“You don’t apologise for that piece of shit.” Her brother tells her.
Her brows draw together, her shoulders sagging. “You… you believe me?”
Sasha moves to her and takes her hand. “We believe you.”
“I thought… I thought no one would believe me, that telling would get Levi into trouble—”
“You kept this quiet because you were fucking worried about me?” Levi interrupts. “If you’d told me I would have gutted that sick freak.”
Her eyes slide to Rav. “He’s a brother. He’s Ravage’s brother.”
“Was a brother,” I correct.
“Ain’t my fucking flesh and blood,” Rav growls out.
“I don’t understand,” Briella admits. Layla and Sasha are both crowding her, holding her hands. The three of them sink onto the sofa and I notice Brie’s hands are shaking.
Sasha stares down at her lap, her smile sad as she says, “We believe you because Sin did the same thing to me.”
Briella’s eyes go wide at her words before tears brim. “No.”
“He attacked me one night while Ty was on a run. I pleaded with him to stop, but he didn’t.”
I watch as Briella’s throat works. I can’t stop from clenching my fists at my side. We let that cunt off too easy. Rav should have tortured that fucker for what he became, for what he did. Two lives ruined because of his shit.
“It was after you came back,” she whispers. “I was at the clubhouse. I needed to see Levi. He… he…” she licks her lips as she struggles to get the words out. “He said I looked just like her. I didn’t know who he meant… until now.”
Sasha pales and Rav hits the wall again. He wipes the blood winding down his knuckles on his jeans.
“That motherfucking cunt.”
“He raped you because you look like me?” Sasha’s voice is barely audible, but the agony in her words is. “This is my fault.”
Rav shakes his head. “Ain’t no one to blame for this but Sin. Neither of you did a fucking thing wrong, you hear?”
Briella’s eyes raise and meet mine. I see pain in them. “I’m sorry.”
I force my anger down, force my feet to move and come to kneel in front of her. I take her hands in mine.
“Nothing to apologise for, baby,” I tell her, my voice choking.
“I’m… tainted.”
I snag her chin, her words goring me.
“Ain’t nothing about you that’s fucking tainted. You’re fucking perfect. Beautiful inside and out, you understand? What that cunt did to you doesn’t define you, it isn’t all you are. You’re more than just a victim. You’re a fucking survivor. You survived this shit. You came out stronger, and I’ll help to fix the parts of you that were broken by him.”
I shouldn’t do it, but I lean up and I brush my lips over hers, needing to show her with actions what I can’t say with words, needing to show her I don’t care that she was violated, that I still want her.
She stiffens slightly then softens under my touch. It’s not the kiss I want to give her, but I’m aware we have an audience—including her brother. I’m also not sure what the hell is going through her head, what damage Sin did to her, so I pull back after a moment.
She meets my eyes and I see the hope dancing in them.
“Don’t care what happened to you. You’re mine, you understand?”
Brie nods slowly, as if testing the weight of this thought.
“We’re going to get you help, baby. Find you someone to talk to who knows about this shit and how to get your head into a good place, okay?”
“Okay.”
I turn and glance over my shoulder. Layla has tears streaming down her face, as does Sasha, who is in Rav’s embrace.
“We’re your family. We’ll get you through this. I promise.”
And it’s a promise I intend to keep.
18
Briella
My heart is galloping in my chest, my mouth so dry I can hardly swallow. I feel exposed, naked, dirty. My secret is out, everyone knows now what happened to me and I feel like I’m crawling in the filth Sin left on my skin. I can feel all their eyes on me, feel the pity they’re directing at me and I hate it.
I can’t bear to look at my brother, but I’m also studiously avoiding Daimon’s gaze. Shame washes over me, humiliation burning through me. He says it doesn’t make any difference to him, that I’m not tainted, but he’s lying. How can I not be tainted by what Sin did to me? I know they all see me as what I never wanted to be—a victim. Helpless.
As everyone readies to leave, I try not to focus on the pain in my chest that is growing tighter by the minute. Sasha steps in front of me and my heart clenches as I wait for her to speak, wondering what she’s going to say.
“Honey, I know it feels like nothing will ever be right again, but believe me you can get past this, I promise.”
She throws her arms around me and hugs me tightly. I’m so taken aback by her show of support that I feel more tears pricking at my eyes. Ravage and Sasha are the last two people I thought would be on my side. I assumed they would support Sin, but now I know he hurt Sasha too, I can see there’s no love there for him. Ravage looks positively homicidal as he moves up behind Sasha, his hands on her shoulders.
“Know there’s shit all I can say to fix this, but I am sorry about what that fucker did to you. Know he’s been dealt with for hurting Sash. Wish we’d known he hurt you too. I would have made it last longer.”
His words make my throat clog and ice settle around my heart. What did they do to Sin? Is that why I haven’t seen him around since Sasha got back?
“You dealt with him?”
“We gave that fucker club justice,” Daimon grinds out and I risk a glance in his direction. His lips are curled into a snarl and the fire blazing from his eyes makes my whole body tremble. He’s pissed and I’m not sure how to fix that, so instead I watch as Sash and Rav move towards the front door, wondering what ‘club justice’ looks like.
“You need us, call,” Sash says to Levi, who nods.
I shrink into myself. I feel like a problem that needs fixing and I hate it. I curl my arms around myself as the sound of the door snicking shut behind them echoes around the room. I peer under my lashes at my brother, who is staring at the floor, his fingers clenched into fists and Layla who is smiling reassuringly at me. I should hate her for exposing my secret, but for the first time in a long time, I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I feel like I can breathe freely.
Levi steps into my space and my heart squeezes painfully at the raw emotion in his voice when he speaks.
“I should have protected you. I’m sorry I failed.”
Finally, I raise my eyes to his and meet his distraught look. It nearly shreds me to see it there, especially knowing I put it there.
“You didn’t fail me.” I grab his hands and squeeze. “Everything I have is because of you. You gave me a second chance.”
“I brought you to the club, I put you in his sphere.” His brow knits together. “Yeah, Brie, this is entirely on me.” His voice clogs with emotion.