Page 81 of Doc

“Bled out!” he yelled back.

The next thing I heard was the door slamming, and instantly Tamara made a move.

“Don’t even think about it.” Cole aimed his gun at her. “I remember all the fucking shit you pulled on me and Raven, and the fact that you and Junior tried to take down the club has sealed your fate. You should have stayed gone.” The hate was evident in his tone, and I got the sense that he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her.

Panic wasn’t a good look on Tamara’s pale face. “He made me—”

I could have spoken up about her eager participation in the entire ordeal but didn’t need to. It was clear that no one believed anything she said.

“Shut it! Or you’ll get the same fucking treatment he got.”

Her gaze moved over to Bronx. Part of the dirty bandage was hanging out of his mouth, and it was saturated with blood. Tamara’s eyes widened as for the first time she seemed to realize just how much trouble she was in.

“I could be an asset—”

With a snarl, Savage drew his knife and took a threatening step in her direction. She held up her hand and stepped back against the wall, her expression clearly terrified now. “Okay! Okay!”

Savage paused, staring at her as if he were trying to decide if she’d finally gotten the message and could be trusted to keep quiet. After a minute, he sheathed his knife. I relaxed into Liam with a loud sigh.

“I love you.” The arms tightening around me caused me pain, but I didn’t care. It was almost over, and I never wanted to leave his arms again.

His hands were gentle as he carefully pushed me away from him. He ran a sweeping gaze down my body, a muscle clenching in his jaw. “Let me look at you. Where do you hurt the most?”

“My ribs.”

It was easy for him to push my blouse out of the way considering that it was torn down the middle. He hissed at what he saw, his eyes turning stormy. When I looked down I could see the huge bruise covering my ribs, but I had a feeling that it was the half dozen or so pencil-thin cuts that had caused Liam’s shocked reaction. They weren’t very long or deep, but a couple of them were still bleeding slightly.

“The bastard kicked you.”

It was a statement that I confirmed with a subtle nod. He pressed his lips again, and the more he examined my cuts, the tighter they grew, until they were just a thin white line.

He turned those stormy orbs on Cole but said nothing. Something passed between them, and after a few seconds Cole responded.

“Read you loud and clear, Brother.”

Liam turned back to me. I raised my hand and cupped his jaw. “It’s not as bad as it looks, honey.” It could have been so much worse if Bronx had been able to follow through with his intentions for me. “You came in time,” I reminded him.

I felt the need to kiss him, to feel something other than pain and degradation, but Savage’s harsh voice interrupted the thought.

“Let’s go.”

He and Cole each grabbed a side of Bronx and hefted him off the ground, ignoring his muffled moans. When they reached the point where Tamara stood against the wall, Cole reached out and snagged her upper arm, jerking her away from the wall and shoving her in front of them.

“Walk, bitch.”

“Come on, babe, let’s get you home.”

Home. I couldn’t wait to get on familiar ground, get a shower and into clean clothes. Liam kept his arm around me as we followed Savage and Cole outside. I didn’t really need assistance, but it felt like touching me was something that Liam needed to do. “How did you find me?”

“We’ll talk about all that later, yeah?”

I was okay with that. “I’m not leaving without Kelly,” I said stubbornly. “She needs our help getting back to her family.”

He nodded. “Then we’ll help her.”

I was disappointed when we reached the truck and there was no sign of her. My gaze went to Snake for an explanation.

“She’s barricaded in that house.” He nodded toward the house in question. “And won’t come out until she sees you.”