“Best thing I ever had,” Rainer says, glancing at me.
I flush. I never realized until right now how beautiful Rainer really is. He was always good looking, but now he’s stunning, breathtaking and dangerous.
“I’m glad she found you then,” Santana says stepping back. “Pippa, do you want me to stay or are you okay?”
I look to her. “I’m okay, thanks Tana.”
I hug her, and she flashes Rainer and I another smile before disappearing.
“You found your sister,” he says, watching her go.
“Yeah, her and her husband, Maddox, saved me.”
“Maddox?” Rainer says, narrowing his eyes.
“Yeah, he found you for me.”
His brows nearly hit his hairline. “Maddox . . . Joker’s Wrath President, Maddox?”
I nod. “That would be him.”
“You’re . . . you’re with the J.W. boys?”
“I’m not, ah, with them. They’re kind of like my family.”
He grins. “Good family to have.”
“I’m starting to think you might be right.”
He smiles and reaches out, tucking a strand of stray hair behind my ear. “You’ve grown up, kid,” he murmurs.
“Yeah,” I say shyly. “I did.”
“Got real beautiful.”
“So did you,” I say, and then my cheeks burn. “I mean, not beautiful, but . . .”
Rainer laughs. “Have you got time? Let me buy you a drink so you can tell me everything.”
I nod. “I have all night.”He tucks me into his side and leads me back into the bar. He sits me down at a bar stool and orders the girl to get me a drink. I order a beer, because it seems to be the easiest. She delivers it with a grunt and Rainer leans over the bar, putting his elbows down and staring right into my eyes.
“They saved you, huh?”
“Yeah.”
I tell him the entire story, and how Maddox and the guys saved me. And how Artreau caught Maddox, and then got killed. Rainer listens through the whole thing with a blank look on his face. When I’m done, he shakes his head. “I’m not sad to hear that fucker is dead.”
“I thought you were dead,” I say softly, meeting his eyes.
“No, he sent me away and I got out.”
“He sent you away?” I whisper. “I didn’t know what happened. One minute you were there and suddenly you weren’t. I thought . . . he killed you. When I couldn’t find you, I asked him but he brushed it off.”
“No. I went to him and confronted him. I heard him, Pippa. That day he decided to try it on again with you after all those years of leaving you alone. I heard him.”
I remember that night. Artreau had left me alone for years, but when I was eighteen he decided he wanted to try again. I don’t know why. He came to our room when I was alone, and tried to touch me again. I had my period, which I think was a tiny saving grace, because it was enough to halt him. But he told me he would get his fingers back inside me. It was one of the most repulsive moments of my life.
When he was gone, I broke down and cried. I don’t know how Rainer heard that.
“How did you hear that?” I whisper.
“I was in the bathroom. I had come back up to get new shoes. Mine broke. You weren’t there; at least, I didn’t see you when I came in. I was washing up when I heard you come back in. I then heard his voice so I stayed inside the bathroom. I was ready to bust out when you told him you had your period. I was shaking when he finished the sentence. When he said, when he said he was going to . . .” He trails off and looks away, his jaw hard. “When I heard you crying, I knew I had to do something about it.”
“So you went to him?” I whisper.
“And beat the ever-living shit out him,” he says, his jaw hard.
“You . . .” I recall Artreau having a busted up face, but I never put two and two together. I was too devastated that Rainer was gone. “You did that to him?”
“Yeah, I lost it. I was going to kill him to make sure he never put his hands on you again. Instead of killing me, he decided he was going to sell me to a man he knew that used sex slaves. He thought it was funny. His guards put me in a car and drugged me, only they must have fucked up the dose because I woke early. I wasn’t tied up; I guess they thought the drugs were enough. They usually are. I opened the door and threw myself out of the car.”
“You escaped,” I breathe.
“I had to run, I tore up my feet and my body, but I managed to outrun them. It took me two months, but I finally got back to America with the help of some seriously sketchy people. I looked for you, Pippa. I tried to find out where you were being kept, but I just got to dead ends. Whatever Artreau was running, it was well hidden. I don’t even think that was his real name. I don’t know.”
“You gave up?”
His face twists with agony, and I realize my words sound like an accusation. “No,” I say quickly. “I didn’t mean . . .”
“I would never give up on you, Pippa,” he rasps. “I searched until I couldn’t search anymore. I got into drugs to ease the guilt and pain I was living with, and it became bad. I was a mess. I got put into rehab and they told me I had to let go, that I couldn’t save you. I honestly don’t even think they believed me. I just shut down. I was in a bad way.”
“You went to rehab?” I say, my voice shaky.