Page 6 of Ours to Keep

He nods. “Yeah, well, I didn’t, and let’s just say she put me in my place. I only intended to scratch an itch—” His words cut off as River swerves before gaining control again. “Calm the fuck down, Riv, you asked me, I’m explaining.”

River grunts in response.

“But then... she took me up on my offer. How the fuck was I to know she was a virgin?”

I almost choke out my response as River swerves, pulling over to a small lay-by, bringing the car to a stop, and then his hands are around Jax’s throat.

Fuck!

“River,” I say, grabbing hold of his wrist.

Jax holds up his palms, showing no sign of retaliating, and River shoves him away as he releases his hold.

“It was consensual. I would never,” Jax says.

River covers his face with his hands and takes a deep breath before grabbing the steering wheel and facing Jax again. “I know that,” he grits out. “It’s just, this is so fucked up. I knew you had a hard-on. Hell, we all do, that much is obvious.”

Riv looks back at me in the rearview mirror, his eyes holding mine for a beat.

“Hmm, ain’t that the fucking truth,” Jax says. “She has us all enamoured.”

River gives him a pointed look, raising a brow.

“Yeah, point taken…I was worried she’d become too much of a distraction and just needed some attention. So, I made her an offer to expel whatever was going on with her. But it backfired.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” River replies.

Jax sighs heavily. “If I had known she was still a virgin, though, I would have shown a little more self-restraint. I’m not saying Iregret what we did becauseI don’t. But right now, we need to make sure she’s okay and track down thatson of a bitch.”

Pangs of guilt flood me immediately. I should have found that feed weeks ago. “I’m going to scan the entire property again. That’s on me, Jax. I take full responsibility for missing it.” Amateur fucking mistake.

“There’s a lot of blame going around, El, this isn’t on you.”

“No, it’s on all of us,” River says. He slams his palm on the steering wheel, causing the horn to sound in the silence of the night and causing me to flinch. “Richard is a fucking snake,” he adds. “But why hire us all in the first place? That’s what I don’t understand.”

Jax scoffs at that. “To keep up appearances, most likely. It doesn’t matter now, though, because his days are seriously numbered. There is no way he’ll get away with this.”

“No, he fucking won’t,” River replies. “But we do still need to have a long conversation about what happened with you and Lily,” he says, pulling back onto the darkly lit road.

Jax doesn’t reply, not that I expected him to.

None of us speak any further, all caught up in our own thoughts as River breaks the speeding limit a few times too many in his haste to get to the hospital.

When we finally arrive and rush through to Accident and Emergency, I’m initially hit with the bitter smell of antiseptic. We spot Tommy almost immediately. He is sitting in the waiting area, his head in his hands, his leg bouncing with nervous energy.

“Tommy?” His head snaps up at Jax’s voice, and he pushes to his feet and meets us in the fluorescent lit hallway.

“They told me I had to wait here. They wouldn’t let me go through to triage,” he says. “I’m sorry.”

Jax grips his shoulder. “Don’t be. They’ll take care of her,” he replies, but I don’t miss the unease in his voice.He steers Tommy back to the seating area, and I collapse into one of the chairs, my adrenaline beginning to wear off. I rub my chest, trying to starve off the cold, hollow ache that’s resided there since we found her.

River places his hand on my thigh. “She’ll be okay,” he mutters, as if saying it out loud will make it true. I nod, but until I see her again, I’m not sure I truly believe it.

My mind keeps replaying the moment over and over again. Her covered in blood, the discarded belt. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the images, but they might as well be burnt into my retinas.

I don’t know how long we wait before a doctor finally emerges, the receptionist pointing her in our direction. She approaches, her face a mask of professional detachment.

After introducing herself, she finally utters words we’ve been anxiously waiting to hear. “She’s stable.” I feel a wave of relief so intense it borders on painful. There’s a collective sigh from the guys. “Most of her injuries are superficial, some worse than others. She’s going to need time to heal, physically and emotionally. But she’s a fighter.”

---