Page 27 of Fractured Heart

William sees me approaching and nods his head with a smile and opens the door for me. I don’t stop until I stand in the middle of the hall. All the women from the boat stand around the room looking at the new lot of girls. There are eighteen of them total that we saved tonight but it’s not enough! There are so many of them left trapped out there forced to surrender their basic human rights, they are no better than fucking stray dogs!

Not anymore!

“Stop looking at them with pity!” I shout. All the girls from the boat drop their gazes to the floor. I notice that the newcomers keep darting their gazes to the back of the room and that’s when I spot the guards. “All of you, get the fuck out now.” I keep the shock from displaying on my face when all of them leave without question. It still shocks me that my word is valued and respected here, that is going to take a long time to get used to.

“Did you just flex your lady dick, D?” I scowl at Anna, the girl is a pain in my ass. She laughs and comes to stand beside me leaning in slightly to stage a whisper. “You have two shadows behind you.” I sigh, I may be able to get the others to leave but something tells me that I can’t shoo Trey and Xander away that easily. I slowly turn to face both guys, both their gazes are trained on me and the fact they each have their arms crossed over their chests and a try to fucking get rid of me look on their faces tells me they aren’t going anywhere.

“Don’t make us refuse your order in front of your girls.” My brows draw in at Xander’s words, they aren’t my girls, they are free women and should be able to choose for themselves.

Turning back to the girls, I run my gaze over all of them. The boat girls seem less edgy than the club girls but they all still hold that skeptical look in their eyes like they are waiting for me to turn on them and call all the guys in here to take turns on each of them.

“They need you to guide them, D.” I stare at Anna out of the corner of my eye, she has a hard look on her face. She reminds me so much of me in the way, she shields her emotions and doesn’t allow you to see past what she wants you too.

“I’m not their keeper,” I grit out.

“No. But you are their savior, Doxy. Our own families sold us to pay a debt. We didn’t have a loved one coming to our rescue, we had you!” Her words wash over me like a balm. I never set out to save these girls so I could become their hero. I never had that type of complex, that was Riverland’s thing to save people, not me.

I push away the memories of my past and lock down all my emotions as I address the girls.

“You’re all getting a choice, you can either wallow in your self-pity and allow it to eat you from the inside out or, you can rise above the injustice of what you have suffered and claim your vengeance. A lot of you have been through hell?—”

“You have no idea!” I snap my gaze toward the club girls to find a raven haired beauty with piercing green eyes glaring at me. I watch as she slowly climbs to her feet, her hands are clenched at her sides. “You think you can relate to us because you have a pussy?”

A chuckle escapes me. Anna whistles between her teeth knowing I’m about to put this girl in her place.

“Every hole on my body was used a lot more than yours ever will be, trust me on that one, little girl. I can relate to each of you because I was their toy for over a decade. I was beaten, raped, treated worse than an animal and still managed to get free of them and stand here before you all. I didn’t have a loved one to come to my rescue, my family all believe I died and for that, they will pay once I dethrone this Irish piece of shit.” The anger that laces my words can be heard. “I’m offering you all a chance to help me save other women like us, help me give them the same freedom you have all been given. I want to break the fucking chains these cunts have placed on us. I know we will never truly be free of our demons and I for damn fucking sure have a first class ticket to hell when my time is up but I won’t cry about that shit. I’ll smile as I look the fucking Devil in the eyes and tell him how I killed every motherfucker that thought they had the right to touch me.”

“You’re not gonna… put us to work?”

I shake my head at the blonde girl who is crouched down next to the raven-haired girl who is still glaring at me. “No. If you want to work then you can train with my men each morning, learning how to defend yourself. No man here will lay a finger on you unless you want him to. You have my word that if any of them harm you, I’ll have the fucker walk the line and each of you will be able to claim a piece of his flesh for a trophy. If you wish to leave and return to your families then you can. All I ask is that you keep this location quiet and hidden so the rest of us may put an end to this tyrant once and for all.”

“I want to learn. I want Callahan to pay for hurting me. I want to do what you did to that man tonight,” one of the club girls called out. I keep my face blank and take a breath trying to control myself. I feel Trevante and Xander creep in closer, the warmth from their bodies seeps into my back and I fucking hate to admit it but knowing that they are here and have my back helps soothe something inside me.

“What Doxy did tonight is something we cannot teach you,” Trey announces to the girls.

“But, we can teach you how to channel your pain, aggression and hatred for these men so you can use it against them,” Xander adds.

“Why the fuck would we ever take you at your word?” This raven haired bitch is starting to work my last fucking nerve.

“Because we’re here for her, we will do whatever it takes for her to get her revenge. Unlike those fuckers that wanted to hurt you, Trey and I don’t want that. We will remain here with all of you because we care and because I love Doxy.” Xander admitting that shit aloud doesn’t make my stomach flutter with butterflies or make me giggle like a schoolgirl, they are just three meaningless little words.

“You have a choice, a choice I’m sure no one else will grant you. You can return home to the people that sold you like you were cattle or you can remain here with us and fight. Like Xander said, he and I are no threat to any of you, we only see one woman and she is the badass you are all currently glaring at and judging. You think because she stands before you, strong, brave and ready to fight for what she believes is right that she hasn’t suffered. Let me tell you all something, no one's trauma will ever be the same and that is okay but do not diminish hers because you can’t see her scars or bruises. Put your trust in her and I swear on my life you will be thanking her for freeing you from the cage you have all placed yourselves in. Now, be brave like her and break free.” Trevante’s words hit home with each of the girls, I see it in the way their features change as they regard him.

He’s even inspired some type of hopeful feeling inside me.

Xander

“Anna!” I boom across the training yard. The little shit turns to me and glares before releasing her hold on Kimber, the raven-haired girl that still refuses to speak to Doxy even after being here for two weeks.

“What?” the little shit snaps as she pushes the strands of her brown hair from her face, murky brown eyes spitting fire. We found out she is only sixteen and her father was the one to sell her. She is Italian and her father owed a debt to the Irish he couldn’t repay so that is why he sold her.

“No fucking weapons! This is sparring and you’ve already maimed three of our fucking men!” I snarl as I close the space between us and offer Johnson a hand up from the ground. The poor fucker releases my hand once he’s on his feet and clutches his side where she stabbed him. “Go get that shit cleaned up.” He nods and stalks away but not before shooting Anna a filthy look. The little shit just smiles and wiggles her fingers at him. “Stop bringing a knife to training. You do it again and the next time you spar you’ll be fighting me,” I warn her.

“Seriously?” The gleeful tone of her voice has me fighting not to groan.

“No.” I spin around to see Doxy and Trey standing there. Ever since the night we brought the girls back from the club, she has shut me out. She speaks to Trey but in single word responses. She even ditched us for a whole day to go and get tattooed. None of the men would help us go after her and it was then we knew for sure that these fuckers are loyal to her alone. Nano was the fucking one to drive her there. Her arms, back, sternum and the back of her thighs, fuck, even her ass is tatted. She tried to play off their importance but Trey and I know, she got them in those places to hide her scars. We may fuck every night and morning but there are no emotions involved, she literally uses mine and Trey’s cocks to get off and then that’s it. Most guys would be okay with a chick that doesn’t do attachments but not me. I can see it is starting to get to Trey as well. “You bring a knife to a spar again and you will be fighting me, Xander has a flight to catch.” I jerk back in shock and dart my gaze to Trey. He and I are kind of friends now so he shoots me a look that tells me I won’t like where she is sending me.

“I’m not going anywhere?—”

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