful, sis,” he warned, pulling up to the compound gates.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” I huffed. If he wasn’t so funny then I wouldn’t be laughing in the first place, ergo, I wouldn’t be in pain. So it was his fault. That logic worked, right?

  But seriously, I could just imagine his face. Eli didn’t seem fazed by it so why had he freaked out? I was sad that I’d missed it but I told myself that it wouldn’t do me any good to wallow about it, I wanted to move on from everything that had happened. The only way I’d be able to do it was if I forgot about the past and focused on the present and the future.