Authors note: Hello, everyone. As a disclaimer, there is not much eroticism to this story, so if you are after a stroke piece, this might not be for you. For those that dare to read, I hope you enjoy the next instalment of the Patchwork Princess. As always, if you enjoy it, please comment and vote. If you hate it, please do neither, ~ellie.
Patchwork Princess Ch 3.
"Tell me the full story or at least as much as you know," Saxon said gruffly. He would back up Teddy just as the man had backed him up repeatedly, but he wanted to know exactly what he was walking into when they got to this girl's apartment.
"I met Teddy when he was young enough to believe he was eight foot tall and invincible. He and his little crew were responsible for the decimation of the Kallikantzaro club despite all being barely eighteen. No one considered that a bunch of kids could be responsible at the time, which was how they got away with it. He was in foster care with Grace when he started his reign of vengeance," Beau started his explanation.
"He did that because of this girl?" Saxon asked, showing little emotion despite being impressed again by the balls the kid had at such a young age.
"The story goes that the Kallikantzaro president's youngest son took advantage of the war and, when they killed O'Callaghan, took Holly as his trophy. Only he didn't know that the family members who survived the battles began pulling the underground apart, searching for her. She'd been branded and tattooed by the little psycho, but somebody cut those marks out of her body to try and hide the club symbol burned into her skin. Then she was dumped at the hospital. The grandmother of the family, who was in charge at that time, told everyone that Holly had been sent away to school to keep her safe. Teddy didn't find out the truth until Holly was reported dead from the injuries she sustained in the kidnap. That's when he formed his crew and began his vengeance," Beau tried to wrap up the convoluted story quickly as they grabbed their gear and made their way down to their bikes.
"So, she came back?" Saxon surmised.
"Yeah, her grandmother died, and she had to come and deal with the estate and stayed. She and her friends own a business on the north side of the golden mile.
"So, what's going on tonight?" he asked.
"It seems his girlfriend has a stalker now," Beau chuckled. It seemed to be a pattern with the women the six came to love. "A stalker who knows intimate details about her kidnap and injuries, which Teddy didn't even know without fighting for that information."
"Girlfriend?" Saxon raised an eyebrow. He hadn't realised Teddy was serious about the girl and had thought her a childhood friend.
"Rekindled, it's reasonably new," he confirmed as they walked through the speakeasy to where Steve sat at the bar with Grace, who had finished her set minutes before.
"Jack's upstairs with Daisy, and Mitch is already on his way there. So let's not keep them waiting," Saxon commanded.
"I'm patched in with Kris already. I gotta say it, Teddy's crew is good, almost too good. We're lucky they're our brothers," Ian chuckled as they made their way to their bikes.
*****
It was late, and Holly was barely holding herself together when she heard several men arrive at her apartment. The police, she guessed, and she hoped without any real conviction that the officer who had come had some knowledge of her previous kidnapping and assault. She didn't want to repeat her history in front of Teddy and his crew. She didn't want to tell them why the arrival of the doll had freaked her out and why she remained hiding in her bedroom, pretending to be asleep.
While the Ativan she had taken earlier had helped take the edge off and calmed her from the hysteria she had felt when she first saw the doll, she still felt anxious and as if she could jump out of her skin if anything else happened tonight. Carter came in and sat on the bed, reaching out to stroke her hair.
"I know you're awake," she said softly. "Teddy made some calls, and his brothers came to offer their support. They found a detective who knew about your case from a decade ago. It would be best if you talked to her. You can do it here or out there, but either way, Teddy won't leave you alone with a stranger right now, so he will be there no matter what you choose.
"I can't face all those people out there," Holly whispered, finally opening her eyes.
"If you want me to stay, I will," Carter reassured Holly. She looked into the other woman's eyes, knowing how the PTSD had affected her, and while the panic attacks were fewer, Holly's anxiety could cripple her for days after an attack. But, at least this time, they had been able to raise her from the nightmare in her mind relatively quickly. Her resilience tonight seemed partly due to Teddy's presence when the attack hit rather than any real progress in her acceptance of what happened to her. For that reason alone, Carter was willing to leave her best friend with the man who claimed to love her while the detective questioned her.
"Hey," Teddy said gently as he entered the room and went to sit on the bed beside her. He took her hand in his and kissed her palm. The sooner you talk to the police, the sooner it is over," he said softly.
"Who else is here?" she asked.
"My brothers and my sister, Grace, who is impatient to meet you," he sighed.
"You don't have a sister," she frowned.
"Foster, sister. Her name is Grace, and she saved me when I lost everything," he admitted.
"I didn't know you were in foster care," she frowned again.
"A lot happened to all of us back then," Teddy shrugged as if it was no big deal. "You'd already left by the time the dust settled."
"No! I will not wait one more minute," Nicky raged at someone in the living room as she pushed one of the men out of the way to barge into Holly's room and flung herself on the bed to hug her friend. "This is fucked up, and you will not face it alone. We got you, girl! Get your skinny butt in here, Nessa!" Nicky yelled through the open door.
"I'm sorry, Hols. You know how she is when one of us is hurting," Nessa mumbled and joined the group hug with her girls. "There's a freaking wall of muscle out there, no one is getting close to you, except us, and maybe that guy," she rolled her eyes at Teddy. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at the two girls who had pushed their way into the room despite that wall of muscle protecting his girl.
"I'll give you five minutes. Then I will be back with the detectives," Teddy grumbled and stepped out of the room again.
"I'm good," Holly said, sitting up in the bed and scooting back to lean against the bedhead. "Teddy's right; the sooner I talk to the police, the sooner it's over, and everyone can go home again. I don't know what's going on out there, but it can't be good, and I have enough protection with the new security and Teddy, who I doubt will agree to go home tonight and leave me alone," she sighed.
"Ooh, you don't get it, do you?" Nicky asked. Her expression showed the incredulity she had felt when she got here. "Teddy called in the big guns, Saxon Steele and his sexy six are out there with Teddy's crew, and they are planning to find this fucktard harassing you and make them sorry they ever thought they could intimidate you."
"The sexy six?" Holly asked incredulously.
"Hell yeah, there's a trail of Nessa's drool leading in here," Nicky grinned as Nessa opened and closed her mouth speechlessly. "It's wall-to-wall hard man meat out there, the stuff Magic Mike dreams are made of. Honestly, your lucky you're in here, or Teddy may have blindfolded you before you realised how much more was on offer out there."
"Pfft, she probably likes all that kinky shit, blindfold included. Of course, we were all on that bandwagon after Darker came out," Nessa giggled.
"Seriously? This is what we're doing now of all times?" Carter asked in exasperation. "He gave you five minutes. Do you want to go to the bathroom before they come in? Maybe brush your hair or teeth?"
"Stop being a mother duck, Carter. You look beautiful like always, Holly," Nicky hugged her friend close. "I got you, okay? No little bitch who has to hide behind anonymous threats is gonna do my girl wrong, believe me."
"Thanks, Nicky. You've always had my back. All of you have. I know that. It was just the shock because no one should know, except you girls, the medical team and the people who did it," she sighed. "Doesn't take rocket science to determine where the threats are coming from now."
"But the guy who did it to you is dead," Nessa frowned. "You know that."
"Yeah, but maybe one of his friends got out before the club imploded along with half of the underground," Nicky nodded wisely and looked up at Holly. "It's not us, and I doubt anyone on the medical team who took an oath to do no harm would do it, so Holly is right, and I bet the guys out there have already worked that out."
"Unless that's why we were told to come? Maybe they plan to interrogate us!" Nessa whipped around to eye the door to the living room.
"Dean and Scotty wouldn't let them do that," Nicky shook her head. "We're here for Holly because she needed us."
