Page 7 of Destroy (Deadly Hearts 2)

“It did,” he says. “Look, it’s happened and now we have to go to Ruby and take care of her. We let her down by not being there to protect her and we have to make it up to her, if she will let us. I’m of half a mind that she will tell us all to fuck off, and to never darken her doorway again. And, to be honest, I wouldn’t blame her. How did we let this happen?” he growls.

“She snuck out,” I protest, but knowing it’s feeble. Declan’s right. We should have been paying more attention. We should’ve known she’d do something stupid that would get her in trouble. “Fuck,” I mutter. “If she doesn’t tell us to fuck off, we should anyway. We are useless to her.”

Tears spring into my eyes and I turn away from the other two men. I feel a hand land on my shoulder and squeeze gently.

To my surprise, it’s Layton who speaks. “All we can do now is make sure something like this never happens again.”

“How will she even be able to look at us knowing how badly we let her down?” I ask quietly.

“We don’t let her fall deeper into the pit of despair she must be in right now. This is the second time she has had to deal with this, she survived once, she will survive again,” Declan states and then curses when Layton and I turn back to him, shock on our faces.

“Second time?” I ask, confused. “What do you mean? She’s been abducted before?” I add with dread, but knowing in my heart that’s not what he meant.

He just shakes his head and then walks slowly to the hallway, his brief pause screaming his emotions so loudly, there is no need for words.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “How can she come back from this?”

“She will,” Layton says. “She’s strong and she will. We will help her.”

“We don’t deserve for her to forgive us.”

He sighs. “Look, David. I know you feel guilty, but that isn’t helping her right now. We need to pull ourselves together, go in there and be everything for her because she is going to be a broken china doll that needs piecing back together, even if she says she isn’t. She has been through too much, and her mental state is fragile as it is, if what Declan says is true. Can you do that? Can you be strong for her?”

“Yes, of course,” I mumble, humbled by his words. But I’m not like him or Declan or Ramsey, even. I’m just a regular guy with no real strength to speak of, and emotions that bubble up uncontrollably. I can’t just shove them down and ignore them. It’s not who I am.

“Still be you,” Layton says with a glimpse of that sexy smirk. “Just focus on healing her, but on things being normal. She won’t want to be treated any differently.”

I nod, wondering how he knows so much about Ruby when he only met her a few days ago.

I follow him down the hallway slowly, my heart slamming in my chest when I see her in bed, propped up against the white pillows, her dark hair tangled and bloody, her face puffy and pale. She is in the process of being hooked up to the blood transfusion thing, her eyes open but devoid of any spark.

Declan is staring at her, the longingness shown openly for her to see, if she was to look. But she doesn’t.

Her stare is out of the window and doesn’t move, not even when I sit on the bed next to her and take her hand.

“Hey, Rubes,” I say.

She doesn’t answer me. She doesn’t even move.

It’s only when Declan, whose hovering is starting to annoy Michelle, drops to his knees in front of Ruby that she moves.

But only to flinch and pull her hand out of mine.

“Back away from her,” Michelle says. “She doesn’t need you four crowding her.”

Silently, we watch as Michelle finishes up and picks up her bag. “I have a phone call to make. I’ll be back in a few minutes to check on her progress.”

I follow her out and catch up with her in the sitting room. “When you said other things…what did you mean?” I ask.

“She needs a rape kit,” Michelle states quietly. “Convince her to go. This arsehole will only get away with it if she doesn’t do something.”

I frown at her. “That’s not fair,” I start, but she shushes me.

“I know you care about her,” she says. “Convince her to get the rape kit done. She will also need to be checked for STI’s and pregnancy.”

“Jesus,” I mutter the bile rising in my throat.

“I’m sorry to be so blunt,” she says, her voice softening slightly. “Talk to her.” She turns and leaves me staring after her alone, and for the first time in a really long time, lonely.

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