CAMILE
The next timeI open my eyes, it’s to Rook staring down at my face. The glassiness in his expression is gone, and he seems bright and alert. I try not to look too hard at the darkening bruise that’s now expanded across his cheekbone and temple and caused one eye to swell. It hurts to look at him and know it was because of me.
At least the injury doesn’t seem to have left any lasting damage.
“Camile,” he says, brushing my hair away from my face, “thank God, I found you.”
I’m not so sure he found me as much as we were reunited, but I’m not going to argue the semantics.
“Are you hurt?” he asks. “Did they touch you? What did they do to you?”
Images of me struggling beneath the water, body thrashing as it felt like my life was being sapped, flash through my head, and I squeeze my eyes shut. I can’t even bring myself to tell him. Will I ever be able to talk about it, to relive those awful moments?
He must recognize that, because he shakes his head. “It’s okay. You don’t need to speak about it. I’m here now. Everything’s going to be okay.”
I appreciate the comfort, but doesn’t he realize he’s in as bad a position as I am?
We both need help now. The one hope I cling to is that Rook said the others are coming—Jack, Ghost, and Ace. They were waiting for Jack’s old chapter to arrive, and then they would find us.
But how?
I realize Rook might have answers to some of the questions that have been plaguing me. If Jack and the others know where to come to find me, they must have those answers.
I struggle to sit up, and Rook helps me, until we’re side by side.
“Where am I?” I ask. “I know Ledger’s involved in this, but who are the other men?”
Rook draws his lower lip between his teeth and bites hard enough to turn the flesh white. “I think we’re at a rival MC compound. The Revenants. They stole a gun shipment from us and left some of our men for dead just a few days ago. Now they’ve taken you, and me. I had a contact who knew people in the MC, and I thought he would help, but instead he betrayed me.”
So that explains why I’d thought I might still have been on Jack’s compound.
“I don’t know why they’ve gotten involved with Ledger,” Rook continues. “My assumption is that asshole offered them the right amount of money, and they said yes. It makes sense, though I’ve never known an MC to get involved in cartel business before.”
“Why hasn’t Ledger come here with men of his own?”I ask, making sure to keep my voice extra low just in case there are people listening in from outside. “Maybe it wasn’t possible initially because he was undercover at the college, and having extra men hanging around would have given him away. But even so, I’m surprised his family hasn’t sent men the moment they attacked my family, and yet Ledger is here alone.”
Rook shakes his head and winces. “I don’t have an answer to that.”
Again, the possibility that Ledger’s family might not know exactly what he’s up to goes through my head.
“But Jack and the others are coming tonight?” I double-check.
“Yes,” Rook says. “They’ll storm the compound, and they’ll find us. All we have to do is hang on until then.”
I reach out and squeeze his hand, feeling the solidity of his fingers.
I never wanted Rook to put himself in harm’s way, but at the same time, I’m glad he’s here. I feel better knowing the others are coming and that they have some idea of where I am and who’s behind this.
“Thank you,” I tell him. “Thank you for finding me.”
He gives a wry smile. “Well, I’m not really sure I did,” he says, echoing my earlier thoughts. “But I’m here now, and that’s what matters. We just have to get through the next few hours.”
That might be harder than he thinks. After all, I’ve already experienced firsthand what Ledger is willing to do to me—and I’m supposed to be the woman he wants to marry. What will he do to Rook?
I glance around at the mess of the warehouse and wrinkle my nose at the vomit. I’m embarrassed at Rook seeing me in such a state.
“I’m sorry this place is so disgusting,” I tell him. “I’m sorryI’mso disgusting.”
He wraps his arm around my shoulders. “You could never be disgusting to me.”
