Page 18 of Signed For Him

He takes a step towards me, his eyes assessing and curious as he looks me over, his gaze roaming over my body, presumably checking me for injuries.

His eyes seem to land on the scar on my face. It's strange, seeing him now mere feet away from me when it's the very thing I've hoped for and dreamt of since I first arrived here.

I feel my chest heaving, my face shaking, my eyes stinging with unshed tears that come to life for what feels like the millionth time tonight as Crow puts his hands on each side of my face, his eyes not leaving mine.

"Come here, princess." Crows voice sends shivers down my spine as I recall the comfort he brings me just being in his presence. He wraps me in his arms and I feel my body sinking, floating, revelling in his strength as he holds onto me for dear life.

God, I've missed him.

"You're never fucking leaving my side again. Not to fucking shit or piss or fucking breathe. Nothing. Never again," Crow tells me as he pulls me into his arms, the warmth of his body surrounding me as he strokes his hand through my hair.

"This really wasn't necessary. I promise I'm fine," I tell my dad as Gray shakes his head at me from behind him.

I knit my brows together, wondering what he's trying to get across to me with his stern expression and the shake of his head.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry if I want my recently kidnapped daughter checked over," he tells me sarcastically as he grips my hand tighter.

He's not let go of my hand since we left a few hours ago. I was stuck in what I found out was a hotel Liam’s dad owns and uses as their base as we left. I hadn't been allowed to leave Liam’s apartment so aside from seeing trees and parked cars outside of the windows, I had no idea where I'd been. Crow and my dad’s best friend, Tin, escorted Liam back to the Clubhouse while Dad drove me and Gray to the private hospital The Cobras and a few other MCs uses. It is paid for solely through the cash of multiple Clubs, meaning that only they have access.

I wonder for the first time where Victor is. Considering the way we left things, I found myself surprised that he wasn't with them. I know from the way my thoughts have ventured that I need to talk to him, to be as honest as I could be. I’m not sure that I care for him in the way I do for Crow.

The bright lights in the private room the doctor has taken me to makes my head ache. I am exhausted. I need sleep.

The doctor has examined me, taken bloods, checked all of the freshest injuries to my body, and is due to come back any moment with results. Although my physical injuries are less than pleasant, I know there is nothing permanently wrong with me. I hope. The only shameful thing I am concerned about is contracting an STD. I have no idea where Liam or the others have been and dread the idea that I have been given something potentially permanent that could alter the rest of my life but with my dad and Gray by my side, my mind was thinking positively, even with the niggle of negativity being thrown in every few minutes. I push it back and force my concentration on my dad.

"We're going to have to talk to you properly when we're back. We need to know everything that's happened. Everything you've seen and everything that's happened to you," my dad tells me gently. He must have an idea of what’s gone on, even if he doesn’t want to admit it to himself.

I keep forgetting about the scar across my face, having lived with it for long enough and having seen it so many times in the mirror as I stare back at myself, but I forget that he isn't used to it. Every time he looks at me, his eyebrows draw together, his cheeks pinch, and his mouth twitches. I can tell he's doing his best not to stare, but I also know how I used to be if I saw someone with a scar. I think back to the way I used to look at Edgar - one of the rival mc president’s sons. Admittedly he had a bad enough reputation to want to keep me away anyway but with the reputation he held alongside the burns covering so much of him, it scared me and I often found myself staring in wonder without even realising it. Only Gray and Liam had seen me since the first night aside from the doctor that was there so I hadn't had to witness the stares, but I have no doubt I will now that it is time for me to go home.

Thinking about Edgar gives me the reminder of Alice who I have avoided thinking about at all costs. I still don't know if the Clubhouse had been attacked the night I was taken or if it was just me that had been attacked. If it was the club, I have no idea if Alice is alive or not and, until now, I hadn't had anyone to ask that would know or give me the answer.

"The night I was taken, what happened?" I ask my dad as I rub my fingers along his hands, my attempt at comforting him as I ask him to think back on what must have been a horrendous night for him.

I had spent so long thinking about it in the earlier days of being away from my life that although it stung to think about the events that took place that night, it doesn't hurt now the same way it once did.

"Crow was ambushed. That's how they got to you. A fight broke out in the rest of the club, but only five men were found. They were killed on sight. No one was lethally harmed from our side if that's what you're wondering." He always has a knack for knowing where my thoughts are, and at this moment I am grateful for that.

"Is Alice OK? Is she still with the Cobras?"

My dad looks at me in question as if it's such a stupid thing to ask then shakes his head, wiping whatever thought it is entering his mind away.

"You could say that. There's been.. a truce of sorts since she and Edgar got closer. She hasn't seen him in months though. She said she couldn't bear to since you were gone and she had no idea if he was a part of it or not. He helped us get to you though. All of his men did," he says begrudgingly. Accepting the help and being thankful for the help offered to you are two very different things, and despite how grateful I am to be more free than I have been for what feels like an eternity, I can understand his hesitation at using the support of others to get here. The Cobras will now owe them, and knowing my father and his love for us, he would have offered anything.

"What was the deal?" I ask, concern filling my voice as I watch him for any giveaways or signs of admission.

"There wasn't one, that's the problem. I didn't even ask. They offered their help willingly with no stipulations, but you know what this is like. They'll ask for something. Eventually." The unknown is worse. That's why he is so on guard. He has no idea when the request for a favour returned will come in, nor does he know what it will be, but as a man of loyalty and worth, he will pay it - whatever the cost.

I watch as my dad pulls his hands away from me and begins twitching with them in his lap. I'm not sure if he's just nervous and anxious, considering how tense this must have been for him, or if it's something more.

"Are you OK?" I ask him. His cheeks puff out as he sighs and takes a deep breath before speaking.

"I need to apologise to you, Charlie."

"What for?" Gray told me that Dad would feel guilty for not getting to us sooner, but I didn't once anticipate him being right. I have no doubt that he did everything he possibly could to find us the moment he knew I was gone, as well as Gray.

"For Victor. The marriage. The deal and the merge of the Clubs. I knew you weren't ready, that you didn't want it, and I made you feel like you didn't have a choice despite knowing that. Having you disappear made me realise how much I've done wrong as a father and I'm sorry. I'm sorry to both of you for not being better than I have been," he finishes as he looks between myself and Gray before looking down to his twiddling hands again.

Gray and I share a look, Gray’s full of sadness that I understand.

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