Page 80 of Doc

Harlow

I felt like I was going to throw up, but I was too worried about Kelly to let the feeling take hold. My ribs hurt where Bronx had kicked me, so badly that it was hard to take a deep breath without wincing. When we’d returned to the living room and found Tag dead, Bronx had exploded in a violent rage. He’d wanted someone to suffer for his loss and had taken out his anguish by hitting me and ripping at my blouse like a wild animal. I’d fought back with everything I had, which had only angered him more.

I hadn’t been able to escape the knife, but I’d soon learned that he didn’t intend to kill me outright with it. The slices that he’d made on my upper body were superficial but painful, and he’d seemed to glean extreme pleasure every time he made me cry out, laughing like a madman before moving on to the next cut. I’d been helpless against him, and when I’d felt his erection against me, I’d known what he had planned next.

Bronx had me pinned to the floor, my arms restrained above my head, when he’d put the blade to my nipple. The look in his eyes had gone from rage to madness, his evil thoughts distorting his face. “I’m going to enjoy eating these nipples, and then I’m going to fuck you until you bleed.” Those were his final words to me, the commotion coming from the other room revealing that we were about to have company.

Bronx had then pulled me to my feet and held me in front of him as a shield with the knife at my throat as we waited for whatever was to come next.

Thank God Liam had appeared at the doorway.

For the first time I understood why these men did what they did to protect their families and people who they didn’t even know, people who had been wronged. After hearing Bronx confess that Kelly was his own daughter, I’d wanted to kill him myself, and was thankful that Savage had hurt him in a way that I would never have been able to. As Bronx groaned in what I could only guess was intense pain on the floor behind me, I was ashamed to feel satisfaction and redemption for Kelly.

“I want him dead,” I mumbled tearfully against Liam, not intending for him to hear the words.

“Don’t worry, he will be,” Liam murmured back in a muffled voice, his big arms wrapped around me.

He loosened one so that he could dig around for something in his pocket, and then brought out his phone. He scrolled and tapped on a contact. “Where the fuck are you?”

“Right here, Brother.”

We both looked over as Snake and Tamara stepped into the room. “Look what I found.” It was obvious from the firm grip that Snake had on Tamara’s arm that he’d forced her in with him. There was a knowing smirk on Snake’s face as Liam slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“The fuck?”

Everyone looked toward Cole, who was glaring toward Snake and Tamara.

You wouldn’t have thought that the precarious position Tamara had found herself in would cause a bright smile to spread across her face, but it did. “Hi, baby. I see you remember me.”

Cole ignored her. “So she’s the Tamara we heard was connected with Bronx.”

Savage growled, “You know this bitch?”

Snake was the one who responded. “Tamara here used to be a club whore, until she caused trouble a few years ago and then disappeared. Tried to come between Cole and Raven.”

“She obviously thinks she’s gonna walk away from this.” Savage’s tone matched the hardness on his face as he glared across the room at her.

“Not likely.” The coldness in Cole’s tone spoke volumes and there was a promise in his eyes that caused goosebumps to raise on my arms. He wanted to hurt this woman.

Tamara’s face fell. “Desert Rebels don’t kill women,” she said after a minute. I couldn’t believe how smug her comment seemed.

Snake snorted and grinned down at her. “There are exceptions to every rule.”

“Liam...”

I looked over to where Bronx was prone on the floor, his arms and legs bound behind him. Savage had taken some of the dirty bandages that I’d removed from Tag’s stump and stuffed them into his mouth. He looked like the defeated monster that he was.

“Yeah, I know, babe.” He glanced at Snake. “We need to find the girl we saw running away.”

“Think I know where she is.”

“Good. Get her. We’ll meet back at the truck.”

I spoke up, “Tell her I sent you, that you’re a friend of mine and Liam’s. And be careful with her, Snake. She’s been traumatized.”

He nodded and turned to leave. “Got it.”

“What about Monk?” Savage shouted at his retreating back. Snake had already left the room.