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Martin followed behind a few minutes later with a woman I didn't know, but who wasn't chained and who didn't look me in the eye. She carried a box of tampons which Deke took and shoved at me.
“Just leave her in there,” Martin suggested, nodding toward the bathroom. “Tie her to the can or something. We'll let her out when she's clean again.”
And with that, I was tied to a toilet for five days. I had enough give on my wrists to be able to get to the sink. Where I cleaned up. I scrubbed my clothes. I tried to not let the indignity of the whole situation get to me.
But it got to me.**I looked down at the tampons with a weird whimper sound in my throat, tucking them back into the bag and stashing the bag at the bottom of the linen closet. I was being given my dignity back.
They gave me that.
I shook my head, trying to fight the urge to take a shower and use my new soaps and shampoos and tweeze my eyebrows. They were waiting for me to eat. I jumped into a pair of black undies with cherries on them, pulled on the black yoga pants, the black tee, put on socks, and brought the pink sweatshirt with me in case I got cold.
Their voices hit me as soon as I stepped into the hall.
“We could call K,” Cash's voice suggested.
“K?” Reign asked.
“Yeah from the city. He disappears people. Mostly women who get themselves caught in bad situations. He's good at it. Been doing it for years. She needs to disappear. He will disappear her.”
Disappear me? What?
“Disappear me?” I asked, surprising myself. And them, because they both jumped guiltily and turned to face me.
“We're just discussing your options,” Reign said, shrugging.
“Like making me disappear?”
“It's just an option, sweetheart,” Cash said, giving me a smile. “Why don't you come and eat and then we'll discuss it?” he suggested, carrying plates over to the dining table.
I grabbed my frap and followed, the smell of food making my belly growl even though I had eaten hours ago. I had lost time to make up for and my stomach knew it.
We all sat, unwrapping our food, taking first bites, before the silence got to me and I broke it. “Is that really the only option you think there is for me? To disappear?”
“It's the safest option,” Reign corrected. “K has been disappearing girls for a long time. And save for one case, none of them ever get found.”
“One case?” I asked, needing to know all the details if I was going to agree to it. Which I might. To keep my father safe. To not let myself be used as a bargaining chip again.
Cash pushed a second hashbrown toward me. “Yeah. There was a big time H dealer who liked to beat and rape his girlfriend. She got away, she found K. K disappeared her. But the guy was relentless. She kept getting found.”
“Is she...”
“Dead?” Cash asked, flat out, surprising me. “No. She got herself hooked up with some private investigator in the city...”
“Rhodes,” Reign supplied, respect in his voice.
“Yeah, Rhodes. Anyway... she, ah, had the mob put a hit on her ex. Voila. All her problems gone.”
“So you think it's the best bet even though he kept finding her? I don't know if you know V, but he's relentless too.”
“I know V,” Cash said and Reign sent him a look. A very 'what the fuck' kind of look. Apparently Cash had been keeping that from his big brother.
“The fuck?” Reign asked.
“It's nothing. I was on a run. Ran into him. He made it clear who he was. That was it.”
“That fucking better be it.”
Cash rolled his eyes at me in a very brotherly way. Like we were both agreeing that Reign was being unreasonable. “I didn't have a shoe size,” Cash said.
“I'm sorry?”
“A shoe size, babe. For your feet.”
“Oh, um... I'm a six,” I supplied.
“Right. Next time I drop by, I'll bring shoes. Did I forget anything else?”
I felt myself smile a little. “No. You were very thorough.”
“I know women pretty well.”
“I can tell.”
Reign rolled up his foil, drawing my attention. “Thanks for letting me stay,” I said stupidly, feeling like I owed him more gratitude than I could even begin to share.
“It's no big deal,” he said, getting up. “You got her? I'm going out for an hour.”
“Sure,” Cash said, waving a hand.
And with that, Reign was gone.
“Don't let him fool you,” Cash said as the door closed.
“Fool me about what?”
“It's a big deal. Not that he's helping you. But that you're staying here. No woman has ever stayed here before.”
“Oh,” I said, picking at my hashbrown. “I mean... it's just for a couple days. I'm sure it's nothing. He's just trying to help...”
“That's just the thing, though,” Cash said, sitting back in his chair. “Reign doesn't just do nice shit all the time. Does he seem like that kind of guy?”
“No,” I admitted.
“'Cause he's not. He's got a lot of other shit on his plate. If he helped every damsel in distress, he'd never get a break. He's a good guy, don't get me wrong. Big heart underneath all that barbed wire. But it's usually for his brothers, the club. That's it. So, coming from his brother, this is a pretty big deal.”
“Is that... a bad thing?” I asked, eating the last of my food, my belly aching it was so full. The sensation was still so new that I reveled in it.
“No, doll,” he said, getting up, shaking his head. “I think you'll be good for him. I'm gonna smoke,” he said, moving toward the back door. “I'll stay where you can see me, okay?”
“Okay,” I said, nodding.
I took the plates, carrying them to the sink where all the stuff from cooking and eating the night before were still piled. And I set to work.
If he was letting me stay and it was a big deal for him, the least I could do was carry my weight.
