Page 29 of Rogue’s Reckoning

He doesn't answer, just grips my arm tightly and drags me towards the building. As we enter, I'm hit by the smell of cigarette smoke and leather. Men in leather vests adorned with patches turn to stare as Ezra pulls me through the room.

"Storm," Ezra calls out, "I brought her."

A large, intimidating man with graying hair steps forward, his cold eyes assessing me.

"So this is the little bird who's been singing to the Hawks," he growls.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I plead, looking desperately at Ezra. "Please, there's been some mistake."

But Ezra's face is like stone as Storm grabs me by the hair, yanking my head back, forcing me to look at him.

"No more lies, sweetheart," Storm snarls. "We know you've been feeding information to Lochlann. Now, you're going to tell us everything."

"I swear, I don't know anything!" I cry out as Storm drags me to a back room.

Ezra follows, along with at least seven other men, all of whom have grim looks on their faces, but they’re all watching me with intense curiosity.

The older man ties my hands to the wooden beam in the room, my arms stretched above my head. I grit my teeth as I watch Ezra staring at me, his eyes vacant of emotion, and my heart shatters. The man I thought I knew, that I loved, isn’t who I believed.

“How did you know where the flash drive was?” Storm questions me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The first blow takes me by surprise, Storm's fist connecting with my stomach. The air rushes out of my lungs as pain explodes through my abdomen.

"Wrong answer," Storm growls. "Let's try again. How did you get the information about our operations?"

"Please," I gasp, tears streaming down my face. "I don't know anything about your operations. I swear!"

Another punch, this time to my ribs. I cry out in agony, my legs buckling beneath me. The ropes bite into my wrists as they take my full weight.

My mind goes to the tiny life growing inside me. I have to protect my baby, even if it means enduring this hell. I know that no matter what, I’ll never be able to forget what’s happened here today. Never in my life have I felt so alone and frightened, and the person I love is standing by and letting it happen.

"Ezra," I plead, looking desperately at the man I thought I knew. "Please, tell them this is a mistake. You know me!"

But Ezra's face remains impassive, his eyes cold as he watches my torture. In that moment, I realize the man I fell in love with never really existed. This stranger before me is capable of standing by while I'm beaten and brutalized.

"The flash drive, sweetheart," Storm says, gripping my face roughly. "Where is it?"

"I don't know about any flash drive!" I sob. "Please, I'm telling the truth!"

Storm sighs, turning to one of the other men. "Bring me the iron."

Terror grips me as I watch one of the men heat up a branding iron. The metal glows red-hot, and I struggle frantically against my bonds.

"No! Please, don't do this!" I scream.

"We're done playing games," Storm sneers. “We have proof that it’s you.”

I cry, tears falling thick and fast. “I haven’t done anything,” I whisper, my words filled with fear and pain. I stare at Ezra. He’s watching me, his jaw clenched. The man beside him is standing close, a hand on his shoulder. They’re both watching me, no doubt loving the tears and fear.

The searing pain as the hot iron meets the flesh on my hip is unlike anything I've ever experienced. I scream until my throat is raw, the smell of burning skin filling the air.

Through the haze of agony, I hear Storm's voice, "You don’t ever cross the Saints."

As darkness finally, mercifully, overtakes me, my last thought is of the tiny life growing inside me. A life created with a man I thought I knew; a man I thought loved me. A man who just stood by and watched as I was tortured and branded.

When I come to, I'm lying on a cold concrete floor. Every inch of my body aches, and the burn on my hip throbs with a fierce, relentless pain. I blink, trying to focus in the dim light.

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