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I nod. “Can she come to the room, or do I need to take Cass to her?”
Tank smiles. “I’ll have her meet you there in a few minutes.”
“Thanks, brother.” I go back to Cassidy, who is, no surprise, still holding herself in a tiny ball while she rocks back and forth. “Cass, Sophie is a really good nurse and she’s going to check you out, and then we’re going home.”
Nothing. She gives me nothing. Fuck, it’s less than nothing, and I sigh, raking a hand through my hair.
“You’re not here,” she mumbles. “You’re not real.”
I bite back the angry words on the tip of my tongue and sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her to reassure myself that she’s here and she’s safe. She doesn’t pull away from me, and I take that as a win.
For now.
A light knock sounds on the door and I let Sophie in to examine Cassidy, then give them some privacy.
What seems like forever passes and finally, Sophie steps outside the room with a worried expression.
“How is she?” My heart races, and bile rises in my throat. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Yes and no,” Sophie sighs. Her big dark eyes are full of sympathy and what looks like anger. “She’s been through a lot.”
I nod, scrubbing a hand over my face as my mind flashes to the few details I allowed myself to take in when we rescued her. “The bruises?”
“Yeah, the bruises. The fractured ribs. The boot-shaped marks. The split lip.” Sophie looks away and lays a hand on her shoulder.
“Tell me.”
Sophie wraps her arm around her waist and then covers her mouth. “One of her fingernails is missing, and she has several broken bones in her left hand. She’s been tortured, Diesel.”
“Fuck,” I bite out and drop my face into my hands. “Tortured?”
Sophie nods. “Beaten repeatedly. The nail was pulled out cleanly. It’s…not good. It’ll take a long time to heal physically and even longer before her mind is healed. If it ever is.”
That’s the last thing I want to hear. “Should I take her to a hospital?”
“No. I wrapped her hand, put some balm on her bruises, and I have some painkillers for her. I’m just warning you what you’re up against.”
“Yeah, I got it. Thanks, Sophie.”
She nods and wraps her arms tighter around her midsection. “I’m here for whatever you need, Diesel. Both of you.”
I settle Cassidy on my bike, even though I’m not sure it’s the best way to get her to my place. I need to feel her arms around me, to have her close to me, so I have to try. She’s dressed now in jeans and a t-shirt that Kenna brought for her, but she’s not talking other than to assure herself that none of this is real.
“Okay, Cass, I need you to hang on to me until we get home. Do you think you can do that?”
She nods, but her gaze is fuzzy, and I’m not sure she can hear or understand me.
“Good girl.” I fasten the helmet on her head and latch the chin strap before I awkwardly maneuver onto my seat in front of her, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Hang on tight, yeah?”
She says nothing, but her grip tightens, and I smile. My bike roars to life and Cassidy’s grip tightens as if she’s hanging on for dear life. Then her cheek rests on my back, nearly unraveling my resolve.
Weaving through the city, I plan my revenge on the Bloodthirsty Devils and the Latin Mafia, knowing that the deaths left in my wake are nothing compared to what I have planned for the rest of those motherfuckers. Oh no, they will pay. For every fucking day it takes Cassidy to find herself, I will make them pay.
In blood.
By the time we arrive at my condo, I’m a ball of anger and nerves that I try to settle as I kill the engine and slide off to face Cassidy. She sits there on my bike like a damn zombie, so I have to remove her helmet and help her from the bike before I guide her into the elevator and my front door.
We step inside together, but she doesn’t look around the way she would have a week or two ago. Instead, she keeps her gaze on the floor as I guide her inside, giving her a quick tour that she ignores.
