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Finally, she grabbed the hem of her shirt in her trembling fingers. I released her, watching as she slowly slipped her shirt over her head, her body tensing with the movement as it pulled at the skin and muscles on her back.
She wasn’t wearing a bra—didn’t think she would be—but that just meant that the damage would be extensive. Reina hated going around without a bra. After what happened to her, she liked to keep her assets covered.
Slowly, she dropped her shirt to the floor and then turned around to give me her back.
My eyes widened in horror, and I was thankful as fuck that she couldn’t see my face. It would make her feel worse.
I’d known it was going to be bad. But this bad?
Fuck.
Herentirefucking back was marked with the Angels of Hell’s emblem. Most of it was still healing. My hands trembled. I wanted to touch her, remove whatever they’d done to her from her skin, but I couldn’t. I knew both physically and mentally, she wouldn’t be able to handle my touch there yet.
I swallowed vomit. They had cutdeep. I didn’t even want to know the amount of blood she had lost, how much blood had been covering her when she’d been tossed back at the clubhouse like garbage.
“Baby,” I breathed. She didn’t move. “Baby, look at me.”
She slowly turned back around to face me. I grabbed her face in my hands, my thumbs brushing her damp cheeks. “They’ll pay. You fucking hear me?” I gently shook her, my soul so fucking enraged that I could barely contain it. “They’ll fucking pay for this, baby girl. I swear that to you right fucking now. AndI’llbe the one making those fuckers pay. They fucked with what’smine.”
Then, I tugged her back to me and held her as she continued to cry.
And inside, my soul silently fucking wept for her all through its anger.
I felt like I was at fault for this shit. I’d gotten shot. I hadn’t been there to protect her. For years now, I’d made sure no one put their fucking hands on her. Even the club bunnies knew not to let their bodies even graze Reina’s, because I’d take that as an act of fucking defiance.
The one fucking time I wasn’t around, not awake to protect her, this shit happened.
“Come on. Let’s lay down,” I coaxed.
She silently followed me to her bed. I pulled the blankets back and watched as she eased onto it, laying on her stomach. I slid in beside her and draped my arm across her ass, my hand wrapping around her hip. She turned her head on her folded arms to look at me, so much pain residing in the depths of her pretty eyes.
God, I just wanted to take that fucking pain away and make it my own. I wished she didn’t feel anything but fucking happiness.
“I thought you were going to turn your back on me,” she whispered.
I brushed her hair back from her face. “I’ll never turn my back on you, Reina. I don’t care how much we fight. I don’t care if you wake up one day and just hate my fucking guts. I’m here, baby girl. All you have to do is say the word. I swear to you, I will drop everything, even club shit, and come to you, you hear me?”
She ran her tired eyes over my face. “What made you change your mind about me—about us?”
I brushed my thumb over her cheek. “When I got hit, you were the first and only thing on my mind. I didn’t care that I was dying. I didn’t care that River and the club may have to find a new VP. All I cared about wasyou. I was terrified ofyourreaction and how this would affectyou. And I realized right then that if I made it through that, if I survived, I was going to make everything right between us, and I was going to do right by you.”
“So, no other women?” And I hated that her voice trembled. I hated that I made her doubt me.
I shook my head. “The only woman I want, have ever truly wanted, Reina, was you. So no, no other women.”
She blinked back tears. “I’ve wanted this for so long,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
I leaned forward and brushed my nose with hers. “I know, baby girl. I know, and I’m sorry that I was a douchebag for so fucking long. It’s honestly a goddamn miracle that you haven’t booted me out on my ass yet, to be honest.”
Her lips quirked with a small smile. The pain in my chest eased. The roaring in my soul died down.
This was the effect Reina had always had on me. I used to think it was bad.
Now, I knew it was all good. She was my kryptonite, and I couldn’t give less of a fuck. She brightened my world, gave me a reason to live and fight. I was no longer just going through the motions. Now, I had a purpose.
And my purpose washer.
She shook her head at me. “I love you too much to do that.” My soul silenced, now basking in the warmth of her words. “Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but I need you here with me, Samuel.”
