Undone

by Shannon Richard

  “You scared me,” Paige said, clutching her heart.

  “I can see that,” Brendan said, studying her.

  Sydney came running out from the trees barking. She circled the two of them and then walked over to Paige, bumping her head against her thigh and whining.

  “Paige, what’s wrong? You about came out of your skin.”

  She had to tell him. She had to tell him what that cretin had done. She’d promised him she would tell him if Chad ever came near her again. She just had a very bad feeling about how he was going to react. Another chill ran down her spine and she looked up at the house.

  “Can we go inside?” she asked, rubbing her arms.

  “Yeah.” He nodded, frowning.

  She walked past him, Sydney still firmly at her side, and went up the stairs. When they were inside she turned to him, her entire body shaking. Sydney sat at her feet, whining as she looked up at Paige. Brendan looked at Paige, down to Sydney, and then back up to Paige.

  “Paige, what’s going on?” Brendan asked, grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch and wrapping it around her. He chaffed his hands against her shoulders and Paige pressed herself into his chest, seeking his warmth.

  “Don’t tell me nothing, because I know something’s up,” he said, rubbing his hands up and down her back. “Sydney won’t leave your side. She only does this when she’s protecting people. What’s she protecting you from, Paige?”

  “Something happened,” she whispered into his shoulder.

  Brendan’s hands stilled. “Something where?”

  “At work.”

  Brendan pulled back and grabbed her hand, leading her over to the couch.

  “Start at the beginning.”

  * * *

  Brendan watched as Paige closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Everything in his body was on high alert. It had been from the moment Paige had jumped out of his arms and screamed. And the way that Sydney was acting was putting him even more on edge.

  Paige opened her eyes. “Promise me you won’t freak out,” she said, grabbing his hands.

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Tell me what happened, Paige.”

  “Before I left work tonight, I was measuring one of the windows. I—I had to stand on a chair to reach it. When I stretched up to measure, I almost fell off.” She swallowed hard. “Chad was there.”

  “What did he do?” Brendan asked through clenched teeth.

  “He touched me,” Paige whispered.

  Brendan let go of Paige’s hands and stood up, pacing the floor.

  “Where?”

  She didn’t answer. He stopped pacing and turned to her.

  “Where did he touch you, Paige?”

  “My chest, my behind, and the inside of my thigh.”

  He stopped breathing. “How far up?”

  “Brendan, it’s—”

  “How far up?” he repeated loudly.

  “As far up as he could go,” she said, closing her eyes and turning away.

  “What else? Did he say anything to you?”

  “Yes,” she said, still not looking at him.

  “What did he say, Paige?”

  When she repeated the words Chad had said to her, Brendan lost it.

  “He threatened you?” Brendan asked so loudly that Sydney stood up and put herself in between Paige and Brendan.

  “I don’t know,” Paige said, looking up at him confused. “I was so freaked out. I—I could be wrong.”

  “Did you feel like he was threatening you?”

  “Yes,” she said softly.

  Brendan walked out of the room and headed for the front door. Paige called after him but he didn’t even hesitate as he ran down the steps and got into his truck. It was past five on a Friday night. Brendan knew exactly where Chad was going to be, and he was going to show the little shit what a real threat was.

  * * *

  The Sleepy Sheep was always busy on the weekends, and tonight was no exception. Brendan pulled his truck into the full parking lot and threw it into park. When he walked into the bar he did a quick scan and saw Chad talking to a couple of guys at one of the pool tables. Just the sight of him made Brendan want to break things. Chad’s face was at the top of the list.

  Chad made eye contact with Brendan about two seconds before Brendan grabbed him by the front of the shirt and shoved him up against the wall.

  “If you ever touch her again, I will end you, you son of a bitch.”

  “She wanted it,” Chad said, shoving at Brendan’s shoulders.

  “She wanted you to grope her? She wanted you to threaten her? I don’t think so,” Brendan said, slamming Chad into the wall again. “If I ever see you so much as looking at her again, I’ll beat the shit out of you so fast you won’t even see it coming.”

  “Come on, Brendan,” someone said, coming up next to him and grabbing his shoulders, pulling him off Chad.

  Brendan let go and took a step back, his entire body shaking with rage.

  “That little slut asked for it,” Chad said, fixing his shirt.

  Brendan lunged at Chad but two sets of arms grabbed him and dragged him back. He was pulled through the bar and outside. Brendan turned to see Shep and Bennett standing in between him and the door.

  “What the hell was that?” Shep said, pointing to the bar.

  “That stupid little piece of trash touched Paige,” Brendan yelled.

  “Calm down, Brendan.”

  “Calm down? Calm down? I will not calm down. I want to kill him.”

  “Yeah, maybe screaming death threats isn’t in your best interest right now,” Bennett said.

  “He touched her. He had his grimy little hands on her.”

  “I get that,” Shep said calmly. “But you can’t do this, Brendan. You can’t threaten someone.”

  “He threatened her,” Brendan bellowed.

  Shep closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose like he was talking to a five-year-old having a temper tantrum. Bennett looked over Brendan’s shoulder as a car pulled into the parking lot. Out of the corner of his eye, Brendan saw Jax get out of his county sheriff’s truck.

  “Paige called me,” Jax said, walking up to the three of them. “She said you were about to get yourself into trouble.”

  Brendan just looked at Jax, not talking for fear of exploding.

  “Let’s go, Brendan. I told her we’d meet her at her parents’ house.”

  “At her parents’?” Brendan asked, feeling some of the anger leave him. Had he scared her? Did she not want to stay with him anymore?

  “Yeah, she wanted to tell them what happened. I told her once you calmed down, we’d be over there.”

  Brendan took a deep breath and rubbed his face. “Fine. Let’s go,” he said, holding up his hands. Jax, Shep, and Bennett all visibly relaxed as Brendan took a step back toward his truck.

  God, if he’d made his friends nervous he had no idea what he’d done to Paige. His stomach twisted just thinking about it.

  * * *

  “You can’t threaten someone, Brendan,” Jax said calmly from the middle of Denise and Trevor’s kitchen. Paige was sitting down at the table with Denise while Trevor leaned against the counter. Brendan was pacing back and forth across the tile floor. Jax was trying to reason with him about his temper. It was making Brendan so angry he couldn’t stand still.

  Brendan stopped pacing and turned to Jax. “Chad touched her,” he shouted, not showing an ounce of composure. “He had his hands on her and you expect me to take that sitting down? To not do something about it?”

  “No, I expect you to call me and then we go about this legally.”

  “Legally? What are you going to do? You heard Paige,” Brendan said, throwing his hand out toward the table where Paige was sitting. “No one was there, and Missy isn’t going to back up Paige’s story. She’s going to say exactly what Chad said. That Paige came on to him. So it’s Paige’s word against both of theirs. Who’s going to believe the truth?”


  “I do,” Jax said. “But now we have a bar full of people who saw you attack and threaten Chad. Do you think that helps this case? It doesn’t, Brendan.”

  “Tell me you wouldn’t have done it?” Brendan asked, taking a step toward Jax. “Tell me you wouldn’t have done the exact same thing I did if someone threatened the woman you’re in love with?”

  The whole kitchen went silent. Jax raised his eyebrows, taking in a slow steady breath. Brendan knew Jax was trying to hide his surprise because Brendan had never said that he’d been in love with anyone before, not ever.

  “You’re right. I would lose my mind,” Jax said and nodded. “But for right now, we have to do this my way. Paige,” he said, turning to her. “I’m going to need a full statement starting from the beginning.”

  “I can’t listen to this again,” Brendan said, shaking his head and walking out the back door.

  He inhaled the crisp fall air and took a seat on the steps of the porch, resting his forearms on his thighs. He sat there for a couple of minutes, staring out into the backyard and thinking about how quickly this night had turned to shit.

  The entire week had been amazing. He’d woken up next to Paige for six mornings running, and every single one had been like a gift from God. He’d sat across from her every night eating dinner, and then sipped coffee with her in the mornings while they munched on toast. He’d watched her get dressed with fascination in the mornings and then he’d undressed her with eagerness at night.

  When he’d gotten home that night he’d thought everything was fine. He’d thought they’d get dinner and watch TV on the couch before they’d make love in bed all night. But that wasn’t a reality now. It had all been perfect and now the bubble had popped and he was sinking faster than he could think.

  He was quickly learning that when it came to Paige he couldn’t have a clear head. When that stupid article had come out two months ago he’d lost his mind. And today? There wasn’t a word that could accurately describe how he felt today. Just thinking about that asshole’s grubby hands on her made him want to punch his fist through a wall.

  The other thing that he couldn’t stop thinking about was the fact that he’d scared Paige. He’d seen it on her face when he’d walked into the kitchen. Her big gray eyes staring at him in a way he’d never seen before, in a way he never wanted to see again.

  What if her parents thought he was a violent maniac who wasn’t good enough for her? The truth was, he wasn’t good enough for her. God, Paige deserved so much. She deserved only good things, but for some reason that wasn’t working out. And the fact that he couldn’t protect her made him feel useless.

  The door opened behind Brendan. He turned to the side as Trevor took a seat next to him and handed him an open beer.

  “I thought you might need a drink,” he said, taking a swig of the bottle that was in his own hands. “I know I need one.”

  “Thanks,” Brendan said, taking a long pull on his bottle as he looked out into the yard again.

  “Not going to lie,” Trevor said after a minute. “I’m a little disappointed you didn’t pound that little shit into the ground.”

  “Me too,” Brendan said, nodding his head. God, he wanted to destroy Chad.

  “So you meant what you said in there?” Trevor asked.

  Brendan didn’t need to ask what. He knew exactly what Trevor was asking. So he turned to look Trevor in the eye, because a man needed to look another man in the eye when he said that he was in love with his daughter.

  “Yes, sir,” Brendan nodded. “I’m in love with Paige.”

  “Good,” Trevor said, patting Brendan on the back. “You’re a good guy, Brendan. Good enough for Paige. I thought so before, but tonight confirmed it.”

  “What, me losing it?” Brendan asked surprised.

  “No,” Trevor said, shaking his head. “You not caring what the consequences were for protecting my daughter. You didn’t even think twice about it, did you?”

  “No sir, I didn’t.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  The back door opened again and both men turned to see Paige walk outside.

  “I’ll let you two talk,” Trevor said, standing up. As he passed Paige he kissed her on the top of the head and then walked inside shutting the door.

  Paige sat down next to Brendan and grabbed the beer out of his hands, taking a long pull. They passed the bottle back and forth in silence for a couple of minutes as they stared out into the dark night. When Paige finished the beer she set the bottle down next to her, the hollow glass clinking against the wood.

  He knew what she was doing; she was giving him time. Time to sort himself out. Time to calm down. Time to just sit with her in silence so that he could figure out what to say.

  “Paige, I’m sorry,” Brendan said, turning to her. “I shouldn’t—”

  But he didn’t get further than that because she grabbed his face and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her back, holding her to him as she slanted her mouth across his. She pulled back, still holding his face in her hands, and just looked at him.

  “I love you,” she whispered, giving him a small smile. “I was scared to tell you before, but since you just said it in front of my parents and Jax, I figured I was okay to tell you now.”

  Brendan’s heart pounded hard in his chest as he stared at the girl who owned it.

  “You know, I’ve never told a girl that I was in love with her before. That’s not how I wanted to tell you,” he said, shaking his head. “I hadn’t really planned on yelling it out and then storming out of your parents’ kitchen.”

  “Then tell me again,” she said running her hand down the side of his neck and placing it over his heart.

  “I love you, Paige.”

  Brendan didn’t think that anything else could make him feel better after hearing Paige say that she loved him, but then she whispered, “Take me home,” against his mouth.

  * * *

  As soon as they walked in, Paige grabbed Brendan’s hand and pulled him through the bedroom and into the bathroom. She couldn’t bring herself to get into Brendan’s bed without showering off what had happened. She also didn’t want Brendan to leave her alone at all for the rest of the night.

  “Paige,” Brendan said, shaking his head, “are you sure?” he asked searching her face as she reached for his shirt and untucked it from his pants.

  “You just fought for my honor tonight and told me you love me. I’m not letting you get any further from me than this,” she said as she began to unbutton his shirt.

  They undressed each other and took a shower to wash away the cold and other things. When they were both warmed up, Brendan pulled Paige out of the shower and dried her off. He laid her out on the bed and kissed her, letting his mouth travel down her neck and over her chest to her side. He counted her ribs with his tongue and pressed his lips to her sunflower tattoo. Whispering, “I love you, I love you more, I love you more, I love you more,” as he kissed every single petal.

  * * *

  Missy did report to Mr. Adams about what had happened on Friday between Paige and Chad, but so did Paige. And Paige had the full weight of Jax’s police report behind her. Mr. Adams believed Paige’s side of the story, and he promised that Chad would no longer be working on the changes at the funeral home. Missy had been livid that Mr. Adams hadn’t taken any disciplinary action against Paige. Paige just ignored it. What other choice did she have? She refused to let Missy get to her. The thing was, Missy wasn’t the only problem. Bethelda decided to add her own two cents to the situation.

  THE GRIM TRUTH

  TEMPER TANTRUMS GALORE

  It should come as no shock that Brazen Interloper has caused even more chaos in our sleepy little town. “It’s what happens when loose women are let out to run amuck,” Sweetie Pie tells us. “Her Jeep has been missing from her parents’ driveway every single night this week. They’re obviously doing the wild thing. No morals, absolutely no morals, either of them.” The other half t
o the “they’re” that Mrs. Pie is referring to is none other than our very own, and notorious for his own reasons, Rogue Whoreson.

  Last Friday night, there was quite a commotion over at the Den of Iniquity. Several eyewitnesses say that Rogue Whoreson burst into the bar and viciously attacked Hunky Noble with absolutely no provocation on Mr. Noble’s part. Our sources tell us that Mr. Whoreson threw Mr. Noble up against the wall and threatened to “end him.” Sounds like a death threat to me.

  Deputy Ginger quickly responded to the scene, but Mr. Whoreson wasn’t punished for his acts of violence. Why would he be when the “good” deputy is one of his best friends? It obviously pays to have friends in high places. But Deputy Ginger is no stranger to acts of violence. His own father is known for many drunken brawls, some of them even targeted toward his very own family. You’d think that Deputy Ginger would be more outspoken against the actions of Mr. Whoreson, but alas, he is not. It appears that his father’s fists have made him immune.

  But what caused this outburst in Mr. Whoreson? He’s always been known for his short temper and his quick fists. Is he unstable? And how safe is Brazen? What if Rogue loses his temper, and Brazen is the one getting hurt.

  Paige had been upset when she’d read it, but Brendan was livid. She sat across from him at the kitchen table as he read in stony silence, his jaw bunching tighter and tighter as his eyes traveled down the computer screen. She’d had no idea about Jax’s past, but she had a feeling that much like Brendan’s past, it had been repeated over and over again. She felt awful that Jax had been dragged into this too.

  Brendan closed the laptop when he finished and put his hands down on the table as he shoved his chair back. The legs screeched across the tile. He walked over to the sink, setting his empty cup down. He grabbed the counter with both hands and leaned forward, taking a deep breath as his head hung down between his shoulders. Paige got up from her seat and came up behind him. He straightened as she wrapped her arms around him and placed her hands flat on his chest. She pressed her face against his neck as she leaned into him.