Defiant Dodge by Naomi Porter
19
Storm
Christ, Justin was unrecognizable with his swollen, bruised face and tubes everywhere. My stomach roiled, noticing his left arm was wrapped at the end. As expected of the club’s president, I tried to appear strong instead of heaving into a trashcan. I’d seen some horrid shit when we tortured and killed scums of the earth, but seeing a brother this mangled was plain sad.
“Tell us everything, brother.” Raul was in a chair beside the bed. He leaned forward with his hand on Justin’s leg. “So we can destroy those motherfuckers.”
Justin whimpered weakly. It broke my damn heart.
The nurse told us Justin was heavily sedated and may not be lucid enough to answer questions. I had a feeling he knew exactly what was going on. His partially opened eye flicked from Raul to me and back at Raul. His other one was completely shut.
Fucking Rat and his gang. I wished Boxer were here to see Justin like this. He’d unleash his wrath and cut each one of them into pieces. A thought occurred to me, so I took my phone out and snapped some pictures to send to him later. He might not be the club’s enforcer at the moment, but he was still the best torturer we had. Maybe seeing pictures of Justin will have him running home. It was wrong of me to persuade him to return this way. I just missed my brother.
And it wasn’t Snow’s doing, their staying away. Boxer was in no rush to get back. Shit, six months was long enough.
Raul shushed him softly. “It’s okay, brother. Take your time.”
Justin’s eyes teared up. “M-mon-ey,” he whispered. His vocal cords were damaged. Rope burns were visible from where they’d tied him up. “B-borrow f-from Rat. C-c-can’t pay b-b-back. Ba-by…” He shook his head, tears rolling down his cheek. “Pay d-d-debt.”
Fucking hell, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Raul’s gaze shot to mine. “That’s why they went after Dante.”
Justin’s cries confirmed Raul’s statement.
I moved next to Raul. “How much to clear the debt?” The club could pay it, no problem.
“Two,” he muttered.
“Two hundred grand?” Raul asked.
Justin shook his head.
Fuck. I leaned over to hear him better. “Two million?”
His nod was barely visible as he cried.
