“They found evidence to state she was there with him, but when the police got to the cabin, there was no sign of the girl. In fact, they think it was her who made the call.”
“So, we should be able to find her now, right?” I ask, clinging onto any sign of hope I can muster.
“You can’t find someone who doesn’t want to be found, Brax.”
“But I need to know,” I snap. “I need to find out if there is a reason she hasn’t returned. There must be a reason, Carter. I didn’t fucking imagine all the shit that happened when we were kids. Bonds like ours can’t just be forgotten… or broken, it just doesn’t fucking work like that.”
“Tomorrow,” he points directly at me. “Tomorrow we get that fucking investigator here,” he jabs his index finger down against his desk. “We will get some answers and a location on her, if it’s the last motherfucking thing we do.”
I hold out my hand and he takes it, pulling me in for a man hug. “Thanks for everything, man.”
He pulls back, resting his hands on my shoulders. “You are like a brother to me. I hate it when we fight and you should know I will always help in any way I can. I saved you, and we’re in this together. ‘Til the end,” he pushes on my shoulders, causing me to waver slightly.
“Always, man.”
“The party is still going if you care to join us?”
“Nah… I’m good. Not feeling the whole party thing. My head is a fucking wreck.”
“You sure?” he asks, bending his head until it’s in my line of sight. “I know Tara was asking for you. I think she’d be happy to keep you company for the night,” he prompts and I know his intentions are good, but the train wreck inside my head tells me this is not a good idea. But I need to tread carefully. This girl is Carter’s cousin, and the last thing I want is to piss him off. He’s ruthless, unpredictable and fears nobody.
“Maybe some other time,” I reply casually. “I really just want to crash back at my place.”
“Sweet,” he sucks in a deep breath. “Call me tomorrow. We will get this meeting set up.”
“Sure,” I say walking out and straight into the small frame of Jessica.
“Hey,” she says sweetly, her voice just audible over the sound of the music. “You disappeared on us earlier.”
“I just needed to get out. Get some fucking fresh air.”
She closes the gap between us, grabbing the collar of my shirt and lifting onto her tiptoes. “Let me make it all better, Brax. Why don’t we go and find a room?”
I reach for her hands pulling them from my shirt and stepping back. “Now’s not a good time,” I refuse vehemently.
“But Brax…” she drawls on my name as it lingers on her tongue, the whine of her voice like the sound of nails scraping down a chalk board.
I furrow my brow in annoyance. “I said now is not a good time.” I swing out my arm, pushing her away from me. I watch as she stumbles backwards, her head connecting with the wall.
“Fuck, Brax…” she yells, rubbing the back of her head where it made contact with the wall. “You don’t have to be a dick. I’m more than just some bimbo you fuck when you’re bored…”
I stop her mid-sentence, my hand loosely wrapped around her neck as I force her up against the wall. She clutches at my hand while my nostrils flare and my dark eyes narrow on her. “Watch who you are talking to, bitch.”
“I’m sorry,” she chokes out. “I stepped out of line.”
“Too fucking right, you did,” I scold her. “And here’s the thing, Jessica. I fuck who I want, when I want, and your description was fucking on point. You are just some bimbo I fuck when I’m bored. Nothing more, nothing less. Get over yourself.”
“You should really be nicer to me, Brax.” She pins me with her stare as I contemplate her words. Thrusting my hand forward, I grip her neck tightly, forcing her back against the wall.
“Why?” I growl, “Why would you say that? What are you hiding?”
“Nothing,” she squirms, her hands covering mine as she tries to get me to loosen the grip. “Just, you know, one day you might need me more than you realize.”
I scoff loudly, my face contorted. “You’re fucking crazy if you believe that.”
“Let go of me,” she chokes out, but I can’t help but tighten the hold around her neck further. I glare at her as her face drains of all its color.
“Don’t take it too far, man,” I hear a random voice to the right of me. His hand lands heavily on my shoulder but I shrug it off, snapping my head in his direction. I rake my eyes over the fucker that dared to put his hand on me. It’s one of the guys from the motorcycle club. The tattoos, leather and biker boots kind of give him away.
“Step the fuck away. I don’t want to cause trouble with you guys, but this bitch has pushed me one step too far,” I growl, my eyes glaring at him as he casually stands beside me, his hands in the pocket of his pants.
“I ain’t going anywhere until you let her go.” He says, his voice calm and his shoulders lift and fall slowly as his eyes never break my stare.
“What’s wrong? You worried I’m gonna damage your little fuck buddy? Uh?” I yell and suddenly realize we are surrounded by a swarm of people all watching this unfold. I stare at him, knowing what a fucking waste of space this motherfucker is. They all are. They go around in their fucking gangs, talking shit about duty to their club, how they think they are all one big happy family. Only their morals are more corrupt than they are. Drugs, violence, club whores. These fuckers don’t care about anyone. So why? Why is he standing beside me, so concerned about something that has nothing to do with him? I relax my grip around her throat, but keep it tight enough that she remains pinned against the wall.
“I’ve never fucked this girl, but you need to back off, man.”
“Or what?” I say dropping my head, glaring at him with hatred.
“Brax, enough,” Carter’s voice roars and I can’t help but shake my head slowly from side to side.
“You gonna let this piece of shit talk to me like that? Uh?” I roar, the heat rising inside of me as my rage reaches boiling point. He sure as shit needs to have my back. We cannot let these motherfuckers into our territory making demands.
“I’ll deal with this,” Carter says with a nod, pulling the biker whose name I don’t know out of the way. “Go find some other pussy to fuck. This one is off limits, and this is our business, not yours,” Carter snarls. The guy drops his head, his eyes flit between us as he slowly steps away.
“What the fuck is going on?” Carter mumbles, his head appearing right beside mine. “Let go of her. What the fuck has got into you? This is a party.”
“I’m tired of this bitch’s bullshit. I want her out of here.” I instruct, finally dropping my hand, rubbing my wrist as it aches like a motherfucker.
“You want her out man, she’s out.” He replies, his hand resting on my shoulder blades. “Let me deal with her. We catch up tomorrow, yeah?” he says with a nod and I reciprocate.
I turn on my heel, racing until I’m out of the door. I inhale sharply the minute I step outside, pacing back and forth as I dig in my pocket, pulling out and lighting a cigarette. I charge toward the side of the house, dropping down on the brick wall. I rest my hand on my bended knee, my head dropping forward as I take a huge drag of my cigarette. My vision distorts, the music muffled in the background. Something catches my attention. The sound of muffled screams causes the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. I jump off the wall, using my boot to stub out my cigarette. My head whips from side to side and for a second I feel like I’m going fucking crazy. All I can hear is my heart pounding out of my chest with every second that passes.
And then suddenly it’s as if the pounding stops, as if my heart has paused for a moment. My eyes land on the source of the noise as I focus on them at the side of the house, a small amount of light coming from the window highlights them. I swallow down hard, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that I’m watching. Watching as
this guy tries to rape her. One hand is forced against her mouth, his other is between her legs as she frantically tries to kick him off. I inch closer, the bodies becoming recognizable. I can no longer hold back. The rage takes over and I race toward them, fisting the back of his jacket as I pull him off her.
“What the…” his words trail off as I lean over him, pressing the gun against his forehead.
“You sorry ass motherfucker,” I drawl out, as I press the gun further against his head. His hands rest back against the ground in surrender. “You have no idea who you’re fucking messing with!”
“She wanted it, man. She was begging for it. She wanted this as much as I did.” His words fall out in a nervous tumble. I look at her, hoping she would confirm his story to stop me losing my shit.
“That right?” I ask her with a lift of my brow. “Was this consensual?” I narrow my eyes on her, a small trickle of blood slowly runs from her nose, her hands reaching for the strap of her top as she tries to conceal her bruised body.
My eyes linger on her as I wait for her reply. “Well?” I yell a little louder than I intended. The light from the window above highlights the solitary tear that rolls down her cheek. Her whole body shakes and I know now I don’t need to hear the words. I know exactly what this sick fucker was doing to Tara.
Tara fucking Mellano.
Carter’s cousin.
The look on her face alone causes the adrenaline that has been coursing through my veins to soar high, I can’t fucking see straight. I blink repeatedly, trying to clear the haze from my eyes.
“I didn’t… honestly, man.” His breathing is rapid, his head lifting from the ground as his eyes are fixed on me. There’s no mistaking the desperate look in his eyes. It’s the look of fear. I’ve seen it a million times before.
“You had some serious fucking balls coming in here, attempting to rape the boss’ cousin.”
“What?” he gasps, his head dropping back against the ground. He clamps his eyes shut and I still the gun, squeezing the trigger just a little. I glance over at Tara who is leaning against the wall. Confusion clouds my mind. I know I have to end this fucker but it might mean going to war with the whole of The Savages motorcycle gang. It’s the last thing we need. We have to have these guys on our side.
I swallow down hard, the decision like a heavy weight on my chest.
“You don’t want to do this,” the guy on the floor talks, his voice wavering. “You kill a Savage member and those guys will go to war over it. We are family.”
“Shut up. Shut the fuck up!”
His words were adding confusion to my already fucked up thought process.
“You can have her, man. No one needs to know about this…”
“I told you to shut the fuck up,” I yell at him, my teeth clenched together so tightly that the words come out with a hiss. “We could share her,” he says with a sinister smile.
“Fuck you!” I yell, my lungs burning from the anger I feel rising. Sweat pools across my brow, my breathing all over the place. “Fuck!” I swiftly jerk my hand pulling the fucking trigger.
Tara falls to the ground at the sound of the gun going off. Blood sprays my face and I stand, wiping it on my sleeve as the fucker twitches on the floor and I watch the life being sucked from him. The second he stops moving, I reach over to Tara, offering her my hand. She shakes her head, a look of terror etched across her face.
“I won’t hurt you, I promise.” I lower my voice, dropping onto my knees beside her. Her eyes glance over to the body on the floor and she instantly squeezes them shut.
“I feel sick,” she gags, covering her mouth with her hand as she drops her head to the side. She heaves and I feel helpless.
“Wait here,” I say, pushing myself back up to my feet.
“No,” she screeches, “Please don’t leave me here… with the body.”
“We have to tell Carter,” I reply. “He needs to know what happened. But the rest of the Savages need to be kept out of this. Understand?”
“You can’t go in there. You’re covered in blood.” She nods, her eyes focusing on my chest. “It’ll be a dead giveaway. Everyone will know it was you. It’s all a mess… it’s such a mess.” She sits up, wrapping her arms around her knees, rocking back and forth. “This is my fault. Carter is going to say I brought this on myself…”
“No fucking way,” I growl. “That piece of shit did this, not you.”
“But, tonight, with you, I acted like someone I’m not, all because I wanted you to notice me. I’ve given everyone the impression I’m easy.”
“Stop,” I yell, “This isn’t your fault and that’s the end of it. We have to work out what we are going to do about the mess we created.” I pull out my cell phone, scrolling through my list of contacts. I dial Carter’s number, hoping he has his phone with him.
The ring tone dials out.
“Fuck, Carter, answer,” I murmur down the phone.
“Brax,” his voice booms through the receiver.
“Carter, I need you to act normal and come out of the side door, near the trash cans. We have a problem, but whatever you do, do not draw attention to yourself.”
The line goes dead and I blink rapidly as I stare at the blank screen.
“No,” Tara’s voice breaks. “He can’t see me like this.” She tries to stand to her feet, only her legs buckle beneath her and she drops back down on her knees.
“I’m sorry, Tara. He has to see what happened here. He needs to understand.”
I’m on high alert at the sound of footsteps approaching. My eyes are glued to where the sound is coming from, and I exhale heavily when Carter’s face appears from around the side of the house.
“What the fuck?” He stands with his arms crossed. “Who is that?” He asks, his foot pushing against the thigh of the body laid on the ground.
“One of the fucking Savages…”
“Fuck, he’s barely recognizable,” he murmurs, scraping his hands down his face. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. I need the MC on our side, Brax.”
“I know… but fuck, look at the state of her.” I sigh, heavily, thrusting my hand toward her shivering body.
“Tara. Fuck, honey, are you okay?” He shakes his head as he moves over, kneeling beside her. “Stupid fucking question, right?”
“Listen, Carter. We gotta move. And fast. Get someone to get rid of the body. Get housecleaning to clean up the mess and we act like we have no idea where the bastard disappeared. Get the door staff to confirm they saw him leave, and I’ll take Tara with me. She can get herself cleaned up at my place.”
Carter nods slowly, standing up and embracing me. “You saved her. For that, I’m grateful. I would have done the same fucking thing to the sick piece of shit. Go,” he separates from me, “Take her back to your place, make sure she’s okay. I’ll get this taken care of.”
“Thanks, man,” I say, my eyes landing on the petrified face of Tara who is still sitting on the floor, clutching her legs. She glances up at me, and my heart starts pounding erratically against my ribcage. She has the look of fear in her young, innocent eyes, and I can’t tear my eyes away from her.
“I got you,” I say with almost a smile. She reaches out her trembling hand and I take it, pulling her to her feet. She falls against my chest, her weak legs barely able to stand. I wrap my bloodied arms around her, making sure she doesn’t fall.
“I’m sorry,” she sobs. “I just feel so weak.”
“Here,” I say, taking her arm. “Hold it around my waist and let me help you over to my bike.”
“Thank you,” she mouths, flashing me a pained smile.
“Call me when it’s done,” I shout back over my shoulder to Carter. He gives me a nod of agreement as we make our way out from the side of the house and across the driveway. I scan the whole area, happy that there is no one in sight. I make it to where my bike is parked, helping Tara onto the back.
“Hold on tight, okay?” I say, hooking my finger and lifting her chin. She allows
her eyes to flutter shut, giving me an unspoken acknowledgment. My heart thuds in my chest as I look at this poor girl’s bloodstained face, the anger like a dull ache in the pit of my stomach.
That motherfucker got what he deserved.
Seeing the agonizing look on her face tells me I did the right thing.
No matter what the consequences are.
I drop my hand, mounting the bike, and reaching behind me to locate her hands, I take them, wrapping them around my waist. “Hold on as tight as you can.”
“I’ll try,” she chokes out, resting her head against my rigid back, her hands gripping the front of my shirt.
I have a feeling this will be the longest ride home, ever.
* * *
Parking my bike on the driveway, I cut the engine and kick out the stand. I dismount and hold out my hand to a disheveled Tara. She wipes her running nose on the back of her hand, her eyes swollen from the silent tears that have fallen over her cheeks. She holds out her hand, her whole body shaking and her lip quivers uncontrollably. My fucking heart aches for her as I help her off the bike, only for her legs to buckle beneath her and she almost crashes to the ground. I quickly wrap my arm around her tiny waist, pulling her into my arms.
“Not doing so well, are you, T?”
“Well, aren’t you the king of understatements,” she jokes, sniffling, as she tries to let out some sort of laughter. “I just… I just have no strength left.” She stutters through her uncontrollable shaking. “I fought so hard, but my body feels so weak,” she continues, placing her head against my chest as I walk toward the door.
“Shit,” I grumble, realizing my key is in my pocket. I lower her down, sitting her on the step while I get the door open. She hugs her knees, her chin resting there. I bend beside her, pushing my hand under her bent knees.
“No, it’s okay,” she rushes out, “I’ll try to walk.” She gives me a sad smile, but I’m not listening. I pull her up and into me, storming inside and kicking the door shut behind me.
“I said…”
“I don’t give a fuck.” I cut her off. “You need help, I’m gonna fuckin help. No arguments,” I warn.
The complete scars series: Books one-four Page 6
