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He sets me down on a stack of crates, and all three of them gasp in shock when they look at my chest. Nolan walks away and kicks a barrel, sending it into a pile of old crates as he swears under his breath. I look down to see what has them so upset. In the center of my chest is a bruise in the shape of a shoe, right down to the tread of the sole.
“I’m pretty sure I have a concussion, too.” I murmur, running my fingers through my hair. I wince when I hit a large bump. “Otherwise, I think I’m okay.” A thought hits me suddenly and I stand too quickly and stumble. “Where is Grant? He was shot!”
Lake catches me, lifting me back into his arms. “He’s okay, it went in his shoulder, and he was knocked out, otherwise he would have been here with us. He’ll meet us back at the apartments.”
“I have Dr. Lawson on the way there, too.” Sawyer starts walking toward a SUV that one of Lake’s mercenaries drove up for us.
Lake gently places me in the backseat beside Sawyer, who pulls me to him, kissing my forehead with heart-wrenching tenderness. Nolan and Lake talk to the mercenaries, no doubt giving them directives on what to do.
I look over Sawyer’s shoulder and see men leading and carrying women out of the warehouse I was in. I watch in absolute horror as more and more just keep coming out. All ages and races. I look at Sawyer, tears burning my eyes.
“They were in the basement. We stumbled upon them when we were looking for you.”
“Oh my God.” Searing hot tears start to fall again. “Are they okay? We should call the police.” My stomach flips dangerously. “I think I’m going to be sick.” I swing the door open just in time to vomit what little is left inside me.
“Guys,” Sawyer snaps. “We need to get her home. Get in or I’m going without you.”
Both of them jump into action, getting in the car and pulling out of the warehouse district. Sawyer pulls me close to him, and I nod off. I hear the three of them talking quietly about whether they should let me sleep or not, so I mumble that I’m just dozing. That seems to placate them because they’re quiet for the rest of the drive.
I feel myself lifted out of the car and know it’s Sawyer holding me. His spicy scent surrounds me, making me feel small and safe. They carry me onto the private elevator that goes straight to the penthouse level from their garage.
Sawyer carries me into his apartment and back into the bathroom. Nolan starts running a bath for me. I look down at my beautiful white suit as Lake starts to remove it. It’s covered in blood and dirt.
I whimper when he pulls the jacket off and the double stick tape comes off. “Ouch.”
The corner of Lake’s mouth tips up. “You went through all this,” he motions at my bruises and cuts, “and pulling double-sided tape off your boobs is what gets an ouch?”
“Yeah.” I give him a little smile back because it is kind of funny. “Let me rip double-sided tape off your dick and then tell me whether it hurts or not.”
“I’ll take a rain check on that.” He pushes my pants down and helps me step out of them. Then he does the same with my panties.
Nolan helps me over to the bath, steadying me as I step inside. Then he and Sawyer take turns washing my hair and body. They take extra care not to hurt me at all. Lake leaves for a few minutes and comes back to let us know that Dr. Lawson is waiting for me in the bedroom. He leaves a pair of underwear and a robe for me on the counter. Nolan and Sawyer help me stand and dry off. I manage to pull the clothes on and walk out into the bedroom on my own.
She’s standing by the window and turns to us when I come into the room. She gives me a warm, compassionate, albeit sad, smile and motions for me to sit on the edge of the bed.
“You boys can go.” She dismisses them and waits for them to go, except they make no move to leave. In fact, Nolan takes a seat on the chair with an insolent look on his face. She rolls her eyes and looks at me. “Do you want them to leave, or can they stay?”
“They’re fine. They’d just hover behind the door anyway.”
“Okay, tell me what happened and if you have any non-obvious injuries.”
I start with everything that happened from the moment Tripp entered the conference room to when they guys found me in the box. I can feel the anger and frustration coming off the guys in waves as they listen to me recount my experiences.
“Do you need a rape kit?” she asks me with her voice lowered, so just the two of us can hear.
I shake my head. “I wasn’t raped.”
“You’re sure? There were periods of time you don’t remember.”
“Yeah, I think I’d feel it if I had been.”
“Okay, I’d like you to follow concussion protocol, you can sleep but have one of them wake you up periodically to check you out. You probably have some more broken ribs. Otherwise, these butterfly bandages should be enough for your cuts.” She finishes cleaning me up and gives me yet another bottle of pain meds.
I tie my robe and turn to thank her but stop short when I see Grant standing a few feet from me. He’s looking me over just as closely as I am him. He’s in different clothes, and his arm is in a sling, a large bandage poking out of the collar of his t-shirt. He also has an almost identical gash on his temple to mine.
I step to him because he seems rooted to the spot, like he can’t bring himself to come closer to me. I know what that tight set of his jaw means as he looks over my shoulder at the wall. His guilt is eating him alive.
“Will you guys leave us please?” I ask Sawyer, Nolan, and Lake. They all leave silently, closing the door with a soft snick behind them. I pat the bed beside me. “Sit.”
