Page 82 of Breaker

I’m not hiding my face now. I’m looking at everything. Drinking in every detail and soaking up the sights around me. I’ve never seen this part of the city. I’ve only ever been surrounded by luxurious things. Soft leather and fine foods. The ugliness in my life came from the people.

The rattling metal door slides up and slams to a stop. Breaker slowly drives the bike inside. Once we park, he taps my arm, and I release him. He slides off the bike facing me and grips my waist, helping me off next. I lift my face toward his, brushing my damp cheeks and the remnants of tears away from my face. He unclips his helmet under his chin and removes it, revealing ablack balaclava with one large eye hole, giving me a clear view of his bright blue eyes and dark brows.

I release my dress, and it falls around my ankles. He kicks the kickstand into place and releases the bike.

“What did he do?” Breaker grates, gently setting the helmet on the bike seat like it’s made of glass. Like he’s trying not to break it, or everything around him.

His thumb skates under my nose. Winter eyes take in my torn dress, my trembling hands. My chin wobbles. I bite my lip to make it stop.

“Little Red,” he whispers, finger gently squeezing my hip. “Did he hurt you?”

I shake my head, but it’s more to clear the images of Zane from my mind, the feeling of Rune’s hands on me in ways that felt even more vile than before, and to rid myself this stupid feeling of betrayal.

“Where are we?” I ask, taking a deep breath. “Where’s Delly? Is she okay? Is she with them?”

“She’s still back home,” Breaker tells me.

Home.

“I couldn’t exactly take you to the hotel room,” he says.

“Hotel?” The word tastes foreign. Like I don’t know what a hotel is as I search his ice-blue eyes, trying to sort through the last hour in my mind, but there’s this dull humming noise in my head. I’m aware I’m in shock, completely numb, unable to process much.

“I’m sorry,” he starts, but I cut him off by holding up my hand.

“I know you didn’t have a choice. Your father is terrifying,” I say. “I understand why you sent me back. He just didn’t have to be so dramatic about it.”

Breaker makes a sound in his throat as he slips off his tux jacket, flinging it behind him. I move forward, unsure what I want or need, when I notice where we are.

The massive open space holds what look like the living room, dining room, and garage all in one room. Behind me, several more bikes sit lined up by the bay door. A massive sectional rests nearly center of the room with a large TV hung on one wall. There’s a pool table, a table with chairs, and two doors with faded restroom signs hung loosely underneath the metal stairs leading up to the second-floor catwalk.

The loud click of a breaker cuts through the space. Dull lights from under the catwalk flood the room. I spin, looking up at the second-floor landing circling the warehouse and then up to the metal ceiling several stories above. There are no windows, and the walls are all flat black. Several metal pillars support the roof, each one wrapped with Christmas lights, giving the entire open floor a blue glow.

“You live here?” I ask, turning slowly to take it all in. I glance at him as he scratches at his balaclava before continuing toward the sofa and the TV. “All of you? For how long?”

Questions pile up as I walk, my heels clicking noisily, echoing in the large space. It is obviously an old factory, gutted and converted into a livable space. I run my hands over the leather sofa and the bookcases holding old books and games, noting the video game consoles and the coffee table with rings staining the dark wood.

“Four years,” Breaker says behind me.

His deep voice startles me, already forgetting I had asked a question. I turn to face him. My breathwhooshesfrom my lungs almost violently.

For a minute, probably longer, I just stare at him. His piercing clear blue eyes. His dark brows that are both masculine and feminine.

“You took your mask off,” I say dumbly.

Breaker looks down at his hand holding the balaclava, then nods. A quick up-down jerk of his head. He meets my eyes. “I did.”

My heart flutters at the meaning behind his words. His actions. My legs grow weak, and I think I may crumble to the floor.

I was starting to doubt them. Beginning to doubt Reaper’s promises. Starting to think I was a damn fool for believing these men that I hardly know. Men who have committed horrible crimes. Men who saved me, sent me away, then came to rescue me from the fate Rune bestowed upon me.

Rune. The man responsible for all this.

But they promised, and here he is. Breaker, standing before me, gloriously beautiful, and I don’t know what to do or say. I suddenly feel awkward. Seeing his face means he’s a person. Not some superhuman, almost bad guy who kidnapped me. Not the masked face who fucked me with so much passion, the memory is burned into my flesh.

He’s just a man.

One I know nothing about.

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