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It happens, though. Usually because a brother gets a vamp under him or on her knees to blow him in a common room and you walk in. Some brothers like an audience. Others are just too far gone from being teased and need a release right then. We all look away, pretend it’s not happening. But not a single person just openly stares at a guy’s dick.

“Penny for your thoughts, love?” a voice booms from the speakers in a British accent that sets my teeth on edge. Something about the way the man talks as he continues moving to the chained woman seems off. Sinister.

The entire backyard takes a collective breath when the camera gets close enough for us to see details that were out of focus a moment before. Like the way the woman’s head is slumped to the side and not alive with bliss. Or that the sweat down her back is actually blood from deep cuts that cover her entire backside.

The camera jostles, as does the woman a moment before the sound of skin slapping against skin takes over. The moan from the man drowns out any protest from the female. But the view we get? Not of them, but of a table. There are clothes and bloody towels on it, along with whips and a serrated knife. The dripping of blood from the tip to the floor would be a nice effect if this were a horror movie and not real life.

The camera jostles again, this time to switch into selfie mode.

“Tell Krista she’s missing out. Tell her this could be us right now. Show her how good it can be, love.”

The woman cries out in pain, and the man chuckles.

“That’s it, love. You make such pretty sounds for me. Maybe I should have chosen you from the start.”

The entire club knows who Krista is. She’s the woman on the stage with Casper’s arms around her. The one who’s crumbling as she sees, just like us, the woman’s face finally come into focus onscreen.

Jack.

Who’s gone from my side as the video stalls and then shuts off.

As one, the group turns to the back where the computer and projector are. Jack’s there, holding the plug in her hand.

“Penny,” Billy cries out softly as she breaks into tears, holding her hand out for her friend as if that would take away what we all just witnessed.

When Jack and Billy revealed who they were to the club, it wasn’t in the way anyone expected. There wasn’t a sit-down with them explaining everything. No, it was Billy opening up an arsenal in their SUV while Jack stripped out of the outrageous outfit she was wearing for her act as someone with autistic needs. Only Casper and Walker were there to witness it from the start. But the rumors came. About Jack’s scars.

We’d all expected them to have come from the job. Something about being in C8 that caused her to have them.

No one expected this.

Chained. Cut. Raped.

We all just witnessed it.

And Jack knows it. She sees that we’ve put it together, even if we didn’t see it all.

Then she leaves.

And no one follows.

Chapter 13 - Natalie

“You got everything?” Viv asks, and I nod. We’ve been planning this for days; I wasn’t about to leave something behind. Hell, I packed the bag the first night she brought it up a week ago when she called the clubhouse and told me she was coming back to the club for Casper’s engagement party.

“Okay, let’s—” She stills as something catches her eye behind me.

I slowly turn, but unlike a Hound coming up on us like I expect, it’s Jack. Crying.

Something I don’t think any of us knew she could do.

She’s human, sure, but she carries herself as if she’s immune to everything.

I met her a while back. I was only meant to have coffee with Ruby because it was better than sitting at home on a Saturday and doing nothing. We came down for a “girls’ day” and met up with some of the old ladies and Jules, before she got the name Kitten and remembered who she was. When she was just a babysitting job for Flint as payment for the disrespect he’d shown Bulldog’s woman, Lady.

Billy and Jack came into the coffeehouse, but I think they were called Penny and Wendi back then. Not that I remember if they told me their fake names then, or if I heard about it from Ruby later. I was too busy focusing on the woman who came in after them. The one I knew my family sent.

I had chased her off, or so I’d thought. That was almost four years ago. And yet Reina found me. I never saw that woman in the coffee shop, not that I was there often. But I was also on the lookout for my family’s fixer. The person they called when they wanted someone to remain permanently missing. At first, I thought she was there because of me. Later, I convinced myself it was only a coincidence. But even with my own history and messed-up life, I still never thought Jack, even when playing a part, could cry.