Chapter 12

Ophelia

The next week passed by slowly. Dad, Noah, and Oliver would take turns visiting me during the day. They would bring me fresh clothes and Henry would make me a special basket with my favorite foods. Every day he had something different in the basket for me. When the doctors released Damian, he went back to the compound to grab some clothes and stayed with me. Not only did Damian stay with me, but dad also kept guards posted at the door. I hated having security, and I knew it was not going to get any better once I got home. Liam came by once before leaving to go back to New York City. Dad had bought me a new phone and I was able to call Sam, Chase, and Tyler. They still had no idea what had happened, so I had to come up with a lie. When dad cancelled my birthday party, he apparently did not give a reason, he had Ben send out a mass email letting everyone know my party was cancelled.

Finally, the day arrived for me to go home. I woke up excited that morning knowing that I was finally going to go home and sleep in my own bed and soak in my big tub. I could not wait. While Damian was busy getting all my clothes packed up, Noah and Oliver came into the room. They had brought me some fresh clothes. I went to the bathroom and took a quick shower then got dressed. I sat back down on the bed and waited for the doctor to come in and release me. 

"Are you ready to be home?" Oliver asked. 

"Oh god yes! I want a long bath and I want to climb into my bed and sleep without nurses coming in at all hours of the night to check my vitals."

The doctor finally came into the room and gave me one more exam than I signed the papers and was finally released. Noah and Oliver walked down to the truck and the nurse brought in a wheelchair and brought me downstairs while Damian followed with my bags. 

When we got downstairs, I saw that Noah and Oliver had brought a whole team of guys with them. There were two extra trucks with three men per truck, plus Noah, Oliver, and Damian. All armed. I looked at Noah and he stood there with a huge smile spread across his face.

 "Really? You really had to bring so many people to follow us home?" I asked annoyed. 

"Fuck yes I did. I wanted to bring more, but Oliver talked me out of it. I settled for six.”

 I rolled my eyes, "So, this is how it's going to be from now on huh?"

"Until I say otherwise. You now have a fucking team. So, suck it up buttercup. Get used to it."

"Whatever," I said, as I got up from the wheelchair and got into the back seat of the Escalade.

 Damian put my bags in the back of the truck and got in the back seat on the other side. Noah and Oliver got in the front seats and we drove home with one Knight XV driving in front of us and one behind us. This was ridiculous. If they thought for one second I was going to be escorted around like this, they had another thing coming. 

We finally got to the compound and drove down the driveway to the front of the main house. Dad and Phil were standing outside waiting. When the truck stopped dad walked over and opened my back door helping me out of the truck. 

Phil came over to me and gave me a big hug, "Welcome home Ophelia."

"Thank you, Phil. I am extremely glad to be home." 

Phil walked ahead and opened the front door. Henry, Liz, and some of the other staff were standing in the foyer. 

 "Welcome home." They each said, as they gave me hugs. 

"Aww. Thank you. I am so happy to be home. Henry, thank you so much for the baskets every day and Liz thank you for packing me fresh clothes." 

 "You are very welcome Ophelia, I tried to make each of the baskets with some of your favorites. I could not let you eat hospital food." Henry said laughing. 

"Oh honey, I know how horrible hospital gowns are, and I was not going to let your father or brothers pack your clothes. You don't have to thank me." Liz laughed. 

"Well. Thank you very much. It meant so much to me. If you all will excuse me though, I am in desperate need of a long hot bath."

I gave everyone a hug again and walked upstairs. Damian followed me and brought my bags up to my room. I felt so relieved to be home and so overwhelmed. I walked out onto the balcony and stood there looking out over the property. It was so beautiful. The trees were changing colors and the air was crisp and cool. 

Damian walked out onto the balcony and stood behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders, "Do you want anything?" 

I turned to face him, "No. I want to bathe and go to bed. Thank you for staying with me at the hospital. I enjoyed our late-night talks."  

"You're very welcome. I'm going to head to the bunkhouse. If you need me just let me know." He kissed me on the forehead then turned and walked out of my room.

I walked into the bathroom, flipped on the lights, went over to the large Jacuzzi tub, and turned on the water. I grabbed one of my favorite lavender bath bombs, dropped it in and got undressed. I stood there naked for a moment and saw my reflection in the mirror. I still had bruises and some of the bite marks were still visible. My face was still bruised, and my neck was still black and blue. Tears fell from my eyes as I examined my reflection. I couldn't believe this is what I looked like. 

I lowered myself down into the tub, the hot water felt so good. I leaned back, closed my eyes, and soaked. 

***

Damian

Ophelia was finally home, but I was more nervous than ever before. Jax and Ben's search had not come up with anything yet. The rat was still out there which meant Ophelia was still in danger. After I left Ophelia's room, I walked back to the bunkhouse. When I walked in, Jax saw me and called me into his office. 

"Is Ophelia getting settled in?" Jax asked, closing the door to his office.

"Yeah. She's upstairs in her room. Have you found anything yet?"

He took a seat behind his desk, "We haven't found a fucking thing yet."

"So, what does that mean?" 

"That means that whoever it is, is fucking smart and they know how to cover their tracks or their fucking dumb and are not getting paid to be a rat. Either way, Ophelia is not totally safe here. Not if it's someone within the compound." 

"Is there another house we can take her to? I can get some guys together that I trust and know, and we take her somewhere else for a while." 

"Mitch will never go for that. I can try to talk to him about it and about moving her somewhere else. I can almost guarantee you he will not allow that. Not with her just now getting home, he's not letting her out of his sight for a while." 

“We need to figure out something.”

"I'll talk to him. I really thought our guys were loyal but after all this, I don't even know who to trust anymore." 

"I know there are some loyal guys here. There are some that I would trust with my life. And I think most of the men here are loyal, but I think we may have a bad actor somewhere."

"Yeah. One that knows how to cover his tracks too. Ben is diving deeper, so maybe he will eventually find something, and we can handle this fucking rat like we need to."

"I agree. Until then, I'm going to make sure that I am around O as much as possible. Just so that I can know she is safe." 

"Okay. You do what you need to do, and if Ben finds something, I will let you know."

"Yes. Please do. I want first crack at the motherfucker who is behind all of this." 

"I know you do and I'm going to make sure you get your chance. Go ahead and get some rest man, we will talk again later." 

"Will do." I stood and shook Jax's hand and walked out of his office to my room. 

I laid down on the couch when I got into my room. I have not been sleeping much since I heard what had happened to Ophelia. I could not imagine the pain she was going through right now. She did not deserve any of this.