Dauntless (Sons of Templar MC #5)(64)

Asher


Asher moved to follow Lily as she darted towards the door. The one he knew held more pain and suffering for his girl. Pain and suffering he intended to protect her from as best he could. He couldn’t protect her from this and it almost killed him. She didn’t need any more blows. He knew she was strong enough to handle them, but she shouldn’t f*ckin’ have to.

And despite Bex’s downfalls, she was a good person. Asher knew she had waded through some epic shit in her life. Not the details, but he saw it in her eyes. People didn’t become heroin addicts because they’d enjoyed a cloud-free existence. He’d been furious at her for putting Lily in danger at the start, but then he saw how much Lily meant to her, how much she meant to Lily, and he managed to swallow that anger. He’d even begun to respect her for the way she was turning her life around, trying to beat the demons at her back.

Now they were back, in full force. And all he could do was witness her and his wife battle them. A hand on his shoulder, much firmer than it had been on Lily’s, restrained him.

Asher stopped, his eyes on the blonde head disappearing behind the door. He raised his eyebrow at Cade in warning. He really didn’t want to have to break his president’s nose, but he would if he stopped him from going to his wife. If he made it so she had to face this alone.

“No, brother,” Cade said quietly.

The two words gave him pause. The way he said them, reminiscent of the tone he’d heard from him years before. When he’d come back from the hospital to let them know that Laurie had faded away, unable to survive the brutality inflicted on her.

His gaze snapped to Cade. “No.” It was more of a prayer than a question.

Cade nodded slowly.

Asher closed his eyes for a split second and felt physical pain, not only at the fact he knew what this meant for Bex, for his wife, but for his best friend. Lucky sat like a statue, like a man who had lost everything rooting him to the floor and the world was in danger of tearing him away from himself.

“We’ve got Sarah in there with her. She understands the need for… discretion,” Cade told him.

“Is it bad?” Asher managed to choke out.

Cade gave him a long look. “It’s bad, brother.”

“Fuck,” Asher hissed under his breath.

Cade stepped forward, close to him so he could speak quieter. “They kept her high. Strung out so she didn’t even know her own f*ckin’ name.” He paused, taking a huge breath. “When we stormed the place, she was chained to the bed. Naked.” He sucked in a harsh breath, fire in his eyes, defeat sagging his shoulders. “Some f*cker raping her,” Cade explained in a flat voice. Asher didn’t miss the fury that barely stayed contained. That turned the air thick enough to swallow.

His entire body turned wired. He knew. The moment he had walked into the room, he knew. But hearing it, hearing the words, hearing the strongest motherf*cker he knew so shaken, it got to him.

His gaze flickered to the door his wife had disappeared behind. Every inch of him was screaming to go to her. To be there.

“Fuck,” he repeated.

Another thing that would try to bruise his flower. To destroy her.

He swallowed it, that animal need to go to his woman. Barely. The thing that stopped him was the gaze that settled on his best friend; on all of his brothers. They were all feeling this. Bleeding from this.

He gave Cade another long glance and clapped him on the shoulder. Cade nodded to him and stepped aside.

The men gave him somber chin lifts as he waded through the room, through their fury. Brock was clutching a whisky glass so hard his knuckles turned white. Ranger was murmuring quietly into his phone, his eyes hard. Asher guessed he was talking to his woman, Lizzie. Each of the men might be hard motherf*ckers, but their world was the club and their women. Seeing the shit that Asher guessed they’d seen, he knew they’d need to make sure their old ladies were going to chase away their demons.

He stopped in front of Lucky, who was staring between his knees. He hadn’t even flinched as Asher made it to him.

“Brother,” he said quietly, no f*ckin’ clue what else to say. He didn’t do girly comforting words. They didn’t have f*ckin’ heart-to-hearts. But his brother was bleeding. His best friend. Fuck if he would just stand there and watch it happen.

Lucky’s head slowly moved up a good few seconds after Asher spoke, as if it took longer for words to get through his head.

Asher flinched, actually f*ckin’ flinched, at the look on his face. It was like what Bull had been wearing since the moment Laurie was dumped outside the club, since she died. The one that had only just faded away when he met his wife. It was always there, though. A shadow over him. A scar. You didn’t escape that shit; it was tattooed on your soul forever. It had been hard seeing that on Bull, but it almost f*ckin’ killed him to see it on Lucky. They’d patched in together, grown up together. Fuck, they’d screwed their first girls on the same night when they were tangled up in a world they’d escaped together. Like Asher, Lucky had a f*ckin’ rough childhood. He’d had to do some serious shit before he’d even gotten his dick wet. He turned into a ruthless motherf*cker when needed, but most of the time he was smiling. Laughing. Not letting the shit of his past turn him into something else.

That’s why it got to Asher. Seeing everything torn away from his face. Everything.