Inhaling through my nose, I stood up and moved around to her head looking directly down at her. “Skins needs to make sure it’s not too deep, Meyah,” I whispered, brushing the crazy strands of hair away from her face. She looked up at me, and I swear at that moment, I wanted to take whoever had hurt her and soak them in gasoline before lighting them on fire. Their screams would be like fucking music to my ears.
She was haunted, the Meyah that was staring back at me was not the Meyah who I kissed goodbye on her way to school this morning. The pain in her eyes wasn’t just physical, it was mental, and it was going to leave a scar.
I tried to keep my tone light even though inside I was screaming to rip shreds off someone. “Come on fury fists,” I teased playfully, placing my hand over hers and gently pulling it away. “Good girl.”
Her palm was covered in blood, and at that exact moment, I got a look at why. I knew instantly, shit was about to hit the fucking fan.
“Sorry, baby girl, I need to clean this,” Skins told her gently as he took a cloth to the fresh wound. Tears dripped down onto her cheeks as he attempted to wipe away the mess around the perfectly, and obviously purposefully, straight slice through her skin.
I sat back on my ass continuing to hold her bloody hand in mine, the red stain now imprinted on my fingers and my arms along with a couple of smudges on my jeans. My girl’s blood spilled, covering the both of us. It wasn’t a situation that was easy to get my head around. A rush of emotions flooded through me. Guilt for not being there to protect her. Anger that someone could do this to her—she was fucking innocent, goddammit.
“Who did it?” Leo demanded as he stood on the other side of the sofa looking down at his niece. Blizzard had his hand on Leo’s shoulder, a silent promise his brothers had his back and that it would be okay.
Meyah’s eyes moved to me, and I squeezed her hand, letting her know it would be okay. “I think it’s best for her right now if everyone just moves away and let Skins work,” I announced, noticing how Leo’s eyes flashed in anger.
“I don’t think you have the right to make that decision for her,” he challenged.
“She’s mine,” I threw back, staring him directly in the eyes, refusing to back down. He’d had his turn. Meyah had been his responsibility for years. Not anymore.
Leo’s eyebrows raised in surprise along with everyone else’s. “Since fucking when?”
“Since now.” As far as I was concerned, Meyah had been mine since I first set eyes on her a year ago. For me, that was enough, but in the club, things worked differently.
Once I claimed her, she was mine. She was my responsibility, she was my woman, and it was up to me to protect her and make sure she was safe. She was my Old Lady, end of fucking discussion.
“Leo, let’s go. Let Ham do what he thinks is best for his woman,” Op ordered, meeting my gaze and nodding, letting me know he’d heard me. “Church in one hour.”
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
Things were about to be very different.
Meyah was mine. I wasn’t sure if at that moment she understood exactly what that meant, but soon she would. For now, my priority was to make sure she was all right and safe. Then, I’d find out who was responsible, and there would be hell to fucking pay.
Because one more bonus about claiming the woman I loved as my own—I got first fucking shot at the motherfucker.