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“I was falling in love with him almost immediately. I tried not to, knowing what I was hiding from him. He told me he was a SEAL, but I don’t think I truly understood what that was. Plus, I believed my uncle could get to anyone and might hurt him. I didn’t know about all this. I didn’t know that I could trust him.
“When Carr and Fontenot approached me, I knew that I would be able to get them the information they needed. But it was slow going. It went on for more than five years. My uncle would leave the house with his bodyguards, and I would make sure it was all clear, make my way into his office, and start copying all the notes.”
“You never got caught?” asked Kate.
“No. Once, the cook walked in on me. He looked at me, then down at the desk. I was holding my phone directly above the notepad. He just looked up at me again and asked what I wanted for dinner. That was it. I think he wanted out as well.”
“Lyra, maybe it would be good for you to speak with Bree, Ashley, Calla, or one of our counseling team,” said Bella.
“It’s probably a good idea,” she said, nodding. “The things that happened to me, that were done to me, aren’t what gets to me. I lost a kidney, and that’s awful, but I’m alive, and I’m okay. It’s the things I saw or heard them do to others. How are men like Quetzalcoatl allowed to walk this planet?”
“I might be able to explain that,” smiled Winter, coming in the door with Keegan. “I’ll work on your nails while Keegan gets that color right.”
“Why did you say you could explain?” she asked.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but my grandfather was the head of a one-percenter motorcycle club. Do you know what that means?” Lyra shook her head, confusion in her expression. “It means they believe they can do whatever they like. Kill, rape, brutalize, steal. There were women brought to the club and raped in front of all the men on a pool table. Men were encouraged to take the women, gang rape them.”
“Oh, God,” whispered Lyra.
“It was my life. My mother gave birth to me inside that club and was raped just a few hours later. She died when I was an infant. I should have died, but one of the women in the club cared for me as best she could. Their favorite thing to do was to keep me in a cage, naked above the floor, watching everything that was happening.”
“Winter, you don’t have to tell me more,” said Lyra.
“It actually helps me to speak about it now. When I came here, I couldn’t even look at any of the men. I was terrified.” She shook her head, smiling at the women. “At first, I learned to trust Keegan’s husband, Hawk. He didn’t let me just slink away. He assured me I would be safe and that he would help to keep me that way.
“Then it was Hiro. Hiro, he saw the fear. He felt it and wouldn’t let me hide. Weeks of coaxing me out of my shell, getting me used to being around all these people. He was so incredibly patient, kind, and gentle. Mama Irene, she was there every step of the way. So was Keegan and all these other women.”
“What happened to the men at the club?”
“When I found out that the man who was running the club, the man who was at the center of my pain and terror, was my grandfather, it was devastating. He’d raped me. Forced me to perform oral sex on him.” She shook her head, watching as Lyra’s tears fell silently. “Don’t cry for me, honey. Cry for the women that didn’t get away. That man and all the men in his club will never touch another woman. You know why? Because men like these exist.”
Slowly, women filled the small cottage, bringing in snacks, wine, and love. By the time Keegan was done, Lyra felt like her old self again. She looked in the mirror at the image she hadn’t seen in months. Smiling, she turned back to the group of women.
“I can’t thank you enough for this. I wasn’t raised with a mother, not one I remember anyway. I had no sisters, no real girlfriends to speak of. Having this kind of female companionship is new for me. But I crave it and didn’t even know that I was craving it.”
“We’re a tight-knit group, honey,” said Bella, hugging her future daughter-in-law. “We have to be. We support one another, fight for one another, cry for one another, and most importantly, shop and eat with one another.”
Laughter filled the cottage, the women enjoying this special time together. On the front porch, Nine, Razor, Ghost, and Skull sat in the rocking chairs, just listening and watching.
“Do you think they’ll try to find her?” asked Razor. “Do we really believe they’re stupid enough to attempt to come here or find her here?”
“Knowing Quetz? Yep,” said Skull. Razor nodded at his old friend.
“Then this is where he’ll die.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Admiral Garvin was seated at his favorite table in his favorite restaurant outside of Alexandria, Virginia. Across from him was his wife of thirty years. She was stunning, but then again, he’d spent a fortune to keep her looking that way. If he had to pretend to be a fine, upstanding gentlemen, he’d at least enjoy the package hanging off his arm and sleeping in his bed. Well, sometimes in his bed.
She’d been the manager of a hotel when he met her. Long, thick blonde hair, a pert little nose, and the prettiest blue eyes. But it was the tits that got him. They were firm and high, and she loved when he played with them.
Neither were interested in marriage, but he knew that if he was going to move up in the Navy, he needed to show what a solid, well-grounded man he was. Their marriage was more of convenience than anything. She didn’t want children, didn’t want to ruin her body. He didn’t want them because he didn’t want the responsibility. A marriage made in heaven.
“Did you have your injections today?” he asked, looking at her frozen face.
“You know that I did. It’s my quarterly routine. Freeze, fix, and fill.”
“It looks good. You have no visible wrinkles.”
