“Don’t go.” Marley snaps.
My heart sinks and Mason stays next to me, his hands hanging on his hips as he silently looks at the floor. Does she feel like she needs him here as a buffer between us, or does she just want to make sure she has all the information?
Panic slices through my chest as I consider she could be afraid of me now.
Marley clears her throat and links her trembling fingers in front of her. “You tortured them?”
Taking a deep breath, I nod. “It was repayment. I believe I’ve heard you say, ‘what’s good for the goose is good for the gander’.”
Shock and anger flashes in her eyes and she sucks in a breath. “Don’t ever use my words against me. And I’m still alive.”
Flashes of what I imagine happened to her flicker across my mind and the possibilities of what could have been makes my blood boil. “Yes. You are still alive, and they will never hurt another woman.”
Her voice is shaking when she yells, “I didn’t want to live with that on my conscience.” She points her finger at the ground to drive the point and I see the tremor in her hand.
“You won’t. You had nothing to do with it. I made the decision, and I carried it out.” I’mpointing at my chest, emphasizing the ‘I’ each time I say it.
Anger hardens her beautiful features, and she slaps her palm over her chest. “It happened to me, you went after them because of me, they are dead because of what they did to me.” She emphasizes ‘me’ each time she says it.
“Mar, we found out DA Blevins was in the outfit’s pocket that Hallie’s ex is part of, he’s the one that got him out early.” Mason drops his head and looks up at Marley through his eyelashes, a wince on his face. “We also found out he squashed quite a few sexual harassment suites brought against Keith. They were bad people, hun.”
Her chest is rising and falling faster, and her eyes drop to the floor in thought as she taps her fingers against her thumb.
“Mar, this isn’t all because of you,” Mason says, his voice calm and even.
“Don’t do that!” Her eyes snap up to Mason and she squares her shoulders. “Stop talking to me like I’m a child and stop pretending like it had nothing to do with me.”
“It had everything to do with you.” If she wants the truth, I will give her the truth.
Her head jerks back like I slapped her, and Mason’s head turns to me so fast I’m surprised he didn’t get whiplash. “What the fuck?” He growls.
I return his stare. “I’ll tell her the truth.” Then I cut my eyes to her. “She won’t like it, but that’s what she wants, and she deserves it.”
Her eyes are focused on me, that little line between her eyebrows is deeper, and the only sound in the room is the sound of a cricket in a corner somewhere. A slight breeze moves through the building, moving the tendrils of hair around her face. The angry spark in her eyes and the flush under her skin make her even more beautiful.
Taking a step toward her, I lock my eyes on hers and talk to her like I would one of the guys from the team. “Yes, I gavethem what they fucking deserve. Because they hurt you, and many other women, I became the nightmare they have been to others.”
Some of the anger drains from her face, as well as the color from her cheeks, and surprise flashes across her eyes. Her gaze flicks to Mason and then back to me.
Taking another step toward her, I keep talking, my voice sharp. I’m not angry at her, I’m angry because there are men like that in this world who men like me have to take care of. “I learned a long time ago men like that hide no good inside them, Marley. If they are not stopped, they will take until there is nothing left to take.”
“Jax.” I hear Mason’s voice and my head swings in his direction. He only shakes his head.
Marley’s eyes are wide, but they are still on me. Mason is right to stop me, I was about to say some things that I could never take back. Details she should not hear. Taking a deep, cleansing breath, I wipe my face with my palm and face her again.
Keeping my voice low, I say what I should have said to begin with. “I couldn’t let them come near you again. When I heard their names connected to someone so close to you, living in the same house as you, I had to remove the threat. I won’t apologize and I won’t tell you I feel bad about it, Marley. I did it to protect you, uvek c´u se pobrinuti da budeš siguran.” [I will always make sure you are safe]
The sound of a soft whinny from outside breaks through the silence, but no one moves. I wait for some type of response from Marley, any type of reaction. She stands frozen, gazing into space, and her chest is still moving fast. Dropping my eyes to her hands at her sides, the tapping of her fingers against her thumbs tells me I’ve said too much.
Taking a deep breath, I roll my head from one shoulder to another and glance at Mason. He shakes his head slightly andthen tips his head toward the door, telling me to leave. At first I shake my head, I’m not leaving her like this, but he lifts his brow in question, ‘do you want to make it worse?’.
Fuck!
With one more glance in her direction, I fist my hands at my sides and leave the stable. Walking straight to my bike, I don’t bother with my helmet and swing my leg over and start it. The asshole in me wants to spin my tire and send gravel flying, but I know I’ll catch hell for it later if I do, and I calmly turn in the circle drive toward the main road.
Guilt is squeezing my chest for being the cause for her pain. I couldn’t let them live. Even if she never forgives me, at least she will be safe.
The need to break things is making my fingers itch and I drive to my condo. Tossing the keys on the island, I go right to my office and take a seat at the computer. I spend the next few hours plugging information into some applications that Spits created for me.
