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“We’ll start with his fingertips. Then go for the joints,” Freddie mused. “Make it really fucking hurt. Did you know you can use a cheese grater on skin? It really sucks.”
“Be careful. Telling her about torture turns her on,” Jasper warned almost playfully. A laugh bubbled up through me even as Milo glared at him and Kellan shook his head.
Vaughn pressed a kiss just behind my ear. “Dove, I think what we’re all trying to say is that we’ve got this. Not sure why Liam is suddenly putting his foot on the gas pedal.”
“Because I want him gone,” Liam said, ice underscoring every word. “More, I want him erased as painfully and brutally as possible. This isn’t just about revenge. It’s about war and about—”
A rapid fist banged on the door to the clubhouse. The casual attitude shifted. Vaughn rose, and I was behind him, with Freddie sliding up to stand right next to me. Rome moved to my other side as Jasper, Kel, and Milo all headed for the door. Liam and Mickey shifted to be on either side of the entrance to the annex.
The pounding continued as Milo reached for the door. Liam had his gun out and pointed at it. Freddie had his knife out, and Vaughn stood right in front of me. I wanted to look around him, but the tension in the room had stretched so taut it felt like it would snap.
Milo yanked the door open, and Jasper seized the rat who’d been knocking frantically and hauled him inside. “What the hell are you doing in the annex?”
None of the rats were allowed in the clubhouse. The annex was off limits too. They were supposed to call…
“Someone dropped another body on us,” JD said, not struggling where Jasper had him by the shirt.
“Fuck,” Mickey swore, and he was already heading out the door with Liam, Kellan, and Milo right behind him.
I started forward, except Rome hooked an arm around me and pulled me back.
“Rome—”
“Not yet,” he cautioned.
“But that was how Mickey found Ms. Stephanie…”
“Don’t think it’s a chick this—” JD broke off when Jasper smacked him upside the head.
“Out,” he ordered. “We’ll be right back,” he said over his shoulder to me.
I almost felt bad for JD.
Almost.
I still thought he was creepy, even though I didn’t spend time around the rats, and the guys didn’t encourage me to be anywhere near them. Still, with the increased number, it was hard to avoid them.
“Doc’s gonna be okay, Boo-Boo,” Freddie said as he and Vaughn moved to the door. Jasper had closed it behind him, and I was left on the far side of the room, leaning against Rome.
None of us spoke as the silence proved harrowing. My pulse rabbited, sweat beaded along my lip, and agitation seemed to swarm beneath my skin. Rome wrapped his arms more firmly around me, hugging my shoulders. I leaned into the contact.
Then Freddie was there, hooking our pinkies together as he rested his forehead against mine. “Breathe, Boo-Boo.”
I was trying, but it was getting harder, and the vise around my chest seemed almost impossible. Not knowing was way worse than knowing.
“Give me an update,” Vaughn was saying. “Dove is on the verge of a panic attack—”
No, I wasn’t. Was I? Why was it so hard to get a deep breath?
“Right,” Vaughn said. “Do we know… So they’re following. Okay… Yep... Keep us in the loop... Yeah—I’ll tell her… Thanks.”
The more I tried to get my breathing under control, the more difficult it became. It was like trying to snorkel with a straw.
“Breathe, Starling,” Rome said, his arms banding so tightly around me that it made my whole being feel secure.
“Dove, they’re fine. Doc’s guys are out there with them and covering. Two of them went after the car that dropped the body. We’ll have answers soon, but everyone else is okay.”
“Is it someone we know?” I almost didn’t want to ask that question. What if it was someone else important to them? To me? Vaughn still had burns that were healing, so did Rome. Kellan had some bruises and scorched spots.
