Page 60 of Swerve (Boosted Hearts 1)

Hunter gave me a sympathetic look and took a sip of his beer. “I know Valery was abusive, but Ruby kept that to herself, only shared with you. I wish I’d done more to help her back then.”

“I wish I’d put a bullet in the bitch’s head.”

Hunter’s head tilted to the side. “Why didn’t you?”

That was one kill I would’ve never felt remorse over. I sat back. “Ruby went missing this one time. I hadn’t seen her at all, not even walking to school. I waited until Valery left the house, broke in, thought she must be sick or something. I found Ruby in the kitchen, tied to one of the cabinets by a rope around her neck. She’d been there for three days. Valery had been calling her dog, made her eat off the floor, not even allowed to use the bathroom. She was ten.”

“Jesus,” Hunter choked out.

“I was going to kill her that day.” I’d wanted it more than I’d wanted anything in my life. If Ruby hadn’t pleaded with me not to, I would have executed the evil bitch. “Ruby freaked out, terrified I’d get caught and go to jail.” That I’d leave her. I shrugged. “I was all she hand, and I couldn’t guarantee that wouldn’t happen, so I let Valery live.”

We sat in silence for a while after that, until Raul finally walked through the door. He spotted us, said something to one of the girls, and headed in our direction.

Sliding into the seat beside Hunter, his eyes went to mine in that direct way of his, assessing me. Obviously seeing I was close to the edge, he muttered something under his breath. His drink arrived. Whiskey, neat. Raul usually drank beer. When he downed it in one shot and those usually hard eyes turned sympathetic, I knew shit was bad.

“Tell me,” I gritted out.

Raul tilted his head. “I didn’t get anything on Imperious; well, nothing new. You’re right, the players are determined to stay anonymous.” I’d sent the name through to Raul that morning.

“Fuck,” Hunter said, voicing my thoughts.

“But I have a contact, one of my kids.” Raul had looked out for a lot of street kids over the year, still did. Not all of them stuck around, or made it, but the ones that did would do anything for the guy.

The older man shook his head. “We parted ways a long time ago. I didn’t like the company he kept, but he owes me, so I called in my marker. I’d heard whispers, that name mentioned more than once. Like you, my contact doesn’t know the players, but he confirmed they’re the backers of that website and where those images of your girl were going.” He rubbed his jaw. “The site from the outside is legit, says the girls signed up for it, and maybe some do? Fucked if I know, but the whole thing’s a cover.” He glanced at Hunter and I felt my friend brace. Whatever Raul was about to say, I wasn’t going to like it. “The majority of the girls on that site have no idea they’re on it. Basically, the person sourcing these girls and setting up the cameras gets a cut, a percentage per view. They go in, get out, then sit back and rake in the cash.” He motioned for another drink. “This asshole that hurt your woman, he didn’t do that, he stuck around. Why? Who knows?” He shrugged and rubbed a hand over the scruff on his chin. “I wish I could tell you more, but my contacts just aren’t that high up the food chain.”

“Any word on Scott?”

“There were sightings, same day he tied to snatch your girl off the street . . . since then . . .” He shook his head. “Nothing.”

The tight coil inside me fucking exploded in my chest. The feeling of helplessness was damn near overwhelming. I needed Ruby. Now. She was the only one that could pull me out of the dark shit sucking me under. I shot to my feet. “I need to go.”

“Stay. Calm down before you leave,” Hunter said, standing as well, blocking my goddamn way.

“Not gonna happen. No one knows where that fucker is,” I bit out. “What the fuck am I going to do?”

Hunter didn’t budge. “Where are you going?”

“Home. To my woman,” I growled.

Hunter held my stare, then finally stepped back. “Call me if you need anything.”

I dipped my chin and strode out of the club. I needed to hold her in my arms, hear her breathing, smell her skin, and maybe then I’d feel human again.

Then I had a call to make, and a favor to ask.

One I knew would come at a price.

One I’d pay no matter the cost.

The apartment was quiet when I walked in. My mind was racing, every muscle in my body bunched tight. Jesus, the women on that site had no say, no knowledge that they were being watched. These women had their choice taken away. My mother had been treated like nothing more than an object most of her life, bought and used by men who didn’t care about her, until she finally broke.

That’s what Scott had done to Ruby.

I walked to the bedroom on autopilot. It was dark, but I could see her clearly, enough light streaming through the windows from the street. She was on my side of the bed, arms curled around the pillow, dark hair in a wild tangle. I stripped off, unable to take my eyes off her, even for a second, then I climbed under the covers and rolled her to her back.

She moaned softly, eyes blinking open. “Hey. You’re home.”

I kissed her, harder than I should, but she didn’t complain, just wrapped her arms around me and clung like fuck. Her lips were soft and warm, like the rest of her. I trailed my mouth along her jaw, tasting her skin. “Need you,” I rasped against her ear, then lifted up to look down at her.