I shake my head before cutting my gaze across to Roman, though the hard set of his jaw and his whitening knuckles on the steering wheel suggests that asking about his time held captive isn’t something he’s willing to talk about.
“Look,” Marcus says, the contrast in his tone from just a moment ago sending a wave of unease through me. “I know you probably don’t want to talk about this and that it’s going to stir up some old wounds, but we need to revisit your tracking device. You have a target on your back, and now that you’ve escaped our father’s clutches, he’s going to be pissed. I won’t risk you being taken again and us not knowing how to get to you. Four days is unacceptable.”
“I know,” I murmur. “You can put it back in.”
“Wait,” he says, his brows furrowing as he pauses, almost as though he’s repeating my words over in his head. “You agree with me? After what happened with Roman and Levi and you tearing it out, I was ready for a whole fucking argument.”
“How could I not agree with you? If I had that stupid thing in my arm, you guys would have caught up to us the moment we got here...” I imagine what would have been different had they tracked me to the cabin right away. The boys could have found us here, gotten help for Felicity before it was too late, saved Ariana from being abused and sold. Roman would still have his girl and his baby in his arms right now if it weren't for my reckless mistakes. When I see Roman's eyes in the rearview again, it's clear that he knows exactly what I'm thinking. He's probably thought the same things since finding Felicity dead. It's all my fault. Breaking away, I glance down at my hands. “What I went through there … I can’t risk that happening again. I won’t.”
Marcus’ eyes gleam with relief, and it makes me realize just how worried he’s been about the topic, though I don’t know why. Had I disagreed, I’m sure they would have found another way to get a tracker on me. “What about contraceptives?” Levi questions. “Will you allow us to insert a fresh one? I know you felt railroaded with the last one, and I don’t want you to feel as though we’re taking away your choice. It’s your body, I want you to do what you’re comfortable with, but I also think it’s a smart decision to ensure you’re protected against any unplanned pregnancies, at least … until you’re ready.”
Biting down on my lip, my gaze falls to the angry red scar on my arm as I let out a heavy sigh. An unplanned pregnancy really would fuck with my vibe right now. There’s too much going on in my life to have to worry about that. The responsible thing to do would be to protect myself. “Okay,” I finally say, glancing back up at him. “But I won’t have any of you digging into my skin. I want a doctor. A real doctor,” I quickly add. “Not some asshole who’s on your father’s payroll and who will get killed at the end of the appointment.”
Levi meets Roman’s heavy stare through the rearview mirror, and after a painful silence, he finally nods. “Fine,” Roman says. “But one of us will be present during your appointment.”
I arch a brow, irritation bubbling to the surface. “Are you kidding me?” I scoff. “After all this time, you don’t trust me to sit through one measly doctor appointment and keep my mouth shut?”
His dark stare keeps me hostage, and the longer he holds it, the faster my heart beats. “It’s not you I don’t trust,” he finally spits.
Ahhhh, the doctor. I guess that makes sense.
Unable to handle his intensity, I let out a breath and drop my gaze back to the wolf in my lap when Levi’s thumb rubs over the back of my knuckles. “This appointment,” he starts. “Did you want me to book you for a thorough examination?”
“Examination?”
His jaw clenches and anger pulses through his heavy stare. “I saw that cell, Shayne. The blood on the ground, the torn underwear. I know what happened to you and I don’t want you feeling ashamed or scared. I don’t expect you to talk about it or even acknowledge what happened in there, but I think it’s a good idea to get yourself checked over.”
His words swirl around my mind as my chest grows heavier. I should have cut him off the second I realized what he was talking about, but the moment the words ‘torn underwear’ came out of his mouth, guilt came slamming down over my shoulders, and along with it, a shitload of indecision.
What happened to Ariana in the cell with the boys’ uncle is her business, and I sure as fuck feel as though she’d hate me for telling everyone, but how could I not? Knowing where she is right now, she’s probably been abused a million times over the past couple of days.
“That cell,” I say, the betrayal of what I’m about to do heavily weighing on me. “It wasn’t mine. It was Ariana’s.”
Roman flinches in the front seat, his eyes shifting to the rearview mirror as Marcus’ head whips around to look at me again. Levi’s hand clenches in mine. “What did you just say?”
“It was Ariana’s,” I repeat. “She was already there when I was locked up. It looked like she’d been there at least a few days. We didn’t really talk about it, but my guess is that she was captured after our little showdown at your father’s property.”
“The guards raped her?” Roman questions, his tone low and filled with venom, and while the four of us hate her for what she did to me, there’s no denying the years of history between Ariana and Roman. Despite cutting her off and throwing her to the wolves, news like this is still hard to hear.
Shaking my head, I swallow over the lump in my throat, trying to find the strength to say the words out loud. After what Ariana went through in that cell, the least she deserves is for me to be able to get the words out without falling apart. “Your uncle. Phillip. Your father sold her to him. He came down, abused her for two hours, and then dragged her away.”
“Fuck,” Marcus spits, turning back in his seat to look out his window as the wild, overwhelming emotions force their way through his body.
Roman’s chest rises and falls with rapid movements, and I can’t help but notice the sharp cut of his jaw as he clenches his teeth, fury rippling through his dark eyes. Not wanting to direct anything to Roman, I turn my attention to the younger DeAngelis sitting right by my side. “I know you guys don’t owe her anything after what she did, and trust me, I know how ridiculous it is of me to even consider this after everything she put me through, but she had my back down in those cells. When Phillip came in, she told me to play dead. He wanted to take me first and then take her home for seconds, but she drew his attention back on her. She saved me from suffering the same way she did, and the whole time she kept her mouth shut, protecting me while he defiled her. The things …” I shake my head, the haunting images flying through my head too much to handle. “I just laid there and played dead then watched in silence while he dragged her away. And I’m sorry, I know you’re not forgiving men, and going back on your word to disown her isn’t your style, but after what she did for me … in the very least your uncle deserves to lose his life.”
Marcus rubs his hand over his face as he glances toward Roman. “If Phillip knew where to find that cabin and had made a deal with our father, there’s a good chance that he knows something that we don’t.”
Roman shakes his head, reading into whatever Marcus is trying to get at. “He won’t lead us to him. Phillip is too careful. He covers his tracks.”
“Either way, Shayne is right. We can’t leave Ariana there to be abused day in and day out.”
“Are you forgetting that she almost had Shayne slaughtered in a fucking bathtub?” Roman questions, his tone louder and full of a conflicted fury.
“Fuck no, I haven’t,” Marcus fires back. “Ariana needs to be punished for what she did, and she will be, but not like this and not by Phillip’s hand. The ball is in Shayne’s court, and she can decide how she wants to execute this one. So don’t go fooling yourself by acting as though you’re okay with this. We know where you draw your lines, brother. This will eat at you for the rest of your life.”
Roman lets out a heavy sigh and quickly meets my hard stare before turning his attention back to the deserted road. “Then I guess it’s time we pay our uncle a visit.”
9