Page 51 of Complete Me
“Thank you. Please keep me safe, Reid. Please.”
“Always. Nothing will hurt you ever again.”
I line my body against his as close as possible, snuggling further into him and draping my arm over his big chest. He curls around me, letting me use him as a gigantic teddy bear.
Reid’s got me.
I’m safe.
CHAPTER 14
reid
Fuck everything I said before.Fuck everything except Kinsey Hayes. She’s mine. Today was the second most terrifying day of my life, and the moment I had her safely in my arms, I knew. For the first time in almost a decade, hope filled my chest. As I held her body close to mine, I could have fused her to me, and it wouldn’t have been close enough. Fuck everything else. No one will be able to make her feel what I can. No one will be able to keep her safe like I can. I may have failed to do it once before, but I’ll die before it happens again.
I still don’t know the details of what went down while she was captive but I’m going to get to the bottom of it, and then I’m going to hunt down every single one of those evil motherfuckers if it’s the last thing I do. They’ll pay with their lives for taking what’s mine.
Mine.
After her nightmare, she practically crawled under my skin, and I would have let her if that would have made her feel safe. She finally fell back asleep, her little hand tracing circles over my collarbone. After lying restless for a few hours,not wanting to leave her for a moment, needing to touch her for my own reassurance, I forced myself to leave the bed to call Sawyer, who is without a doubt losing his mind.
I’m gutted thinking about how broken and fragile she seems right now. I’ve dreamed of seeing Kinsey naked a million times, and never in my wildest fantasies did this scenario cross my mind, but there was no part of me that could have walked away from her lying on the bottom of that shower. I responded out of pure instinct and would do it again in a heartbeat. It took all my strength not to scan her body from the top of her head to the tip of her toes to look for injuries, but I wanted to respect her privacy as much as the situation allowed. It’s killing me slowly, not knowing what they did to her.
I dial Sawyer’s number, and he picks up on the first ring.
“Tell me you have my sister.”
“I have her.”
“Fuck!” He moves the phone away from his face, clearly talking to Ivy, or whoever else is in the room with him, relaying that she’s safe. “Is she okay? When will you be back in AR? Jesus Christ, I can’t think straight.”
I take a deep, steadying breath before dropping the bomb that I know is going to cause a shit storm.
“Listen, she’s okay, she’s strong, but she’s shaken. Her physical injuries seem to be minor, but the emotional and mental ones? Brother, she’s struggling.”
“Did they . . .?”
I know exactly what he’s asking without having to say it because it’s been on my mind since she was taken. Did they rape her? Did they violate her body in any way? I run my hands through my hair and tell him honestly.
“I don’t know yet. She hasn’t opened up to me, but I’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“Fuck. I can’t believe this happened. How the fuck did thishappen? I fucking knew she shouldn’t have left Mom and Dad’s. We’ve been going crazy. Now when the fuck will you be home with my sister?”
It’s now or never.
“We’re at the clubhouse. We’re staying here until she feels ready to return to Aspen Ridge.”
“The fuck did you just say to me, Reid? You did not just say you brought my sister to the Hell’s Heathen’s clubhouse. Get her ass home to us.”
Fuck. I knew this was going to go this way but it still fucking hurts to not be on the same page as my best fucking friend. But I’m not about to hand Kinsey over to her family when she said that’s not what she wants right now. She’s the one in control here.
“No.”
“No?” His voice is lethal, but this is a fight I’m willing to face. For her.
“I love you, man, but she doesn’t want to go back right now, and I’m letting her lead this. She wants a minute to breathe and process. Not to mention, they’re still out there. We can’t afford to pull everyone off duty to run Kinsey and me back to AR. It’s safer for her here right now,” I tell him, not lying, but stretching the truth. The compound is the safest place for her right now, but we could leave if we wanted to. After taking the hit tonight, the Iron Wolves will no doubt go into hibernation for a bit to recoup. There’s silence between us for a moment while I wait for Sawyer to make his next play. He can be a hothead when it comes to his family, so I’m expecting the worst. It doesn’t matter, though, I’m prepared to fight on her behalf until she can fight for herself.
“Okay,” he breathes roughly into the speaker, but I catch the words clear as day, and my breath stalls. “I don’t like it, but I trust you. She’s safe?”
