disgusting pedophile.” River turned back to Hammer, his voice full of contempt. “How old was my sister here? Fifteen? Maybe sixteen?”
Macen snatched the picture from the front of his shirt and studied it. Raine’s eighteenth birthday. The two of them standing in the dungeon, her wearing the sexy red dress that had knocked him on his ass and made him realize she was all woman. He stood close, arm curled around her possessively, while Raine sent him a sideways glance full of hunger.
Beside him, Liam studied the photo, then swore.
“She was eighteen, you cocksucker,” Macen bit out. “You have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I do. I’ve spent two months researching you pricks. I know everything, including the fact that she’s lived with you in this cesspool of sex offenders since she was a minor. I bet you popped her cherry the first night, too. But then, I knew what a quality guy you were when I found out you’d driven your wife to suicide.”
A white-hot rage roared through Hammer’s veins, shutting down his ability to speak. The urge to snap River in half thundered through him. He lunged at the son of a bitch, fists raised.
Liam all but tackled him, managing to pull him back. “Stop!”
“You don’t want to end this fucker now?” Hammer snapped.
“Oh, I do. But Raine will never forgive us if we kill him. I think we can break the maggot a bit, though.”
“Give it your best shot,” River challenged.
Hammer clenched a fist. “He goddamn deserves to die.”
“I know. The feckin’ gobshite is as thick as a plank.” Cold fury rolled off Liam. “I was ready to reserve judgment, but now… I’ve made up my mind.”
When his friend’s inner Irish came out, Hammer knew the gloves were off. It reassured him. He and Liam might have had their differences, but they were always on the same page when it came to protecting Raine.
“Good. She hasn’t really missed her brother all these years,” Hammer assured. “Let’s end him. And make it hurt.”
“You can die trying,” River shot back.
“This is mental. You’ve no mind to hear the truth, only run off at the mouth and point fingers,” Liam barked. “You should be grateful to this man, you fuckwit. Be kissing his bloody feet! He’s watched over and protected your sister for years, especially from that pitiful excuse you called a father. Where the hell were you when he tried to rape and murder her, the way he did your mother and Rowan?”
“Yeah, you’re a little late to Raine’s rescue party,” Hammer sneered.
Contempt glowed in River’s eyes. “Fuck you. I was dodging bullets and defending freedom so perverts like you could stick your worthless dicks in my sister and get her pregnant. You let your buddy here watch? You proud of your big accomplishment?”
Liam scoffed. “You’ve got all the answers, don’t you?”
“I do. I know your society whore of an ex-wife fucked every other man while you were married. You must be a real Casanova in bed. Maybe that’s why you like to force my little sister. Hold her down and crawl all over her like a disease. That make you feel like a real man?”
“Christ, you’re a festering lunatic like your father,” Liam growled.
River glared. “Don’t you fucking com—”
“We don’t force Raine to do anything,” Hammer cut in, his stare icy. “She begs and moans for it.”
His words struck a nerve in River. The soldier sucked in an angry breath, chest puffing out. “You’re going to be sorry when I’m through with you. Where’s Raine? I want to see my sister right now.”
Hammer seethed. No way would he even hint that Raine no longer lived at Shadows. It would only motivate River to search for her somewhere else.
But if he had to look at this asswipe for another minute, Hammer would rip his head off. “Liam, it’s time to take out the trash.”
“Couldn’t agree more. But I’d be even happier to see him hauled out in cuffs. He is trespassing, after all.”
River raised a brow. “You want to call the cops? Please do. I’ll even hold the phone for you. I’m sure they’d love to hear how your pal here repeatedly violated my sister. I have proof of the terrible shit you’ve done to her. So here’s the deal: If you give Raine back to me and disappear from her life, I won’t tell the cops everything I know. I’ll take care of her from now on.”
Hammer got up in his face, pressing nose to nose. “Over my dead body.”
“Mine, too,” Liam snarled. “Go fuck yourself.”
River shook his head and backed away. “Stupid bastards. I’ll make you sorry.”
“Get the hell out of my club and forget Raine ever existed. She’s finally happy, and no one—especially not some dickless pus-bubble like you—is going to screw that up for her.” Hammer unleashed all the menace churning inside him. “You’ve got ten seconds to disappear. If I see you again, I’ll kill you.”
“I am not leaving without Raine.” River planted himself in the middle of the room, daring Hammer and Liam to forcibly remove him.
Since he and Liam were both volcanically angry, Hammer was pretty sure he’d enjoy that.
“You’re sure as hell not leaving with her, either,” Liam vowed.
Together, they seized the jackass. Raine’s brother resisted, fists flying, arms flailing. He braced against doorjambs and walls—anything to remain inside Shadows.
Damn, the fucker was strong—but outnumbered. Hammer and Liam hauled a cursing River out of Raine’s room, down the hall, past startled construction workers and the wide-eyed club members who’d spent the night.
With a chorus of grunts, a vicious struggle, and more than a few insults, he and Liam shoved River out the back and into the alley.
As the door slammed behind the bastard, Hammer turned and glared at the foreman, who stood gaping in shock. “River Kendall might work for you, but if that piece of shit ever shows up at my club with your crew again, you’re all out the fucking door.”
“I’ve never seen the guy in my life,” the foreman assured. “One of my employees called in sick today. Maybe that guy took his vest and—”
Hammer didn’t stay and listen to the rest.
Turning on his heel, he followed Liam back to Raine’s room. Her photos lay scattered over the dresser, smudged with the man’s huge fingerprints. Macen’s fury bubbled at River’s violation of his property and her privacy.
“You know he’s no intention of giving up, right?” Lines of worry bracketed Liam’s face.
“He’s just getting started. Seth needs to give us some usable info on that sack of shit now.”
“And the bastard’s been gathering information on us. He’s got a two-month head start.”
Hammer whirled, paced, cursed. “If he’s been poking into our lives for that long, how can he be so wrong?”
“Because he’s a spanner.”
“What the hell is that?”
“A gowl. A gimp.” When Macen still didn’t understand, Liam sighed impatiently. “A fucking idiot.”
“Yeah.” Hammer couldn’t agree more.
Problem was, River wasn’t just an idiot. He was a potentially dangerous one.
Suddenly, Liam stiffened. “Fuck me. We’ve got to go. I put the house in Raine’s name. If River looks into property records—”
“It won’t be long before he finds her.” Hammer’s blood turned to ice. “Let’s go.”
As they zipped around to leave, Liam snatched the photo he’d come for, then they both raced toward the parking lot. As they cut through the dungeon, Beck strutted out of the kitchen, coffee cup in hand.
“What the hell was all that shouting about? You two fighting over a box of tampons?”
“No time to explain,” Hammer barked. “If we don’t get back here tonight, keep an eye on the club or find someone who can.”
“Sure,” Beck called, his brows furrowed in concern. “I’m off today.”
“Thanks,” he shouted over his shoulder. “And if a man with Rai
ne’s eyes shows up, don’t let him in.”
“Actually, skin the bastard,” Liam growled.
Beck smiled. “Sounds like fun! I’ll go sharpen my knives.”
Once outside, they raced to Hammer’s sedan. A scan of the parking lot proved Raine’s brother had gone—for now. He made a mental note to see if his tech, Lewis, could pull footage and come up with a license plate to trace.
Liam piled into Macen’s car, leaving his SUV at the club. With a screech of tires and a burst of gas through the first yellow light, they wove through traffic. Hammer honked and cursed, swerving past slower cars. Desperation to get home and lay eyes on Raine gnawed at him. Beside him, Liam looked equally tense. If River figured out where they lived and tried to take her, medical examiners would be hauling his corpse to the morgue. In fact, Bill’s death would look downright pleasant by comparison.
Hammer tried not to think that he might already be too late. He could not fail her again.
“Call her!” He gestured to Liam with an impatient hand. “Tell her we’re on our way home and to make sure the doors are locked. Fuck!” He laid on the horn at the slow-moving car in front of him, then bypassed the vehicle and stomped on the gas. “Get off the road, asshole!”
Liam jerked and gripped the armrest. “Slow down, will you? Christ. We won’t be able to protect our girl if we’re belly up in a heap of twisted metal.”
“Just call her,” he bit out, not bothering to ease off the accelerator.
Liam dug into his pocket and dialed Raine, looking decidedly nervous. “It’s ringing. Since River thinks she’s just a sex worker, maybe he won’t check property records.”
Maybe. But Hammer refused to leave anything to chance. Fear had him by the balls. Guilt for all the ways he’d been failing her and Liam squeezed his throat.
“She’s not answering.” Liam clutched the phone in a white-knuckled grip. “Her voice mail picked up. I’m worried.”
“Try again.”
Liam was already on it, intently focused on the device in his hand. With another tap, he raised it to his ear, his expression turning bleaker with every second.
Ahead, the light turned red. Hammer swore. Urgency pounded through his veins. “C’mon. C’mon!” He turned to Liam. “Anything?”
“Voice mail again. Macen… Fuck, I’m bloody shaking.”
Fear ate at his composure, too. “Damn it. Keep trying. She’s got to pick up. Maybe she’s in the shower. Or has her head in a recipe. Or she’s with the contractor.”
Liam redialed again. “Let’s be logical. River thinks he’s protecting his sister. I don’t think he’s planning to hurt her.”
“I don’t fucking trust that son of a bitch. What if he’s Bill reincarnated? Hell, River may actually be worse.”
Besides being younger, stronger, and clearly capable, Raine’s brother hadn’t bothered to discuss, negotiate, or placate. He hadn’t listened at all. He’d come with terms and demands and a whole lot of fuck you. “Not knowing his next move scares the hell out of me. We can’t let him hurt—”
“I know. Don’t go there. As long as we reach Raine in time, we’ll protect her. He can’t get past us both,” Liam assured. “But I’m gut sick with worry that he’ll twist the truth and somehow convince her she’s better off with him.”
“She loves us,” Hammer argued.
“Yes, but that hasn’t come without its difficulties.”
Hammer knew all too well that a woman with a problem could be unpredictable. Maybe Raine might decide she valued peace more than this angst-filled, difficult, all-consuming love they tried to keep together.
And if she left, who could he blame but himself?
Liam looked ready to crawl out of his seat. “Bloody hell, we have to keep Raine away from him.”
“How do you propose we do that? The minute we forbid her to see that shithead, she’ll insist on meeting him. And if the law somehow gets involved, River has more legal rights to her than we do. That fucking chafes. We should have demanded she marry one of us. We still should.”
“She doesn’t want to choose. How can we push her before she’s ready?” Liam frowned, ending one call to Raine and starting another. His hand trembled. “River could have come forward at the hospital that morning and blocked us from seeing Raine. Why didn’t he?”
“Who knows? Maybe the TV news calling her a sex worker shocked him, so he came to investigate. He must have overheard us celebrating her pregnancy. I’ll bet he decided then who and what we were.”
“And used the last two months to dig up dirt on us.” Liam frowned. “If I’d been in River’s position, I bloody well would have talked to my sister and heard her side of things before I made up my mind.”
“Well, you’re reasonable.” Hammer grimaced as he sped toward their neighborhood. “In River’s crazy-ass head, we’ve abused and deceived Raine. Now he thinks he has plenty of material to persuade her we’re first-class deviants who are ruining her life.”
“He means to confront her. Despite all his fact checking, River hasn’t managed to unearth the truth.” Liam sighed. “I can’t believe I was ready to give that prick the benefit of the doubt. And now we have to tell Raine we tossed her brother out of Shadows and that he might be dangerous. And before you say she doesn’t need to know, think.”
As much as Hammer wished he could shelter her from this, he couldn’t disagree. “I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Good. We have to explain everything and keep that cocktrough away from our girl,” Liam growled.
“And make her marry one of us.”
“You’re really not good with touchy-feely shit. Good luck keeping your balls if you present marriage to her like that.” Liam rolled his eyes, then dialed her again.
“I won’t be that big of an asshole. I’ll bring her flowers and shit. That’s romantic.”
“That’s transparent,” Liam shot back. “We’ll have to do better if we’re going to overcome her reluctance and convince her to legally marry one of us.”
Hammer hated to remember the day they’d proposed. He and Liam had both dropped to their knees and professed their love. Raine’s eyes had filled with tears of joy. But she’d quickly wiped them away and reminded them that only a handful of days ago they’d been at each other’s throats.
You’ve both said you never wanted to marry again, and now that I’m pregnant you’ve changed your minds? Before anything else, I need to know that your friendship and our relationship is strong enough. Besides, I promised you at the lodge that I’d never choose one over the other. I won’t break that promise.
“So we will,” Hammer shot back. “But she needs to be Mrs. One-Of-Us ASAP. Where is Raine’s head at these days? You’ve spent more time with her lately than I have.”
“She’s growing more secure every day, but…our circumstances haven’t changed. Legally, she can’t marry us both, so she would still be forced to choose. And I’m worried River will rattle her all over again.”
Hammer nodded somberly at the phone in Liam’s grip. “Still no answer?”
“Nothing.”
Trying to ignore the biting fear, Hammer sailed through the subdivision, careened up the driveway, then slammed on the brakes. Both men were out of the car in seconds.
After shoving their key in the lock, they ran into the house, calling for Raine at the top of their lungs. She wasn’t in the living room. Only workmen occupied the kitchen.
When she didn’t answer either of them, Hammer broke out in a cold sweat.
He pulled one of the carpenters aside. “Have you seen our…” Damn it, she wasn’t their wife. “Raine. Have you seen her?”
The older man in jeans shrugged. “Maybe an hour ago. I think she went upstairs.”
Hammer didn’t bother asking if anyone had come to the door. River had already proven he had a nasty habit of breaking and entering.
Whirling out of the room, he followed Liam across the house,