“Check under the bed, man. Do it before she wakes up. It’ll make things easier.” He reached for the doorknob. “We need to get going soon. Bastard never misses his morning jog. It’s fucking clockwork.”

“You don’t think he allowed access to any of the other guys?”

“Not a chance.” He chewed on his lip. “He allows very few people inside the estate, and now with Cleft gone…”

Now he had a chance to get inside, unobstructed, in hopes of finding his sister’s whereabouts.

We entered the shadowed house, and I padded down the hall, hoping Alex hadn’t awakened yet. Considering her late night date with a knife, and the subsequent lashing and sexual mind-fuck I’d put on her, I expected to find her out cold for at least another hour. The sun had barely crawled an inch above the horizon.

So I was caught off guard when I found her by the window, arms folded around her body as if she could ward off the next attack with sheer willpower alone. It would take a while before she believed no one was coming to hurt her. Perrone and the rest of his men would pay for what they’d done, and Jax and I would free those slaves today.

The real question though, was how far was I willing to go?

Gawking at Alex’s nude form, cast in silhouette in front of the window, I knew I’d go to the blazing pits of Lucifer’s den to ensure her safety, to give her peace of mind in knowing Lucas Perrone would never threaten her again.

I crossed to the bed and bent to search underneath, where I found a hook in the floor and a coiled chain attached. Despite my quiet presence, she didn’t stir from her stance. I sank to the hardwood and reached behind me, curling my fingers around a shackle.

“Alex?” God, how I wanted to wrap her in my arms and never let go. I’d failed her. No one should have to go through what she’d been through, the horrors she’d experienced, beginning with her own brother at the age of thirteen. But knowing what had happened to her all those years ago was vastly different from witnessing those bastards trying to break her.

How the fuck was I supposed to deal with that? How was she?

Maybe that was the problem. Neither one of us knew how to get beyond this. She’d finally let it out last night, but at what cost? More scars on her skin.

“Alex,” I said again.

She jumped, as if my voice was just now registering. “Sorry…I was thinking.”

“C’mere.” I patted the floor next to me. “What’s on your mind?”

Her feet glided across the hardwood, and she lowered next to me. “You.”

“What about me?”

“The way you made me feel last night. You helped me breathe, Rafe.”