Page 9 of Navy

The blonde came to a stop beside the man she’d been with earlier. Behind him, sitting at a table, was a group of women who were looking at me with concern. Another blonde got up and came over to me, taking my wrist in her fingers. I think she was taking my pulse, but I wasn’t sure why.

“She’s in shock,” she informed someone. Again, not sure who, but she told them to get me a whisky and some sweet tea. I wanted to tell her I hated whisky, but the sweet tea sounded nice.

That was my last thought as the room wavered, my knees went weak, and I felt myself falling.

I never hit the floor, though. I was scooped up into hard arms. I drifted off, knowing that whatever happened for now, I was safe.

CHAPTER 5

NAVY

I caught Gianna just as she was about to hit the floor, sweeping her up in my arms.

“I’m taking her up to my room,” I informed the table. A few people from the tables around us were whispering. “Rea, can you come and check on her for me?” I asked.

Rea nodded, walking towards me with Onyx not far behind her, “Of course, let me just stop at my room and get my bag.”

Turning, I followed them out of the ballroom. I knew my brothers and their Old Ladies would smooth things over as would Hope and Bas.

We’d booked all of the MC into rooms on the same floor, so when we got to my door, Onyx took my key card to open my bedroom door before going a few doors down to where Rea was waiting for him.

Walking into my room, I went straight to the bed and gently deposited Gia on it. Stepping back, I finally took a good look at her. I was a little taken aback at how young she was because I was guessing she was around her mid-twenties, which was a helluva lot younger than my forty-two. Taking off her shoes, I smiled when I saw her toes were painted a deep blue. I don’t know why that amused me, but it did. It was so different to the dress she was wearing, making me wonder if the gold was really her style or something she’d been forced to wear. I had a feeling it was the latter.

Gia was just starting to stir as I covered her up with the spare blanket when Rea knocked on the door. I went to let her and Onyx in, moving out of the way so that Rea could examine her.

To give them some semblance of privacy, Onyx and I stood in the small passageway just off the bathroom to wait while Rea examined Gia. We could hear them murmuring but not what was being said.

“Are you sure about this, brother?” Onyx asks me.

“Yeah, brother, I am. There’s something about her. I know she’s younger than me and might not want anything to do with me. Even if she doesn’t, I’d still help her. There’s nothing I hate more than men bullying the women in their family. And her stepfamily seems to be right arseholes.”

Rea calls out to us to come back in. Onyx nods, clapping me on the shoulder as he walks past me murmuring, “Okay, brother. We’re here for you both.”

Gianna is sitting up in bed. Rea’s helped her into one of my shirts and fuck, but don’t I just love the fact that she’s wearing it. A possessiveness like I’ve never felt comes over me. But like I told Onyx, I’d be moving at her pace. I was well aware that I tended to bulldoze my way through life and that I may not be able to this time.

Gia gives me a small smile, but I don’t like how pale she looks. “How is she?” I ask Rea a little abruptly, not that she took offense, just gave me a smile and patted my arm.

“She’s fine, other than she needs to eat and drink something. I’ve called room service and ordered some soup and tea.”

“Thanks for the save,” Gia says with a shy smile at me. “I was wondering how I was going to raise an alarm when you swooped in. I need to call my Gram and make sure she got out okay.”

“What do you mean?” Onyx asks gently.

“You better tell them,” Rea says with a smile. “It will be quicker and cleaner that way.”

Gia just shakes her head at us as if she can’t believe that we’d be interested, but then proceeds to tell us what has been going on in her life the last months. Every word that comes out of her mouth makes me angrier and angrier.

I have to wonder again. What the fuck is wrong with people that makes them so greedy they treat their family so abysmally. By the time she’s finished, Onyx is on his phone, filling Reaper in.

Rea had disappeared when there was a knock on the door, leaving just the two of us alone for a little while.

Gia looked at me with big eyes that suddenly filled with tears as she watched all this unfold around her. Sitting on the bed next to her, I pulled her into my arms, and she buries her head against my throat and sobs.

Running my hand through her hair, gathering her closer, I whispered to her, “It’s okay, sweets, it’s going to be okay. Cry it out. When you’re done, we’ll call your gran and then your brother and get this all sorted. I promise you’ll be okay.”

Rea put the tray with soup on the table, her lips compressed into a thin line as she listened to Gia cry. I was just happy it was Rea in here with us and not Molly. I had a feeling Molly would be out for blood if she’d heard half of what Gia had to say.

Gia and her grandmother had basically been kept prisoner with little to no food. What food they did have they’d had to make stretch as far as they could because they were never sure when more would be delivered. It made my blood boil, and I wished I’d kept hold of the little prick. The abattoir could do with some use, it had been a while since we’d used it.

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