Page 69

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

Belle

One minute, I was in a nice, warm, safe place, and the next, I’m in a shower, being held up between two women I’ve never met in my life. “Shouldn’t you at least buy me dinner before you touch me there?” I ask, giggling when both women let out a little shriek.

“Holy shit, you’re awake!” The one behind me exclaims. “I’m Rory, I’m Banshee’s ol’ lady, and the one who’s currently working to clean your bits is Ryleigh, Brick’s ol’ lady.”

“Uh, hello?” I reply, more in the form of a question than a statement, because the last thing I recall is heading toward oblivion before Alvin raped me. I take a momentary inventory of how I’m feeling and realize I feel better than I ever had. Hell, I shouldn’t even be able to speak because I know for a fact he broke my jaw, yet here I am, conversing with two virtual strangers.

Rory’s giggles join my own, and soon, Ryleigh adds to the lyrical sound with hers as they hold me upright in the shower. I work to get myself under control, then ask, “What are y’all doing?”

“Well, Jingles did what he could to clean you up after they found you, but you still had dried blood speckled in your hair, plus, even though he used soapy water, it’s not like he rinsed you off or anything,” Rory replies.

Jingles .

Just hearing his name has my heart rate accelerating. Long before it was probably appropriate, I had a huge crush on my brother’s friend. He never noticed me then, and always treated me like the kid sister I was, occasionally buying me things based on what I admitted to wanting whenever he was around. I also did what I could to ask about him and his life without being too obvious that I was doing so, although, I suspect my brother knew what I was up to.

“He… he was the one who found me?” I ask, my voice coming out shaky at the thought of him seeing me in that condition.

“Yeah, he and one of the other brothers, Scythe, were left behind to search the property and they found you, along with a few others that they didn’t take.”

“They got away?” Fear courses through me thinking of the fact that Alvin and Bert are roaming around free. They were the two men from the independent faction of the Fundamentalists of the Communion who were overseeing our small group, and they made everyone’s life, especially mine, a living hell.

“It’s okay, Belle. Banshee and Phantom followed them and managed to capture them. Other than that, I don’t know what’s going on because it falls under ‘club business’ which I’m sure you’ve heard all about since your brother’s a Bastard too.”

I snicker, because whenever I’ve been angry at him, I call him a bastard, to which he’ll reply that he’s a ‘Bastard with a capital B’. Knowing that Alvin and Bert are likely in for a world of hurt once my brother arrives doesn’t fill me with unease; instead, I secretly hope I can get a few licks in at least. I definitely plan to ask my brother if that’s possible, especially since Alvin treated me so brutally. I might not have been raped, but it wasn’t for lack of him trying. And while I don’t know with certainty that he didn’t, the fact I don’t feel any kind of soreness between my legs is a good indicator as far as I’m concerned.

“Maybe a time or two,” I admit.

“Do you want to take over here?” Rory asks. “If you still feel weak, we don’t mind helping.”

“It’s funny you would say that because I honestly feel pretty damn good, which I don’t understand,” I reply. “But it seems like y’all are nearly done, so you may as well finish then I’ll get myself dried off.”

“Works for me,” Ryleigh says, shrugging. “At least you don’t wiggle like my daughter does.”

“Aubree does like her tub time,” Rory retorts. “This is why we came in with bathing suits on, Belle. We do the same when either one of us gives Aubree a bath because she thinks she’s a mermaid or something and splashes at the water.”

“I can’t wait to meet her. There are some ol’ ladies now up in my brother’s chapter which cracks me up because I never expected the ones who are in a relationship to ever go down that particular road.”

“What do you mean?” Rory questions.

“Well, growing up, most of them were happy with their single life. They definitely embraced the whole ‘bikers get all the women’ philosophy, so for them, variety was the spice of life. Now, though, they’re wholly devoted to their ol’ ladies, a few even have a couple of kids running around. Since they were some of the biggest manwhores around, it amuses me that they’ve turned into such devoted husbands and fathers.”

“So far, only Brick and Banshee have ol’ ladies,” Rory replies. “But I suspect more of the brothers will be getting them.”

“It definitely changes how things are around the clubhouse,” Ryleigh adds. “The club girls only come around when there’s not a family event. We have our own place, of course, but we still spend a lot of time here.”

“We do too,” Rory says. “So, what’s your story, Belle? You don’t have to tell us, of course, but we want to know how we can best help you and your friend heal.”

“Moira’s here?” I whisper as they finish rinsing me off so I can step out of the shower and grab a towel.

“She is, but she hasn’t said anything to anyone,” Ryleigh warns as she cleans out the shower stall while Rory grabs another towel to dry herself off.

This has me inhaling deeply. If she’s catatonic, then something pretty bad happened to her. Moira is one of the most jovial and talkative people I’ve ever known. “Has a doctor seen her?” I question, wrapping another towel around my hair, and twisting it into a knot above my head.

“Brick called one in that helps the club out from time to time, and he treated her injuries, but it’s like she’s lost in her head,” Ryleigh says. “Kracken’s spent a lot of time with her, too, only she acts like no one’s there.”

“I need to see her,” I murmur, applying lotion to my dehydrated skin. Despite them not knowing me, the bathroom has lotions, moisturizer, deodorant, and all the things a woman needs to finish up after a shower. Grabbing the brush, I take down the towel and begin working it through my hair, being careful of all the tangles that weeks of not being able to brush it have caused.

“Let’s get you cleaned up and fed first, then we’ll take you to see her. Maybe you can break through her fog,” Rory suggests.

I nod because my stomach chooses that moment to loudly growl, causing all three of us to start giggling once again. Part of me wishes I lived here because I can see myself becoming good friends with both women, but my home is in Cleveland, and I’m sure my brother won’t want me out of his sight any time soon.

After I dress and eat, I ask Ryleigh, “Is Jingles around? I’d like to talk to him if he is.”

“He is! He’s downstairs waiting for your brother to arrive. I’ll go get him,” she replies, grinning at me.

I want to tell her it’s not like that, I merely want to thank him for not giving up the search for me. But I’d be lying, because I do want to see him so I can tuck the memory deep inside and add it to all the others I have of him throughout the years.

Rory left a little while ago, so when Ryleigh heads to get Jingles, I’m alone for the first time in a long time.

Breathing deeply to ward off a panic attack that’s shown up from out of nowhere, I don’t hear Jingles come into the room, until my hands are taken in his. “Breathe in, hold it, then breathe out,” he instructs, lacing our fingers together. “Focus on the sound of my voice, Belle. There you go,” he says, praising me for doing something as mundane as taking oxygen into my lungs.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur once the threat of an imminent attack has subsided. “I don’t… I don’t know why that happened.”

“Is it the first time you’ve been by yourself since y’all were taken?” he asks. At my nod, he continues. “It probably has something to do with that then. What were you doing when it happened?”

I’m sure he probably knows everything, because knowing my brother, he had the club’s IT person scour every available camera in the area, but I talk anyway. “Moira and I went shopping to get the clothes we were going to need before we started working at the camp. We were at my car when the van came up next to us, grabbed us both, and tossed us inside.”

Shudders wrack my body as the memories assail me, and I find myself pulled into strong, capable arms as Jingles murmurs into my ear. Do I know what he’s saying? Not that first clue, but it soothes me enough that I’m able to calm down.

“I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories, babe,” he says, brushing my hair away from my face. “Huh, just a small bruise left, Angel did good,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing across my jawbone.

“Who’s Angel?” I question, “and what does he have to do with anything?”

I watch him take in a big breath, then another one. “There are some brothers in different club chapters who have… abilities, for lack of a better word. Angel is able to heal people, and he used his skills to fix what that fucker hurt.”

I’m not sure I fully believe him, because what he’s saying is the stuff of fantasy or maybe even science fiction, but the fact of the matter is, my open wounds on my back are completely healed, and while there are some scars from older gashes that got infected after being untreated, the ones I know Alvin left on me yesterday are gone. So is the dislocated shoulder, the broken jaw, and the other lacerations he left with his knife while he was cutting off my clothes.

“Really?” I ask.

“Yeah, Belle. It’s not talked about, of course, but I know you’re well aware of how badly you were hurt, so you wouldn’t buy a line of bullshit.”

Now that I’m calm, we’re leaning against the headboard, and I’m still wrapped in his arms. Suddenly, I feel shy, and worry that I won’t be able to tell him what I wanted to say. “Um, thank you for finding me, Jingles,” I murmur, my face lying against his chest.

“Never stopped looking, Belle. Since Sleeper’s first phone call, I’ve been tracking down every lead any of the IT guys gave me. There was no way I was going to let your brother down, or let you stay in a situation that I knew was likely hell.”

Tears prick my eyes at his words since I was missing for quite some time. Yet he’s saying he never gave up. “Didn’t you ever get discouraged?”

He vehemently answers, “No.”

“I should’ve trusted my gut,” I admit.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“When Moira told me about the opportunity, and we initially met the recruiters, I had a bad feeling about them. It all seemed a bit too good to be true, plus, the so-called rules about what we were permitted to wear and what we weren’t was really weird and outlandish. Our shorts had to be a certain length, we had to have wide-banded tank tops, that sort of thing. Any summer camp I ever went to when I was younger? The dress code was pretty much lax, with the mindset that anything goes as long as you had clothes on, you know what I mean? Yet we were to wear modest clothing, during the summer, in freaking Virginia!”

He chuckles at my vehemence then quickly sobers. “I guess that’s how they find women to help further their cause,” he growls out, his teeth clenched. “Fucking bastards.”

“I have to agree with you. They’re misogynistic assholes for sure. The girls who weren’t ‘pure’ were used for experimentation, and also as their playthings.”

“What kind of experiments?” Now his voice sounds dark, almost deadly, and I shiver at the thought of it ever being directed at me.

I shudder when I think about some of the things I overheard and unfortunately saw. “They would pump them full of drugs, or beat them until they had open wounds then pour things into the wounds to see how much pain the person could handle. Some of the girls died, Jingles,” I whisper, my throat clogged with unshed tears.

“You were beaten, too, Belle,” he states.

“Initially, it was because I didn’t know how to cook very well, but some of the older women who were there took pity on me and helped teach me,” I reply. “But the last one? I don’t know what set Alvin off, to be honest. Dinner was demolished by everyone, and afterward, when I came back through after the meal had been consumed, started clearing the room and cleaning up the dishes, he grabbed me and dragged me to his room. A lot of it is kind of blurry from there, though, especially after he hit me in the jaw, because I had to try really hard not to vomit.”

I can’t believe I’m sitting in a room, on a bed with my long-time crush, and talking about puking! It’s just that he’s a lot easier to talk to than I expected, I guess.

“We’ll find out what was going on, you just let me, or your brother know if you need someone to talk to so you can get rid of anything he said to you. No sense hanging on to his bullshit because it definitely wasn’t truth he was speaking,” Jingles says.

Deciding to be brave, I look up at him, his beautiful eyes staring steadily at me, and admit, “I had the biggest crush on you when I was a teenager.”

He shocks me when he replies, “I’ve got the biggest crush on you now, as an adult.”

“Really?” I ask in awe.

“Yeah, really, Belle. I’m pretty sure I’m not good enough for you, but with what happened to you and Moira, I’ve come to realize life is too short not to let people know how I feel.”

I think about what he’s just said and quickly understand that he truly believes he’s not good enough for me. “Jingles, I think you’re perfect for me,” I reply. “As far as I’m concerned, life is what we make it, nothing more and nothing less. I’m willing to see where things go. My only concern is that I live in Cleveland, and you live here.”

As soon as I say that I wonder if maybe a change of scenery might not be a bad idea. In fact, I’m kind of afraid to go home. What if more of those assholes are still in the area, lurking around, and I wind up back in their clutches?

“We’ll work that out, Belle. Worst case scenario, I ask Brick to see if I can transfer if your heart’s set on living in Cleveland near your brother.”

I’m about to answer him when the door flies open, and my brother walks in. Scrambling off the bed, I launch myself into his arms. “Tony!” I exclaim, tears falling down my face. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” I mumble, sobbing against his chest as he holds me close.

“There was never a doubt in my mind, Baby Belle, that we wouldn’t find you,” he replies. “Let me take a look at you,” he demands, pushing me back slightly while his gaze roams over me.

“From what I was able to see, Brother, there’s just a small bruise on her jaw,” Jingles states, standing and coming toward where me and Tony are standing.

“I… I have some scars on my back from the old beatings,” I confess. I see both men’s’ faces darken in anger at my words and quickly rush to calm them down. “The important thing is that whatever Angel did, it healed me, y’all.”

“That’s beside the point, Belle. That motherfucker should’ve never laid a hand on you or any woman,” Tony growls out. “Tell me y’all found them.”

“They’ve been secured until we can have church,” Jingles replies.

A look passes between the two men, and I briefly wonder if there’s a school or something that men go to in order to learn this unspoken language, because after a few seconds, Jingles nods and Tony slings his arm across my shoulders pulling me close.

“I want to see Moira,” I announce when neither of them says anything. “I’m sure y’all have biker stuff to do, so I can sit with her.”

“Then let’s go do that,” Jingles says, finally giving my brother one of those weird man-hug and back-slap things they tend to do whenever they see one another. “We’ll go down to the common room so come find us when you’re done, okay?”

I nod as we leave my appointed room, eager to see my best friend.