Page 31 of Biker's Dark Revenge

I tightened my grip on her hand as we rounded the corner to one of the brothel buildings where Lombardi had been sending his victims to work – before Chuck had put a bullet in Lombardi’s head and left him and what remained of his entourage to rot in that old soda factory. He managed to get the addresses of every location he was working out of. Lombardi had been willing to hand over any information he could to try and fight for his life, but, of course, Chuck was far beyond the point of showing mercy by then.

The guys had been working their way around the city, getting the girls out and delivered to various hospitals and rehab centers to work through their injuries and addictions, both mental and physical. To my utter horror, at least a few other children had been found as well, though none of them had been harmed beyond the basic neglect that came from growing up in a horror show like that one.

They were taken to various social services – most of whom were willing to overlook the fact they had been delivered by members of a nasty biker gang. They were just glad to have them at all, and I needed to know they had been returned to some semblance of safety, though I knew it would be a long time before any of them were truly healed.

Kara was with Star right now, back at the tattoo shop – Star had become a lovely aunt to the little girl, helping her with her painting and art, and Liana had been happy to leave her there to come down and help out. . When she heard there was still one more brothel to bust, she’d insisted on coming down and offering what support she could to the women who were being held. .

It was the one she’d been held in before I broke her out, and I could tell the memories came flooding back as soon as she laid eyes on it – she stiffened beside me, and I thought she was going to give up, turn away, and admit that she just couldn’t handle this like she thought she could.

But she strode towards the door, leading the way. A few of the women were already being guided out by the Dogs – Chuck was at the door, keeping watch, and Jaxon was on standby to help with anyone who might be dealing with acute drug issues. He carried Narcan everywhere, and he knew how to use it better than anyone else.

"Oh, my God," Liana exclaimed all of a sudden, and she darted forward when she saw a woman stumbling out of the brothel. She was skinny, her bones jutting out beneath her ragged clothes, her dark hair matted against her head, and she tripped and nearly fell as she squinted into the brightness of the light around her.

"Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’ve got you," Liana murmured, as she caught the woman before she fell. It struck me how weak this woman looked next to her – how much she must have gone through, and how badly she must have suffered.

"My...my daughter," the woman croaked, looking over her shoulder – a few seconds later, one of the Dogs came out with a young girl in his arms. The woman sprang to her feet and pulled her into her arms, clutching her close like she never wanted to let her go.

"Oh, sweetie, you’re okay," she wept, pressing her head into the girl’s neck. "I thought...I thought..."

"You’re okay," Liana told her, smoothing a hand gently down her back. "You’re both out now. You have nothing to worry about, okay?"

The woman turned to her, her lip trembling, tears still shining in her eyes.

"I...I don’t know what to do," she blurted out. "This life, it’s all I’ve ever known..."

"It’s not all you need to know," Liana told her firmly. "There’s so much out there waiting for you. And your daughter. You just don’t know it yet."

The woman broke into sobs again, and Liana gently guided her towards the makeshift medical station that had been set up outside the brothel to help the girls who needed immediate medical care.

The rest of the afternoon was spent helping the women who were freed from the brothel, letting them out into the world again and directing them to the care and attention they needed now they were free – Liana was so patient, so kind, and so willing to do anything she could to get these girls the help they needed.

When the last one was out, she breathed a long sigh of relief and turned to me.

"God, I’m exhausted," she admitted, stifling a yawn.

"You did amazing," I told her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. "These women, they’re never going to forget you. Your kindness was probably the first they’ve felt in a long time."

"It was the least I could do," she replied, brushing it off.

"But you still did it," I pointed out. "Not everyone would have done that. You went out of your way to come down here and do it, Liana, that counts for a lot."

She smiled up at me.

"Thanks," she murmured. She had a hard time accepting praise for her kindness, but I would be damned if I let her believe for a second that she wasn’t worthy of it.

I cupped her face in my hand and gazed down at her.

"You’re going to make an amazing mom, Liana."

Her lips parted with surprise, but she didn’t protest. Though we hadn’t exactly sat down and had a conversation about what was going to happen with Kara, I could tell that Liana was attached to her. There was no way in hell she was going to hand her over to social services like we had done with the other kids who had been found in the brothels. She would never allow it.

"I don’t know about that," she replied, shaking her head. "I mean...it’s not like I’m actually her mother..."

"You came through for her when nobody else would," I pointed out. "You were there for her. And you’ve been there for her every single day, ever since. If that’s not being a mom, I don’t know what is."

She bit her lip, her face lighting up.

"You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about it," she admitted. "Taking care of Kara, I mean. I know...I know it’s not going to be easy, and I know she still has so much trauma to work through. She’s going to need so much support and care down the line, to help her survive the way her life started, but I..."

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