Killing this man will just be adding another body to the pileand another clip to the never-ending reel in my head. One I won’t lose a minute of sleep over.
As I ride as fast as possible through the streets between my clubhouse and her home, I imagine all the ways I’ll torture him to make him pay for thinking he could go anywhere near her. I think of the way her voice sounded when I answered the call … muffled, distant and afraid. I didn’t know what was going on until I heard a man’s voice and then that wasallI needed to know.
I get from my bike to her door in seconds, then enter the house on silent feet. I can hear him before I see him, and my blood boils as I pull my gun from my hip and take aim at the unknown, ready for anything and laser-focused.
“You have her eyes …” he bites out, his voice shaky and low. “It’s like seeing a fucking ghost …”
I hear her whimper softly and plead for all of one second—“Why? How did you find me?”—before I figure out where they are in her century-old house.
The stealth training ingrained in me doesn’t allow him to hear me coming. Even if he could, the adrenaline rushing through my veins at the sight of her pinned against the living room wall gives me the strength of ten men. The man holding her is a waste of breath, and he’s wearing a cut I can’t wait to burn. “Please, just listen to me …” His tall, lanky body is pressed to hers, which makes me want to rip him to shreds. He’s already taken so much from her.
I think I hear him muttering something like, “You’re looking for answers and I’m gonna fucking give them to you …”
Then the familiar haze lines my vision and the monster in me takes over.
I replace my gun at my hip and yank his head back while allowing my fist to come down on his face with a deafening crack, breaking his nose instantly. My arms wrap around histhick neck in a sleeper hold before he gets another word out or has the chance to lay a finger on her pretty head. I drag him out the back door, not wanting one drop of blood to spill on her floor.
The sun is starting to sink behind the trees surrounding her property. It’s private and quiet out here, and I toss him to the ground behind a bush while garbled words do their best to spill from his blood-filled mouth.
“Motherfuck—”
I commit fully, straddling him as my fist comes down again. The sound of his jaw cracking is like music to my fucking ears. The thrill of the capture is subsiding, but the satisfaction of his demise is on the horizon. And judging by the fear-soaked smell and this fucker bleeding all over his shitty, good-for-nothing cut, he knows it. I keep hitting him as blood leaks from my busted knuckles. Time passes, I don’t know how long, but it’s in this moment, with blood covering me, that I feel clearer than in any other.
At peace.
Thisis the other part to my truth.
I simply don’t give a fuck. Feeling this way isn’t barbaric, it’s cathartic.
It’s not just an eye for an eye. It’s a loose end that Ineedto tie up. A mental itch that must be scratched at all costs.
“Sean …” Her voice is shaky and soft, calling my name from somewhere behind me. Even after such a short time, it’s the only voice that can stop my raised fist from crashing down on him again. I blink, coming out of my haze and looking down. Her attacker is out cold, but for now, he’s still breathing.
I let go of his blood-soaked shirt and turn to face her.
“That’s enough,” she commands softly. I take one look at her and grimace as I stand and make my way across her yard. Relief that she’s unharmed and pure admiration for her ability to make it until I got here washes over me for the first time, and I feel like Ino longer have my legs beneath me. I take her into my arms and crush myself to her, muttering her name as she grips me tight. I have no idea how long we stay like that before I finally move to the side of the house to turn on the spigot connected to a coiled hose. I give my hands a rinse before ripping off a small length of fabric from the bottom of my t-shirt and running it under the water, then return to wipe her tear-stained face, removing his splattered blood from her soft neck and shoulders. I can’t bear the thought of this worthless piece of shit’s blood anywhere near her.
“H-he says he has answers … could he?” she stammers, as I run my hands over her bare arms, warming her.
“I’m gonna figure that out.” I swipe her soft, fiery hair from her forehead and gently kiss her there before pulling her close. She takes a deep breath, and I feel her body start to relax.
“That’s better,” I whisper, inhaling her sweet scent. Another detail I can’t forget. Even now, everything about her calls to me. When I should be focusing on how to get this cocksucker back to my clubhouse, all I can think about is the taste of her skin. I pull my phone out and send a message to Kai and Jake, my club’s enforcer and vice president, knowing they’ll be here inside of ten minutes.
“What do we do now?” Her voice is muffled by my chest.
“I do what I do, and you decide how deep into my world you wanna be.”
Her sultry brown eyes look up at me expectantly.
“I was hunting him. I wasn’t planning to kill him, but now …” I flex my aching fist. The one that just pummeled that motherfucker’s face into the ground. “You know exactly who I am …” I stroke her cheek with my thumb.
“Yes,” she answers, reaching her warm hand up, placing it over mine.
“But knowing that reality andseeingit are two totally different things, understand?”
She swallows down the fear I know she’s feeling and nods, side-eyeing him. “Of course,” she whispers softly.
I move into her sightline to bring her eyes back to mine.
