Page 30 of Dusty and Dented (Fallen Angels MC #2)

T he click of the door closing woke Andy. She didn’t open her eyes right away as she listened and tried to figure out if the door closing had been someone coming in or leaving. The rustle of fabric told her someone was in the room with her, moving around. But who?

There was no sound of footsteps, and she fought the urge to hold her breath, and instead forced herself to keep her breathing slow and even while her brain spun and searched for possibilities and clues.

When the bed beside her sank beneath someone’s weight, it was all she could do not to hold her breath.

When a gentle hand smoothed over her cheek, brushing her hair off her face, she caught the scent of his skin and knew that wherever he’d been, it had been Dagger coming back that she’d heard.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, his face silhouetted in the dim light coming from the narrow window near the ceiling

“Hey,” she said, smiling up at him.

“Hey,” he said back. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“I don’t mind. Where were you all half-dressed?” She ran one finger along the front edge of his vest hoping he would take the hint and not make her say he seemed to have forgotten his shirt.

“I was trying to keep from waking you when I left. I even left my boots.” He tilted the top of his head toward the chair where he’d left them.

She twisted around and spotted them,

“Why?” She looked back at him with a frown. “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing is wrong, or at least nothing more, I just needed to talk to a couple of the guys.” He stared down at her, one hand smoothing her hair away from her face.

After a moment she wasn’t sure if he was doing it to calm her or him.

“I had to tell them. I know you probably didn’t want anyone to know, but I had to. ”

Andy lay still watching Dagger and wondering what he would say next.

No, she hadn’t wanted the whole club to know, and she wondered how long it would be before they started treating her like the women she’d seen downstairs.

She’d seen tissues bigger than what they called skirts. Could she handle that?

She didn’t think she could take it if Dagger started treating her like one of the ... what had he called them? Mamas? If that happened, she would just find a way to not come around anymore, though she wasn’t sure how that might work

“No need to panic, there were only four of us there, and I was one of them. None of them blame you in any way and they’d never treat you any differently.” His hand never stopped petting her the whole time, as if he knew she needed the physical reassurance of his hand in her hair or on her skin.

“But why?” That was the past. She didn’t understand why they needed to know now.

“They needed to know that Montiglio isn’t the only threat. They needed to know so we could find them and make sure they never bother you again.”

She got the feeling there was something he wasn’t telling her, but she didn’t have the energy to fight, to argue and insist until he gave in and told her.

He hadn’t told the whole club. He hadn’t done it to tell them how disgusted he was.

He’d told only those he felt needed to know in order to protect her, to take care of her.

She didn’t like people knowing what she’d survived, but she had a hard time stirring the ire to be mad about it.

She wasn’t sure why, but she liked the way his hand kept smoothing across her cheek and down the length of her hair.

She wiggled around on the bed, shifting until she could rest her head on Dagger’s thigh.

She lay like that for a moment, ignoring the rough cotton under her cheek as he continued to run his hand down the length of her hair.

They stayed like that for quite a while, she didn’t care how much time had passed, she was comfortable and felt safe right here, right now and after the last several days, she’d take this as long as she could get it.

“I know you’re probably mad at me. I can’t blame you. I took something you told me privately and told others. All I can say is that I did what I felt like I had to, and I hope we can get past it.” He fell silent for a few minutes.

Andy didn’t say anything. She wasn’t angry, or at least she didn’t think she was.

She lay for a while thinking. Trying to figure out exactly what it was she felt.

Before she’d gotten far, a knock sounded on the bedroom door making her jump.

For the moment she’d managed to forget where they were and that they were surrounded by all the other Fallen Angels.

“Who is it?” Dagger called as he reached down, grabbed the fluffy soft quilt and pulled it up over her until only her head and shoulders were exposed.

“It’s Hawkeye. I’ve got something I need the two of you to look at.”

“Give us just a sec.” He leaned away from the bed, keeping one hand on her shoulder, she assumed so she wouldn’t move as he snagged his t-shirt off the arm of the chair where it had landed when he’d tossed it aside the night before.

“Here, pull this on.” He handed it to her.

She sat up enough to pull the shirt over her head but when she went to lay back down, Dagger tugged her more upright so she leaned back against his chest, his arm across her shoulders while his shirt covered the upper half of her body and would probably cover a lot more if she stood up.

Without anything but the blankets covering her from the waist down, she wouldn’t be doing that.

For a moment she wondered if maybe by putting her in his clothes and under his arm, he wasn’t sending some kind of message, but she didn’t have time to think about it, not now.

“You can come in,” Dagger called once she was situated.

The door opened a crack, as if Hawkeye was making sure they were decent before coming all the way in, then pushed open and Hawkeye stepped in, a tan file folder in one hand.

Andy watched as he glanced around the room as if looking for something then went to the chair and sat on the edge before looking up at them.

He glanced at Andy before looking to Dagger.

“I did what you asked and looked for known associates, then I found pictures of them.” His gaze dropped to Andy. “I know this won’t be easy, and I don’t need details. I just need to know if any of these are the men who, well, you know.” He looked away and extended the folder toward her.

She stared at him for a moment, not sure she understood what he was saying. He had pictures and he wanted her to point out who Tony had used to punish her? To teach her to be a good little whore. Her heart thundered in her ears.

Dagger took the folder. He put it on the bed beside him but didn’t open it.

“Thank you. Give us a little time. I’ll bring them down to you in a few minutes with the ones she knows and any she doesn’t.”

Hawkeye watched them for a moment, his gaze going back and forth between them for a moment before he pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll be in my office for a little while, but I’ve been up doing this research most of the night, I’ll have to crash for a couple of hours soon.”

“We’ll be down before then. Just hold tight for me for a few minutes, okay?”

Andy didn’t know what Dagger’s expression was.

She had her back to him and since Dagger had taken that folder, she’d had a hard time looking away from it.

She didn’t want to know whose pictures were inside and she didn’t want to know where they were now.

More than anything, she never wanted to see them again, especially not in person where they would whisper bawdy reminders of what they’d done to her and how she had no say in what they’d done to her body.

The click of the door latch barely registered as she shuddered at the memory of what one of the men had said to her after one of the ‘sessions’ when they’d encountered each other in public.

He’d asked her if she still had the bruises he’d left and told her that if they’d faded, he would be happy to put them back if she would like.

At the time, Andy had done the only thing she could.

She’d turned her back on him and pretended she’d never seen him before and hadn’t heard his taunts.

“You okay?” Dagger’s voice was soft, soothing. Between his speaking and the caring way he held her against him, he drew her out of the memory and back to the present.

“I’m okay. Just hit by a memory. That’s all. I’m okay.” She didn’t know if she was repeating herself as she tried to convince herself or him that she was telling the truth, and she wasn’t going to look too closely at it right now anyway.

“I know you don’t want to do this. I don’t want you to have to.

” He paused to take a deep breath and let it out in a rush.

“I need to know who, baby, in order to make sure they never hurt you again. To make sure you’re safe, okay?

” He lifted the folder while he spoke and let it rest on one leg.

“I want you to tell me if you recognize them. If any of these men were part of the group Montiglio told to rape you. I need to make sure that a man who would do that won’t do it to anyone else. Can you do that for me, Sparky?”

Andy took a deep breath. She held it for several seconds before blowing it out. She shifted in her seat and squared her shoulders.

“Let’s do this. The sooner I take a look, the sooner I can put it behind me and try to forget them all.”