Page 77 of Dev

I get to the yacht club in forty minutes, and when the guy at the security gate stands up and asks to see my ID, I show him the barrel of my gun instead. Backing him up into his hut, I use the rope from my back pocket to tie him up in a ball in the corner, under his desk. On the way out, I raise the barrier so I can ride through. Keeping my revs low, so no one hears me coming, I search the different wharfs of the marina until I find the yacht owned by Quinnell.

“Hey!” Someone yells at me from a deck above when I climb onboard, and when I see them reach into their suit jacket, I don’t question. I shoot. The bullet only pops, but it hits him right in the temple where I aimed it, and the fucker tumbles over the balcony onto the deck below my feet. “Permission to come aboard, mother fucker.” I take his gun from his holster and tuck it in my belt. Then drag him off the deck and through the fancy glass doors that lead inside. His blood seeps through his suit onto the beige carpet when I dump him on the floor, and I can’t help noticing that the men here are dressed far better than the ones we killed at the shipping yard, as I start my search for Millie.

I wanna call out her name, so she knows I’m coming for her, but being alone means I need the element of surprise.

I creep through to the next room, taking the stairs down to the sleeping quarters. I see a man in the reflection of one of the hall mirrors; he’s standing guard at one of the doors, and I keep my back to the wall so he can’t see me breathing in some strength and waiting for the perfect moment to charge at him. He starts to play around with his radio, and I take his distraction as an opportunity. Making my move and snapping his neckbefore he’s even thought about reaching for his gun. I throw his body to the floor and stare at the door he was guarding.

I know I’ll either find Millie or the man I’m gonna make suffer on the other side of it. I’m prepared to find both, and if I do, Millie will see the real me. She’ll understand why I tried so hard to protect her from who I am. I’m ready for that now, I just hope she is.

Taking a deep breath, I rip it open, and I realize that there's nothing in this world that could have prepared me for what I find.

My girl is here, lying on a bed, with her legs wide open and a blank look on her face. She’s lying so still, I wonder at first if she’s alive, but then I see her chest sag with relief and know she’s still with me.

The first man I grab is the one who's kneeling between her legs with his cock fully inserted. I feel a bullet slice through my side as I rip him away from her body and smash my fist into his face.

More bullets ricochet off the wardrobe doors surrounding me as I take him to the ground and lay blow after blow into his face. When I panic that the bullets flying might hit her, I keep the fucker held down in one hand, and raise my gun with the other. I shoot the man who’s firing at me, straight through his skull, and Millie doesn’t even flinch when his blood decorates the side of her face. I see the third guy, scrambling on the floor, thinking that he might get away, and I shoot his hand before he can reach to pick up his dead buddy’s gun. I stand up straighter and see that he’s naked from the waist down, so I shoot him in the dick, too.

He screams in pain, clutching his crotch as blood flows from between his fingers.

“You shot me in the dick!” he screeches, staring down between his legs as if he can’t believe it.

“Trust me, that’s the least of the pain you're gonna feel.”

“Millie,” I call over to my girl, holding onto the man still fidgeting in my hands for dear fuckin’ life while I wait for her to respond.

“I knew you’d find me.” Her voice comes out weak, but still with that sweet, soft tone, and it makes me turn to the man whose dick was inside her and force him against the wall.

“You're a dead man,” I warn him. Forcing both my thumbs into his eye sockets and pushing them into his skull. “I’m going to take you apart. Piece by fuckin’ piece.” I wrap my arm around his neck, so I can put him out while I tend to Millie, and when his body goes limp and heavy, I let it drop to the floor and rush straight to her.

“Dev.” She swallows back tears as she reaches her arms up and wraps them around my neck. She shakes from how tightly she clings to me, and I feel my heart break. There ain’t words that could express how mad I feel, but I can't let her see it. She’s clearly been through hell. I have to be her strength now. My feelings and my needs don’t matter.

“It’s over. I’m here now.” I cling to her just as tightly, and she lets everything she’s been keeping locked inside her release. Crying the most haunting, painful cry I’ve ever heard.

I hate that all I can do is hold her, and as I stare at the two half-dead men on the ground, I vow that I will make their deaths my best fuckin’ work.

“Baby, listen to me. Do you know where Quinnell is?” Dev asks, pulling himself out of my hold and gripping my face. It feels so good to have his hands on me again, but I can’t hold it together anymore. Now he’s here, I don’t feel like I have to be strong anymore, and the reality of what’s happened to me sinks in with a vengeance.

“He left…He left them to…” I look down at my body and break into tears all over again.

“I know… but it’s over now. I’m here. No one's gonna hurt you.” He tries to soothe me, but all the coping strategies I had in place have abandoned me.

“They raped me. All three of them.” My skin feels scratchy, like I can still feel them on me, and when I look down at my bare flesh, I can see why I’m aching so much. The bruises from how rough they were are already starting to show.

“I’m so sorry.” Dev looks as if he’s about to cry himself. “I should have insisted I come with you when you spoke to your father. I really thought you were safe there, Millie.” He shakes his head, and I hate how he looks so disappointed in himself. None of this is Dev’s fault. These men didn’t come after me because of him. All this had something to do with my father.

“So did I. Dev…” I swallow back my tears, knowing that what I’m about to say is going to make him even angrier. “...Quinnell didn’t take me because of the club. My dad is mixed up with these people, somehow. We have to–”

“Your dad’s at the clubhouse, he’s safe. At least for now,” he interrupts, and I question what I’m hearing.

“We need to get you to a hospital, get you checked over.” Dev takes off his cut and lifts off his shirt.

“I just want to go home.” I shake my head. “I want to get into your bed, and have you hold me till I forget all this happened.” I can hear the guy who got shot between his legs moaning on the floor. I’m pretty sure the other two men are dead, and knowing Quinnell is still out there somewhere makes me want Dev to never leave my side.

“Baby, I want that too, but some shit went down while you were at your dad's. Long Beach ain’t safe. That girl you visited yesterday; she’s dead,” he explains, and I stroke my forehead as I try to keep up. “The people who own the club are gonna think I did it, and they're gonna come for the club. All the girls are on their way to Vex’s cabin. I’mma get you to the hospital, have 'em check you over, and then take you there myself.”

“Dev, I don’t want the hospital. I just want this to be over.” All the walls I’ve held up around me crumble. I’m exhausted.

“Millie, listen to me.” Dev lifts my head in his hands. “You’re through the worst. I just need you to be brave for me, one last time. These men wouldn't have used protection.” His fingers tense, and his jaw ticks. “You need medical help, darlin’.” I follow his eyes to the bloody sheets and see the anger in them, ready to spill.

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