Page 38 of Ruined

“Tristan Groves.”

“Um, Grim, Adelaide was just rushed into surgery,” River informed me, his voice cold. River was a damn good club member, but sometimes, I worried where River’s loyalties actually lied. But I knew if I needed him to do something, he would, no questions asked. He was a cold-blooded kind of man. I wasn’t even sure if he really had human emotions.

And as stupid as it was of me, it didn’t even occur to me to ask him why and how he knew Adelaide was being rushed into surgery. Or why he was calling me from the hospital phone instead of his. All I could focus on was that my woman was in the hospital.

“Fuck!” I roared, hanging up the phone, panic gripping my heart so tightly that for a moment, I couldn’t fucking breath. I pointed a shaky finger at Joey. “Had you just fucking let me handle her, she’d fucking be here safe and sound,” I snarled, pulling my bike keys out of my pocket.

“What the fuck happened?” Joey demanded to know as he got up off of the couch with a pain-filled grunt.

“Adelaide is in the hospital,” I told him as I rushed out the door, not giving a fuck if he decided to follow me or not.

Addy, baby, I’m so sorry that I keep fucking up with you.

I stared at the doctor, barely hearing him through the blood pounding in my ears. River was gone by the time I got to the hospital, but he’d been proactive enough to inform the front desk that Joey and I would be coming to the hospital, and we were in charge of her care.

Adelaide had been beaten to within an inch of her life. She had multiple stab wounds in her lower abdomen. There were signs of being strangled. She lost the baby. And she was raped, more than likely numerous times.

The doctor’s words: “She’s extremely lucky to still be alive.”

“Grim,” Dameon called, coming over to me with his laptop. “I found this.” Turning the screen to me, he showed me a video. “Got this from one of the traffic cameras.”

The video showed Adelaide being thrown out by a dumpster, her phone tossed out beside her. She hit the ground unconscious.There were no markings or plates on the van. It was just a plain white industrial van. Nothing special about it.

“Fuck,” I snarled, running my hands through my hair. We had no way of knowing who the fuck did this to her, but something in my gut told me it might be Vin.

Joey came out of the back from visiting Adelaide. When she had been released from surgery, he was the first person back there to see her, not even letting me back there first. And honestly, after what we’d found out, I hadn’t fought him on it. Theybothhad lost a baby.

His jaw was clenched, and he looked murderous. Like the cold-blooded killer people said Joey really was. “She’s asking for you,” Joey told me, his voice empty.

I shook my head at him. “I can’t go see her right now,” I told him, guilt swirling in my gut. “Not knowing that I fucking let her walk out like that, that I’m part of the reason she’s in this goddamn situation.”

Joey shook his head at me, anger flashing in his eyes. “Tristan, if you don’t go see her, I think it’s going to send her toppling over the edge. She doesn’t even give a shit that she’s lost a baby. She’s at the point of breaking completely, and I don’t want to see her become that kind of monster. Don’t be selfish. Fucking go see her.”

“She won’t,” I told him, getting up from my chair and ignoring the last part of what he said. I couldn’t face her. How the fuck could I?

Joey glared at me, shaking his head. “Then you don’t know that woman at fucking all. She’s destructive, Tristan, and right now, she’s on the verge of shutting it all off.”

I ignored him. Adelaide wasn’t that kind of woman. I just needed a few hours to come to terms with what the fuck had happened, what I had failed to protect her from, and then, I would go see her.

I’d never felt more like an idiot in my life. I should have just fucking listened to Joey, swallowed my guilt, and went to go see her.

Because she fucking disappeared.

I stood with Jesup and Joey as we listened to the doctor, who sounded as baffled as I fucking felt. “She left sometime in the middle of the night,” he informed us. “I don’t know how the hell she managed to walk out, but she’s gone. With her kind of injuries, she shouldn’t have even been able to move off of the bed. I have no idea how she slipped past the nurses on duty either. Security footage doesn’t show anything. It’s like she turned into a ghost.”

I swallowed thickly. Joey chuckled, but it lacked any humor. He shook his head. “I fucking told you, man.” He laughed again, his hands fisting at his sides. “I fucking told you!” he shouted, spinning to face me.

Then, his fist connected with my jaw, knocking me off my feet. He was dragged into cuffs, but he only grinned at me, looking slightly manic, like a man possessed.

“I created that monster to keep her from dying, Tristan.” I spit out blood on the floor. “You should have fucking just listened tome, and maybe she’d still be here,” he snarled at me before he was dragged away by the security officer.

I’d fucked up.

Adelaide was gone, and this time,no oneknew where the fuck she’d gone.

Addy, baby, I’m so, so fucking sorry.

She had done exactly what Joey said she would do.

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