“Reaper! Get down here, man! We got a problem!” Savage shouted, bringing me out of my misery. Getting to my feet, I walked over to the chair by my dresser and grabbed my cut as I headed downstairs.
I wasn’t even to the stairs, and I could hear the commotion from down below. Whatever it was, had the brothers arguing fiercely.
What the fuck is happening?
Making my way towards the common room, I see seven of my brothers standing in a semi-circle around someone.
“What is going on?” I shout, halting all conversations. Moving closer, I spot a woman, savagely beaten and scared out of her mind.
I get a good look at her. Her curly blond hair a mess, falling down her back. Her black eye, swollen shut. She has cuts and bruises all up and down her arms. She’s wearing men’s clothing, but that doesn’t seem to bother her. What bothered me was the scared look in her eyes as she looked around the room, searching for something or someone. “Who are you?” I ask, refusing to step any closer. If this was some deranged bitch, I was just going to let my brothers handle her.
“Max. I need Max,” she whispered softly, bracing herself against the wall. Her energy was clearly draining.
How the Hell did this bitch know me. I never saw her before in my life. I didn’t know this woman, and I sure wouldn’t cop to her knowing my name. For all, I knew this was some fucking setup.
“He ain’t here,” I replied.
“Uncle Peter?”
I froze with that one. How the fuck did she know Hellhound. He wasn’t married, never had been. Hell, it was just him and my dad—no other siblings. Moving closer, I got a better look at the woman and said, “Lady, I don’t know you from Adam, and you sure as hell are not my sister. So, who the fuck are you, and why are you here?”
“Max?” the woman cocked her head to the side, and when she did, I tried not to react to the wince of pain that washed over her. There was something about her that made me feel something. Something I couldn’t describe, and when she smiled, something inside me unfurled.
“Remi?”
It couldn’t be. Remi lived in Nebraska. My father said so. I tried writing to her many times, but all my letters were returned. After the fifth letter, I stopped writing. I hadn’t seen her since that last day in the hospital. Tears fell down her cheeks as she reached for the wall before she collapsed. Rushing to her, I grabbed her, holding her close to me, as she collapsed against my body.
For two weeks, she was mine to care for, look after and protect. Not that I was any good at it, especially when I needed help myself. But she stuck with me through it all.
Every horrible, depraved detail.
She knew what others didn’t.
“Max,” she whispered as she clung to me. “I found you.”
I held tightly to her as she passed out in my arms. Sweeping her up, I held her firmly to me, her dead bodyweight against mine. My God, she felt light as a feather. “Get Healer. Have him meet me in my room, and someone find Hellhound!” I shouted, moving quickly through the common room, towards the stairs, not bothering to acknowledge the shocked expressions of everyone around me.
I had just laid her on my bed when a thunderous footfall pounded down the hallway, getting louder as it approached. Hellhound burst into my room. “Is it her? Is it my Princess?” My Uncle asked, moving closer to the bed.
During the hospital stay, my Uncle never left Remi’s side. Staying with her night and day, he doted on her, giving her everything she wanted and then some. He stayed up watching Princess movies and reading to her always. When she had nightmares, he held her and made them go away. In those short days at the hospital, my Uncle fell in love with Remi, but he would never admit that to anyone. Over the years, I would catch him looking at his phone, where he had taken several pictures of her smiling and laughing.
Sitting beside her, I held her hand and just nodded. I didn’t know what else to do or say. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was beautiful. Even though all the bruising and torment she received, she was still the most incredible thing I’d ever seen. Still small and frail, her hand looked so tiny in mine.
“What the fuck happened to her?” My Uncle asked. He moved to the other side of the bed and sat as he gently pushed her hair away from her face. “She was supposed to be safe with her parents in Nebraska. I knew I should have checked on her. When I get my hands on the mother fucker who did this, I’m going to kill him with my bare hands.”
“No, I will,” I said, my thumb softly rubbing the top of her hand. “Where’s Healer?”
“He’s taking care of the sub. He’ll be here shortly.”
“Go get him. The sub can wait. Remi can’t.”
My Uncle stood, only to stop when he turned. Looking towards the door, I saw my brothers, all vying for a peek as to what was going on.
I got it.
I really did.
Since I was fifteen, I’d never touched another soul, and here I was sitting on my bed, holding hands with a woman. Not just any woman. Remi. But they didn’t know that. All they knew was that a strange woman was lying on my bed. She was viciously beaten, and I was tending to her. Hell, I couldn’t even take care of myself, and here I was with her. “Someone go get Healer.”