“What?” Ugly Beast asked.
“She has a scar on her hip the same as the young girl. A brand.”
“You mean the butterfly tattoo?” Abriana asked.
“When she was in the hospital, out of it on pain medication, I took a closer look. It’s the same brand. The butterfly tattoo is there to hide it.”
Ugly Beast felt rage fill him.
“I owe her,” Sebastian said. “I didn’t know at the time that Garofalo had sent me there to start a deal with child trafficking for his own sick and twisted ends, but he had. The men there knew who Garofalo was. They wanted to extort him through me. She saved me when she didn’t have to, and now, I get to … attempt to save her, but I fear I might be too late.”
“Why?”
“I think Carlos has already gotten her pregnant.”
“Do you know anything else about her past?” Ugly Beast asked.
“No. I don’t. Our meeting that time all those years ago was brief. Long enough to get my ass out of Dodge.”
“How old was she?” Abriana asked.
“About fifteen,” Drago said. “I think. I don’t know her true age. Our meeting was brief. So brief that when I saw her again recently, I didn’t recognize her at first. It’s her eyes, they’re what I recognized.”
Ugly Beast had a feeling none of them knew her true age.
Raven had always been secretive.
Now, he knew why.
He had to save Raven. To help her, and then he needed to find out the truth.
Chapter Thirteen
“There has to be some mistake,” Ava said.
“I swear to you, this is no mistake. Sebastian Drago came to us last night. Raven is … she’s in trouble, Ava. She needs our help.”
Ava couldn’t believe what Abriana was saying to her.
Smokey had said that he couldn’t tell her everything that was happening at the club, and this was proof of that.
“I forgave her,” Ava said.
“But Raven doesn’t forgive herself, and you … you’ve been having nightmares.”
“Not because of her. I’ve been scared for her,” Ava said. “This is so messed up.”
“Carlos and Smokey are manipulating her. You have to stop it.”
Ava stared down at her sleeping son. He looked so peaceful. She loved him so damn much.
Her life with Smokey was complicated. Every single day, she knew Smokey’s guilt had never gone away. Each time he touched her, kissed her, and told her that he loved her, she knew he was trying to make up for what he did. The order he gave.
Everyone at the club treated her with kid gloves.
“Will you watch him for me?” Ava asked. “I’ve got to go to the club.”
“I will,” Abriana said. “Or I could call Larissa. She said she’d be more than happy to help out. I could come with you.”
Ava shook her head. “No. I need to handle this on my own. I … I have to do this for Raven.” She kissed her boy’s sleeping head and got to her feet.
She left Abriana’s home and saw Hanson was waiting for her outside. He was smoking a cigarette, and the moment he saw her, he tossed it away, looking a little sheepish.
“Those things will kill you,” she said.
He smirked. “I know, but they go with the image. Babes love them.”
Any other time she would have laughed at his joke. He was a jokester, but not now. Not today. “Where’s Smokey?”
“He’s at the club, why?”
“Take me to him.”
Hanson grabbed his cell phone. “I’ll call him to make sure.”
Ava took his cell phone. “Don’t do that. Don’t call ahead. Don’t let him know we’re coming.”
“Ava, what’s wrong?”
“I just … I need to see him. It’s a surprise.”
She got into the passenger seat, holding Hanson’s cell phone in her hand. Raven didn’t deserve to be kicked out of the club.
Ava had … yes, in the early days after the attack and the false accusations that had nearly killed her, she’d wanted Raven to pay. She’d wanted Smokey, those women, Brick and Kinky, she’d wanted all of them to know the kind of fear she felt. She didn’t know exactly when she stopped hating them.
For Raven, it was easy.
The day Creed took them, and then she had to watch that woman take a beating that Ava herself knew she’d never have been able to take.
Tears filled her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away.
Ava had realized then that Raven was a special person. She was loyal, she was strong, and much to Ava’s shame, she knew in her heart that if their roles had been reversed, she wouldn’t have been able to handle it. She would’ve begged for them to stop.
Raven had nearly died.
How could she not have forgiven the woman? She had been following orders.
She was aware that Hanson kept glancing toward her.
“Are you okay?” Hanson asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Smokey constantly put Hanson on her protection detail. She had grown to like Hanson a lot. He was a sweet kid. He had earned his patch with the club, but he didn’t seem to mind being on her protection detail.