Page 158 of Depraved

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

ALYX

I watched as they pushed the gurney out of the abandoned warehouse building. It all seemed too surreal, like it was nothing but a dream playing inside my head. The place was swarming with police and paramedics, like a scene out of a thriller movie.

Granite hadn’t left my side since he managed to save me, never standing more than two feet away. “You okay?” I rubbed my hands up and down my arms. “Yeah.” I turned to face him. “I saw him. Slither.”

Granite placed his hand under my chin, lifting my face to his. “Did he hurt you?”

I shook my head. “But he…God, Granite, I’ve never met anyone that vile. The things he said to me, things they did to Neon,” I choked back a tear, “it was enough to make me sick. And the look he had in his eyes when he talked about her, it was like he was in awe of her because she managed to survive.”

I could no longer stop the tears from falling, and Granite wiped them away with his thumb. “I swear to you, Slither will never lay a hand on Neon again. And he sure as fuck will never come near you again.”

“I just don’t get it. Tanit was working with Slither, brought me here to hand me over to him. But then he left, and you showed up.” I took a step back. “How did you find me?”

He placed his hands on my shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re safe. And there’s not a chance in hell I’ll let him near you again.”

I lifted a brow. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Granite let go of me and roughed a hand through his hair. “Listen, Alyx. There’s a lot of shit I can’t tell you about the club and what we do.”

“Granite—”

“Let me finish. It’s not because I want to keep secrets or hide things from you. It’s just the way we do things. I’m not going to pretend we’re saints, because we’re not. But we protect what is ours, and you are mine. The less you know, the safer you are, and that’s what’s most important to me. Keeping you safe. You’ve seen what Slither and his Python fuckers did to Neon.”

A chill ran up my spine just thinking about what they did to her.

“So you need to be okay with that,” he continued. “You need to be okay with the fact that I can’t share everything about my life in the club with you.” He stepped forward, taking my face in his palms. “But as a man without a cut and a patch, you have me one hundred percent, I fucking swear it.”

Our eyes remained fixed on one another. The intensity of his stare and the edge in his words were enough to convince me just how important all of this was to him. The club. His brothers. Me.

I placed my hand over his, still clutching my cheek, and simply nodded before he pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me. Even though I knew who and what he was, I didn’t think I had ever felt so safe as I did right at that moment, in his arms. He might have been a cold, hard as stone president of a motorcycle crew, but he had a heart when he needed one.

I held him tighter. “You tried to stop her without letting her get hurt.”

He didn’t respond, but I could feel his heart beat faster.

“You tried, Granite. It’s not your fault.”

“I know.” He pressed a kiss on my head. “I’m just glad I got here in time, and that you’re safe.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” His voice was low, yet calm.

I gazed up at him. “I’m sorry you had to kill her in order to save me.”

He placed a gentle hand below my chin. “I would kill the motherfucking devil for you.”

“Alyx?”

Granite let go of me, and I searched around for the familiar voice. “Dad?”

“Alyx!”

I turned, and my dad came rushing over, sweeping me up in his arms. “Thank God, you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, Dad.”