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Tragedy had brought us together, but I’d do everything I could to help her through this. Even if she ended up pushing me away again when it was all over.
The pain afterward would be worth all the comfort she received from me now.
“Come in,” I grunted when a light knock sounded on the door. Scorpion pushed it open and walked in, Doc behind him. Doc was an aging man with tired, blue eyes and gray hair. One look at him and I could tell he’d seen way too much in all his years of living.
Doc sighed at the bruises on her face and around her throat, but he wasn’t surprised.
“Can you wake her up for me?” he quietly asked me.
I nodded, standing up from the couch with her cradled in my arms. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes. “Chase?” she mumbled, her sleepy eyes quickly filling with pain.
“I’m still here, cupcake. Doc is here to look at you.”
She looked over my shoulder and then clutched at my cut, shaking her head. “Chase—”
The terror that completely clouded over her eyes, wiping away the sleepiness, when she looked at another man, one I trusted at that, made me want to vomit.
“It’s okay,” I soothed, laying her on my bed. “I won’t leave. I promise. I’m right here.”
Her lips trembled but she nodded her head. Scorpion leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. I shot him a dark look, wanting him to fucking leave and give Sophia some privacy, but he just shook his head once at me.
“Mother fu—”
Doc arched a brow at me in surprise. He knew how close Scorpion and I were. He was my president, but he was also my best friend. We didn’t go at each other like that, and I knew the vehemence in my voice surprised him.
Scorpion pushed off the wall, narrowing his eyes at me. Sophia clutched at me. Ripping my eyes away from Scorpion, I looked down at Sophia. She shook her head at me, and I blew out a harsh breath, nodding my head once at her.
I wouldn’t do something stupid. At least, not where she could witness it.
“Can you tell me what happened to you?” Doc gently asked Sophia as he opened his bag.
Sophia’s lips trembled. “I was stocking some coffee, and they attacked me from behind.” Her voice wobbled, tears tracking down her pretty face again. I brushed them away, but they just kept coming. Rage curled in my gut, tightening around my lungs like a vice. “There were two of them. They beat me, knocked me unconscious. I woke up to one of them inside me—” She broke off on a sob.
And I fucking lost it.
Scorpion yanked me back, but I shoved him off of me, swinging on him, landing a solid punch to his jaw. He shoved me back against the wall with his forearm against my throat. I could vaguely hear Sophia screaming my name, begging for me to stop, but I wasseething.
“This is on you, brother!” I yelled at him, shoving him off of me. He narrowed his eyes at me. “Youpulled the fucking protection on her, Scorpion! And the goddamn moment you did, she wasattacked! Beaten! Fuckingraped!” I roared.
“Chase—”
“No!” I barked at him. “Get thefuckout, do you goddamn hear me?GET OUT!” I roared.
Sophia crashed into me, knocking me back against the wall again. I circled my arms around her, my body trembling with rage as I glared at my president over her head. He shook his head and stormed out of the room, slamming my door shut behind him so hard, I heard something crack.
I squeezed her to me, dropping my face into her hair. My chest was being crushed under the weight of my guilt. “I’m sorry, cupcake,” I rasped. “I’m so goddamn sorry I failed you.”
She just sobbed into my chest.
Doc left shortly after finishing Sophia’s examination. The guys that attacked her didn’t leave any semen in her body, so there wasn’t a chance of a pregnancy, though Doc gave her a morning-after pill anyway just to be on the safe side. Then, he gave her some pain medication, which put her to sleep almost immediately after she took it.
I hadn’t been asleep yet. I’d just been sitting in a chair beside my bed, staring at her as she slept.
I’d fucking failed her.
Because this shit didn’t just lie with Scorpion, though that was where I wanted to put all the blame. It lied with me, too. I could have protected her store—protected her. Kept watch overnight instead of giving her the space she needed.
She might have been pissed with me, never talked to me again, but goddammit, at least she would have beensafe.
