Page 17 of Gunnar

I took a breath. No. This was what my dad would do. It’s what my brothers would do.

Instead of vacillating on whether or not I was doing the right thing, I looked at my phone and pulled up the number Knuckles had given me. Mama had confirmed that, if she’d been raped, it wasn’t recent and there were no physical signs. She wasn’t pregnant. The STD testing was still pending. I saw some bruising on her torso and one side of her face was discolored, but considering where she was and what they’d wanted her for, she was Goddamned lucky.

I sent off a text. I’d actually spoken to Knuckles when I’d called the last time, so even though he was still in prison, I knew he had a simple burner phone smuggled into his cell. Which didn’t really surprise me. Knuckles was nothing if not resourceful.

The text was brief, giving the bare details. The last thing I wanted to do was to set off any red flags on some super secret government server and have the feds come after me. If he wanted more, he could contact me.

The door opened as I hit send. Immediately, my attention was focused on Pippa. I straightened, tucking the phone back into my pocket.

“Knuckles wanted a detailed list of your injuries. I didn’t talk to Mama, but other than being knocked around, I didn’t see anything major in the brief glance I got.” I tried to smile at her, but at the moment, she was so exhausted, the bruise on her cheek stood out like an accusation.

“I’m sore and stiff, but I suspect that’s more from inactivity. My injuries are more mental than physical, I think. I’m OK.” She didn’t meet my gaze, and her lower lip trembled.

“Yeah, baby. You’re nowhere near OK.”

Pippa’s eyes welled up with tears at my words. She bit her lip, clearly trying to hold back the flood of emotions. I stepped closer and gently cupped her face in my hands.

“You don’t have to be strong right now. You can let it out if you need to.”

She shook her head, blinking rapidly. “I can’t. If I start crying now, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop and we’re not at a stopping point. We’re still going to that other place. Right?”

“Kiss of Death?” When she nodded, I did too. “Yeah. I wanted to head out tonight after Mama checked you over, but that was for my own benefit. You need rest more than I need to avoid my father.”

“I can sleep on the way.”

I reached out to her and brushed my thumb gently over her bruised cheek. “Yeah. You could. But you’re not goin’ to. At least, not in place of proper sleep. You’ve been through a lot. Sleepin’ in a strange place is gonna be hard enough without tryin’ to sleep in a vehicle. And we both know that Humvee ain’t the most comfortable ride.”

My attempt at humor fell flat. She gazed up at me, tears swimming in her eyes. One of the offending drops of poison spilled from the corner and down her cheek. She said she didn’t want to cry, but I thought a breakdown might be a relief once she started. But, shit. What the fuck did I know?

“You’re right, Gunnar. I’m not OK.” Her voice cracked on the last word, and she swayed slightly on her feet.

I immediately stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close. She buried her face against my chest and let out a shuddering breath but still didn’t let go of all the grief and pain. Pippa held back as much of the crying as she could and other than the occasional shuddering breath in, she didn’t make a sound.

“It’s all right, honey. You don’t have to be OK right now,” I murmured, running my hand soothingly up and down her back. “You’ve been through hell.”

She nodded against me but didn’t speak. I could feel her trembling and knew she was fighting to hold herself together. Part of me wanted to tell her to let it out, to cry and scream if she needed to. But I also understood her need to stay in control, at least for now.

It took a while. I was afraid to move, not wanting her to think I was rushing her. I was willing to do whatever it took to help her feel better. When she finally pulled back, her eyes were red-rimmed and tears streaked her cheeks. She wasn’t nearly done, but she’d released all she could for now.

After a long moment, I leaned in and kissed her again. One long, soft, lingering kiss meant to comfort instead of arouse. But fuck me, it was arousing as hell. Her lips were soft and trembling. I could taste the salt of her tears and longed to kiss every inch of her face to remove any lingering moisture. There should never be a reason for Pippa to cry. Ever.

I pulled back and watched her face carefully. Her eyes opened slowly. There was a dreamy expression on her face that made her even more beautiful than I’d first thought. Instead of telling her that and risking sounding like a complete idiot, I smiled gently at her.

“You think you can eat while I work through your hair?”

“I still don’t think you can manage it. It’ll be easier to just cut it.” She didn’t really want to cut her hair. I could see that plainly. I thought that maybe she didn’t want to have hope only to have it ripped away from her. That’s when I realized there might be more going on with her than I’d first realized.

“Easier isn’t always better.” I had to be careful. Phrase my words carefully. “I’m sure I’ll hit a few snags. It might hurt a bit. But I think it’s worth taking a chance to fix it, rather than cut it.”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted. “You really want to try?” She was guarding her words as much as I was, so I decided to take the first leap.

“I do, Pippa. I meant what I said when I told you about Knuckles. Yes, he asked me to make you my old lady and give you the protection of my name and my club, but if I’d met you on my own, even not knowing you were Knuckles’ daughter, I’d have done everything in my power to make you mine.” More tears filled her eyes, spilling over and sliding down her face. “I know I must sound creepy as fuck to you, but I can’t sugarcoat it and tell you I’m gonna be your fairy tale prince. That ain’t me.”

Pippa set out a small giggle even as another tear fell. “You don’t sound creepy, Gunnar.” She reached up and touched my lower lip with her fingers. “You sound just about perfect to me.”

Chapter Seven

Pippa

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