by Dawn Doyle
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
I was far from okay. “I’m fine,” I lied. I threw my school bag onto the back seat and waved for Paige to come over. “But I want to see you.”
“Baby, you won’t be able to keep me away. That’s part of our deal, right?”
“Right.” I smiled to myself, then got in the car as Paige walked around the other side.
“I have to go, but I’ll be thinking of you.”
“I’ll be thinking of you too.” I ended the call, then paused before putting it in the console.
“How did it get here?” Paige asked as she got in. “This isn’t where you left it.”
“I know,” I replied, then opened my app. I narrowed my eyes, wondering how the hell my tracker was online and showing my location. I wasn’t stupid, somebody in school had definitely messed with my car. I was going to find out who, and I knew somebody who could possibly get that information for me.
I dropped my phone into the center console and picked out a small plastic object, no bigger than a dime. It looked as though it had been broken off of something, the edge freshly snapped. I ran my finger over the rough line before putting it in my white jacket pocket, reminding myself to keep hold of it.
“Yeah,” my dad said as I headed toward the living room. “His name is due to be released to the public soon, but we don’t know how useful it’ll be. Our leads have come up empty.”
“Oh, John,” my mom sighed. “That poor boy. I hope, for his family’s sake, that something comes up soon.”
I stayed in the hallway and listened.
“That’s four guys just this year, Vi. I can’t discuss anything more, but their families need answers.”
“Hi,” I said, turning the corner into the room. “Um, I just wanted to tell you I was home and that I’m going to make a start on my homework before dinner.”
“Okay, sweetheart,” my mom said, smiling warmly. It didn’t meet her eyes as it usually did, though. “You have about two hours.”
“Cool.”
My dad walked over to me and kissed the top of my head as he always did. “You’re a good girl, Luca.”
I took the stairs two at a time and shut my door once I got into my room. I threw my bag down, pulled out my phone and checked my messages, grinning wide when Lucian’s name was in the center of my screen with a message.
‘Why do I keep thinking of pink lace?’
I replied quickly.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Do I need to remind you of what happened?’
My stomach flipped, excitement building up as I read, then texted back.
‘I think you do, because I don’t remember a thing.’
I giggled when I saw the three dots come up, anticipating what he was going to say.
‘Be prepared, baby, because next time, I won’t be so gentle.’
I squeezed my legs together tightly, my bud beginning to throb. “Damn you, Lucian,” I whispered, placing my hand on my chest. “You know just how to get to me already.”
Lucian
The wraps were tight, my hands bound and ready, and as I bounced on my feet to release the tightness in my muscles, all I could think about seeing Luca. After her sexy as fuck messages, I was on edge.
“Keep your head in the game, bro,” Brady said, squaring up to me. “You get in there, you sit him down, and you get out. No more, no less.” I dipped my chin once. “I don’t want anything in that head except for the target, ya hear?” He gripped my neck, pulling our foreheads together while the guys sat back on the bench. “This is who we are right now, Lucian—this is who you are. I don’t give a fuck what happened out of here yesterday, but while you’re stuck in this fucking game, you get your head straight and walk out on two feet.”
I let my eyes slide to Blaine. “Don’t worry, bro, I’ll be working my shit out tonight.”
Blaine stood, opening his arms wide. “It was my fault, and I take responsibility for what I did in my moment of weakness,” he said, his face free from any humor he would usually show. “Think of me when you beat the shit out of him, Loosh. I’d say I deserved it more, but you wouldn’t get any satisfaction from kicking my ass—it would be too easy. Put my face where his is, and go to fucking town.”
My mouth quirked in the corner. “I intend to.” I walked toward the archway to the sound of a deafening crowd, and the sounds of a honeyed voice insinuating all kinds of nasty shit with me.
I took one look at my opponent, and turned my anger toward the bald guy standing there with board shorts that looked like he’d just raided his grandpa’s closet. His scarred face scrunched up, showing wrinkles that had years on me, or he’d had one hell of a bad paper route.
“You’ve had a good run, Luscious,” he sneered, slamming his fists together. “But now it’s time you faced the truth.”
I laughed, a smartass snicker leaving my mouth that had him snarling at me. “And what’s that truth?” I asked opening my arms.
“That you’ve passed your expiration date, and you need to be put out with the trash.”
I let my snarky smile drop slowly from my mouth, raising my fists, hunching my shoulders and getting ready in my stance. “You wanna put me there?” I asked, my voice low. This guy didn’t know me very well. “How about you come over here and say that to my face?”
“Oh, I intend to,” he fired back, then charged toward me.
I dodged his fists and swept to the side as he followed through, sending my elbow slamming into the back of his head. He fell to the ground, but jumped up quickly, spinning to me. He crouched low, then bent his leg back before thrusting his heel out right into my stomach. The wind was knocked out of my lungs, and as I sucked in air, I took a few steps back.
“Aww, little boy got a boo-boo?” he asked, sticking his lower lip out and then laughing.
I bounded forward, leaping up and snapping my foot to his mouth, shutting him up. “No.”
Blood seeped out over his lips and he spat it out on the floor, a long string of crimson splashing out against the older stains. “Oh, you’re fucking dead!”
I jumped from foot to foot, gauging his movements. “Spoken like someone who’s already lost,” I growled, then sped forward, the end of the fight only minutes away.
Chapter 11
Lucian
My sides were bruised, my stomach purple, and my face… My lip was split in the corner, and the swelling on my right cheekbone where Chainsaw had repeatedly punched me stuck out, making my eye almost close up from the bottom.
I ran my finger inside my mouth, checking my teeth before spitting blood into my bathroom sink. I twisted to get a look at my back, and hissed as the movement felt like my muscles were being ripped from my bones. I’d skidded across the floor when I’d taken an uppercut, and my previous wounds that had long healed, were replaced with new ones, much worse than before.
Chainsaw had gotten me back, and then some, coming at me with a series of kicks to my ribs, followed by a sleuth of punches to my gut, making me understand where he’d gotten his name. He just kept on going, like an actual chainsaw, going round and round without stopping, cutting deeper and deeper until his opponent was down.
“Your ice bath’s ready,” Brady said quietly from my doorway. I had a shower in my en-suite, but the corner tub in the main bathroom was where I could go to start the healing process. I’d come to have a special relationship with it, treating it like my personal medical center. “I’ve got some towels ready, warming up on the rack.”
“Thanks,” I said, keeping eye contact in my mirror.
“You good?”
I dropped my head, then turned on the faucet to rinse the splashes of red liquid from my sink. “Yeah.”
Brady stood next to me, our similarities ending with the dark hair and jaw line. “No, you’re not.”
I gripped the edge of the sink, my knuckles, scraped and reddened from the impact, stinging with the force. “I’ll be fine, don’t wo
rry.”
I turned away from him, and headed down the landing and opposite the staircase. The door to the sand-colored room was open, the under-heated tiles warm beneath my aching bare feet.
I carefully pushed down my sweats, and let them drop to the floor, kicking them to the side. Two steps led up to the oversized tub, and I stepped over the edge into the freezing water mixed with ice-cubes, and guided myself down, my arms shaking as I did.
“Oh, my god!” I squealed. My balls shot up, my dick practically disappearing inside me, but that pain was bearable compared to the shock to my injured areas. My entire body seized up against the cold, just like it always did, and I started the countdown in my head to when I could get out. “Eight minutes.” I had to do that at least three times this week with the beating I’d taken tonight.
I had to see Luca. I couldn’t spend any more time away from her. Each minute felt like a lifetime until I got into that pit. It was then that my mind switched off, going into survival mode where time stood still until it was over.
I clenched my fists tight, a harder fight going on inside me than I’d ever faced before. Did I continue to treat her like she only mattered to me when it was convenient, or did I tell her everything and let her walk away?
“I can’t,” I said to no one.
“You okay?” Brady said while knocking on the door. “I heard you talking.”
“Yeah, just thinking out loud.”
He walked in with two ice packs wrapped in small towels. “I brought these up.” Instead of handing them over, he placed one on my cheek, and another on my jaw.
“I can hold them,” I said, lifting my hands.
“I got it.” He batted my hands away. “Put your hands under the water—your knuckles are swollen to fuck.” He sat on the edge of the tub and held the packs still. “Just let someone help you for a change.”
I closed my eyes and kept my mouth shut. I never asked for help; not once. I hadn’t done that since I was a kid, and even then that was a stupid-ass finger painting in pre-school. I could take of myself, and I didn’t need looking after in the slightest. But, Brady had a point, so I let him hold onto the damn packs while I soaked my hands and arms in the freezing water.
“Four minutes,” I said, still mentally counting down.
“Alexa, set an alarm for three and a half minutes,” Brady said, and my Amazon Echo repeated the order. “Now you don’t have to count down. You should have done that in the first place.”
“If I wait for something to tell me, it feels like longer,” I grumbled.
“True, but you can empty your mind and think of other stuff instead of every second that your nuts are lodged in your throat.”
I snorted a laugh. “You’ve got a point.” I opened my eyes and looked at Brady. “Take those off.” He removed the packs and I took a deep breath. I let myself slide down the tub, immersing my whole body and head under the water.
I waited, holding my breath as long as I could, the ice cubes floating over my face and coming to rest on the areas I needed them the most. When my lungs began to burn, needing to take in oxygen, I forced myself to stay under.
Ten more seconds.
I held it for another twenty, then broke the surface, sucking in air.
“Drowning yourself isn’t possible, you know,” Brady said, cocking an eyebrow. “Your body’s defenses will naturally fight against it.”
I slowly lifted my hand up, my middle finger poking out of the water. “I’m not trying to drown myself.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” Brady stood and grabbed a towel from the rail, and then the Echo started to beep. “Alexa, stop.”
“Are you gonna get out, or do I have to stand naked in front of you?” I asked when he just stood there.
“I’m out,” he said, turning around and heading to the door. “I do not want to see your bare ass, or your shriveled up junk.”
I blew out a long breath and carefully pushed myself up, the heat in the room attacking me the second it touched my skin. I grabbed the towels and wrapped one around my waist and the other around my shoulders. I looked down into the tub and saw the swirls of crimson floating around the melting ice.
I drove my X5 across town, leaving Lynnfield and entering Theakston. I broke the speed limit, making the journey in less than ten minutes. I hadn’t taken my own car out in so long.
I parked in the empty space across the street, noting Luca’s bedroom light was off and the window was closed.
I took my phone out of the center console and sent her a message.
‘Are you home?’
I didn’t need to wait long to get a reply.
‘Yeah. Mom and Dad are still working. Are you coming over?’
‘Open the door.’
The porch light flicked on and the white door opened. The sight of Luca took my breath away. Her hair was loose over her shoulder, the light waves tumbling down, and my hands instantly curled in, remembering how I’d ran my fingers through them only a few days before. He white and gold striped T-shirt hung down, covering her body, but I knew what lay underneath, my zipper straining as my cock urged me to go and get lost in her.
Her face turned to me, and her eyes widened, a huge smile spreading across her gorgeous mouth. I opened the door and stepped out of the car, and she paused, her smile dropping instantly.
“Lucian!” she said, her hands flying up to her mouth. She rushed toward me and placed her soft hands on my arms. “Oh my god, what happened to you?”
“I’m okay, Luca.”
She took in my face, and then her eyes trailed down my body as she reached for my hand. “Come in.”
I followed her while she led me through the door, into a bright hallway and toward the stairs to the left. “Wait.” I held out the small decorated paper bag. “I got this for you. It’s a late birthday present.”
Luca’s eyes dropped to the bag and then up to me. “You didn’t have to get me anything, Lucian.”
I dug my hand inside and pulled out the small black box. “I wanted to.”
“Who did this?” She asked, staring at my face.
I wiggled the bag. “This first.”
Her soft hand shook gently as she took it, the square lid lifting with a creak. She took a sharp breath and covered her mouth, her eyes glistening. “Oh, Lucian, its gorgeous!”
My chest swelled at her expression, my emotions threatening to burst out of me. “I’m glad you like it.”
She held up the platinum chain with a solid ‘L’ dangling from it. “Are these…diamonds?” she asked and I nodded. “Jesus!” She shook her head. “No, this must have cost a fortune. It’s beautiful, but I can’t accept this.”
“Yes, you will,” I demanded, taking the necklace out of her hand. “The ‘L’ isn’t just for you. Turn around.”
She turned around and lifted her hair, allowing me to fasten it around her neck. As I concentrated on fastening it, I inhaled her sweet perfume.
She turned around in my arms, scanning my face. “I love it, thank you so much.” She moved forward, but hesitated as though she was worried to touch me. “Let’s go to my room.”
That sounded good to me. I kicked off my Vans and then picked them up, taking them with me up the beige carpeted stairs. If Luca’s parents came back any time soon, I didn’t want them seeing my footwear in their hall. Too many questions would be asked, and I had no doubt that Luca’s dad would get a check done on me. I would too.
“Do you need ice?” Luca asked when we got to her room. “I can get you some, and a drink. What would you like?”
I smiled, then pulled her toward me, slowly stroking my arms around her waist until she was flush to my body. “I just want you.”
“Lucian,” she sighed, lifting her hand to touch my swollen cheekbone. “Who did this?”
I leaned forward, hugging her tight, burying my nose into her hair and taking a deep breath against her neck. I pushed her hair back and swept my lips over her warm skin. “That doesn’t matter.” All th
at mattered was where I was right then. Everything I’d done tonight disappeared the moment she’d opened the door, and that’s when I knew I was in deep with her.
“I’m not an idiot, Lucian.” She pulled back, her head tilting back and staring into my eyes. “You’re a fighter, aren’t you? That’s how you get your bruises. You fight. Is it a club, like boxing and martial arts?”
I let my fingers glide down her smooth jaw, turning them so the tips continued down her neck to her shoulder. “Something like that.”
“How badly are you hurt?” Tears welled in her eyes, and I felt sick to my stomach. “Show me.”
I gritted my teeth, a fresh sting shooting through my face. “It looks worse than it is.”
When Luca pulled away from me, it was clear I wasn’t going to be able to brush it off. I reached over my head and gripped my blue T-shirt, pulling it off, and Luca’s eyes bulged. I turned around, giving her a good look. I don’t know why I did, because I wanted to keep her from seeing the very thing I was revealing to her right then. When I turned back, Luca threw her arms around me, holding me tight.
“Please tell me they look like this too.”
Fuck, even with my injuries, her body so close to my bare flesh, my retreating junk was ready for action, pushing against my boxers. “Worse,” I answered, finally.
Luca lifted her head, her eyes glistening with tears, spilling over and following the path the others had made. “He does?”
Seeing her looking at me that way, worried, upset, it fucking cut me up worse than anybody could ever do to me. I nodded. “I won, baby.” I held her close again.
“That’s all you’ll tell me, isn’t it?”
I held her tighter, silently telling her that she was right. Chainsaw wouldn’t be fighting any time soon. They would have to restructure his right forearm, replace a lot of teeth, and he’d be walking with a permanent limp after I’d smashed his knee cap. The sound of the snap still resonated in my head, and I needed Luca to make it stop.
