Her trembling hand reached up to cup his jaw. “Thank you.” A single tear slid down her pale cheek. “For everything.”
“Honey, I’m not done yet.” Duncan grinned, winking at her. “We will get through this. Just take it one step at a time, one battle at a time and you’ll be fine. When you’re not fine, I’ll be here, no matter what.”
“I don’t deserve you.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek.
“If I hear you say that again, I’ll take you over my knee and blister that sweet ass,” Duncan replied without thinking, the horror of what he said hit him hard. “Jesus…I didn’t mean…”
She placed one finger across his lips to silence him. “It’s my past that scares me, not you. I know you would never hurt me, Duncan Roark.”
Duncan leaned in, placing a light kiss on her lips. “Not one hair on that beautiful head.” He winked at her before leaning in for one more kiss.
*****
Jared and Sid quietly worked jerking the chains from the bed and ripping the soiled sheet away, disposing of it all. Standing there they both stared at the stripped bed, a sadness in their gaze.
“I know Duncan has dibs on the son of a bitch, but I swear as I stand here, I will kill the bastard a second time,” Sid growled, his eyes still black from what they had just had to do.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Jared said, regret evident in his voice.
“I don’t care,” Sid growled. “The motherfucker deserves ten times the pain he inflicted on Pam, and if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll make sure he is sent to hell where it will feel like a fucking vacation compared to what I put him through.”
“As much as your lips flap bullshit, that made perfect sense, and I’m ready to see it happen.” Jared nodded, then cleared his throat when Pam and Duncan walked back in the room.
Pam purposely ignored the bed area, but glanced at Sid and Jared. “Thank you.” She whispered, embarrassed that they knew what had happened to her and wondered if they would look at her differently.
Neither man spoke, just gave a short nod and took a step back to let her pass.
Walking to the side of the bed, she stopped and looked up. “Can you get me a chair please?”
Sid walked out of the room to get one, but Duncan walked up behind her. “Let me.”
Thinking about it for a second, she finally nodded. Deep down she was afraid of what was up there, but if Duncan cared for her as he said, it wouldn’t matter what he found. Pam swallowed her pride and fear, and let him take control, which actually felt good. She pointed toward the corner of the ceiling. “It’s that tile. Just push up.”
Duncan took the chair from Sid. Placing it under the tile, he was tall enough to push it up and over. Fitting his head in, he looked, but stepped down immediately. “There’s nothing there.”
Disappointment lit her face. “Are you sure? There aren’t vials up there? Nothing?”
“No, babe.” Duncan hated her disappointment. “Is there anywhere else he might have put them?”
Her eyes flittered back to the ceiling as she shook her head. “No, he wasn’t careless. If it’s here, that’s where it would have been.” With a sigh, she shrugged her shoulders. “I guess that’s it. Can we get out of here?”
“Do you want to take any of your personal belongings?” Jared asked.
Pam looked around, her eyes landing on Duncan. “No,” she replied, grabbing Duncan’s hand. “I want nothing from this place.”
Jared followed them out, noticing pictures on the small dining table. Stopping, he picked them up, rage choking him. Flipping through the pictures, he stopped at one of Tessa with a red dot on her temple. There were pictures of them all with a red dot from a rifle laser scope on different parts of their heads. Rolling the pictures, he stuck them in his back pocket. If he found out these were legit pictures, Kenny Lawrence wouldn’t be able to run far enough from his rage. No one put a target on his mate.
Chapter 10
Jill walked out of the warehouse with her drawing pad in hand. She grinned, thinking about her and Adam’s part in getting Pam away from the compound earlier today. That had been a blast. They had pulled it off perfectly. When they had left to come for training, she had dressed as herself without the baby pillow, and no one paid them much attention.
“Hey sissy girl,” Steve called out. “We need another player. Come on.”
Wrinkling her nose at him, she walked to the other side of the parking lot so she could lean against one of the trees. She wanted to finish her drawing of Pam. Flipping quickly to the page, she stared at it with pride. It was her best work yet, and almost done. Just a bit of shading and it would be perfect. Someone kicked her foot ruining her focus. “What?”
“Come on.” Steve kicked dust on her shoes. “We’re short one player.”
Jill looked at everyone looking at her. “I hate football.”