Chapter 7

Breed stood in the doorway and studied her. She looked to be sleeping again, but he knew she was healing from the trauma of the last few days.

Cowboy joined him and silently they moved away from the door.

Breed led the way down to his office and then poured a shot for both of them before he spoke, “Is she doing okay?” he asked his medic softly.

“Physically? Yeah, she’ll recover from the beating she took.” He shrugged his shoulders. “She’s a tough chick and this isn’t her first rodeo, I’m thinking.”

“What else?” Breed demanded. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“She talks in her sleep, did you know that?” Cowboy asked him.

“Now, how would I know something like that?” Breed glared at him. “I just met the woman.”

“Well, she does. And her grandfather is a real bastard. He took a scared fourteen year old girl who had just lost her parents and worked her like a slave.”

“What did she say?” Breed was curious.

Cowboy shook his head. “She was worried about missing the party Monday night, how her grandfather would be so disappointed in her and how she owed him money for everything he did for her while she lived with him.”

“What do you mean?” Breed frowned.

“She was so out of it, that when I tried to ask her questions, she answered them but she didn’t realize it, I don’t think.” Cowboy looked pissed off as he went on, “She kept saying in her sleep how she owed and would be in trouble now. I asked her for what. He got the insurance money from her parents like she told you but the old bastard didn’t want to take her. He was going to let her go into the system until he learned he wouldn’t get the insurance money. Then I asked her more detailed questions and I learned that he turned around and kept track of every penny he spent on her and when she started working, she had to pay that money back. He was taking half her check for his payback even though he got over a million dollars from the insurance when her parents died. That’s why she was so agitated, she did not make it to hostess his party and he would be angry with her.”

“Fucking hell.” Breed growled. “No wonder she said she hated to love him and loved to hate him. It didn’t make sense to me before now.”

Cowboy nodded. “I believe that. It sounds about right from what she said. Brian Williams really needs a wakeup call.”

Breed agreed with him. “I got some of the brothers checking things out. Two are going to watch Joey and grandpa and two are going to spy on Blade and his bastards. If they find out she’s here with us, they will come for her and try to start a war none one of us wants.”

“Now boss…” Cowboy stared. “You know that ain’t true. Blade would do it in a heartbeat if he could get to you. He really hates the fact that you’re his half brother. He’s blaming you for something his bastard father did before either of you were even born.”

“That’s true enough but he’s probably more pissed about what I did to his father’s headstone.” Breed chuckled.

“He was your dad too, though,” Cowboy pointed out.

“No he was never my dad, he was just a sperm donor.” Breed snapped. “An unwanted sperm donor at that. I hope that old bastard is burning in hell for what he did to my mother.” For a moment, he hesitated, then Breed asked, “What else did she say?”

“She was begging Joey not to hurt her anymore.”

With a soft growl, Breed picked up his glass and threw it against the wall. Glass shattered everywhere when it hit. He then roared his rage and stalked toward the door.

“Boss, “ Cowboy called out. “You can’t change what happened in her past, only in her future.”

“I know that and I know it’s crazy to feel this way about someone I only just met but nothing infuriates me more than when a man abuses a woman.” Breed turned and went out to the main room.

The men all looked up, as some were getting ready to leave.

“I want that little bastard Joey and this Brian fuck brought back here,” Breed ordered. “Both of them have to answer for what they did.”

“Boss,” Maverick called out. “That’s kidnapping if you take them across state lines.”

Breed ignored him and went on, “Crow, I want everything you can find on the way this man does business. This bastard not only took her parent’s insurance money but is making her pay back every penny he laid out to keep her for the three years after they died. I want to bust him so bad that I can almost taste it. That insurance money should have gone to her.”

“What about Joey?” someone called out.

“I think he was looking to get her killed. I think he was going to take the money shitty grandpa would have paid and taken off for parts unknown. I can’t prove it yet, but I can feel it in my gut.”

The men all looked uneasy as a silence fell in the large room.

Breed looked around. “What? Just fucking spit it out already!”

Greer was the brave one as he finally spoke up, “Why are you doing this? Involving us? I mean I admit, the poor girl suffered but—”

“—she did and it was under my brother’s boots,” Breed shot back. “Also, I rescued her. In my tribe, that makes me responsible for her.” He looked around at the more than a dozen men gathered. “Besides, aren’t you sick of this shit?”

They all looked puzzled as some shook their heads in confusion.