Duke (The Henchmen MC 5)

That four letter word that somehow was worse than any other I had ever heard in my life before.

They shared a look again and the woman, Lo, shook her head at him. Any hopes I had about her being some kind of ally flew out the metaphorical window. Metaphorical because the room had no actual ones. That was another weird thing. What kind of bedroom had no windows?

My heart flew into overdrive, seeming to lodge itself into my esophagus high enough for me to feel like I was choking on it.

"Get out," I heard myself say, low, warning. I had never heard my own voice like that before- cold, almost nasty. Then again, I had never felt quite so vulnerable and confused before. Their eyes snapped to me, surprised, but neither moved to leave the room. Actually, the woman moved to reach for me and the man leaned closer. "I said get the hell out!" I shrieked, making them jerk back.

And about one second later, the bedroom door flew open, I think, surprising us all.

Then there he was.

I didn't know him.

Really, he was all but a stranger.

But he had made his friend stop flirting with me and possibly making me late for an interview. Then when I had woken up in his strong arms, upset, in pain, and confused, he had held me and whispered reassurances in my ear while his fingers stroked over my upper arm, trying to give me comfort.

He was no one.

But somehow, his presence sent a rush of relief through my system, making my heart move out of my throat and settle back down in my ribcage where it belonged.

He really was good looking.

I had realized it the day before too. His friend was good looking and had the silver tongue and all, but the hulking blond biker with the man bun and the strong masculine face and deep blue eyes, yeah, he was who I was immediately drawn to. Then he had directed me where I needed to go and I was grateful to him for being a decent guy as well.

But standing in the doorway like some dark, avenging angel, he was even better looking than he had been standing in the sun the day before. Everything about him seemed tense, menacing. And his deep blue eyes were directed at the redheaded guy, Renny, for some reason.

"Duke, we got this," Renny said, moving off the bed to face his biker brother.

"Don't sound like you got it. Sounds like you're freaking her out. Reign wants you to talk to her, fine. But you're not fucking traumatizing her."

"I think I know a little more about..." Renny started.

To that, Duke's lips turned up into an almost cruel sneer. "Yeah, you would. Wouldn't you?"

"Don't," Renny said, hands curling into fists, moving a step closer, making Duke stiffen as well.

"Down boys," Lo said, sounding amused and when I looked over, she was actually smiling. Like their sparking, volatile energy wasn't completely alarming to her like it was to me. The freak.

"What are you gonna do if I don't..." Duke started, taking a step forward, making the Lo woman get off the bed and move a few feet until she was almost between them, but stepped back slightly.

"Why are my pants off?" I asked, that time directing it to Duke. At the sound of my voice, his shoulders went more lax and his gaze went to me. The area around his eyes tightened for a second before they relaxed. "They won't tell me," I added when he didn't say anything.

"No one knew exactly what happened to you," he started. "So when the nurse got here, she did a rape kit."

There it was.

The four letter word I was trying like hell to not think about.

God, it was so ugly.

Rape.

Just as ugly: rape kit.

I had had a rape kit done while I was un-freaking-conscious.

My stomach twisted painfully and my mouth went paper-dry.

"And?" I asked, the sound barely more than a whisper.

His head shook before he even opened his mouth. "No, baby."

The relief felt like my air got squeezed out of me and I had to immediately take a deep breath to replace it, closing my eyes tight in silent gratitude for a moment.

"Thank God," I murmured.

"There," Renny said, giving me a smile, but his eyes seemed more guarded, less friendly. "That's settled. Now you can go back in the hall and pull guard dog duty while me and Penny talk for a couple minutes."

"No offense," I said, shaking my head, "but I would really prefer that he stays."

"Honey," Renny said, shaking his head at me. "I promise I have no intentions of hurting..."

"Be that as it may," I said, pressing my thighs tightly together and cocking them to the side underneath me, "I would feel more comfortable if he stays."

"I'm right here," Duke said, crossing his arms in a very final way, like no matter what the Renny guy said, he wasn't going anywhere.