But it’s Alizeh we’re most concerned about. Torrent and I kneel by her lush, nude body. He brings a blanket over to cover her, and we stroke her hair.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?” I ask in a broken voice. “What led to this?”
The gag’s out of her mouth, and she coughs a bit as tears begin to roll down her cheeks.
“My dad sent me an email, and I thought he wanted money, the way he always does,” she says in a raspy voice. “I came over, and they attacked me! But the worst part of it is that Michael set me up,” she says, breaking into sobs now. “My dad needed money, and he sold me to those criminals for a sack of cash.”
I’m amazed at how low tech this is. Real criminals don’t bring bags of money around with them anymore. It’s all done through the cloud. Hasn’t Mike heard of cybercrime? Evidently, not.
Torrent seizes Alizeh’s hand.
“We’ll take care of him,” he rasps, shooting a harsh look at the passed-out old man in the corner. “Don’t worry about a thing. Mike will never hurt you again.”
Alizeh’s still crying, and her face is tear-stained and yet so beautiful.
“But what’s going to happen to him?” she says through sobs. “He’s my father.”
I step in now.
“Yes, but he took advantage of you, sweetheart. He lured you here, into a trap, and was literally going to sell you! We can’t let him go unpunished.”
“Yes, I know,” Alizeh speaks. “But he’s already on the club’s bad side for what he did with the Mercury-Star. What’s going to happen to him now?”
She’s right. The punishment for his crimes will be serious because Dads and Daughters doesn’t fuck around. Mike was already on our shit list for his previous actions, and this time, the club’s justice will be harsh.
But that’s not something for Alizeh to worry about.
“Sweetheart, don’t think about that right now,” I say gently, before lifting her into my arms. God, she weighs almost nothing, and her small arms come around my shoulders, clinging to me like she’s scared. “Michael will get what deserves. Come on, we’re taking you home.”
With that, we bundle the beautiful girl into our car, and zip down the highway back to the Lodge. Once we’re there, we take her straight to our suite and settle her in our bed. Torrent calls room service for some chicken noodle soup and warm milk, and as soon as the food arrives, he takes the tray and attempts to feed her.
“What are you doing?” she asks, sputtering a bit.
Torrent’s not put off at all. He waits patiently by her side, the spoonful of soothing golden broth poised mid-air.
“Feeding you,” he says. “Now eat, pretty girl.”
She looks at him.
“I’m not an invalid,” are her shaky words. “They scared me, but you came just in time. I wasn’t touched.”
His blue eyes darken to an almost-black.
“I know sweetheart, and those idiot criminals are going to get their asses whupped. But in the meantime, I want you to eat. I want to see you full and ripe, with a belly full of soup.”
Alizeh smiles a bit, the evidence of our love so strong. She opens her mouth obediently, and takes a swallow of soup.
“Good girl,” growls Torrent. “I knew you could do it.”
But Alizeh’s not done yet.
“Torrent, Trainor,” she says, her eyes getting shiny once more. Oh no, I hate when she cries. She’s so beautiful, but I can’t resist her when she does. All of my walls go down, and I have to make sure she gets what she wants. “We have to talk about what happened.”
“Of course, sweetheart,” I growl, taking her hand on the other side of the bed. “But are you sure you don’t want to rest first? It’s been a difficult day for you.”
She takes a deep breath and then shakes her head.
“No, I think we better talk now because once the club finds out what my dad has done, I may be expelled,” she says in a quiet voice. “We may no longer be able to be together, and I want us to say our goodbyes before that happens. You know how the club works. Justice will be swift and final.”
I cock my head at her, squeezing her small hand.
“Yes, the club can be unforgiving,” I say slowly. “But why do you think Dads and Daughters will expel you?”
Her eyes tear again.
“Because of my father,” she says in a broken voice. “I’m the only initiate whose dad was run out of the club. They were only letting me stay out of the kindness of their hearts. Otherwise, I would have had to go back and live with Michael. But now, I don’t think administration is going to look the other way. I think that I’m going to be asked to leave, and by extension, I’ll be leaving you.”