“Sure is, Bear. I flipped the mattress and put clean bedding on there a few days ago. It hasn't been slept in since,” she tells me.
“Thank you.”
I don't want to take Rose up to the room, to the bed, that I use mainly to fuck club whores in, but I have no choice. The first chance I get, that bed is being tossed and a new one brought in. I won't have her thinking she's anything but my forever.
“Hey, brother,” Hawk says. “Why don't you two go take my room. I'll use yours for a bit. It's farther back and out of the way. Might be more comfortable for her being a little more separated from everyone for a while.”
I know what he's doing, he's seen my face, read my thoughts and understood. Fuck, I love my twin. Hawk didn't bring people into his room to fuck. Besides, the type of people he's interested in rarely attend our club parties.
“Yeah, thanks, brother. Have Slim order me a new bed, would you?” I ask him.
“You got it bad, brother,” he tells me back.
He has no idea.
Chapter Ten
Rose
Waking up in pain is nothing new. Waking up in pain, in a strange room, is. I go to shove my face into the pillow when I'm suddenly hit with a massive amount of face pain. That's when everything starts coming back. Carrie in the restroom, slamming me against the door, twice. A feisty Princess and a very angry Bear.
“Bear,” I mumble.
“He's not here, darlin'. He'll be back shortly,” I hear someone say from somewhere in the room. Looking toward the voice, I see it's one of Bears friends. The one whose name I've yet to learn.
“What's your name?” I ask. Where did this bout of courage come from? I'm only ever courageous in my mind.
Chuckling, he says, “I'm Brick. Prez had to go take care of something, but he'll be back in a bit.”
Brick. I now had a name to go with all six of my rescuers. Chains, Brick, Ink, Trigger, Hawk, and Bear.
I toss the blanket aside and go to stand up but fall right back down. Dang, Carrie must have used a lot of force shoving my head against that door. I am so dizzy.
“Whoa, easy there darlin',” Brick says as he walks toward me. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”
I try standing again, this time much slower. Once I'm steady on my feet I give Brick a wide smile.
“I'm going to find Bear. Where is he?” I ask.
“He's in the basement taking care of club stuff,” he tells me. “You should just wait here. He'll be back at any moment.”
I have a feeling I know what club stuff he's up to, and I can't let him do something like that because of me.
“The basement you say,” I smile sweetly up at Brick. “So, that means not one, but two sets of stairs?”
“Yep.”
Great, I'm going to tumble to my death. I really do need to rest. When father was at his worst, my days would end much like this. All I need is a little food, a hot shower and a ton of sleep. I'll be better by morning.
“Let's go, big guy, I'm probably going to need your help when I fall on my face and break it further,” I tell him.
“Where are we going?” He asks cautiously. “You really should be resting.”
“To the basement, of course,” I look back at him as I open the door.
“The base... Now, wait a minute. You are not allowed down there,” he shouts as he starts following me.
“Come on, big guy. I'm going with or without you. I'd much rather it be with you considering the chances are high I will do a full-face plant on these stairs,” I say.
I'm shocked that I'm speaking to him how I am. I've never felt relaxed enough to let my inner self out. Inner me, she's brave. She's who I've always wanted to be, but she's never really been able to show herself, fully. Sometimes it feels like I have two personalities in my head.
When things get to be too much, I borrow strength from my inner self. Sometimes it's just so I won't do or say anything stupid around Father. Other times it's because I need to check out as I did moments ago. Mostly, I reach for her when I need a little extra courage.
But, as much as I've tried, I could never fully encompass that part of myself for fear that Father would look at my strength as defiance. Then he would have destroyed that part of me.
Inner me looks like she’s refusing to go back inside now that she’s free. Fine with me.
I feel this aching need to get to Bear, not only to stop him from doing something stupid but because I want to be near him. So, maybe that feeling mixed with brick's being my guard to actually guard me and not keep me in prison, like my father’s guard Eric, has me relaxed.
You wouldn't think after having my face slammed against a door a couple of times would have me in a good mood, but like I've said before, pain is nothing new. Pain I can handle.
Bear killing Carrie in my name, especially for something as stupid as jealousy, I cannot.
“Brick, how long was I out?” I ask him.
“About ten minutes, darlin'. Bear left once he knew you were okay,” he grumbled.
We make it down to the first floor when I see Princess.
“Oh my gosh, Rose, what are you doing out of bed?” She asks.
“Basement,” is all I say.
I'm on a mission. I need to get to that basement and stop what's happening.
“Brick, which way?” I ask.
Sighing he says, “Bear's gonna kick my ass. This way, darlin'. I'm telling him you forced me.”
“You do that, big guy,” I tell him through my giggle. “You tell him I dragged you kicking and screaming if you have to. Just lead the way.”
I follow Brick as he walks toward the back of the room and out the back door. We walk along the back of the building until we get to the edge and Brick stops. Not noticing soon enough, I run right into his back.
“Sorry,” I whisper.
“Basement is down there,” he tells me.
Looking around his body, I see we have stopped in front of a door.
“A... are you sure Bear's down there?” I ask.
“What's wrong, little rabbit? Are you afraid of the basement?”
“It's not exactly my favorite room in a building.” I shudder thinking about Father's punishment room. It's located in the back of his basement.
Pulling up my big girl panties, I walk around Brick and open the door.
The moment my foot hits the first step, I hear a low mumble of deep voices and the higher pleas of a woman.
I rush as fast as my wobbly legs will allow down the stairs. When I get to the bottom, I freeze at what I see. Bear, Hawk, Trigger and a few unknown faces were all standing around a chained up, half-naked Carrie.
“Bear,” I whimper quietly.
He must have heard me because he turns fast and locks eyes on me.
“What are you doing out of bed?” He asks before turning and glaring at Brick. “And why the fuck did you bring her down here, Brick?”
“I know we've only just met your woman here, but let me tell you, she's got that innocent smile and puppy dog eyes down pat. Not to mention she didn't give a flying fuck what I had to say. She demanded what she wanted and instead of waiting she just took it.”