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“But I remembered what Beck said at the…” Her breath shuddered. “What I had to do. So I told the female detective and your attorney that Bill did everything to me. God, the questions she asked… They never seemed to stop. The police wouldn’t let Beck stay with me while she interrogated me. That woman kept asking if I was afraid or being abused because I live in a sex club. I tried to explain that Shadows wasn’t simply a club for folks who wanted to randomly get it on, but she didn’t acknowledge anything I said, just kept asking questions.”
More tears spilled down her cheeks. Hammer couldn’t fucking stand that he was unable to erase the injustice she’d had to endure after the atrocities at the warehouse.
“I had to tell a total stranger everything about my family, starting as far back as I could remember. But she didn’t stop there. She also wanted to know all the hateful, degrading, vile things my father had said to me my whole life. I wanted so badly to tell her that when I stuck that knife into Bill and watched him die, I didn’t feel a damn thing except relief because he fucking deserved it.”
Raine hung her head and burst into tears. Low, long sobs filled the room and tore at his heart. Hammer and Liam surrounded her once again, holding her, encouraging her to release her grief and anger, repeating that they loved her, assuring her everything would be all right.
Macen had no way of knowing whether he could keep that last promise because he no longer had to wonder if the day’s events would haunt her for the rest of her life. He knew they would. Instead, he had to help her find a way to move forward.
Something he’d never been particularly good at himself.
“We’re proud of you for being so brave, love,” Liam cooed.
“You’re alive, Raine. You have so many tomorrows to look forward to,” Hammer murmured. “If you’d like, we’ll move into the new house before Christmas. Just the three of us…together.”
“That’s right,” Liam added. “There’s no stopping us now, love. It’s you, Hammer, and me from now on. You’ll have your hands full making that house into our home. Start your new life with us. We’ll fill it with so much love you won’t be able to drink it all in.”
Raine sucked in a quivering breath before she raised her chin and wiped her eyes. There she was, their Raine—bold and beautiful and determined to fight back the darkness, at least for this one priceless moment.
“I’m beyond ready,” she vowed.
Hammer couldn’t help the tears of pride that filled his eyes. If he and Liam nurtured and coaxed this brave girl, she could conquer the world.
Suddenly, Seth and Beck entered the room. Seth sent a gentle smile her way. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Heavenly scurried in with a fresh cup of ice chips.
“Well, hello again.” Seth smiled at the sweet-faced blonde.
She couldn’t quite meet his gaze. “Hi.”
Both Beck and Seth homed in, watching the woman’s every move as she set the plastic cup on the hospital tray near Raine’s bed, then hurried toward the door with a nervous smile at the pair.
Beck stopped her with a hand on her arm, and Hammer didn’t think he’d ever seen the doctor touch any submissive so tenderly. “Thank you for your help.”
“My pleasure. I enjoy helping others.”
No doubt, the innocent girl had no idea how much her words fired up Beck’s Dominant loins. Instead, she darted out of the room. When Beck realized Seth stared at the sway of her hips as she walked away, he growled in warning.
“What?” Seth asked, arching a brow.
Hammer smirked as the beginnings of a plan hatched in his head. He and Liam had endured a shitload of ballbusting from these two. Finally, the opportunity for some payback looked promising.
“Not you, too?” Raine shot Seth a suspicious look.
“I didn’t do a thing,” he insisted way too innocently.
“Make sure you keep it that way.” Beck sounded more than annoyed.
Seth rolled his eyes, then sidled up to the bed next to Liam and gently caressed Raine’s inky hair. “You doing okay, little one?”
“Yeah.” She did her best to send him a smile. “Thanks.”
Before they could say more, the ER doctor strolled into the room, glaring at the sudden crowd.
Beck gave Seth a shove and nodded toward the door. “Let’s give them some privacy, Captain America.” He waved at Raine. “We’ll be back shortly.”
“Thank you, guys. For everything.”
After they’d gone, the doctor introduced himself to Liam and Hammer, then turned all his attention on Raine.
“We’re going to keep you overnight so we can keep an eye on you and give you some IV antibiotics for the bite marks, just in case. I don’t think you’ll need to stay longer than that.”
