Ruin and Rise(21)

When Alessandra started making her way toward the club, he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She was tense, her head still downcast.

“Look at me,” he said, his voice deep. There was something about her, something that had his body coiled tight. It wasn’t because she’d been hurt, but there was something, when he looked at her, that tugged at his protective side. He wanted to kill anyone who had touched her and put that fear in her eyes.

“Who touched you? Tell me their names.”

She didn’t answer right away, but he saw how her throat worked as she swallowed, could practically smell her fear, hear her heart racing.

“You’re safe now.” He reached behind her, undid her hands, and without thinking, he had her wrists in his hands, rubbing her skin. She winced and he gentled his touch.

But the longer she stared at him, the more he felt that protective instinct in him to make sure she was never hurt again. He also realized she wouldn’t tell him anything. But Zeke would get it out of her. He’d find out who hurt her, who had made her feel like this.

“Get checked out and cleaned up, Alessandra. And don’t worry, I’ll find out who the fuck did this to you.”

One of his men came back out and helped her inside, but before she disappeared into Dominion, she looked over her shoulder at him. His chest tightened at the look of vulnerability in her eyes.

He reached for his cell, turned his back on the now closed door, and called the people he knew that would find out what he wanted. He might have men under his thumb that would die to get the job done, but the truth was that he trusted the Soldiers.

“Zeke,” Demon said in a bland voice.

“I need the Soldiers to find out some information for me, and I need it to be a priority.”





Shakes was making his woman a milkshake when his cell phone rang. Her pregnancy was starting to affect her appetite; she already had morning sickness and was craving certain things. That very morning, he’d been pulled out of sleep by the sound of vomiting. Rushing out of bed, he’d held her hair back as she threw everything up. He’d hated it and couldn’t handle the helplessness that came over him. There was nothing he could do to help her, or to take the pain away, and that he hated more than anything else.

“Shakes here,” he said, pouring the shake into the tall glass.

“The brothers need you,” Demon said.

“Wow, that was quick.”

“Well, Zeke’s got a job for us, and the only one qualified is you. I wouldn’t phone if we didn’t need you.”

“What’s the job?”

“A girl was taken against her will, he wants to know who took her, where she’s from, everything.”

“You’ve not got any other information, a simple background check?” Shakes asked, staring across the kitchen. He was alone, and all he wanted to do was go back upstairs, and crawl into bed beside his pregnant woman.

“We don’t want to alert any authorities in case we’re the ones that end up the bad guys.”

“Dig without being noticed.”

“It’s your best quality.”

“Fine, I’ll get started tomorrow after I’ve settled Dani.”

“Morning sickness?” Demon asked.

“Yeah, it’s really bad. Did Deanna suffer with this?” Shakes asked. He’d not been around pregnant women often enough to know what to expect.

“Yes. It was really bad. I worried she was going to end up in the hospital; it got that bad. Just be there, rub her back, and make sure her hair is out of her face. They hate it if you let them throw up on their hair. It really bugs them.”

“Will do. I’ll report back as soon as I know something.”

They ended the call, and Shakes made his way upstairs thinking about Zeke. It wasn’t like his father-in-law to request information on a woman. He wondered what the bastard would want that information for.

Entering their bedroom, he saw Dani reading. She glanced over her e-reader and smiled at him. “You love me.”

“Obviously. I don’t go and make milkshakes for just anyone.”

“The only reason you made it is because you don’t want to go out and buy me one.”

“Fuck, I’ve been busted.”

She put her e-reader down before taking the glass from him, taking a sip. “It’s delicious.”

“See, I can do something with my time.” He climbed into bed beside her, running his hand across her stomach. “Our little guy causing you some trouble?”

“He wants milkshakes and anchovies, which is weird. I don’t even like anchovies, eww.”

Shakes chuckled. “We’re going to be amazing parents.”