Page 55 of Ronny

“What happened?” she asks, and I can’t bear to hear about it all over again.

I clear my throat. “I think I’m going to go wash Madeline’s bottles and clean the kitchen.” I hurry out of the room, trying not to let it all get to me like it did last night.

Ronny

She leaves the room and it takes every part of me to not run after her, carry her off, and protect her from this shitty world.

Trixie watches her leave. “What happened? She okay?” she asks.

I sigh, sitting forward, running my hands over my face. If Olivia hurts, it hurts me ten times worse.

“She is having a hard time with what Elliot has done, what he dragged her into,” I confess to them, but not wanting to reveal anything more.

“Carter can explain,” I tell Trixie.

I find Olivia leaning over the sink with her hands braced on the edge, her head bowed down.

“Angel,” I call softly, not wanting to startle her.

She turns to look at me, her eyes glistening, and she swallows hard. She is fighting tears, and it fucking destroys me to my soul.

“My girl, please don’t let it hurt you. It’s not something you could have stopped,” I plead with her. I would do anything to stop her from the pain she is feeling.

“I’m not sure why I’m so upset, but I can’t stop thinking about those kids and what might be happening to all of them right now.” She rubs her chest, right over her heart. “I just think of how scared they are, whether someone is hurting them.”

I pull her to me, holding her head to my chest. Right now, I wish I could kill someone because then I could stop the thing that is hurting her, but this is something I can’t fix until we get those kids.

“Baby, you’re breaking my heart.” She sniffs, her hands clutching my back.

It hits me in this moment. She is sad and hurt by everything, but this is bringing back a lot of old feelings with her PTSD.

“Baby, do you think this has made your PTSD flare up?” I ask.

She holds completely still for a moment like the idea didn’t come to her. “I think that might be the reason for the panic attack.” She leans back, but I stop her from going too far, not wanting her away from me.

A tear rolls down her cheek, dripping off her chin and to the floor. I dry the rest of her tears. “You are so fucking strong, and I love the fact that you care so deeply for people. We will get those kids and we will make sure they get all the care they need.”

She lets out a shaky breath, nodding at my words. “You’re right, my tears aren’t going to change a thing, and I know that you will find them.”

I will find them if it’s the last thing I fucking do, and I’m going to plant a bullet in every fucker there that took those kids.

13

RONNY

LATER THAT DAY

We pull up at the clubhouse all at the same time. River, who is the ole lady to Gage from the Grim Sinners Rebels MC, and Techy have spent all night and day getting all of the information. They’re geniuses when it comes to technology.

We are heading out with the Rebels as they wanted a piece of this too. We have some of the younger MC members driving vans so we can bring the kids back.

We got briefed in a hurry in the main room, not wanting to waste time to get to the kids.

The hippie commune is one that lives off the land, off the grid, and they’re prepping for the world to end.

They send the kids out to beg for money on the streets all over the state. They have older members that get a check from the government, then they cash these checks in exchange for safety for the world’s end.

It’s like a messed-up fucking cult.

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