Page 11 of Chase

“Nah,” Scorpion told me. “They trust us. Trust goes a long way. And we’re not hiding what’s going on. We’re warning them and upping man hours. It shows them we’re serious about protecting them. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

I lifted my mug to my lips, and then Sophia’s blood-curdling scream rang out through the clubhouse, almost making me drop the coffee cup to the floor. Every member of the club shot to their feet, and Jessica came running out of the kitchen. But I had already tossed my mug into the sink and was sprinting for the stairs, almost busting my ass on my sock-covered feet by the time anyone really began to move.

I didn’t even have the door fully open before Sophia crashed into me, sobs wracking her chest. My back slammed against the wall on the other side of the hall as I caught her, my hands gripping the back of her thighs as she wrapped herself around me. Her tears quickly began to soak my shirt. Her face was buried in the curve of my neck, her entire body shaking.

“I’m here,” I rasped, moving one of my hands so I could wrap my arm tightly around her. “I’m here, cupcake. Everything’s going to be okay now. I promise.”

Ignoring Mark and Elias standing there, no doubt concerned, I walked back into my apartment, shutting the door behind us to give her some privacy to fall apart. She didn’t need a fucking audience. I knew everyone was freaked out after hearing her scream like that, but I already knew what it was from.

She’d had a nightmare. Or a flashback. Hell, couldn’t a flashback be considered a fucking nightmare?

Easing down into the chair I’d dragged beside the bed last night, I continued holding her. I didn’t say a word. Sometimes, women just needed to cry, and I knew this was one of those moments. Even if she hadn’t been a virgin last night, innocence had been ripped from her. Her world had been tainted, and I knew from experience that all those colors she used to see were slowly turning black.

She had a lot to work through. Anyone would—man or woman. But even when she worked through it all and came out on the other side, she wouldn’t be the same woman she’d been.

No one ever was. Not after their world had been tainted with vileness.

Her sobs eventually slowed, and finally, her tears stopped. Sniffling, she leaned up and swiped at her cheeks, looking around the room like she was seeing it for the first time. She hiccupped and then looked down at me, finally meeting my eyes.

“I wet your shirt,” she whispered, plucking the fabric from my damp shoulder.

I shrugged. “It’s just a shirt, cupcake.” I brushed my fingers over her bruised neck. Fuck, I hated the discoloration there. Hated that they’d marred her beautiful skin like this. “You okay now?”

She nodded. “For now,” she whispered. She swallowed thickly, pain flickering across her face for a moment. Her throat would hurt for a while, no doubt. The bruises were dark and covered most of her neck. “Is there a chance I can get into the shop today?” She scrubbed her hands over her bruised face, hissing after and quickly yanking them away. She’d probably forgotten about the bruises lingering on her face. A deep frown pulled at her lips. “God, there must be so many repairs—”

“Don’t,” I quietly stopped her. I gripped her hips and tugged her closer to me. Tears welled in her eyes, but I shook my head at her. “Sophia, this falls on the club. You took that hit because of us.” She opened her mouth to protest, but I placed a finger over her lips, shushing her. “We already looked into it, Sophia. You were targeted because a rival club thinks you’re my woman.”

Her lips trembled, and I fucking hated myself. Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath. When she opened them again, the tears were still there, but she didn’t let any fall. “I won’t let you blame yourself, Chase.”

I sighed and leaned my head back, staring up at the ceiling. She grasped my face in her hands, pulling my head back up so I was forced to look at her.

God, her beautiful face was fucking wrecking me right now.

She shook her head at me. “Don’t,” she pleaded. “Maybe if I had remembered there were true monsters in the world,” her voice wobbled, “this wouldn’t have happened to me. You put protection on my store, Chase. You protected me, and despite you being extremely persistent, you never did anything to me.” She closed her eyes. “Not like they did.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I let myself get too comfortable.”

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Too comfortable?

“Sophia—” I rasped, but she shook her head again.

“Chase, this isn’t on you or me. We did everything we could. And Scorpion obviously thought it was safe, or he wouldn’t have pulled the protection off my store. Off me,” she added. I sighed, not agreeing with her, but I wasn’t going to argue. She didn’t have the strength for it. “This lies with the fuckers who did this to me.” She brushed her lips to the corner of my mouth, and I groaned, my hands tightening on her already bruised hips. But she didn’t flinch. Leaning back up, she looked down at me, a tear running down her cheek. My chest ached when I drew in a ragged breath.

She was slowly killing me, and she didn’t even know it.

My cupcake was broken. Falling apart. All because I hadn’t handled this entire situation correctly. All because I hadn’t said fuck Scorpion and done what I wanted, what I should have.

“Just please make sure they can’t do this to another woman,” she pleaded with me.

Clenching my jaw, I nodded.

ThatI would be able to do.

She had my fucking word.

7

Sophia

Ipoked at the food on my plate, not really hungry. Before Chase left with Halo and Elias, he’d gone out of his way to make me scrambled eggs and had asked me to eat. But I wasn’t sure if I could stomach anything.

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