Walking backward, he stepped over the threshold into her home without taking his suspicious gaze off Logan. Though he was at least two feet behind her, Logan’s presence at her back took away the hysteria she’d have felt were he not there. Of course, if he weren’t there, she wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.
Details.
“Sit,” Scott barked.
Logan strode to her couch all confident and full of swagger. Like this entire get together had been his idea in the first place. Rolling her eyes, Chloe moved to sit next to him.
“Don’t fucking think so,” Scott said with a slightly sinister laugh.
“Scott, this is getting ridiculous.”
“Sit,” he said to her, pointing to the opposite end of her couch with his gun.
She narrowed her eyes. “You need to put that thing away or I’m going to tell mom you pulled a gun on my boyfriend,” she muttered as she stomped to the couch. As a kid, she’d been a wicked tattletale, losing her brothers countless privileges as revenge for their antics.
Logan snickered but Scott didn’t so much as blink. “Talk,” he said.
After clearing his throat, Logan opened his mouth.
“Not you,” Scot spat out. “Her.”
With a glare for her brother, Chloe folded her arms across her chest. Prepared to blast him for being an idiot, she caught Logan’s gaze. As small as the nod he’d given her outside, he shook his head.
Chloe’s heart plummeted. Looking at this from Scott’s perspective put an entirely different spin on the scenario. Here he was, coming to surprise her when he found her with an outlaw biker after she’d been raped and beaten by who he thought was a vicious boyfriend. No wonder he went all alpha on her.
She opened her mouth, but suddenly the words weren’t there. Reality of what she’d experienced was far worse than the story she’d told her family. Shame washed over her. No one really knew exactly what had happened in that motel room. Not even Logan. Now, not only did she have to bear her humiliation for her brother, she had to show it to her lover as well.
“It’s okay, baby,” Logan said in a soft voice as though privy to her internal struggle.
She blinked at him as tears flooded her eyes.
“Fuck it,” Logan said. “Shoot me if you gotta, man.” He scooted down the couch and pulled her onto his lap. At once, she curled into him, soaking up the warmth and safety only he could provide. Glancing at Scott, she expected to see him with his finger on the trigger again. Instead, he had a profound look of sadness on his face. All their lives, he’d been her favorite big brother. Her best friend, her protector. Couldn’t be easy to see himself replaced. And by a man he didn’t trust.
“All right,” he said, laying his weapon on her end table. “You win.” He took a seat on the side of the couch Logan had vacated. “Tell me.”
Logan looked to her and she gave as much of a sad smile as she could muster. “Your sister had stopped at a Subway to grab some dinner one night,” he began. He must have sensed how difficult it would be for her to rehash it all on her own. So he took the burden from her. Despite how much he hated talking to people he didn’t know. Just one of the many reasons she loved—
Holy shit.
I love him.
Chloe swallowed. There was no denying it. She’d fallen in love with the man. How could she not?
“It was late. The parking lot was dark as fuck. She was nabbed right by her car. Tossed in her trunk. Kidnapped.”
“Christ.” Scott hung his head. “I should have given you Mace. I should have given you a fucking gun.”
“It wouldn’t have helped,” she said, her heart heavy. “They clocked me from behind. It happened too fast for me to react. I was careless, not paying attention to my surroundings.”
“Who was it that took you?” her brother asked, running his fingertip along the barrel of his gun where it rested on her end table. She had the distinct impression he was imagining using it on whoever had hurt her.
“It was a gang,” Logan answered. “Led by a guy by the name of Lefty. Real motherfucker.”
“Why?”
“Trafficking.”
“Fuck.” Scott’s curse was whispered.
“Lefty is an enemy of my club. We got wind of what happened and my prez had a meeting with him. Demanded he release her or we’d set the full power of the club on ending him. Gave him orders to leave her in a motel room unharmed.” His voice grew thick, pained sounding. “I’m the one who found her.”
“Not unharmed,” Scott said.
“No.”
The only thing keeping Chloe from losing her shit was the steady thrum of Logan’s heartbeat beneath her cheek as she listened to him recount the events leading up to her rescue. As much as she appreciated him taking on this task, it was time for her to speak up. Horrifying as it was, she needed to own what had happened to her. How could she move on with Logan or any man—though the thought of trying to be with another man made her stomach hurt—if she didn’t face what had happened head on?