Don's P.O.V.

"What do you think they're talking about in there?" James stares at the door. Learning that Alice Reed is actually Slaughter Reed's daughter was a shock to both of us. I tried to see if that Kalvin kid was lying, but her change in attitude after he said it, that was the nail in the coffin. It is the truth.

The big shock to me, is the fact that she is betrothed to Cutter. Who is betrothed anymore? She can't possibly love him, can she? She said she doesn't like him, but she may have said that because she wasn't in the safety of her own home. Then again, why would she have changed so drastically if she did like him, and why would her friends look so sad just to hear the topic? Her friend Kalvin even tried to avoid the topic. "They're probably talking about hair or nails. Something girly to take her mind off of whatever just happened."

"Nah. I don't think so. Alice seemed dangerous right before she went into the room. I doubt hair and nails would take her mind off of things. Did you see the way she looked at you? She looked ready to murder you." 

"Yeah. I saw it." How could I have not? It wasn't easy to miss.

"How do you think she's Slaughter Reed's long lost daughter?" James queries as he spins towards me.

I study the scar on my hand before I speak. "Probably the same way as I am my father's long lost son. Mother wasn't his wife, she left and hid the identity of the kid. Now she has to come back home with us, you know that."

James only nods. Eventually the door opens back up and Alice and Desire come out of the room. "You're still here?" Desire says with an attitude. "I thought you would have caught onto the fact that she doesn't want to be around you two."

"Desire, that's enough. They told me I'm staying with them. I have to respect that. They did save me. I'll be back when I'm fully healthy." They hug and Alice looks at me, less angry than before, but still angry. "Are you carrying me again?"

"No, James will be. Let's go. I still need to go speak with Cutter." I walk ahead and hear James following behind me. She better be on his back. I have been to Cutter's office before, many times actually, and never have I seen Alice. It's odd because leaders usually want to show they have something no one else can have. They're too quiet behind me, and for some reason, it bothers me. "I'm sorry for bringing up that topic earlier, Alice." An apology? What? Coming from my mouth? Voluntarily? 

"If you really were sorry, you wouldn't have brought it up yet again." She snaps back. I turn, hand raised. "Go ahead. Hit me. You'll have every gun in this house aimed at your head two seconds after you do." She looks at me with the same look I give everyone, disinterest with a bit of distrust and malice. "Born into it my ass. Put me down James. I can walk from here." She doesn't really wait for him to put her down, and instead climbs off of him. Alice takes the lead, and even has the audacity to sway her hips in front of me. If she wants me to feel threatened by her, she shouldn't be so provocative. 

"Stop staring at her ass. She could turn around any second, and you don't want to seem like too much of an ass." James's voice swims into my head and I notice I haven't even been paying attention to the direction she is taking us, and just the movement of her hips.

"I was only wondering how she hasn't broken a hip yet." We approach the door to Cutter's office, and she knocks.

A low grunt comes from inside and she rolls her eyes. "It's Alice. I'm coming in." Without pausing, she shoves the door open."You could at least be decent when people come to see you." A young woman is seated on his lap and he is smirking at Alice.

"I could, but what would be the fun in that. Looks to see you've found a fiend, oops I mean friend." Maybe I was wrong about her loving him. 

I take a step forward to be beside Alice. "I've come to discuss terms." Cutter gestures to a seat in front of his desk and I sit. "Privately." I say, gesturing to the broad still placed on his lap.

Cutter waves his hand and she leaves the room. "Better? Would you like me to get rid of the one standing in the middle of my office?" He looks right at Alice and my anger surges.

"No. It has to do with her. She might as well be here to hear it." He turns to look at me and quirks an eyebrow. "She was found, beaten, on my property. Until she is fully healed, she is my responsibility. I will not take an argument on this."

Cutter looks over at Alice, amused. "Did you put him up to this?"

"No, I didn't ask to be thrown into a weird place with a bunch of men and women I don't know." Alice doesn't look him in the eye, and he turns to watch me.

"Maybe not all of them are strangers." Cutter stands and walks over to Alice. "I mean, he is good looking. Haven't thought about it?"

Alice rolls her eyes and looks up at him. "You wish." They have a quiet stare down and James nudges me.

"She's a lot like you." He whispers in my ear. "Dangerous, mysterious, secretive. I wouldn't be surprised if you two were twins."

"James?" 

"Yes sir?"

"Shut up."

"Yes sir."

I watch as Alice glances at me, and soon walks over to me. "I'll be staying with them until I'm healed." She states, like he has no choice, and he might not.

"Alice-" Cutter begins to speak, but Alice stops him.

"I swear, if you say anything, you'll regret it." Cutter's lips immediately close, and he glares at her. "James, Don, let's go. This place reeks of an orgy." She turns to the door and walks out.

Cutter stops me by placing a hand on my arm. "Be careful of her. She has more control than me, and I supposedly lead this gang."

"She probably has more control because she's respected by these men. You, you're just the man that took over after her father." I snatch my arm out of his grasp and follow Alice out. When I catch up to her, she is fuming mad.

"All he ever does is try to control me and my life. Why did my dad even promise his only daughter to that... that crazed maniac?! Alice this, Alice that, wear this, be that, do this, don't touch that. I'm not SIX!" James and I share a puzzled look. She notices us staring at her as she paces back and forth and stops to glare at us. "What do you two want?"

James stands there, gaping, trying to come up with an answer. I take a few steps closer to her and she backs up. "You really don't like him, do you?" She crosses her arms and gives me a very readable look. It says, Of course. Are you an idiot? "Well then first things first, let's change the wear this part. Get in the SUV." She doesn't move and I groan. "Please, get in the SUV."

She turns on her heel and walks to the passenger side door, opens it, and gets in. "As I said, just like you." James follows suit, and gets into the backseat. 

Once I'm in the driver's seat, I head towards the nearest mall. "What are we doing here?" She asks as I pull into a parking space. 

"You said he tells you what to wear. I'm giving you a chance to get clothes you want to wear." She looks back at James, skeptical. "It's just clothes Alice."

She sighs and opens her door before stepping out. I would tell her to get on my back, but I think that ship has sailed. "Alright, let's go." We all walk together, her in between James and I for safety. After we get halfway through the mall, her pace begins to slow down. I turn my head to watch her and notice that she is struggling to keep up with us. "Do you need to take a break?"

She glares at me, but softens seconds later. "Yeah, sorry. Normally I can go forever, it's just that my side hurts pretty badly." She lightly touches her side, and I remember that's the side with the stitches.

"Let me check if you pulled any out. Here, sit down." I help her sit on a bench near an escalator. She lifts the side of her shirt up to show the bandages. "James, go run to the car and get extra bandages." He nods and I kneel beside her to get a better view of her side. Gently, I lift the bandages off of her skin. "I'm not sure if you pulled any out, but there is some leakage. I'll need to clean it to be able to tell if you really did pull any." She nods and tilts her head back on the bench to shut her eyes. I notice an antibacterial wipe stand towards the middle of the mall and stand up. "I'll be right back. I'm going to go get something to clean it with." She nods and I go grab about three or four. When I get back, she is lightly snoring. I don't want to jar her awake when the wipe touches her open sore, so I try to wake her. "Alice, wake up." I lightly shake her shoulder and she murmurs something. "What did you say Alice?"

In a sleepy voice she says, "You don't have to wake me up. I've had bullets taken out while I was asleep. Cleaning a gash in my side should be no different."

I look at her slightly surprised, but I know I won't get much more out of her while she's asleep. It takes drastic measures to wake her up. I clean it, and everything looks to be fine. James runs up with the extra bandages and I tape her back up. "Fall asleep did she?" James asks.

"Yeah." I stand back up and brush off my hands. "She said something that sparked some curiosity in me."

"What was it boss?" He asks watching her.

"She said she had slept through someone taking bullets out of her. That's no small feat. She must have been through a lot as a kid to be that hardened of a woman." James and I watch her curiously as she breathes in and out. "She can't go back to Cutter. He'll only mistreat her, and obviously she's been mistreated enough."

James looks at me astonished. "Have you taken a liking to Miss Alice Reed?"

"She has earned my respect, and that is all." I say turning back to Alice.

"I thought I had your respect. You don't treat me like you do her. Taking her to pick out clothes? Caring if she is mistreated? This isn't-" He glances around to see if anyone is listening and of course, they aren't. "This isn't Trevor Bane like activity."

I don't look away from Alice. "She is just a girl that we will keep safe until she is healed."

James places a hand on my shoulder. "Yeah, that's why you're watching her sleep instead of watching the people looking around for her." I look up to see Desire searching around the building, probably for Alice. Behind her are that Kalvin kid, and two other guys.

"They aren't threats. They're her friends. As long as they don't try to take her back to Cutter, I don't care." I watch as Desire notices me and points me out to the three. They begin to walk towards us and notice Alice.

Desire runs to Alice while Kalvin charges towards me, angrily. "What did you do to her?" He gestures to Alice and I sigh.

"She got tired while we were walking. I checked her stitches and she fell asleep. It's nothing to get angry about." He turns to look at Alice, then nods to the others.

"We need to wake her up." He says as he turns back to me.

"What for? She needs her rest." James pipes in.

Kalvin laughs a little. "Trust me, if she is just sleeping, she's fine. We're here because she told us to follow you when you left. We need to talk about something." He walks over to Alice and flicks her nose. 

She jolts up and glares at him while he snickers. "Damnit Kalvin. I hate it when you do that." She rubs her nose and James and I put that in our repertoire of ways to wake up sleeping beauty here. "Everyone here?" Kalvin nods. "Alright, well, this is really open. Let's find somewhere more private to do this."

"Why somewhere private? That leaves Don and I more vulnerable. We're two against four." James argues.

"Four?" Alice asks. "You think I have a gun?"

"You've been shot before. I'm surprised we didn't find you with a gun on you." Kalvin laughs at James's statement.

"Only been with them a few days and they know you better than most. Nah, we took that off of her before placing her in your territory." He says as he goes to sit beside Alice.

It takes a moment for me to process what he says, but it doesn't escape me. "Are you saying that you three beat her near to death?" They nod and I look at Alice. "And you are still sitting near them and being jovial with them?"

She stands and sighs. "We've got a lot to discuss. Now do you see why I want this to be private?"