“Who fucking touched you?” The words rasp out of me like glass shredding silk.
She presses her face into my chest, shaking so violently it rattles my teeth together. “Don’t let me go,” she sobs.
I gather her tighter. “Never.”
Her head notches under my chin, and I glance over at Nitro, who shifts his shoulders, his eyes like stone.
Others are gathering close. Chopper has his knife out, flicking the blade as he stares at her, breaking in my arms.
Every brother in this club loves Lexi like family.
I don’t move, just let her cry until there’s nothing else to come out. And when she’s calm enough, I pull back and lift her chin. Her face is blotchy, her lashes damp.
“Baby, I need you to tell me what happened if you can.”
She blinks, as if she can’t quite compute anything. “Can we go to your office?”
Terror wraps around my lungs like sharp barbs.
But I help her up.
The second she’s upright, she wobbles, and I scoop her into my arms.
Her breath hits my collarbone, her sobs slicing clean through me.
I lower her onto the couch and close the door before I sink onto my knees in front of her. Then I wait for her to speak, to work through whatever nightmare is replaying in her head.
Her wrists are marked, as if someone grabbed her roughly, and I reach for her torn shirt, pulling it up gently to cover her shoulder. My insides are lava.
“I don’t know where to start.” She sniffles and her eyes fill with tears again. “You’re not going to like this because I lied to you.”
I let that land without any reaction. I don’t give a shit that she lied to me. I just want to know what happened. I cup her knee, squeezing it gently. “I don’t care what you’ve done. I just need you to tell me what’s going on, so I can fix it.”
She lets out a broken sob. “I thought I could handle it. I tried, but I didn’t expect this to happen. At first it was so subtle I thought I was imagining it. A little brush over my arm that lasted too long, a hand on my waist as he passed, just a casual touch.” My teeth lock together. I force my silence because I need to know exactly what happened before I react. “And it kept happening. Any time he passed me he touched me like that. I should have reported it. I should have told someone, but he made it so I couldn’t.”
“The write-ups.” The words squeeze out between my teeth.
She nods. “If I’d have accused him at that point, they would have said I was retaliating. So I couldn’t say anything. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I was scared what you’d do. And I didn’t want to lose my job. I couldn’t eat or sleep. Every time I had to work, it made me feel sick.”
My body is wired tight, like a band about to snap. My anger is bubbling, not at her, never at her.
Lexi, my beautiful wife—she’s always had a streak of independence, a need to hold up the world alone.
That ends now.
She’s never walking into anything like this ever again.
“I was uploading some files to the server. They were taking forever. I didn’t realize everybody had left. I went into the break room to grab some water and he was…there.” She closes her eyes, wrapping her arms around her belly. “He wouldn’t let me leave. He touched my bump and I freaked. I think I hit him. I can’t remember. Everything is a blur.” She rubs her temple, her eyes scrunched tight. My vision is white. My breath loud in my ears. “I was so scared. I thought he was going to?—”
She covers her mouth, holding back a sob, and I tug her into my arms, our baby between us. Every inch of my body is vibrating. I can taste the blood in my mouth, feel it on my hands and how it’s going to coat my fingers.
“Who, Lexi?”
“James.”
My body turns to stone, an unnatural calm sweeping over me. Her asshole boss—the guy who’s been making her life hell. He’s been touching her, making her uncomfortable at work? He’s the reason she ain’t eating? Ain’t sleeping?
Everything is starting to make sense, and fuck, I wish it wouldn’t.
