When no one stepped in, Tank continued, more for T-Rex’s benefit than for anyone else’s. “So, yeah, Evie walked in, and Viper was fucking stoked to see her ’cause he wanted her so bad. But Evie wanted to try and save Bill so she took a small knife and stabbed Viper when he thought she was gonna give him some lovin’.”
Tank swallowed hard, looking over at Zane again. Did he really want Tank to repeat the story about how Viper had beat her up and tried to rape her in front of his men? Tank sure as heck wouldn’t be okay with anyone talking about what happened to Connie. She’d been there that morning, too, and Viper had torn her clothes and bruised up her beautiful face. Tank had spent the night with her, soothing her pain, keeping her safe as she cried in his arms, making love to her so she would know how much he cared. A lump welled up in his throat at the memory of the only woman he’d opened his heart to, and he coughed as he struggled to regain his composure.
“That’s when I walked in,” T-Rex said, saving Tank from an awkward situation and Zane from having his old lady’s private horror shared in public again. Tank let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. This was the T-Rex he knew. The peacemaker. The good guy. The man who could smooth over any situation, diffuse any tension, or stop any fight. The friend who always knew when Tank needed him and always had his back.
“I’d been tailing Evie, keeping her safe for Zane.” T-Rex stared at the window, his eyes vacant as he talked, as if he was lost in the memory. “I saw Viper and his men go into the shop, so I sent a text to Jagger and watched through the partially open shop door. There were too many of them for me to take alone so I was gonna wait for back up, but when Viper pushed Evie over the counter, I had to do something. I couldn’t just stand there and let him … hurt her, so I offered myself in her place.”
“Jesus Christ,” Zane muttered from the corner.
“Viper took the trade,” T-Rex continued. “Then he killed Bill and burned down the shop. I saw Evie and Connie escape as the Jacks pushed me into a cage, so I had no regrets. I figured since the Sinners had kidnapped Viper’s old lady, you’d make a trade and get me back.”
T-Rex drew in a shuddering breath. Naiya slipped an arm around his waist, and T-Rex leaned into her ever so slightly. Tank frowned. Why was he turning to Naiya for support when Tank was standing right here?
T-Rex’s gaze fell on Jagger, his anger almost palpable. “At most I figured I’d have to go through a couple of bad nights in their dungeon.” His voice caught, broke. “But one night became one week become one month and you never came.”
Protests rumbled through the room as everyone tried to explain at once. Viper had refused the trade. He didn’t give a damn about his old lady. And they had searched for him. Every brother had gone out to find him. They’d pulled every mark, used up every favor, blew up the Black Jacks clubhouse. Through the cacophony of sound, the message was loud and clear. We didn’t abandon you. Did T-Rex hear it? More importantly, did he believe it?
“We blew up half their fucking clubhouse and a semi-trailer to find you.” Jagger silenced the protests with a wave of his hand. He repeated the story Tank had told T-Rex last night about the rescue operation and the body in the dungeon.
“There was a Devil Dog in the dungeon when they brought me in,” T-Rex said. “After he died, they left his body and took me to another dungeon. Musta been in a forest ’cause it smelled like pine.”
Tank stuffed his fist in his mouth to stifle the groan that threated to explode from his chest. They’d heard a rumor that Viper had a dungeon under his house in the mountains, but not until after they’d been there to rescue Evie’s son. Just the thought that they’d been so close made the entire situation infinitely worse. Should they tell him?
As if he heard Tank’s unspoken question, Jagger caught Tank’s gaze and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Yeah, Jagger was right. What good would it do to tell him they’d been even closer than he knew? He was already hurting. Why hurt him more?
“What did the Jacks do to you?” Sparky asked.
Tank’s head jerked up and he glared at Sparky, the bastard who had stolen his Connie away. Did the fucking moron not realize T-Rex was already emotionally stripped bare? “Shut the fuck up.” He barked at the senior patch, stepping in front of T-Rex as if to shield him. “He was tortured. You don’t ask a man to live through the fucking details. All you need to know is you wouldn’t have lasted a fucking day.”
“Penalty for disrespecting a senior patch is an ass-kicking from me.” Gunner folded his arms over his massive chest.
“You lay a finger on Tank and I’ll put a bullet through your brain, brother or no.” T-Rex didn’t move and yet somehow his power and presence filled the room. Tank had no doubt he would do exactly as he said.