Chapter 16

Greer

The guys have been gone for most of the day. They left before the sun even made its appearance. The tension in the Devils’ clubhouse is immeasurable. There are four Chaotic’s and four Devils out and about on the search for two men that could potential start their own mini-wars against the clubs.

It has been radio silence and the longer I don’t hear from either Spook, my dad or Trigger, I pace and let my mind take over with all the possible scenarios of what could be happening.

Brute texted Mitz and let her know they were on their way back. I should feel a bit of relief, but my thoughts are consumed with something happening to my other family.

The Chaotic’s went and visited a senator I remember clearly. He was an evil man, but that didn’t matter to Dimitri as long as he received his money. Dyson had visited me once a month since I was twenty-three. Each of his visits progressed with more malevolence than the last.

The last time I encountered him, he tied me to the bed posts with coarse rope that rubbed my wrist and ankles raw with the slightest movement. He’d blindfolded and gagged me. The only sense I wish he would’ve taken was sound.

Hearing him sharpening a knife and whistling to a tune of his own creation was nerve racking. The waiting for his next move made the panic amplify. Listening to him move around the bed, but never touching me enhanced the dread.

He talked to me in third person as though not admitting in first person that he was a sick bastard made it okay to torture me the way he did.

But when that first slice of the knife into my skin ensued, my muffled screams and tightening of every muscle in my body would arouse him further. After a few swipes of his blade, I’d pass out only to wake hours later in a bed covered in my own blood and one of Dimitri’s servants tending to me.

Dyson made sure the cuts were small, but when you’re covered in hundreds of tiny slits and you tend to bleed like a stuck pig, the outcome is damaging. The only plus out of his continuous visits is that I never once was turned on by his choice of pain.

The sound of Sweet Home Alabama breaks the silence in the main room. Mitz’s digs her cell out of her back pocket and brings it to her ear.

“Hello.” She answers and listens intently to the caller. Her face falls and she searches the room for me. My stomach flutters with angst. She strides over to me. “Hold on a second, Queenie. She’s right here.” She places the phone into my palm.

“Queenie.” I stammer.

“Greer, I need you to listen to me and I need you to wait to freak out until I’m done.” She says sternly.

“Okay.”

“The guys had an issue at Dyson’s and there was an explosion.”

“Oh, shit. Are they alright? Please tell me they’re fine and are on their way home.”

“Baby girl, your dad and brother are fine, as well as Ryker. Spook wasn’t able to get out of the house fast enough before it ignited and…”

I drop to my knees and scream, and in the process Mitz takes the phone from my clinching fist. I faintly hear her talking to Queenie, but I can’t comprehend what’s being said.

I’ve just lost the one man that I was ready to spend the rest of my life with and raise my daughter as his. I cannot believe how much my mother and Dimitri continue to take from me in their absence.

I feel strong arms lift me from the floor and carry me down the hall. I’m placed in my bed. I see Mitz and Brute in front of me and their mouths are moving, but there’s no sound. My mind is adrift and has shut down completely.

The only emotion I feel now is desolation. Anyone I’ve come into contact with over the last months has been tainted by me. I don’t bring joy and happiness. I bring despair and misery.

The best thing for me to do is leave and let these people, I’ve come to love with everything I am, go so they can get back to the delight and happiness they had before I came along and disrupted it.

***

Brute

I watch helplessly as Greer sinks further into herself. The more Mitz and I try to bring her out, the more she isolates herself to her thoughts.

The moment we laid her in her bed, the tears stopped as though she’d come to a conclusion. A conclusion I’m sure none of us will like, but I’ll be damned if I let her follow through.

I squeeze Mitz’s shoulder to get her attention and nod towards the door. She follows me reluctant to leave Greer’s side.

“I’m going to the main room and make some calls. If you leave her, I want a brother on the door and one in here with her. When Poison and Banshee get back from their run, I’ll send them in here. Hopefully, they can bring her back out of her head.”

She nods. “I’ve never seen her like this. I mean we’ve seen her mentally consumed, but not to this extent. I’m afraid we won’t be able to get her back and the only person who can isn’t here.”

“I know, babe. If I have too, I’ll get Rudy and Trigger’s asses here pronto.”

“Queenie’s on her way here. She feels responsible for putting Greer in a tailspin.”

“Queenie and Greer have a lot in common, more than I think Greer will ever know. With any luck, Queenie can bring her out of the dark.”

I hug my ol’ lady and make my way to the main room. I survey the room and see most of my men are withdrawn and lost themselves with the events that just happen.

Feeling my stare a few of them raise their eyes to mine. “I need guards on Greer 24/7. She’s not allowed to be in her room by herself until we’re sure she won’t do anything stupid. I want one in her room and one outside of it. Mitz is in there now, but when she isn’t one of you will be.” They nod in agreement.

I turn and head for my office. Time to fill Rudy in on the situation with his girl.