Page 77 of Tico

I sit down on the floor and reach through the bars, holding her as she cries. Above us, the light suddenly blinks out and Lena’s body tenses.

“Tell me your story. How did you get here?” she whispers and I know it’s to try and keep her mind off of what could happen tonight.

From what I’ve heard from several women in the compound over the years, the men here don’t care what time of day or night it is when they come here to ‘correct’ the women.

Quietly, I start to tell her my story.

Chapter 37

Ember

It’sbeenthreedayssince I’ve been here and while someone has come each day and each night to take Lena out of the room for a few hours, no one has touched me. They’ve spewed insults and sick promises of what they want to do to me, sure, but they haven’t touched me. Each time Lena comes back from a ‘session’ as they call it, there’s less light in her eyes and more of her soul seems broken.

Besides Lena, the only things that have kept me sane is working out periodically and knowing that Tico will come for me. However, that hope is dwindling fast.

Today’s the day that The Collector is coming for me.

I flick the empty plastic bottle in the air, catching it, and repeating the action as I sit on my cot and lean against the bars.

The thud of multiple boots coming down the hall has my body tensing and then I force myself to relax. A moment later, the heavy metal door opens and Stitch, the club’s Medic steps in along with Tread, one of their Prospects.

“Time to get up, girlie,” Stitch sneers at me. “It’s time to make sure you’re inpeakcondition for your buyer.”

I continue flipping the bottle in the air, not looking at him. “Well, I can answer that for you easily. Ihavebeen touched so you can tell The Collector that I am no longer a virgin. I gave that gift to my Ol’ Man the same night I was kidnapped..”

“Fuck,” Tread mutters as he shoots a panicked look at Stitch who silences it with a glare before turning back to me.

“You just made a fucking stupid mistake, girlie. You are Chrome Vipers property. Your virginity was not yours to give away.”

I hum. “Yeah, no, asshole,” I say as I catch the bottle and stand up, pointing at him. “It’s my body. Mine to choose what to do with it and I sure as hell am not submitting to any of you or the fucking Collector.”

Stitch smirks. “You think that cut will protect you? The Royal Bastards are pussies. They’re probably celebrating being free of your skanky ass.”

I return his smirk. “You stupid fucks kidnapped a President’s Ol’ Lady. Even you should know you don’t mess with someone else’s Ol’ Lady, butespeciallya President’s Ol’ Lady. Personally, I’m looking forward to when they hand you your asses. And youknow as well as I do that MC’s take matters like this into their own hands.”

He takes a step forward and then stops, most likely realizing the hell he’d pay if he does force an exam on me. Doubt streaks across Stitch’s face for the first time, but I say nothing more on it.

Let them learn the truth when the club rains down hell on them.

Turning on my heel, I walk back to my bed, laying down and continue tossing the bottle in the air.

Stitch snarls and slams the door shut, locking it again. When the sound of their boots fade down the hallway, I hear Lena shifting in the dirt.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she whispers and I sit up again.

“Maybe, but I also wasn’t going to make any of this easier on them. All I can do is try to delay things until the club comes.”

“You still think they’ll come? It’s been three days.”

Worry churns in my gut, but I push it down. I cross my cell and sit down next to the bars, leaning against the wall. A second later, she does the same. We started doing this whenever we wanted to talk quietly in the hopes that the camera’s wouldn’t be able to pick up our voices.

“I have to believe they’ll come. Tico and Daemon and the rest of the club won’t let me fall into The Collector’s hands. They know what he’ll do to me if it does happen.” I pause, looking in the direction where the clubhouse is. “No, I think they got here the same day I did and have been watching and making a plan. They want to stop their operation and I’m betting it will happen after The Collector gets here. They’ll want to cut off as many snake heads at once as they can.”

Lena reaches through the bars and I clasp her hand.

“I hope you’re right.”

A few hours later, or at least it seems like a few hours since there’s no fucking clock or windows in here, the sound of multiple boots comes from the corridor. Lena bolts upright in bed, her eyes wide with terror and then she scrambles into the darkest corner of her cell, curling herself up as tight and as small as she can. I sit up in my cot, leaning my boot against the rail and draping an arm over my knee, feigning nonchalance.