Ryan Reign (New York Ruthless #4)(37)

“She’s unconscious. The bastard drugged her,” I say, trying to keep my emotions in check as I glance at her in the seat beside me.

“Fuck!” Mikey hisses.

“Get her back here as soon as you can.”

“I know you have friends at that hotel, Shane, but I think if I walk through the lobby with her in the state she’s in, the cops will be called on us within five seconds.”

“What do you mean the state she’s in?”

“Well, she’s unconscious. She’s naked. And she has bruises on her thighs and face.” I swallow hard and focus on the road ahead. Please don’t make me think about what that evil cunt has done to her.

“You remember the house in Carrickfergus?” he asks.

“Yeah?” I frown. I thought he’d sold that place. He had it built a few years before we left Ireland. He always intended to live in the countryside one day.

“Take her there. We’ll meet you.”

“You still have that place?”

“Yeah,” he clears his throat. “We’ll see you there, Liam.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”





Chapter 27





Shane





Conor, Mikey and I stand on the driveway of the house in Carrickfergus waiting for Liam to bring our girl home. I could have dropped to my knees with relief when he told me that he had her, but then he told me about the state she was in and the rush of rage and the guilt I felt almost floored me for real. I was hoping that Paul hadn’t had time to hurt her, but I was fooling myself thinking it wouldn’t be the first thing that sick fuck would do. Knowing that it’s my fault she’s had to go through that makes me feel physically sick. I have never wanted to hurt anyone so much as I want to hurt Paul right now. I know some pretty sick and twisted ways of causing people pain, but all of them would be too merciful for him.

I look over at my brothers and anger and worry is etched onto the their faces too. I never told them my suspicion about what Paul has done to her, only the state Liam found her in, and I’m sure like me they have come to the same conclusion. If I don’t say it aloud – that our own uncle raped her – then maybe it won’t be true.

We all look at each other with relief when Liam’s car turns into the driveway. Conor pulls the passenger door open as soon as the car rolls to a stop and takes Jessie into his arms. She’s still unconscious and he cradles her limp body to his chest and carries her straight into the house.

I don’t get a good look at her, but I do notice her lip is bleeding and she is only covered by Liam’s coat. I shove my hands into my pockets to stop myself from pummeling the gravel driveway to relieve some of the rage that is thundering around my body.

Liam jumps out of the car and jogs toward me. “She’s still out,” he says as he watches Conor carrying her into the house with Mikey on his heels.

“I know. We’ll check her over and see if we need to call a doctor. You did good, kid.”

He nods and his eyes brim with tears. “That cunt raped her, Shane.”

“I know,” I swallow before I wrap my arms around him. It hurts so fucking much to think about. But Liam has said it and now I know it’s true. I will make Paul Ryan pay for this if it takes every second of the rest of my life to do it. “But she’s safe now, and we’ll make him pay. I promise you.”

He looks up at me, his eyes red and full of a trust in me that I don’t deserve. I push down all of the emotion that is desperate to spill out of me. Now is not the time. “Come on. Let’s go make sure she’s okay,” I say, and then we follow our brothers into the house.

We have prepared the largest bedroom with the en-suite for her and Conor has laid Jessie down on the bed. Her hair is stark against the white cotton sheets. He’s pulled Liam’s coat over her to cover her. I can hardly bring myself to look at her when I think about how badly I have let her down. I feel so much anger and guilt and pain and I don’t know which one to process first.

“You think we should call a doctor?” Conor asks.

I walk to the bed and sit beside her. Lifting her hand in mine, her skin is warm to the touch after the heat of Liam’s car and her pulse is strong. The cut on her lip has stopped bleeding. I open Liam’s jacket and see the bruises on the tops of her thighs and rage threatens to spill out of me, but I swallow it down. There will be time for that soon enough.

“I think she’s just knocked out. Let’s give her a few hours to wake up and see how she is. You all okay with that?” I look around the room at the three grief-stricken faces of my brothers.

They all nod their agreement.

“You think we should dress her?” Mikey asks, his voice cracking with emotion.

“No,” Conor snaps. “She’s unconscious. He already violated her. We should let her come round first. Who knows how she’s going to react when she wakes up? We have no idea what he’s done or what he’s told her.”

That he might have filled her head with lies about our role in this is eating away at me too. What if she thinks that I led him to her? I can’t even begin to deal with the guilt and the anger of it, so I focus on what I can do. “Okay,” I nod. I’d prefer to put a t-shirt on her so that she is at least dressed in something familiar when she wakes up, but it’s clearly something Conor feels strongly about and I let it go.