Redemption Road (Vicious Cycle #2)(16)

“No. I was just thinking how much better you already look since the surgery. I was so scared for you when I found you in the compound.”

“I thought you were Jesus,” I murmured, alluding to what I had said at the compound.

“I’m still just Rev,” he teased.

For some reason, I found myself smiling at his response. It felt good to smile again and to have someone tease me. It made me think of the past, before everything that had happened to me with Mendoza. “So, what kind of name is Rev?” I asked.

“Road name.”

I jerked my hand from his in revulsion. No, it can’t be true. Surely someone as kind and caring as Rev couldn’t possibly be like Johnny and his friends.

When I continued staring at him, Rev said, “It’s not what you think.”

“You’re a biker, right? What else is there to think?”

“I’m a Hells Raider. We’re nothing like the Diablos.”

“You sure about that?” I countered before I could stop myself.

A defiant look flashed in his eyes. “I’ve never laid a hand on a woman that wasn’t consensual. And I’ve sure as hell never beaten one. Even if I’d wanted to, my club would have taken my cut if I did. One of our bylaws is that no man is ever to abuse his old lady or any other woman.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “It was a wedding gift our former president gave to his wife. She’d had a rough go in life. Lots of men had hurt her over the years.”

Even though I didn’t know her, I felt a strange affinity with this former president’s wife. We had both found ourselves members of a club no one would ever want to join. “He sounds like a good man.”

A pained expression came over Rev’s face. “He was.”

“Was?”

“He got killed a few months ago.”

“I’m so sorry,” I replied. My heart went out to Rev because I could feel the sorrow emanating from him.

“Thank you.”

Grimacing, I pushed myself up in the bed. “And I’m sorry for accusing you of being like the men who . . . hurt me.”

“Don’t be sorry. You can’t help the way you feel. And I know what you went through.”

Cocking my head at him, I asked, “So what’s ‘Rev’ short for?”

“Reverend.”

My brows shot up in surprise at the thought of Rev having a religious calling. “You’re a minister?”

“No, but my father was.” At what must have been my continued inquisitive expression, he drew in a breath. “When my brothers and I patched into my father’s club, we took road names that bound us as a family and honored his former life as a minister.”

“Former life?”

Renewed grief etched its way onto Rev’s face. He didn’t respond for a few moments. Staring down at his hands, he said, “When I was eleven, he left the pulpit and went back to the biker world. My two brothers and I followed in his footsteps, much to our mother’s disappointment.”

Feeling guilty for dredging up his pain, I said, “I’m sorry. I seem to have a special gift today for bringing up things that make you feel bad.”

He gave me a small smile. “Don’t apologize,” he replied. “Speaking of fathers, I’m sure you’ll want to get in touch with your family. Although we found out your identity, we thought it would be better for you to contact them.”

A pang of regret stabbed me at the thought that it had been Rev who brought up the subject of my parents and not me. The truth was I had forced myself to bury any thoughts I had of them in the deep recesses of my mind. In those early weeks as Mendoza’s captive, I’d thought about my parents a lot. I wondered what they were doing and how they had reacted to my abduction. I fantasized that they had pulled strings and dispatched some Special Forces unit that would arrive at any minute to save me. But as time went on, the weeks turning into a month and then two, and no one came for me, I had to force myself to stop thinking about them. I had to reason that I had left them little to go on when it came to tracking me down.

Focusing on something else Rev had said, I questioned, “You know who I am?”

He nodded. “Annabel Lee Percy, originally from Virginia but living in Texas.”

My brows rose in surprise. “You were able to find all of that just by me telling you my name?”

Rev smiled. “My fellow Raiders have talents. Of course, it wasn’t that hard going through the missing persons reports for girls named Annabel.”

“I see.”

Reaching into his back pocket, Rev took out a phone. “Would you like to call them now?”

“No. Not right now.”

Rev’s brows furrowed in confusion at the panicked note in my voice. But at that moment I didn’t have the energy to try to explain my complicated family. I’m sure it sounded strange that I didn’t demand the phone from him to have a tearful reunion. Trying to lessen the abruptness of my reaction, I said, “I’m just a little too tired right now. Maybe in the morning when I’ve had more rest.”

Although he nodded, I could see he was confused. Fortunately, just then my attention was drawn away from Rev by a gentle knock at the door. When I turned my head, I saw Dr. Edgeway standing in the doorway. He smiled. “I see you’re awake.”