Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 38973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Shaw snarled. “Fine.”
The call abruptly ended, and Jax flexed his fingers around the steering wheel. I glanced at him as I dropped my hands from Ace’s ears to wrap my arms back around him. “Are tensions always this high between y’all?”
Jax shook his head. “Nah. Normally, we’re all pretty chill. This whole sex trafficking thing just has all of us worked up. And Ace…” He glanced at my boy before focusing back on the road as he wound around another sharp curve. “Ace has always been the baby, hence his road name Babe. We’re all fiercely protective of him, even though we know he can handle his own. Having him kidnapped and beaten and violated has made all of us a bit…”
“Pissy?” I suggested.
He snorted. “Sure. We’ll go with that.” He eased to a stop outside my drive and then turned, carefully making his way up the narrow driveway. “We also did leave a huge mess—one that wasn’t prepared for. And Shaw doesn’t trust Rico the way I do, so he’s… I don’t know. In his feelings?”
I chuckled at his choice of words, and Ace’s hand dropped from my shoulder to rest over my chest, where it vibrated with my laughter. I covered his hand with mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You say that like you don’t have your own feelings.”
Jax shrugged one shoulder as he eased to a stop in front of my cabin. “Honestly, I don’t. Not like normal people do. I’ve always felt… detached. I love my woman to the best of my ability. My anger comes and goes pretty quickly—doesn’t ever stick. I’m very… calculated. Ace likes to joke that I’m a psychopath, but to be honest, I don’t think he’s that far off the mark.” He looked over at me. “That gonna be a problem?”
I shook my head and pushed open the passenger side door. “Nope.” I eased from the truck with Ace in my arms, then kicked it shut before striding to the house. Jiggling the keys in his hands, Jax searched until he found the house key, then unlocked the door, swinging it open. He headed straight to the kitchen, and I turned for the stairs, needing to get my boy out of these clothes Jax had picked up from Walmart and into a shower.
“I’ll start dinner,” Jax called after me.
Once I was upstairs, I gently set Ace on the foot of the bed. “Let me go start the shower, baby, okay?” When he nodded, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his forehead, letting them linger for a moment before I forced myself to leave him be so I could get everything in the bathroom ready.
I turned my back for two fucking seconds, and Ace lost it.
A wretched scream tore from his throat, and something shattered against the wall. I spun back around, rushing to him as he smashed my lamp to the floor, sobbing, snot running down his nose and over his lips, tears streaking down his cheeks. I wrapped my arms tight around him, and we sank to the floor, his hands curling into my shirt as he cried, completely falling apart.
My own tears burned in my eyes. Goddamn them for doing this to him. Fuck his brothers for putting him in this situation. Fuck Dorman and everyone else involved in that fucking trafficking ring for hurting my boy and touching him. Fuck them all.
“I’m here, baby,” I rasped, clutching him to me and rocking him gently side to side as he wailed, his fists pummeling my chest. I took every hit, wishing I could absorb his pain and torment, too. “I’m here. I’m always here. Papa’s got you, sweet boy.”
“I hate them all,” he sobbed, the pain in his voice tearing at my insides. I buried my face in his hair, squeezing him even tighter. “They touched me, Papa. They shoved something inside me. They touched me. I swore it’d never happen to me again, and it did, and I want to claw my skin off!” he shouted.
A piece of me fucking died. If I’d gotten up when he did, I would’ve known he was leaving the clubhouse. I would’ve been with him. He wouldn’t have been alone. None of this would’ve happened to him.
“I want a shower,” he finally croaked. “And I need you to touch me, Papa. Even if it hurts. Please. I can’t…” His voice wobbled, and he collapsed into my chest, sobbing his fucking heart out and ripping mine to shreds. “I can’t take this.”
I quickly rose to my feet and headed for the bathroom, stepping inside the shower fully clothed with him in my arms. After toeing off my boots, I kicked them outside the shower, then turned the water on full blast. It was icy at first, but I wasn’t even sure Ace noticed. His shoulders slumped, and some of the tension bled from his body as the water beat onto his abused skin.