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Finally, Raine blinked, then moaned thinly as she tried to stare around him, still gripping the bloody knife for dear life. Her pupils flared wide. Shock swam in her eyes. Liam hated how haunted she looked and tried not to think about what the mongrel might have done to send her off the deep end.
Focus. Fall apart all you want later, but don’t you dare fucking lose it now.
“Oh, my sweet Raine,” he crooned. “Hammer and I are here. Drop the knife for us.” He couldn’t startle her by snatching it from her when she felt threatened. And he couldn’t risk tampering with the evidence by putting his fingerprints on the blade. “Come back to me, love…”
Instead of answering, she shivered and tried to peer around him. Her lips had gone blue, almost matching her troubled eyes.
Liam shifted to block Bill from her sight line again. He heard the sound of the warehouse doors being thrown wide, footsteps running toward them. Without looking back, he shoved up a palm to stop their approach and focused on Raine. Since cajoling wasn’t working, he needed to try something else.
“Drop the knife, sub,” Liam demanded, hoping the familiar tone of his Dom voice might reach her instead.
At first, Raine didn’t respond—except to blink. She hadn’t even done that since he’d found her huddled and keening. Liam counted the slight change as a win.
“Don’t make me feed you pickles,” he warned sternly, then let his voice drop to a whisper-soft tone. “I’d rather love you. Drop the knife, and I’ll make you feel safe again.”
A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth before she dissolved into a silent sob. She drew in a shuddering breath, blinked again, then finally looked up at him. Slowly, she loosened her hold on the knife, and it slid free from her fingers to clatter on the concrete.
Relief slid through him in a drugging rush as he stood, avoiding the pool of blood. “Good girl. Such a wonderful, sweet love. Rise and come to me now. You’re cold. Let me warm you.”
Liam watched her face. The stupor lifted slowly, like a fog fading away. Raine focused on him, her face crumbling as recognition seeped in. The shell-shocked horror in her expression nearly floored him. She didn’t move.
“Liam…”
“I’ll help you, love.” He reached a hand out to her, praying she’d take it and let him hold her. Every moment she held herself away from him felt like another eternity of death. “Come here.”
“H-he hurt me.”
Those tiny words wrenched everything inside him as he reached out to her. “I know. I’m so sorry. We’re here, and nothing else will happen to you. Take my hand.”
As she tried to rise on unsteady legs, she wobbled. When she would have fallen, Liam caught her, wrapping her in his coat, then swept her into his arms, away from Bill Kendall’s remains.
Hammer and Beck rushed forward, meeting him halfway.
“Give her to me!” Hammer thrust out his arms and took her from Liam as Beck performed a cursory check for open wounds, broken bones, and head trauma.
“She’s bruised and obviously in shock,” Beck muttered in a soothing monotone, clearly trying not to upset Raine. “The bite marks?”
“Ours,” Hammer admitted.
Beck just nodded. “I don’t see any new wounds, but we won’t know for sure what she’s been through until we get her to the ER.”
Sobbing now, she clutched Hammer, who fell to his knees with her and gripped her tightly in his embrace, pressing his forehead to hers and breathing fast.
“That’s it, precious,” Hammer whispered. “You’re back with us now. Everything is going to be all right. We love you, Raine.”
Liam knelt down beside them and wrapped his hand in hers. He could feel the dam within him cracking as the fear and anger he’d suppressed finally escaped. He pressed a fist smeared with blood to his chest, working to hold in tears. They were useless now. Their girl needed help.
Beck knelt next to Hammer, his expression compassionate but insistent. “Raine? Are you with me?”
She nodded before another sob broke her.
“Good. Listen to me, princess. This is important. Vital.” Beck checked her pupils again, then cupped her face and drew her stare to his. “The cops are coming. They’re going to ask you a lot of questions. So will the doctors. No matter what, you must tell them every mark on your body is one your father inflicted. Do you understand?”
“But Hammer and Liam gave me—”
“I know. But if you tell the police that, they could be arrested. Then they can’t help you. Or comfort you. You have to do this. Okay?”
“Yeah,” she managed to breathe out. “I will.”
“Perfect,” Beck praised. “When they ask, just tell them that Kendall gave you every bite, bruise, cut, scrape, rope burn… Don’t forget.”
As Beck released her face, Raine stared at the three of them, holding tight to Liam’s hand while clinging to Hammer with the other. “I won’t. I want to go home.”
