Pulling up her sweater, Nicole revealed a scarred torso that was marked with a series of circular burns. Dawn pressed her hand to her mouth, wincing at the thought of flaming cigarettes pushed into the girl’s flesh, the fire held in place to leave mark after mark as she screamed.
“It was a dark place,” she started. “Just a little light passing through the boards. I smelled roses, but it wasn’t any kind of sweet.”
Dawn searched her mind hard, but she couldn’t connect these dots as easily as she knew where and how to find Hayek’s. Flowers aside, it sounded like a sinister place, and she watched Nicole’s face contort as she continued.
“I… I tried to run. They just tied me down tighter. And they wanted to know how to take my Daddy out. Like they thought I would tell them where he made his plans.”
“But didn’t you know?” Dawn asked.
Nicole’s eyes locked on hers, and Dawn felt like the Alpha’s daughter could shred her in two with the force of her glare.
“I knew,” she said. “But like I was just going to tell them? They’d have to break me down first.”
“And did they?” Dawn asked. Cade pressed a stray finger to her lips, and Dawn fell silent as Nicole’s fingers trailed down the lines of her scars, and she slightly lowered her pants, more burn marks dotting her waist.
“They tried,” she said. “But I never told them. I am my father’s daughter. I stayed strong. Even when…even when they tried to…”
Dawn cringed at the thought that the fire might have burned lower still when Cade pressed his hands to her hips and nodded into her eyes.
“That’s enough,” he said. “I think she gets the picture.”
Dawn wanted more, but she held her tongue, as Cade dressed her quickly and pushed her back to Mona’s waiting arms.
“Okay, honey,” Mona said. “I’ll take care of you. Like always.”
“So someone else did crime, others did nothing, and I get the life sentence,” Nicole said. “How the hell is that fair?”
Dawn looked into Cade’s eyes, and he eased her into a corner as he whispered into her ear. “Okay?” he asked, the concern in his tone betraying the tightness in his jaw.
“I… I wanted to know,” she said. “So this is why the Alphas laid low.”
“Harold wouldn’t risk his kids again,” Cade said.
“But why didn’t he go after her?” Dawn demanded.
“Had to keep his eye on his boy,” Cade continued. “That was the way his mind worked. So it fell to me to find Nicole.”
And despite the horror of the story still hanging in the air, Dawn had to hold him.
“Now I’m the one who’s impressed,” she said.
“Mona’s always been good for looking after strays,” Cade said, as he slipped away from her. “Better to keep her here and away from the old man.”
“But now he’s gone,” Dawn said. “And her brother’s out for blood.”
“Sort of,” Cade said. “But mostly he just wants the territory back.”
“Guess that’s something,” Nicole said, as she pushed away from Mona. “All you did was tell me to hide.”
“He does that when he cares about someone,” Dawn said, smiling softly as she touched his arm.
“Kept you out of harm’s way,” Cade reminded her. “And Reese will get a kind of justice for you.”
“Reese?” she sneered. “He just likes to think that I’m long gone, and he’s suddenly the oldest. You sic me on those freaks, and this gets done. No more slinking around the Pub and just waiting for them to make their move.”
“How did you know…?”
Cade looked back at Dawn, and he kept his hands as his sides, his nostrils flaring as his eyebrows arched.
“Was I onto something with you?” he demanded.
“Let’s not start that again,” she groaned.
“You were ready to head to Hayek’s. If you knew how to ride—”
“I was doing fine until you grabbed the bike,” she said.
“My bike!” he said. “And how does she know about the Pub?”
“Cade, I just met her,” Dawn said. “I barely know you. Why don’t you look to the smoking lady if you want a lead?”
“Hey!” Mona cried. “I’m on your side.”
“So there are sides,” Cade said. “I should have been more careful.”
“Christ, that’s enough, Cade!”
Nicole pounded her fists into his chest, and Cade started to fall away when she pushed him into the bed, her lips curving into a smirk.
“Lenny keeps me informed,” she said. “He’s expecting me at the party.”
Cade’s face fell in confusion, as he barely stifled a laughed against the pillows.
“The little guy?” Cade laughed. “That’s your in?”
“Make no mistake,” she started. “He’s loyal to me. And whether your girl comes or not, I’m making myself known tonight.” She coldly kissed his lips and reached for Mona’s hand, as she started to fly from the room. “You always said I could count on you,” Nicole said. “Make it happen now.”
“Honey…” Mona started to protest when she simply hung her head, puffing on her pipe again as she looked back over her shoulder.
“Girl has a point, Cade,” Mona said. “I am just the hired help.”
The women disappeared, and Cade started for the door as he muttered under his breath.
“Not going to work,” he said. “This is like the fucking worst call. I…”
“Hold up!” Dawn brought him back to her eyes. Cade stiffened under her hands, but Dawn wouldn’t let him go. “I want you to say out loud that none of this was me,” she said.
“Dawn, I don’t have time for—”
“Looks like Nicole needs a minute,” Dawn said. “I want you hear you say that this isn’t my fault.”
“Dawn—”
“Say it, Cade.” She was stunned by the feel of tears falling from her eyes as she gritted her teeth. “I…I need you to tell me that you don’t blame me for whatever’s going to happen next. I just…I just wanted…”
“Your story,” he said. “Now you have it and then some. What more do you want?”
Dawn fell silent, as he started to turn away. Maybe that’s all there was. No way he would relinquish his bike after a few quick repairs and give her the way out. Now she’d have to take off on foot, and she had a story. Might even be a way to spin it for Michael and provide an ending, cryptic, but a closing all the same.
“Guess I’m out,” Dawn said. “Sorry if I cramped your style or whatever.”
She nearly left the bedroom, starting to remember the pain in her head and feeling it creep towards her heart when Cade grabbed her arms and lowered his lips to her neck.
“Wait. Don’t go.”