Worth It (Forbidden Men, #6)(115)

He took me gently from Asher and led me toward the door. I have no idea why, but I felt sore, as if I’d worked out all week. Every muscle in me screamed for relief.

“I am so sorry,” Reese pleaded, grasping my arm as she met us at the door.

But I shook my head. “Don’t be. I wanted to know. I asked to know.” Turning back to the solemn crowd watching me from worried eyes, I found Mason and nodded. “Thank you for telling me.”

Pick led me from the apartment. I don’t remember much of the ride home. He didn’t make me talk, so I closed my eyes and let the vibration of his car’s engine lull me into a deeper state. Not outright asleep, but not fully conscious either, I opened my eyes and winced at all the sunlight when he stopped the car.

“Can you walk?” he asked. I nodded, more confident than I should’ve been because when I opened the door and slid out, I almost fell flat on my face. “Whoa there, darling.” Pick had been coming around to meet me; he had to race the last few steps to catch my arm and keep me from a painful face plant.

He didn’t outright carry me, but he did make me lean heavily against him as he walked me to my door, found my keys in my purse, and then helped me inside.

“Knox?” I murmured, glancing around, but Pick shook his head.

“I don’t think he’s home.”

So, I started crying again because I wanted to hold him so bad.

“Shit,” Pick muttered as he rubbed his face and paced in front of the couch where he’d set me down. Finally, he paused to ask, “Can I get you some water?”

I shook my head and tried to breathe through a couple hyperventilating breaths that caught me unaware. Oxygen fled my brain for a moment and I thought I might pass out. I actually welcomed the idea, but Pick returned with a glass, even though I’d told him I hadn’t wanted it. He forced me to breathe through my mouth. Then he made me drink half the water.

After that, I curled onto my side, tucked my knees up to my chin and passed out.

I woke to Knox’s angry snarl. “What the hell, Pick? Why is she crying in her sleep? What the f*ck did you do to her?”

I didn’t realize I was still crying until I felt a tear slip down my nose.

“Just calm down, man. I don’t know quite what happened, but from what I gather, Reese and Mason told her what was on that video.”

Silence.

I sniffed and opened my eyes, but I didn’t have the strength to sit up just yet. I watched Knox shake his head and back away before murmuring, “I thought they said they hadn’t watched the whole thing.”

“Well, apparently they saw enough to affect Felicity this way.”

“Motherf*cker.” Knox reared back his arm and slammed a fist into the wall.

“There goes our deposit,” I mumbled as I struggled to push myself upright.

Knox whirled to me and took in my face before his expression crumpled and he clutched his head in his hands.

Pick came to me, his hand outstretched to assist me. “Hey, kiddo. How’re you feeling?”

“Like I got run over by a truck.” I glanced at a turbulent Knox and turned back to Pick. “Thanks for getting me home, but do you think you could...?”

When I shifted my gaze toward the door, he nodded and patted me on the shoulder. “Yeah, just take care of yourself.”

As he turned away to leave, neither Knox nor I spoke. Even after the door closed and we were left alone, we still didn’t say a damn thing.

Finally, Knox surged from the statue-like position he’d been stuck in and paced the floor from one end of the room to the other. He blew out breath after breath, trying to regulate his breathing, and failing. Then he sent me a sharp glance and rumbled, “How much did they tell you?”

I shrugged one shoulder. “Enough.”

“How much?” he ground out.

Closing my eyes, I shook my head. I didn’t want to repeat any of it. But then I realized I’d be just like Knox if I bottled in it. So I said, “They told me three men jumped you in the laundry room of the prison. They caught you, dragged you across the floor, and while two of them held you down and beat on you and stabbed you, the third one raped you.”

A choked sob came from Knox’s throat. He began to pace faster, but he said nothing and refused to look at me.

I hugged myself and sniffed as more tears fell. “When you finally broke free, you stabbed all three of them in return to get them off you, killing two in the process. And then, after the threat was over, you collapsed. The guards found you some time later, but you were so bad off they thought you were already dead. And the only thing you said to them was...my name.”

“Son of a bitch.” He swung out and punched the wall again. “I thought they said they didn’t watch everything.”

“Mason did, I guess.”

He glanced at me, his eyes swirling with anger. “Fucking bastard. I’m going to—”

“No.” I said, my voice quiet. “I asked them to tell me. Demanded to know what they’d seen. This isn’t on them.”

“Jesus, City. Why the hell did you have to know so bad? Why?”

I shook my head. “I just...had to know.”

“No, you f*cking didn’t. I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want you to ever have to deal with shit like this. It’s too ugly and—”