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“What didn’t he do?” She got a faraway look in her eyes, and said, “He didn’t believe me.”
And I knew. Without her having to say the words, I knew.
My hands flexed with the need to hit something.
“He believed his club brothers over me,” she continued. “He thought I lied about what had happened. He believed… he believedthemover me.”
Killing Talon La Croix was going to be that much sweeter knowing that. I pulled Alex in more tightly to me, trying to bring her the comfort she needed. Tonight, all those memories wouldhave been dredged up for her again. She’d survived it once, though. She could survive this, too.
“Who is Maddox to you, baby?” I asked, sensing she’d let enough of her guard down not to notice me redirecting the conversation.
She heaved a sigh, her fingers tightening in my shirt. “My brother was the original owner of the garage. He got out a loan from the bank to buy it, and when he died, I took over the repayments and the deed. Business slowed though, and there came a time when I couldn’t repay the bank.”
“Maddox, baby,” I pressed. She was dancing around who that man was to her—other than a dead man. “Who is he?”
“Maddox was my boyfriend at the time.”
The primal part of my brain didn’t like to acknowledge that Alex had been with other men, but I knew it to be a fact. But it didn’t mean I had to like it.
“How the hell did you meet him?”
“He dropped his car in one day. We struck up a conversation, and he gave me his number. Told me to call him. He was nice for a while,” she added in a small voice. “He would be really thoughtful. Bring me flowers. Take me out on expensive dates. He even told me he was going to marry me and offered to take on my debt so the bank would get off my back.”
“Let me guess, the bastard jacked up the interest rate.”
She bit her bottom lip. “And reduced the term of the loan from ten years to five. He said it had been his father’s money he’d borrowed to pay out the loan to the bank, and that he needed a return on his investment. After waiting six months for a repayment, Maddox gave me another option to pay back the debt.”
I was pissed off before, but now I was seeing fucking red.
“He said I could work off the debt,” Alex started in a small voice before clearing her throat. “If I… if I whored myself out to his business associates.”
“Jesus, Alex.” My fingers curled more tightly to her hip, letting her know that I wasn’t angry at her, but rather at the situation she’d found herself in. “How much do you still owe?”
“Over a quarter of a million dollars.”
“How much did your brother borrow originally?”
“Half a million. When the loan term was ten years, making those payments was manageable, but with the increased interest rate and decreased loan term, it became impossible for me to repay it. Maddox forced me into a corner and dangled the most abhorrent thing he could think of in front of me and called it a lifeline. Men have been using me, taking advantage of me, all my life, and I’ve fucking had enough of it.”
I stroked her hair, pulling her tighter into my body. Guilt was like a noose around my neck, tightening with each and every heartbeat. I was no better than Maddox. No better than her father. I was just as culpable as they were but getting revenge on my brother had to be my priority.
“Maddox is a dead man,” I reiterated. Pulling away, I held her eyes with mine. “A fucking dead man, you hear me?”
She nodded, tears sitting in her eyes. I never wanted her to feel like this again.
Helpless.
Powerless.
Alone.
Pressing my lips to the side of her head, I said, “I want you to stay at the clubhouse. With me.”
She immediately shook her head. “I made a promise to myself not to rely on a man for anything. I appreciate your offer. I really do, but I can’t stay here.”
“It’s not safe there.”
“I can’t miss work, Nick,” she replied, exasperated. “I have clients. Bliss is depending on me for a wage.”
