“Fine. You’re the boss,” she said.
“Good. I’ve called the diner and quit for you as well as the box factory. Your time if going to be spent here, taking care of him.” Lash nodded to a guy behind her. “When we’re done here, you’re going to go back to her apartment and get some supplies. She’s not going anywhere but where I tell her.”
“Why don’t you tell me what you’ve got planned?” Sophia asked.
“Fine. He’s not moving out of those restraints. My brother is strong, and he’ll hurt anyone to get what he wants. No booze, no pain killers, no drugs. Everything has officially stopped. I’m not giving him what he wants. He gets water and porridge. Nothing else.”
“What if this kills him?”
“It won’t. We’ve got a doctor who says it should work,” Lash said, pointing to Sandy.
“I didn’t say it wouldn’t be difficult.”
“I don’t care what it takes. I’m getting my brother back.” He looked at Zero. “Take her back to her apartment. Use the truck and get some stuff.”
“Will do.” She was pulled from the room. Sophia looked at Nash, knowing she’d do everything in her power to bring back to her the man she knew.
****
“This is fucking crazy,” Nash said. He stared up at his brother seeing the determination on Lash’s face.
“It’s a plan, and you’re going to have to take it otherwise it’s the end of the road for you. I’m not going to let that happen.”
“I shouldn’t be here. You know it, and so do I.” Nash lay on the mattress feeling every single one of his pains.
“How is he?” Lash asked.
Out of the corner of his eye he watched his brother talking with the doctor. “He’s in pretty bad shape. Tiny did a number on him. I don’t think there’s any internal bleeding. He may have a cracked rib, and I’ll bring some bandages to help.”
“Nothing for the pain. He’s going to take this like he deserves.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?” Sandy asked.
“If the gun had been aimed at your head, what do you think?”
Sandy didn’t argue. “Fine. I’m going to go and give the others an update. If you need anything, give me a call. I’m here for you all.”
She left through the door. The same door that Sophia had left through a couple of minutes before. He’d seen the cuts and bruises on her face. Who had hurt his woman?
“If you want to leave, you can,” Lash said. The other two bikers gave him a sour look before turning away.
“You should have left me to rot,” Nash said. “The club hates me.” He rolled to his back, wincing in pain.
“I’m not giving up on you. The club is our whole lives. I’m not going to let you throw all that away because you think life is a little hard.”
“A little hard? Brother, life is a damn hard fucking road and filled with pain.”
Lash knelt beside the mattress. Guilt swamped Nash as he got a good look at the marks on Lash’s face.
“You shouldn’t have taken that beating for me.”
“Did you expect me to let Tiny kill you?” Lash asked. “You’re an ass, but you’re still my baby brother.”
He watched as his brother sat on the mattress beside him. A long time had passed since he’d been sat on a makeshift bed talking with his brother.
“I’m not worth saving. I’m the weak link.”
His brother started laughing. “You think you’re weak. It took ‘til you were thirty to reach for the drugs. The booze and the women were who you were. I saw the way you treated Sophia for the brief moments you were with her.” Lash reached out, taking his hand. “Someone who can love like that, is not weak.”
Nash gritted his teeth as tears welled in his eyes. “You’re turning me into a fucking pussy.” He let the tears fall, feeling the misery of what his life had become. “It doesn’t matter how much I love her. I hurt her the other day with the way I treated her.”
“If Sophia cares about you, or even loves you a little bit, then she’ll forgive you,” Lash said.
“I don’t know. I called her a whore. She’s not a whore. She’s special. Anyone with eyes should be able to see it.” He gripped his brother’s hand hard. It would only be a matter of time before the effect of the drugs ran off completely.
“You see it with Sophia like I see it with Angel.”
“Why was she so bloody?” Nash asked, looking at his brother.
Lash looked down at the floor. “You’re not going to want to hear this.”