Page 14 of Unveiled Wounds

“Jonathan, you got a problem. I’d sleep with one eye open.”

“What the fuck are you knuckleheads talking about?” I called out, but before they could answer me, Meredith squeezed my hand and pushed up to her knees, facing away from the brothers.

“The prospect gave me his knife, and I stabbed our visitor in the balls. He shouldn’t have been standing over me.” She never let go of my hand.

“You stabbed him in the balls?” I asked, hoping I hadn’t heard her correctly. Dropping her hand, I wrapped my arm around her, hugging her tight to my chest. I could feel her tremble in my arms.

“They shouldn’t have been dangling in my face.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face against me.

“Get the fuck out and take him with you.” I watched as they hauled him to his feet and were out the door in less than a minute. “It’s okay,” I whispered to her. “They’re gone.” I had promised her she could be as loud as she needed, so I said nothing as she struggled to let her emotions out. She was safe, and that was all I cared about.

“They won’t stop, will they? They kept asking for Grace.”

“I doubt it, but at least we have a new lead to follow up on.”

“Is Grace alright? She didn’t want to leave me, but she had the baby strapped to her.” Meredith raised her head. Her eyes were red from the tears, but she swiped them away quickly.

“I don’t know. Sabre went toward the trees, and I came in here.”

“I guess I’m finished here for today.” She tried to make a joke, staring at the blood on the floor. A muscle in her jaw tensed, but it wasn’t funny, and the sad smile she gave me made it worse.

I held her tighter against me. “I will make him pay for his sins against you.”

“Make him pay, so that I have one less nightmare to worry about.” We sat on the floor in the middle of the ballroom for a few more minutes before I helped her stand. Grabbing my sweatshirt off the table, she reached for my hand as we made our way out to where the rest of the brothers waited.

Their eyes flicked to her scars. I waited for her to shift uncomfortably, but she hadn’t noticed them.

Chapter 7

We Like Stubborn Pitas

Meredith

An apprehension that had settled over the parking lot. I knew everyone here, but they were acting peculiar. The men were standing in a semi-circle facing the front door, their feet constantly shuffling. I noticed they clenched their hands and someone coughed occasionally.

The banquet center had three steps that led from the front door to the lot, but when I went to descend, Grizz didn’t move with me. I had been holding his hand, but when I felt a tug at the connection, I turned back to look at him. Something in the lot held his gaze, and when I traced his line of sight, I understood why everyone was so captivated. All the men were staring at the scars that were visible on the left side of my stomach.

I was holding the sweatshirt, but there was no way to put it back on without letting go of Grizz. Right now, that wasn’t an option. He was my lifeline, and even though I was fighting to keep us together, I wasn’t sure I could function right now without him. Instead, I channeled my inner bitch and flipped myhair dramatically over my shoulder as I faced the crowd. “You’re acting like you’ve never seen some skin before.”

No one said a word as they shifted their eyes out to the lot, but they always came back to the scars.

Sabre walked up to us. I refused to kiss his ass as I waited for him to say something snide. He still held a grudge about the fact that I hadn’t talked to Grace the night she’d left Matt. I thought he was being an overprotective asshole, and he thought I was a selfish bitch. I hadn’t understood why everyone was upset with me, but when I stopped and analyzed the situation from the outside, I got it. She had needed me, and I’d left her to her own devices. We’d found her safe and sound the next morning, which eased the guilt, but I couldn’t go back. I planned to make amends with Grace and fix our relationship, but living was more of a priority. Sabre needed to pull his head out of his ass and let it go.

“You alright?” He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in for a hug.

I had never been so grossed out by a man sandwich before. Sabre held me close, but my hand remained linked with Grizz’s. This was too weird for me, and I just wanted it to end. “I’m fine. You can let go of me now.”

He laughed as he tightened his arms around me.

“Seriously, can you let me go now? This is weird.” His arms fell, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Are Grace and JR alright? I don’t see them,” I asked.

“You’re in some serious shit. Grace doesn’t understand that you made the right call when you told her to run with JR. They’re good, but I sent them back to the clubhouse to give you a few minutes.” He smirked at me, and I just wanted to ball my fingers into a fist and hit him in the mouth.

“It’s not the first time, probably won’t be the last.” I tugged on Grizz’s hand, trying to convey that I was ready to leave. All I wanted to do was shower away the cartel soldier’s hands on me.

“We should head back. Do you have a car for us?” Grizz asked Sabre.

I probably should have told Grizz about my disdain for cars, but I didn’t want him to worry about my anxiety. He had enough on his plate, and if you ranked my issues, riding in a car was low. We had always taken his bike, and I hadn’t had to worry about it.

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