Page 24 of Buried

Someone was lightly knocking on my room door, dragging me out of my sleep. It was times like these that I hated being the president. All I wanted to do was cuddle with my woman and our son.

Was that too much to fucking ask for?

With a soft sigh, I gently moved Adelaide off of my lap and laid her on the bed, placing Axel next to her as they both continued to sleep peacefully, neither of them making a single sound.

Must have been nice. But I knew Adelaide needed the rest. Between nurturing a baby inside of her and taking care of Axel, as well as being my old lady and the queen of the club, I knew it was exhausting for her.

I slowly slid off of the bed and walked to the door, opening it just enough for me to slip through before I closed it back, looking at Sam.

“What’s up?” I asked as I stretched my arms above my head, wincing when my back popped.

Fuck, I was already getting old.

“Come on,” he grumbled, his shoulders tense, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.

I sighed. This couldn’t be anything good. Sam didn’t get on the edge of losing his shit for anything. He was cool and collected. It was why he was my VP. He was my voice of reasoning.

I followed him to the room that I had given Reina. He pushed open the door, and my eyes instantly fell on Joey, who was holding Reina on his lap, whispering soft words to her as she sobbed. She was wrapped in a sheet, her face beaten and discolored, dried blood all over her exposed skin. Hand-shaped bruises were wrapped around her neck and upper arms.

I barely resisted the urge to put my fucking fist through a wall. I snarled, my jaw clenching so tight, my molars audibly ground together.

“What the fuck happened?” I snapped, looking to Joey, knowing he would know the most.

“She won’t talk,” Joey told me. I growled. “I went outside this morning to smoke and check up on my club, and she was sprawled out on the back porch unconscious.” He clenched his jaw. “I know you don’t want to wake Adelaide up, but she may be able to help with this.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Adelaide was dealing with enough shit as it was. I didn’t want to burden her with this shit, too. “How is my woman supposed to help this situation?” I demanded to know.

Joey clenched his jaw, working it around before he forced himself to relax. “She’s a rape victim, River,” Joey spat, the wordrape coming off of his tongue like acid. “Vin got his hands on her a few years ago, and she managed to escape him.” He drew in a deep, calming breath as guilt flashed in his eyes. “I didn’t protect her enough. But she may be able to coax the truth out of Reina.”

“Please, no,” Reina whimpered as she squeezed her eyes shut, her body beginning to tremble.

“Easy, sweetheart,” Joey soothed as he looked down at her. “We’ll take care of this. I promise. This won’t happen to you again.”

I looked over at Sam. His expression was murderous, and his eyes wouldn’t leave Reina. There was something there between them, but obviously, Sam hadn’t acted on it yet. Probably never would, to be honest. He wasn’t an open kind of man nor was he a one-woman kind of man.

“Not a single other fucking person comes in here, you got me?” I snarled.

Sam finally ripped his eyes away from Reina to look at me, then nodded. I stormed off toward my room and slid inside, changing into a pair of jeans and one of my red flannel shirts, throwing my cut on over it before I tugged on my steel-toed boots. I was fucking furious, and as soon as I found out who did this to Reina, I would fucking shove their dick down their goddamn throat.

I gently shook Adelaide awake. She blinked up at me tiredly. Fuck, I hated having to wake her up for this shit, but I needed her help. I only hoped that it didn’t fuck with her, too. I knew she’d been raped before Joey had even told me, but I didn’t want her having to deal with this.

But I didn’t know what other option I had to get Reina to talk.

“Hey,” she quietly greeted me, her voice still husky from sleep.

“I need your help,” I told her softly. “Get dressed.”

Questions sparked in her gaze, but instead of voicing them, she nodded and got out of bed, slipping on a pair of leggings with a tank top, shrugging on a hoodie over it against the slight chill in the air. “I’ve got Axel,” I told her, scooping up the sleeping baby. “Follow me.”

When we got to Reina’s room and I pushed open the door, Adelaide sucked in a sharp breath. I didn’t even have to tell her what happened, and it broke my goddamn heart that this shit had happened to my woman so many times that she picked up the signs in someone else so quickly.

“Oh, not you. This didn’t happen to you,” Adelaide whispered in horror as she instantly rushed forward, taking Joey’s place as he quickly vacated it.

Joey pressed his lips to the top of Adelaide’s head. “Help her, pretty girl,” he quietly begged.

She looked up at him, at the guilt in his eyes. Reaching up, she trailed her fingers down his cheek. “I’ll help her,” she promised.

Adelaide looked at me then, and I nodded at her, understanding what she needed without her having to voice it.

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