by Brook Greene
“Fucking hell, man.” I look up to see that Eno has been listening to the conversation. I’d forgotten he was behind the bar. I look to him for answers, I know he doesn’t have. Nobody does.
Could she have really done it? The way we left things, it wouldn’t surprise me. She and I had only known each other for a few days at the time. And if she had, she went through it alone.
Leo stands next to me, scooping a passed out Avery up in his arms. “Let me go lay her down.” I watch him take Avery down the hall and hear Eno crack another beer and set it where my empty had been.
“If she was even pregnant, man. It’s a shot in the dark, literally.” He smiles, trying to lighten the mood, yet it does nothing but make me think of Jax. When he sees his jab doesn’t have the desired effect, he comes around the bar, taking Leo’s seat beside me.
“Well, I either have the worst luck in the world, or I should go play the lottery.” I shake my head, what are the fucking odds of it happening twice, to the same man?
Eno looks at me questioningly. “Jax,” I say.
His eyes go wide. “No shit man, are you fucking kidding me?” He takes a drink of his beer. “Maybe you should just sue the condom company,” he scoffs.
“Or better yet, just keep my dick in my pants,” I reply flatly, each passing moment seeming more surreal than the last. The alcohol I’ve consumed since we’ve been apart dulled the ache, but now, knowing this, all those feelings I’ve been dodging creep up on me. I can’t help but think of Jax again, and the what-ifs that surround him.
But, unlike Rachel, Tessa isn’t after my money. Hell, she doesn’t even know about it. She knows I have pull, I’m an undercover agent, and I’d hidden it from her for reasons I still don’t understand.
“What the hell was she thinking, not talking to me about it?” I ask no one in particular. “Why didn’t she come to me about it?”
“Maybe for the same reason she didn’t let you know she was hiding out from her abusive husband,” Eno says from beside me, and I turn my head to glare at him.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I shake my head at him, grabbing us two more beers from the fridge behind the bar.
He takes the beer from me, twisting off the top. “Nope. Jo and I get to fuck all the time. I rarely get a chance to drink with you, though, so I’m here for moral support.” He taps his bottle to mine. “And to help you work through this cluster fuck you’ve caused.” He turns and looks at me expectantly. “So what are you going to do about it?”
I don’t have to wait long before that decision is made for me.
~~~~~~
Tessa
I pull into the driveway, shutting off my car. I sit for just a minute to get myself under control before I enter the house and drag my mother into the emotional war I’m fighting.
Walking through the door, I’m immediately hit with the difference in the air. “Mom?” I call to her, but I get no answer. I lay my purse and keys down on the foyer table and venture farther into the house. “Mom?” I call again, a little louder, but still get no answer.
The house is dark and quiet. Taking small steps, I ease deeper in. A chill from the past rushes up on me and I shiver, feeling the cold sting of panic hit. The air grows too thick and I have to hold my breath, as a muffled whimper to my left grabs my attention. I move slowly around the corner, and the panic I felt morphs to horror when I find my mother, her hands and feet tied to a chair, with a gag shoved in her mouth.
Her eyes are terrified as I run for her. “Shit, Momma.” I slide to her, the tile floors ripping the skin off my bare knees. I work feverishly to loosen the knots, only breaking my nails but not making any progress. There’s a young blonde man, out cold, lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. I recognize him from the clubhouse, the day I left. I look to my mother in question, but she just shakes her head, her eyes full of tears.
Her eyes fly up, over my shoulder, to something behind me. The clicking of a tongue makes a chill run up my spine. “Bout fucking time you get your sorry ass home.” I turn to him, but don’t have time to protect myself from the mind-shattering blow he delivers to my temple. The black rushes over me, and I feel my body collapse to the floor, the sound of my mother’s muffled cries in the background.
First I receive a sharp kick to the ribs, followed by a slap to my face. I roll to my back and force my eyes open. Raising my hands, I try to protect my head from any more blows. The shape of a man standing over me slowly comes into focus. I watch him reach down, taking me by the throat. “Get up.” I’m hauled off the floor and slammed into a chair so forcefully, I nearly tip it over. A cell phone is shoved in my face. “Call him.”
I blink, trying to get my bearings, which awards me a back hand. “Fucking get him on the phone.” Jake roars, spit flying from his mouth and hitting me in the face.
I lift a shaky hand, taking the phone from him. Without the need to ask who he is talking about, I concentrate hard to focus on the screen, while I try my best to call up his number in my contacts. “Now, bitch.” I wince, but this time the slap doesn’t hit me, but my mother, making me scream.
“Stop! Hit me, you asshole, but leave her out of this.” My voice comes out strong and forceful.
He rushes back over to me and I shy away, as he gets right in my face taking a hand full of my hair and jerking my head back. “Don’t you fucking ever talk to me like that again, you understand, bitch?” He slaps me again, this time with the gun, knocking a tooth free. Instantly, my mouth fills with the acrid, copper taste of blood.
I turn my head to him, spitting the mouthful of blood in his face. “Fuck you,” I say to him, and smile, showing him a side of me he’s never seen. A fighter—a woman who’s sick of being pushed around and told what to do by a small-dicked bully.
He stumbles back, shocked at my defiance, but regains his composure quickly when he stops beside my mother. He lifts the weapon, placing the barrel of the gun at her temple. The sight makes the blood in my veins run cold. He turns his evil blue eyes on me. “You can call him now, or you can call him covered in your mother’s brains, you choose.” And just like that, he knows how to knock the wind right out of my sails. “Get him on the damned phone and give it to me.”
I swallow the lump in my throat down and lift the phone. I select Matthew’s contact information and hit send before lifting the phone to my ear. The ringing echoes through my soul, and I never take my eyes off the man holding a gun to my mother’s head. “I’m calling him. You can put the gun down.” My throat tightens with each word. He just shakes his head at me, holding his finger up to his lips, shushing me.
“Tessa?” The sound of Matthew’s voice doesn’t give me the relief I’d hoped for. He isn’t here, and given the circumstances, I’m not so sure he’ll come if I ask.
“Matthew.” His name comes out breathy and desperate.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Matt
I stand so fast, I knock over my stool, quieting everyone around me. “What the fuck’s wrong?” There’s a pause, her breathing is heavy in the mouth piece of the phone.
“There’s someone here who wants to talk to you.” Her voice is shaky, and I hear a substantial amount of distress in her voice. The only person I know who can do that to her is Jake. The thought makes me so angry, I tighten my hand around the beer bottle in my hand, shattering it in my fist. I hear what sounds like a struggle, then Tessa screams before his voice comes over the line.
“Got your woman here, and your boy doesn’t look like he’s gonna make it.” I turn to find the eyes of all my brothers on me, but one, the youngest, Beeker. Leo moves to the cabinet, and the others following him. “You come alone, or I’ll put a bullet in all three of their heads.” The line goes dead. I take it from my ear and resist the blinding urge to throw it across the fucking room.
“I have to go alone,” I tell them all, stopping their preparations.
Leo shakes his head. “There ain’t no fucking way you’re going in alone, brother,�
�� he says, slapping the Velcro closed on his vest.
I head to the cabinet and take out my gun. “This time I have to, but hang back with an ambulance. No sirens: Beeker’s down.” I feel the atmosphere in the room drop around me.
“Son of a fucking bitch. I knew we should’ve let Oz and the boys take that little fucker out.” Cowboy slams his fist through the dry wall to the right of our gear cabinet.
“Oh my God. Where’s Kayla?” Hollis asks, her hand covering her mouth.
“She’s at home with the baby.” Emily comes up beside her.
“Y’all can’t leave. Avery’s passed out.” Leo looks to Piper. “Call Kent, get him over there to stay with her.”
“I’ll ride, y’all bring the SUVs. I’ve got to get over there,” I say, heading for the door as I shrug on my shoulder holster, and then my vest to cover it. I stop at the door and turn around. “He has her mother too.”
They all nod their understanding, before following me out the door.
~~~~~~
I leave the others two streets over, riding the rest of the way alone. Pulling up to the house, I rev my bike to let them know I’ve made it, and so that Jake can hear that I’m here. I take a few deep breaths, calming myself, as I walk up to the house and onto the front porch. I will put him down, there is no question about that. I just have to decide if I want Tessa to see me kill him, or whether I should take him to the safe house, where I can draw out the torture I promised him if he pulled this shit again.
I take out my piece, check the clip one more time: the empty one he’ll make me discard as soon as I walk through the door. The door is ajar and I push it open farther. “I’m here,” I say, as I walk through the door with my hands held above my head. The slight whimpers of a woman has me turning left, where I’m confronted with a sight no man ever wants to see. This man has more than signed his death warrant. He’s just ensured himself a very slow, very painful, and extremely bloody death.
I hold up my hands, palms out, feeling a slight sense of panic. “Whoa, man, take that fucking gun out of her goddamned mouth.” I almost sound like I’m pleading, and I am. There’s a trace of blood running down her chin. Jake stands behind Tessa, using her body as a shield, with his hand around her neck and a 9MM in her mouth. Not since I was in the military have I had this sinking feeling hit the pit of my stomach, but seeing Tessa with a gun in her fucking mouth brings me to an all-time low.
The slight movement I see over his shoulder, through the kitchen window, lets me know my brothers are here. Clearly, they can’t listen for shit.
“Toss the gun and take off the vest,” he demands over Tessa’s head. I shrug out of my vest, hanging it on the chair closest to me. I then eject the clip, and toss the gun at his feet, my eyes catching on the set of boots lying too still behind him on the floor. “Not your fucking cut, asshole, that one.” He nods his head at my DEA vest. Tessa mumbles, shaking her head. I brace at her movements.
He leans his lips to her ear, and I watch as she slightly moves away from him. “I have my finger on the trigger, bitch. Moving your head isn’t smart.” Her eyes fill with tears as she watches me remove the vest. Not that it will necessarily stop a bullet this close, but it would significantly slow one down.
I drop it on the floor and hold my hands up again. “Okay, now take that fucking gun out of her mouth, man. This is between me and you. I’m here, that’s what you wanted.”
He laughs, and it’s then that I realize he was never going to let her go. He wanted me here so I could watch her die. Well, the joke’s on him, because that shit’s never going to happen. I see more movement outside the window, and then see Roman raise his weapon. A hole poked in the window screen is just enough for him to stick the tip of the barrel of his rifle through.
“Okay, man, listen.” I take a step to my left, making Jake move more to his right. “At least let me get Noma out of here and check on Beeker.”
“Fuck you, and fuck off.” He bangs the gun around in her mouth, making her cry out in pain. “Do you think I’m going to do a fucking thing for you? You made me look like a fool, and now I’m going to make you suffer. Nobody does that to me.” His hands begin to shake, and I can see him tightening his grip around Tessa’s neck as she starts to struggle just to breathe.
“I’m sorry for that man.” I placate him, taking another step to my left, and thankfully, he’s doing this dance with me. And just as I’d hoped, he moves another step to his right.
He laughs. “Don’t patronize me, asshole. You don’t apologize for shit.” The blood pool is growing on the floor and I know that doesn’t bode well for my brother. I have to move this along. Next thing I know, he takes the gun from her mouth and points it at me. That’s better, I can take a bullet, but my woman will not take one for me.
“Now, let her go,” I demand, but it falls on deaf ears because the crack of his gun rips through the air.
~~~~~~
Tessa
I fall to the floor covering my head when another pop rips through the air. The wind is knocked out of me when Jake’s limp body falls over mine. I scream, and with adrenaline rushing through me, I push Jake off with surprising ease. My hand lands in blood, making me slip and slide over the tile floor. I back into another body and feel a hand on my arm. “Tessa?”
I turn to see Matthew lying on the floor, holding his stomach, and I watch as blood oozes out between his fingers. “You okay baby?” I look up into his hazel eyes that are searching mine, more concerned for my safety than his own.
In a panic, I cover his hand with mine, tears blurring my vision. “Yes…oh shit…oh shit, you’re shot.” I swing around as the back door bursts open and several men in black vests file in, clearing the room.
“It’s happened before.” He smiles at me before lying back and closing his eyes.
“No, no…Matthew.” I scoot over, lifting his head in my lap. I look down at him as I hold his face in my hands. The softness of his hazel eyes melts the rest of my resolve to stay away from him, because in this moment, I know I would never really be able to. He reaches up with his free hand to wipe the tears cascading down my face, dropping to his. “I’m sorry,” I whisper to him.
“Not your fault, babe,” he says with a smile. “But we got him this time.” He stills his fingers against my cheek. “He won’t ever hurt you again.”
I lean in placing a light kiss on his lips, and as I pull away a flood of emotions hits me. “I love you, Matthew.”
I feel him slide his fingers into my hair before he tugs me down to him for another kiss. “I love you more.” He smiles up at me.
“Ma’am.” I hear a man’s voice. “Ma’am, you’re going to have to move.” I feel as I’m tugged back out of the way, and the three EMT’s taking my place begin to work on Matthew.
I turn around and find myself wrapped in a pair of strong arms. “He’s going to be okay Tess. I promise.” I look to discover it’s Eno holding me. That’s when the dam bursts and I cry into his strong broad chest.
“He’s going to be okay, but we need to get him to the ER just to make sure no internal damage was done.” I hear a man say over my shoulder.
After a few minutes, Eno begins to stroke my hair to calm me down. “Let’s go see about your mom, okay?” I nod into his chest, and he walks me over to the gurney they loaded Matthew on before rolling him out of the house.
I see my mother sitting on a bench in another ambulance and climb in, wrapping an arm around her blanket-covered shoulder. “How is she?” I ask the EMT who had been tending to her.
“She’s a little shook up,” she says, leaning over to pat my mother’s leg. “But other than that, she’ll be just fine.”
I swallow hard as I muster up the courage to ask the next question. “And Beeker, how’s he?”
She tilts her head. “Who?”
“The boy on the kitchen floor,” I say with a slight hint of panic in my tone.
“Oh, I don’t know. Sorry.” She does, but she isn’t saying. I can
tell from the way she hesitated.
I watch as they begin to load Matthew into the ambulance, and I feel my mother nudge me. “Go to him.”
“I can’t mom, I need to be here with you.” I tighten my arm around her with a sigh.
She literally pushes me out of the ambulance. “Get out of here. I’m fine, but that boy got shot for you. He needs you more than I do, now go.” I kiss her cheek, bound out of the ambulance, and hit the ground running to Matthew.
“Wait, I’m going with him,” I announce, stepping up into the ambulance. I take the seat, but stay out of the way of the furiously working EMT’s. The doors slam behind us.
I watch them fuss over him, with concerned faces and focused eyes. He’d fallen silent, his eyes closed, a rebreathing mask placed over his mouth and nose. Panic hits me: what if he doesn’t pull through? What about Jackson, what will happen to him? I push those thoughts away and concentrate on Matthew instead. I focus on how he is going to make it, and we are going to live happily ever after. I won’t have it any other way.
I follow the gurney with Matthew through the ER’s sliding doors. Right before they wheel him through to surgery, he holds up his hand and takes the mask off his face. “Wait.” They stop the gurney and he reaches his hand out to the side, as if looking for something. I stand with my arms wrapped around me, holding what pieces of me that are left together.
“Tessa?” I hurry close to take his outstretched hand.
“Yes, I’m right here.” I lower my face to his and rub his cheek with my other hand. I need the connection to him any way I can get it.
He takes a deep breath and blows it out, his hazel eyes weak but soft as they scan my face. “Did you take that pill?”
