“What?”
“If you go back and put yourself in danger again, I will stop, and I will never start again. You’ll be on your own, and I will thwart any attempt you make to help people.”
“That’s blackmail.”
Lewis’s jaw clenched. “I lost you once. I had to live knowing that you were being hurt. Every night I lay awake hearing you scream my name, begging for me to save you. I’ve saved you. I don’t give a shit what you did. It’s you, Mandy. You did it for a reason. You’re going to be more help to me here than anywhere else.”
She knew he wasn’t bluffing. Lewis was stubborn. He would make sure no one else was saved to prove her wrong.
“Where do we get started?” she asked.
“That’s my girl.” He held her hand tightly. “You’re not dirty.”
Mandy snorted. “I’ve sucked enough cock and pleasured enough men to know that I’m dirty.” For punishment she had been passed around. She wasn’t going to go into detail of the party she was presented to, and how her owner, to punish her, had made her available to everyone.
She had been in so much pain when that was over.
“You’re not dirty to me. I love you, Mandy. It’s hard for you to accept right now, but I do love you. I love you so much.”
Hearing his admission of love filled her with so much guilt. She loved him. She did, but Lewis needed someone who was better.
She wasn’t good, whereas he was.
****
Two days later Jay and Temperance were released from the hospital, and Richard was there to take them home. They had already emptied out their apartment, and they were living with him full time.
He had a club meeting later that night, but because of them being released from hospital, the meeting was going to take place at his apartment. Richard had everything set out so that both of them would have the utmost care and attention.
“I’m not going to miss hospital food,” Jay said, climbing into the back of the car with a groan.
Temperance was doing much better. She had to air the wounds on her back for a few hours, and the doctor had given him the cream for him to put on. He was looking forward to playing nursemaid with her.
“Me neither. I look forward to something cooked properly.”
Richard helped her inside, and when he was happy she was comfortable, he climbed behind the wheel.
“No one knows the real you, do they, Richard?” Jay said.
“What?”
“Well, you’re called a beast, but I have to say, you’re like a little puppy.”
“Jay, don’t try to taunt him.”
“You’re a friend, Jay. Friends don’t get to see that side of me. I reserve it for everyone else.” He pulled away from the hospital, and joined up with traffic. It was good having them back in the car, and back in his life. He didn’t want to consider a life without either of them. Did that make him a pussy? If so, he was happy to be one. He didn’t want to miss the chance of being happy.
“I’ve seen him be a beast at work. Honestly, you do not want to get on this man’s bad side,” Temperance said.
He gripped her knee, giving her a gentle squeeze. He needed to touch her just to know that she was okay. The past two days he hadn’t left the hospital. During the day, he spent time with both of them, and at night, he divided his attention between Temperance and Jay. She was having trouble sleeping, and he tried his best to soothe her in any way that he could.
“The guys are coming over later tonight. Anna’s going to be with them.”
“What about Luna? Is she coming?” Temperance asked.
“No. She has to stay home. Her kid is sick, and we’re not going to force her to come to the club.”
“Damn, remind me to order a care package or something.”
Over the past couple of weeks, Temperance had found the time to pretty much befriend everyone. She was close with Anna, Luna, and Mandy.
Thinking about work, she was always able to draw people out of their shell. It was one of the things he liked about her.
He also happened to like staring at her, which was no hard feat either. She was a sexy, beautiful, desirable woman.
“How about Vegas?” Jay asked.
“I’m not going to get married in Vegas,” Temperance said.
“Why not?”
“It’s tacky, and I don’t want to get married there.”
“It’s easy.”
“I don’t care. It’s not going to happen. I want a proper wedding. Not something that is rushed just because you think it should be.”
“I’m not the only one who thinks it should be,” Jay said. “Come on, Richard, tell her.”
“This is something you can do all on your own. I’ll be there at the right time to say the ‘I dos’, and that is it. Tempe can have whatever wedding she wants.”
“You’re just kissing her ass.”
“At least he knows what ass to actually kiss. Whereas you, Jay, you’re heading toward no sex.”
“You’d deprive a man sex?”
“To get what I want? Yes.” She chuckled. “I can do it now. I have two of you.” She blew Jay a kiss, and winked at him.
God, he loved her. He really did.
Richard never thought he’d be this happy, but he was. He never wanted to it stop, and he would fight to the end to get it.
Chapter Twelve
Later that night, Jay and Temperance were in the sitting room with Anna while Richard was conducting a meeting with his brothers and Mandy. She had her memory back, and now they were working on finding the rest of the men who were trafficking women.
“You’re saying it’s multi-organized?” Sean asked.
“Yes. They’re everywhere, and they take orders from powerful men. It’s not just personal orders though. They, erm, they take women and kids off the street to fill a need, or a space within brothels. Only a select few girls get given to the torturer for training.”
“Torturer?” Richard said. “That’s the guy who was hurting Tempe.”
“He won’t be the only one. If anything, he’d be the one assigned to this port. They will have hundreds of them all around the world. The women that men want to have training will go to that man. After a period of between six months to a year, he will have the perfect, compliant slut, as they call it. A pet, a submissive, a toy, property.”
“How do you know this?” Richard asked.
“I was one of the few who was trained. The order is very specific,” Mandy said. “It has to match what they want. Without it, there is no payment, and in this world, it’s all about the payment.”
“Something like this has to have someone finding out about it,” Jackson said. “Cops can’t just ignore it.”
“Select groups of professionals are trained to get the cops to look the other way, and create distractions that take their eye off the ball.” Mandy moved toward the map. “When I was still part of the organization, there was a big operation down on the south coast. It was an easy port to access for them, and also one of the head directors owns it.”
“We’re talking about bringing down billion dollar corporations disguising traffickers?” Jamie asked.
“You’re not going to get them all,” Mandy said. “They’re everywhere, and they hide really well. You can only hope to help so many. If you save one, it’s better than none.”
“We started something because of me,” Lewis said. “I was looking for Mandy, but I can’t turn my back on this. I’ve got the means, I’ve got the power, I want to make this my life’s work. When people think about taking another woman or girl from the street, I want them to hesitate, to stop.” Lewis paused, staring at each of them. Richard already had an idea where this was going. “If you don’t wish to continue this, I understand. I’m not going to stop. I’m in this for the long haul, and there’s no way I’m letting it go.”
Richard sighed. “I’m not backing down. I saw the mess, and what they have done to other women. I’m not going to stop until I either die, or they kill me. Either way, I’m in this. Count me in.”
“And me,” Jackson said. “I want to see every single son of a bitch pay. This is not about the club anymore. This is about justice.”
One by one the club brothers each put their name back in.
They had started out as a club for them to hang, which had turned into a cause, and now it was a mission. They were going to try to save every single one they could, or die trying.
A feminine scream coming from his sitting room had them all rushing out.
Running into his room, Richard stopped as he saw Anna on the floor panting, gripping her stomach.
“Our baby is coming, Russ.”
“Holy shit.”
Eleven large men started rushing around his apartment trying to figure out how the hell they were going to get a woman in labor to the hospital. One of them called the hospital, the other the fire department. Lewis was on the line to Mandy’s therapist.
“I’ve got it,” Temperance said. Jay held a phone pressed to her ear, and the men paused as she started to work on delivering a baby into the world. “Okay, I can see a baby’s head here, and I can tell you, we’re not going to make it to the hospital.” She listened, nodding. “Make sure the paramedics are here. I don’t know what else I can do. Russ, hold her.”