Page 40 of Nines's Time

“Anyway, you and her became my property. Linda wasn’t too happy about it when she found out, considering she was upset about me picking Libby over her, but she should have been happy, she had my cousin.” He snickers and comes closer. “So, you see, as my property, you were mine to do as I please, and now, you’ll be punished for the headache you’ve caused.”

When he gets within touching distance, he takes his time in cutting through my shirt and bra, leaving me exposed. Next, he palms the knife in his hand and unbuttons my jeans.

I kick at him to try and attempt to keep him from yanking them down, but he it doesn’t sway him leaving them alone. He laughs at me as he jerks them down. The movement causes even more pain in my arms, and I cry out as I feel both my shoulders pop out of place.

“You will be stripped and waiting for your new owner when he gets here,” Johnathan states.

“Please don’t do this,” I plead.

Laughing sinisterly, Johnathan drags the knife against my stomach hard enough to draw blood. He doesn’t say anything further. He just toys with the blade against my skin. When he lifts his gaze to mine, he smiles, and I know that smile. It’s one that he always got when he was about to make me do something I didn’t want to.

It’s hard to focus due to the pain of my arms but also the because of the blade. Because of this I don’t brace for what he does next. I don’t worry about the fact that he pulls the knife away from me.

“Enjoy the pain, Meadow, because we’re just getting started,” he says and plunges the knife directly into my stomach.

I throw my head back and scream as he buries the blade in me. Tears stream out of the corner of my eyes as I endure the pain. The knife in my stomach is nearly unbearable, and my vision becomes spotty.

The sounds of crashing and yelling are the last things I hear before I lose the battle and everything goes dark.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

NINES

I kick the door in, and a film of red takes over my vision as I roar out my anger at the sight of Meadow with a knife stuck in her stomach. I rush the bastard, catching him off guard. I lose control and pummel Johnathan until he’s knocked out and my brothers pull me away.

“Take a breath,” Blow orders calmly. “Breathe, brother, breathe. We’ve got to get her to the hospital.”

I nod and move to where my brothers have pulled my woman down from the chains. I jerk my cut off and hand it to Blow before yanking my shirt over my head and dropping down on my knees next to Meadow. I dress her in my shirt, shielding her naked body from the eyes of my brothers, they might not say anything because this shit is fucked, but still, I don’t want them seeing what’s mine. My beautiful woman.

“Prez, we got another man out here. Got him as he was coming out of the woods,” Torch announces from just inside the doorway.

“Take him to the barn at the farm,” Blow commands as Scorn makes his way in to check on Meadow. We know we’ve got to get her to the hospital, but we’ve got to make sure she can make it there without issue.

“I wanna pull the knife out and patch her up, VP, but I don’t want to take the chance of the knife doing more damage than it already has,” Scorn says calmly. “I’m going to stabilize it for the time being until we get her to the hospital.”

I nod and watch as he gets to work while also listening to Blow ordering Griz, Shiner, and Switchblade to help Torch get the bastard outside and Johnathan to the barn. We’d deal with them later.

I would be sure of them being dealt with firsthand. I intended to make them feel my wrath for what they’ve done to Meadow. I’ll be sure to take my time hurting them in every way possible there is for what they’ve done.

* * *

“Where the fuck is my daughter?”

I jerk my head in the direction of Calyx’s booming voice as he steps into the waiting room. Three men trail behind him, looking just as fierce as the man himself.

“Calyx,” I call out, getting his attention before he can make a scene with the nurses.

“What’s the word? I wasn’t able to get here faster due to a situation we were handling,” he explains.

“We’re still waiting on word,” I inform him and shake my head in frustration.

It’s been a couple of hours, and no one’s come out to tell us anything. The whole thing is fucked, and all I want is to make sure Meadow is okay. That she’s going to wake up and everything will be all right.

“Right.” Calyx narrows his eyes and looks around the waiting room before jerking his chin toward the men behind him. “This is Dallas, Brody, and Wyatt.”

I give them a chin lift and turn my attention straight back to Calyx. “What are you doing here?”

“I just got my daughter in my life, a daughter mind you I just fuckin’ found out about, and I’m not about to lose her,” he growls. “Where’s the fucker who put her in here?”

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