Dark Passion (The Dark Brother Series Book One) (7 page)

“Can I put you in? Or would you rather wait until Maggie comes back?”

I stare up at
him, and close my eyes. It’s a shower where he sees me naked…or nothing. I smell the soap wafting towards me and I nod weakly. I don’t care. What’s the point in caring? I have nothing left to care about. He kneels in front of me and slowly raises the shirt over my head. Then he slides my shorts off. I’m not wearing any panties, but he quickly puts a towel over me. I’m shocked and humbled by his kindness.

He helps me with my bra, and also covers my front with a towel. Mo
st men would try and cop a look or a feel, not him. He stole me and put me in this crazy situation but he’s never been anything but respectful with my body. He helps me to my feet and as I’m lowering into the warm bubble bath, he pulls the towel back and closes his eyes. When I’m in the water and covered, he opens them and stares down at me.

“For what it’s worth,” he says,
filling his palm with shampoo. “I’m sorry.”

“Is she your
Sister?”

He nods, “Yeah.”

“Thank you.”

I stare at him, but he moves his gaze away and focuses on my hair. I groan as he rubs the shampoo in and washes it. I haven’t washed my hair for weeks. Dirt fills the bath rather quickly and he winces. He does it another two times, then
smothers it in conditioner and sits back. My head already feels a touch clearer. When Maggie returns, she spots me in the bath and a weak smile covers her face but quickly vanishes when she notices the gashes on my back.

“Oh my God!”

Jagger looks up at her, then down at my back and winces. “I didn’t do that.”

“What the hell happened?” Maggie cries, dropping to her knees and running her hands over the painful marks.

“My…ex-boyfriend did that.” I lie.

Why am I lying to protect Jagger? I should be babbling everything and telling Maggie that he took me but I can’t bring myself to do it. Jagger is the better out of two situations and right now, I’m safer here then I would be anywhere else.

“Did you report him?”

“Yes.” I lie again.

“Those marks need cream, God, you poor thing.”

“I’m ok,” I whisper.

“How are you feeling now?”

“Ok.”

“You don’t look so flash.”

I smile weakly and Jagger stands, stepping back.

“I thought a bath would help, she’s all yours.”

“Jagger…” I call.

He stops and turns, meeting my gaze. I want to say don’t go, I want to tell him I know he’s not a bad person, but instead I just say, “Thanks.”

He nods and leaves. Maggie sits beside me, and hands me a bunch of pills. I swallow them and wince.

“I’ve divided these into containers. Take them three times a day until they’re all gone.”

“Thank you, I appreciate this.”

“I’m going to put a drip in now, ok? I would usually recommend a hospital, but you’re about two hours away from the nearest hospital. Luckily for us, the town five minutes up the road had a chemist and a small surgery that happened to have a drip.”

Maggie
takes my hand and begins prodding my veins. I stare at her, so desperate to ask questions. She prods my hand again and finally she finds a vein. She slides the needle in effortlessly and I don’t whimper. When the drip is connected, she helps me out of the bath and into some fresh clothes.

“
Do you know what Jagg…err…Johnny does?”

She nods,
frowning. “I know he runs some sort of gang, I’ve known for a long time. I choose to stay out of it as much as possible.”

“
Why’d he do it?”

She sighs and sits on the bath ledge. “Johnny and I didn’t have a good child hood. He got abused by our
Father and our Mother killed herself when he was only four. I guess the gang thing is his way of having control. He was always running off the rails, and causing problems. Johnny isn’t a bad person at heart, he can be gentle and kind, he’s just got his priorities all wrong.”

“I know,” I whisper.
“I know he’s not a bad person.”

“What are you two doing in there?”
Jagger calls out.

I turn and Maggie meets my gaze. She stands and opens the door, and Jagger steps in. He looks me over and tilts his head to the side just a touch.

“Wow, you look different.”

“I
had a lot of dirt on me from walking here,” I lie.

“Your hair is beautiful.”

I’m surprised, so surprised my mouth drops open. Did he just say that? Maggie smiles and nods in agreement. “She does have beautiful hair.”

“I hate it,” I complain, ruffling it with my fingers.

“Don’t,” Jagger says. “It’s the prettiest color I’ve ever seen.”

“Most people prefer blondes.”

“I don’t.”

Our eyes meet and our gazes lock for long, long moments. My blood begins pumping rapidly through my veins and I swallow anxiously. I feel hot all over and my skin tingles. Why does Jagger make me feel this way?

He smiles a little, giving me that lopsided smirk that has my heart hammering. He steps forward and takes my arm gently, and helps me out of the room. Maggie follows. I notice he’s changed the sheets and removed the bars from the windows. A fresh breeze fills the room and I breathe it in.

“
Ah good, he’s stopped worrying about his possessions and started worrying about his girlfriend,” Maggie smirks.

Oh if only she knew the truth.
I slide into the crisp, fresh sheets and I feel exhausted. Maggie wheels the drip beside me and explains to Jagger how to turn it off and pull it out once the bag is empty.

“I’ll come back in the morning to check on her.”

“Thanks Mags,” Jagger says, patting her shoulder.

“Do as I said Johnny
and start doing the right thing by her, she’s a nice girl and nice girls won’t stand to be treated like this for long,”

He nods and she smiles at me
before leaving. When she’s gone, I close my eyes. Jagger sits on the bed beside me and I know he wants to say something. I just keep my eyes closed.

“Thank you, for what you did.”

“I want to get out of here Jagger; I won’t do anything to jeopardize that. If it meant letting her think we were together, then so be it.”

“About last night…”

“Don’t worry about it,” I croak. “I know you didn’t mean it.”

He stays silent for long, long moments. “No, I guess not.”

“Thanks for today, I’m tired now.”

He shifts and then stands, leaving the room without another word. I cry myself to sleep that night, but I know tomorrow I will wake with a new determination. I refuse to be this pit
iful little basket case anymore. Tomorrow; I will find myself again and survive the rest of this so I can go home to my family and friends.

CHAPTER
8

Two days pass before I get better and another two before I can get around like normal again. When I finally leave that bed, it’s raining outside and I’m desperate to get out. I get out of bed early in the morning and the house is quiet. I pull on a coat and some jeans and walk out of the room. Jagger must be sleeping, because no lights are on. The rain is coming down hard and heavy on the roof and I can smell it in the air.

I walk downstairs and out the front, and breathe in the fresh scent. I find an old seat on the patio and curl up onto it, just staring out at the rain. It’s heavy and I can’t see any of the trees through the mist. It’s perfect. An hour later, Jagger rushes out the front door,
half-dressed and clutching his keys. He skids to a halt when he sees me curled up on the seat and his shoulders sag in relief.

“Thought I ran away?” I mutter.

He walks over and drops down beside me, “Yeah.”

“Well I didn’t. I made a promise to you, and you made one to me. I won’t break that promise.”

“And I won’t break mine.”

“Then you know I’ll stay here until you sort this out.”

“Right, yeah, I know.”

We stare out at the rain, and I decide to ask the question that has bugged me for so long.

“How did he end up in this mess?”

Jagger turns to stare at me
, and his face softens slightly, “Your dad?”

“Yeah,
”

He leans back into the chair and starts speaking. “He fucked us over. He went undercover to bust a massive drug ring. He became part of the
brotherhood, part of the brotherhood and we trusted him. We nearly lost our lives and he got away with some precious information. We bolted, and he was put into protection. The cops didn’t have enough to bust us, because your dad kept the information. I don’t know what he plans on doing with it, but it’s essential.”

“It was his job,” I whisper.
“Surely you can’t hate him for doing his job.”

“It wasn’t just about the job, he was my friend. He and I grew close and I trusted him. I trusted that he was part of this, I thought of him as my Brother. Look, I stay away from the cops, they do what they have to do and I respect that
but he took the risk by going undercover and forming bonds with the men and he took an even bigger risk taking that information. The cops don’t even know he has it, so he’s up to something.”

“
You guys break the law all the time; it had to catch up on you eventually. I don’t know about my Father, but you have to take your own part in this.”

“You’re right,
most gangs do break the law but we’re not what I’d like to consider a gang, more like a dark brotherhood,” he grins and I roll my eyes. “Honestly, there are more murders in everyday life then there are from gangs. It’s a world cops shouldn’t try to involve themselves in, because they’ll never understand it. We don’t hurt people that are innocent; we don’t walk out on streets and blast just anyone. Everyone who we hurt or deal with chooses to be a part of it. They choose to join the brotherhood; they choose to risk their lives. We don’t ask them to and we wouldn’t touch them if they didn’t delve in the wrong places. All the people we hurt or kill are bad people, Willow.”

“What about my dad, he’s not a bad person?”

“Your dad has information; I don’t plan on killing him…”

“But…”

“Look, he was doing his job, and I respect that but he chose to delve into the things he did, he wasn’t forced to. Your Father made his own choices Willow; he has to pay for them.”

“You know he never paid much attention to me, he was always off in other worlds and busy on the job. When he died, I was sad but I was also relieved. I was sick of
being nothing to him. I was sick of everything. It shouldn’t be a relief when your Father dies.”

“Your dad was a screwed up man. He was majorly depressed and he wanted to be part of the gang, a part of him really wanted it to be real
and clearly it still does, because he’s still playing on the wrong side of the law.”

I nod, biting my lip; t
ears well in my eyes. I know why my Father was screwed up, and I still blame myself for it.

“He’s screwed up because of me, you know?”

Jagger looks at me, and narrows his eyes, “How so?”

“My
Mother got depression when she had me; serious depression. Before that, he said she was a beautiful, radiant person. It really did things to her head, and she tried to…never mind. She was admitted. She had my Sister in the mental ward, it was then my Father found out that my Sister wasn’t his and my Mother had been seeking comfort from another man. He blamed me in a sense, because if my Mother never had me…she wouldn’t have gotten depressed and looked elsewhere…”

Jagger
surprises me by taking my hand, “That’s not true; you can’t predict how life goes, Willow. Your Father should take his own blame and deal with it, if he was around more often, your Mom wouldn’t have needed to find comfort with another man. Blaming you is just a weak way out.”

I nod, swallowing. “I just want to go home Jagger…”

“It’ll be over soon, we’ve found his location and we’ll get the information we need. Then you can go and never have to worry about all this ever again.”

“I wish it were that simple.”

“It can be.”

“No Jagger, it can’t.”

We sit staring for long moments, and then a car pulls into the drive way. All the men get out and walk up the steps. Snake gives me a truly foul look, but I match it with my own.

“Lookin’ better,”
Angel says, sitting down beside Jagger.

“Thanks, I am.”

“We have issues to discuss boss,” Ace says, nodding at Jagger.

“Right,” Jag
ger stands and looks down at me. “Are you coming in?”

“No, I’ll stay here.”

“No problems.”

Jagger turns and
Snake grips his arm. “You can’t leave her out here, she could run.”