Brick Brick (Knights Corruption MC - Next Generation, #4) - S. Nelson Page 0,102

needed stitches.” The quiet that followed her words drove my anger into a whole other realm, one I didn’t even have a word for. “Her body will heal, Brick, but what she went through… I don’t know how long it’ll be before she even begins to try and move on from this.” Her hand found a home in mine. “When she’s physically feeling better, I’ll do some other tests.”

My brain tried to process every word she spoke, but my thoughts were so muddled I couldn’t make sense of any of them. I stared at her, praying she’d tell me something good, but it was a silly hope, because there was nothing suitable she could say.

As I prepared to utter something back to her, what I couldn’t fathom at this point, my phone vibrated against my back pocket. Tearing my eyes and attention away from Addy, who’d retreated into the room to be near Zoe, I swiped the screen when I saw Stone’s name pop up.

“Yeah?”

“You guys get back okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Are they okay?”

“Define okay.” My fingers pressed into my temple, willing the oncoming headache to recede.

A puff of air hit my eardrum, our VP’s resistance to speak again alarming. “One of ’em is still alive.” Another pause. “Marek says it’s Dutch.” More brief silence. “Can you ask Zoe to describe any of them?” There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Dutch was the one who marked her up, the knowledge he loved to wield a knife the only proof I needed. I didn’t answer right away, too busy wondering how the hell I was gonna broach this topic. It was important, but at the same time all I wanted to do was protect her from even thinking about what happened. My thoughts were delusional, of course, because there was no way she wasn’t gonna be bombarded by images every fucking second. “Brick?” Stone’s raised voice caught the attention of his wife. Addy swiftly moved toward me, pointing to my phone. I nodded. “You need to come back here as soon as you can.”

“What? No. I can’t leave her.”

“I get it, man, but trust me, you need to come back here. You need to be the one to end him.” I would’ve asked him to clarify what he meant by that, but I didn’t need to. We both knew Dutch was the one who dared to touch Zoe, over and over, and Stone realized that unless I was able to take out my revenge on the man, I’d never be able to rest. All that knowledge existed hidden in his coded words.

“Is Addy near you?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me talk to her. She’s probably gonna rip me a new one for not callin’ before now. And, Brick… see you soon.” I handed the phone to his wife and she walked out of the room, leaving me and Zoe alone.

Her eyes followed me as I approached the bed, gently sitting on the edge close to her side. She looked wary of me, and I hated she might be afraid of me, or angry with me, or input any other disappointing emotion.

“Zoe… baby, I need to know who did this to you.” I gestured up and down her body. I didn’t dare get into any details of what Stone told me, but I needed to know if it was in fact Dutch who cut her up. Did he rape her, too, or did other men? My gut told me yes, to both.

“I can’t,” she cried, clutching the covers beneath her chin. “I don’t…” She shook her head, her fingers gently brushing over the bandage on her cheek.

“Please, baby. I know this is hard, but I need you to tell me who did this.”

“I don’t know.”

“Can you describe any of them?”

Repeated breaths left her body before she spoke again, her voice breaking with every word. “The one who cut… he was bald, no facial hair, forties or fifties and had…” She cleared her throat on a cough. “Had a red mark here.” Zoe pointed to her right temple. “It looked like a Z.”

“That’s good. That’s good,” I repeated. “Anyone else?”

“There were a few of them.”

“Did they… did they all….” I couldn’t finish my question.

“No.” She spoke swiftly, her answer paining her. “The other guy who… he was thin, had short dark hair.” Her hand shook when she raised it to her forehead. “He had a receding hairline.” Then her fingers trailed over her cheek, then down to her neck. “He had tattoos all over. Skulls and daggers.” Griller.