Wrench: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Inked Hunters MC) (Unbreakable Bad Boys Book 1)

by Sophia Gray

  “Once upon a time, there was a little princess in a dirty, filthy kingdom. She wasn’t really a princess, but she liked to pretend that she was, just for fun. One day, she was so caught up in her own head that she didn’t realize she was talking to a monster. The monster was very charming and very nice. He gave her an apple to eat, and well, you might be able to guess what happened next. The princess fell asleep and when she woke up, she was in chains in an awful dungeon, somewhere far from home.”

  Roxie shifted a little on the bed, clearly uncomfortable, her brow furrowing as she listened to Maya speak.

  “The monster visited the princess at night, sometimes during the day, and he’d do bad things to her. He hurt her. And he said he was going to cut her heart out because monsters like to destroy good, pure things. Because they’re scared of goodness. Because they’re terrified of beautiful girls.”

  A single tear fell from Roxie’s left eye, streaming down her face before falling down on the bedsheets below. But Maya kept going.

  “But the princess wasn’t just beautiful, she was strong. She was really, really strong. She managed to get out of her restraints and find a way out of the dungeon, running away across the forest and the fields until she got back to her palace. That’s the kind of princess she is,” Maya said softly, and Arsen could tell by the thick, strained way that she spoke that she was holding back tears herself, pausing to collect herself before speaking again.

  “And the monster is scared of the princess because she has the power to destroy him. She can make him into a tiny, insignificant little man again. That’s his true form. He’s just a little boy, playing with magic he doesn’t understand.”

  Roxie fumbled with the edge of her sheet, picking at it with her nails.

  “Do you know who that princess was?” Maya asked.

  Roxie shook her head, eyes flicking up to look at Maya for a single moment before going back down to her own lap.

  “It was me,” Maya said softly. “And you.”

  Roxie was very still for a long moment, frozen in place like a photograph, before a single, choked-off noise left her throat. A single sob—that was it. The next second, Roxie’s hand flew forward and grabbed Maya’s. Arsen could see, even from across the room, that she was clutching it as hard as she could, holding onto it like a lifeline.

  “Yeah, there you are; that’s the girl I knew you were,” Maya mumbled encouragingly, bringing her other hand forward to cover Roxie’s. “So strong.”

  “Am I?” Roxie asked, her voice hoarse. Arsen wondered if she had ever spoken while she was being held captive. It was as if her throat was relearning how to speak.

  “You are,” Maya said, sounding more confident and secure in her statement than Arsen had ever heard her. “You’re like me.”

  Arsen felt a weird sensation in his chest, like a painful bubble that grew in diameter the more he looked at Maya holding the battered teenager’s hand. She would make a good mother, he suddenly thought out of nowhere. The thought stung him like he’d been burned; he physically reared back and hit the wall behind his head, causing both Maya and Roxie to look over at him for a second before turning to stare at each other again. That’s a stupid thought, he said to himself silently. You’re not with Maya. You don’t have her, no matter how hard she fucks you. She’s not yours, not really. You have no future with her. You have no future at all.

  Roxie and Maya were quiet for several long minutes, just holding each other’s hands and trying not to cry, visibly fighting to hold back tears. Roxie opened her mouth and shut it a few times in quick succession, seeming to struggle to force words out. But Maya was patient, just sitting there, waiting rather than pushing for information.

  “I wasn’t far from home,” Roxie finally mumbled, using her free hand to rub at her own knees, scratching through the thin white sheet that covered them.

  “What?” Maya asked, an urgent tone seeping into her voice for the first time during this conversation.

  “The dungeon, where I was kept—it wasn’t far from my house. That’s why I was able to get back. I don’t…I don’t remember exactly where it was, but it was near my neighborhood, so I could walk back without getting on the subway,” Roxie said.

  There was a long pause where neither of them said anything, where Maya just rubbed the back of Roxie’s hand with her thumb. “Do you remember anything else?” Maya whispered after several moments.

  Roxie bit down on her lower lip and nodded slowly. “I can talk about it, if you want,” she whispered.

  “Only if you’re ready,” Maya said. “But it could really help us. It could help us find the monster. We can turn him into the little shrimp that he really is.”

  Roxie lifted her free hand and brought it close to her face, staring at the fresh scars that lined her young skin. “The last thing I remember, I was waiting for my friends after soccer practice. We were going to go to this pizza parlor for dinner. But this guy was there…he was selling stuff, like cotton candy and caramel apples and junk, like carnival food. He said it was for charity. My friends…my friends laughed him off. He looked so weird, just this weird middle-aged guy hanging out around the high school. I felt bad for him. So I bought something. I walked away and ate it and then…I woke up in a dark room, tied up.” Roxie paused and blew out her breath, struggling to keep herself composed well enough to keep telling her story. “I couldn’t tell when it was day or night because the room was so dark and the windows were covered. But I could tell there was a girl beside me, tied up. But she was knocked out, like she’d been there for weeks already. I tried to talk to her, but it never…she never answered.”

  Roxie took a long pause where she just sucked in air and breathed heavily, probably fighting off an impending panic attack, if Arsen’s experience with Maya was anything to go by. He was tempted to reach forward and take Roxie’s other hand, just to give her something to hold onto, but he was worried that she might panic at having a man touch her right now, so he held himself back. Maya patiently waited, a soft, encouraging smile on her face as she looked at Roxie.

  “He would come every couple of hours, I think. At some point, I thought, well, he must have a job where he can come and go as he likes because he’s always popping in and out of his own place. He’d come and untie me and do…stuff, and then he’d bring out his knife. He’d make little cuts at first, for the first couple of days. And then deeper. And then more deep, each day I was there,” she said, sighing heavily as she finished talking.

  “Did he ever talk to you?” Maya asked softly.

  Roxie nodded, visibly swallowing before she spoke again. “He said he was making a pie for God made up of the best ingredients, but that he’d take out my heart, give it to my parents for them to eat. He said they deserved that much,” she said with a humorless laugh that transformed into a sob halfway through.

  “Jesus,” Arsen whispered under his breath, softly enough that Roxie and Maya couldn’t hear him. He was just utterly disgusted, feeling the contents of his stomach twist around uncomfortably as a result of Roxie’s words, but Maya was calculating, her eyes burning with something that Arsen couldn’t identify. One thing was clear—she was taking everything in, grabbing as much ammunition as possible to use against the killer.

  “How did you get out?” Maya asked. “Did you get out of your bonds or…?

  “No,” Roxie said, a sad smile spreading across her face. “No, I couldn’t even do that. One day, when I was really weak, he took the bonds off my feet and massaged my ankles with some kind of oil. At first….it felt….nice, in a way, like maybe he was sorry for what he’d done.” Roxie paused to scoff, rolling her eyes at herself. “Ridiculous, right? No, I think it was just some part of the ritual, making sure I was pretty enough to be baked into a pie for God. Anyway, a couple days after that I realized what it meant. It’s so sad, right? It took me days, literally days, to realize that my feet being freed meant I could walk away. But I had to wait until I felt strong enough, otherwise I wouldn’t be able t
o get away fast enough. So one day, after he fed me and massaged my feet and left and I heard some door slam upstairs, I just started hobbling to where I saw this skinny little line of light. I figured it had to be the window, even though it was still covered up. I tore off the cover…and then I forced it open with my hands…” Roxie paused again, lifting her hands to show where the glass had cut up her skin. She visibly swallowed, her throat working hard as she collected herself before speaking again. “I just climbed out and broke into a run and didn’t stop running until….well, you know the rest.” Roxie tore her eyes away from Maya, cradling her forehead in her hand for a second before peeking out through her fingers. “You know what the worst part is? I knew there was another girl tied up in there.” She shook her head and dropped her hand, sighing deeply before meeting Maya’s eyes again. “And I didn’t do anything to help her.”

  “That’s not true, Roxie,” Maya whispered, shaking her head. “You’re helping her now by getting yourself out and telling us what happened. It’s the only way you could have helped. You couldn’t have carried the other girl out of the window and gotten away with her. He probably would have come back by the time you got her out of the house, and by now, he would’ve killed both of you just to punish you for trying. But now you’re here, and you’re helping. You’re being so brave, darling.” Even from across the room, Arsen could see Maya tighten her grip over Roxie’s hand, like she was clutching the girl to reality, keeping her from sliding off into the darkness again.

  “I guess…” Roxie murmured, though she didn’t sound entirely convinced, despite the overt sincerity of Maya’s words.

  “Do you remember where the dungeon was, Roxie? Where he kept you? Do you think you could show us where it is?” Maya asked after a short, loaded pause where the two young women just looked at each other.

  Roxie shook her head, her face falling like a wave of sadness just crashed over her. “No, I’m sorry. I just…I just ran, when I got out. I just ran until I found a road I recognized. I don’t think I could retrace my steps.”

  “That’s okay; that’s okay, Roxie,” Maya rushed to say, patting her hands lightly. “You’ve given us more than enough. Believe me.”

  Roxie licked her dried and cracked lips, staring across the room at Arsen for a second before looking back to Maya. “Will you find him? Will you save her?”

  Maya sighed a little before nodding. “I’m going to do everything in my power to save her. I promise, Roxie. And he’s going to pay for what he did to you. To all of you. This isn’t going to end here.”

  Roxie seemed to relax in response to Maya’s words, her body sinking further into the hospital bed like the tension in her muscles had evaporated. “Okay,” she whispered, and she dropped her free hand on top of Maya’s, squeezing it tightly. “Okay. Thank you.”

  “No, no,” Maya said, leaning over to press her lips against the top of Roxie’s forehead. “Thank you.”

  “Can I sleep now?” Roxie asked in a soft, low voice, almost like she was afraid to make the request. But Maya just smiled and nodded, getting up from the chair next to the bed.

  “Of course. You get some rest,” Maya said, finally dropping Roxie’s hands after the girl shut her eyes, her forehead scrunched up with worry even as her breathing slowly began deeper and more even.

  Arsen and Maya quietly left the room, walking down the hallway before even looking at each other. Arsen knew Maya didn’t want to give her opinion on the case close enough where Roxie might hear it, in case any further discussion of the murderer was a potential trigger for the traumatized girl. When they were at a safe distance, Arsen turned to face Maya, staring at her expectantly, waiting for her to present her analysis of the case.

  Instead, Maya stared up at him with more pain in her eyes than Arsen had ever seen her exhibit. “Take me home,” Maya said, rubbing her own arms up and down like she was freezing.

  “Okay,” Arsen said, his hands itching to reach forward and pull Maya into a hug. He held himself back, aware that sometimes Maya didn’t like to be touched when she was upset. And she was clearly upset right now, even though she was trying to hide it. That’s my girl, he thought to himself as he followed Maya back down the hospital hallway. Always trying to be strong.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Maya’s eyes burned all the way back to Arsen’s apartment. She fought as hard as she could to keep tears from filling her eyes. She wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t, at least not until she got into a private place. At the same time, she could feel anxiety coming off of Arsen, clearly worried about what to do. But Maya didn’t have the energy to reassure him right now. She felt like her insides were coming apart, all of her cells running away from each other in an effort to avoid being touched by anything. She wanted to run away from herself. She wanted to come out of her body, to rip all her flesh off and pretend that she had never been violated. But it wasn’t that easy, she knew. She’d have to stay in her body and force all of her organs to calm down, to stay put, to go on like normal. But not tonight, she knew. For at least one night, she’d give herself permission to let herself fall apart, whatever that meant.

  When they got back to Arsen’s apartment building, Maya broke into a brisk walk, wanting to get inside as quickly as possible. She expected Arsen to tell her to slow down, but instead, he just ran after her, getting ahead of her with his keys in his hand. He must have known how she felt, despite their lack of verbal communication on the ride back. Any other time, she would have felt annoyed at Arsen’s ability to understand her better than anyone else. It would have made her angry, even. But for now, she just felt relieved as he quickly unlocked the door and held it open for her, allowing her to step inside before him.

  She walked into the living room, clutching her own arms in an attempt to shrink into herself and take up as little space as possible. Arsen closed and locked the door before walking around her to the kitchen. “I’ll make us something to eat,” he said softly, going to the refrigerator.

  There was something about him just then. Maybe it was the fact that he was trying to take care of her. Maybe it was that he was trying to distract her. Maybe it was just the way he looked under the dim lighting of the kitchen, the way the light caught his eyes and seemed to make something inside of him shine like moonlight. All Maya knew was that her legs carried her forward of their own volition until she was standing right before Arsen, her hand reaching out to close the refrigerator before he could take anything out. “Maya?” he asked, his forehead wrinkling up in confusion as he looked at her, wordlessly inquiring about her intentions.

  “Arsen,” Maya said, stepping forward until there was no space between their bodies, their chests brushing up against each other. “Arsen, I need…I need….” She sighed and melted into him, pressing her head in the crook of his neck. She felt him stiffen next to her, obviously still confused and maybe even a little conflicted, but Maya didn’t care. She needed him right now, even if it made her a bad person, even if she was corrupt and rotten and broken inside. She already knew all those things about herself, but Arsen was the only thing that made her consider the possibility, however small, that maybe she didn’t have to change anything about herself.

  “What is it, baby?” Arsen whispered, his hand coming up to brush up against the back of Maya’s head, pressing her deeper into his body.

  “I need…to forget,” Maya sighed, wrapping her arms around Arsen’s body, clutching hard at his shoulders with her fingernails. “Please, please, I know it’s bad, but please. Help me forget.”

  “What do I—” Arsen started to say, but Maya cut him off with her mouth, pressing their lips together so hard it practically hurt. Arsen was passive beneath her touch for a long moment before she felt his body come roaring to life, turning them around so that he could press Maya against the kitchen counter next to the refrigerator, his hands finding the hem of Maya’s shirt and pressing his burning touch against her bare stomach and back.

  “Please,” Maya murmured into the space b
etween their mouths the second they pulled apart an inch. “Please, please, help me, help me, help, I need it,” she begged, but she didn’t have the capacity to feel ashamed of herself right now. She was entirely consumed by the desire to be fucked, to be held down, and to be overtaken and protected by Arsen’s capable hands.

  “I’m with you, baby. I’m with you,” Arsen whispered before melding their mouths together again, his tongue slipping in between her lips and massaging her insides gently yet firmly.

  Maya felt her hunger grow, bubbling up inside of her like a volcano, her hands pressing harder against his skin, shoving up underneath his shirt to get at his solid abdominal muscles. She scratched at his flesh, relishing the soft little moans that exited his mouth as she dug deeper into his skin. “Yeah, touch me, fuck me, do it,” she grunted as Arsen’s mouth traveled from her own lips down to her jawline, slipping down to the sensitive flesh of her neck.

  Arsen growled a little then, a low possessive noise that sent chills reverberating down Maya’s spine. He pulled back from her body for a second to tear her shirt over her head, doing the same to his own before pressing their heaving chests together as he slammed his mouth against hers. “So fucking hot. So fucking sexy, baby,” he muttered as he began applying a pathway of bites and licks and nibbles down the vein in Maya’s neck, mouthing at her collarbone until Maya squealed and grabbed the back of Arsen’s head with both hands.