Revved (Axle Alley Vipers) (10 page)

Chapter Eleven

R
eid glanced over at Rusty staring out the window as they drove further out of the city toward his place and wondered what was going on in that head of hers.

The night before, after his complete lack of control, disgracing himself in front of her, he’d reluctantly taken her home. After what she’d told him, he’d needed to get a handle on things. He didn’t care how many men a woman chose to fuck, that was her business, but hearing that Rusty had only been with one guy—once? Shit, he turned into a goddamned caveman. It had been too damn much. Every instinct inside him had screamed to claim her. He’d been in no condition to take things slow, and she deserved better that that. She deserved better than him.

Rusty wasn’t the kind of woman he usually messed with. Shit, he had no business being with her.

She constantly threw him off balance. He barely knew which way was up when she was with him.

He’d seen the innocence in her from the start, but he’d had no idea what it meant. Now he did, and the knowledge only increased his need for her.

Rusty wasn’t used to the games men and women played. She didn’t screw around, and she didn’t give herself to just anyone. Most of all, she didn’t trust easily.

This hadn’t escaped him. Hurting her, using her—could break her.

Yet, here he was, Rusty by his side, heading to his house for dinner. If he had his way, she wouldn’t be leaving until morning. He couldn’t stop this now. Especially after last night.

The way she’d opened up to him. Said she was afraid she might disappoint him
.
And then, fuck, the way she’d come apart for him, wild and unrestrained. Shit.

He was taking a crazy risk letting her in, but he couldn’t turn away from this, not now. Rusty was special. He knew he didn’t deserve her, but when he was with her, he felt like a different man. And maybe with her—a better man.

For the first time in his life, maybe he could have something good, something sweet and clean and pure.

He felt the weight of her stare and glanced over at her. She looked casual and sexy in jeans and a red T-shirt that draped off one shoulder, showing a good portion of smooth colorful skin. Skin he knew would smell like the vanilla soap she used. “What’re you thinking about, Foxy?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

He grinned. “You sure you wanna know?”

She shook her head and laughed softly. “You never stop, do you?”

“Can’t. Not with you sitting close.” He reached out and rested his hand on her thigh. “You think about what we did in the car last night?”

“I thought about it.” She licked her lower lip.

Jesus.

He gave her thigh a squeeze. “Me too. All damn day. I had to stay sitting behind my desk so I didn’t give the boys the wrong idea.”

She laughed again, this time the way he loved, throwing her head back and letting go. “Oh my God, I would’ve loved to have seen that.”

He gave her another squeeze to get her attention, and she quit laughing. “I want you, Rusty, you know that. But no pressure, okay? We take this as slow as you need, yeah?”

She smiled. “Okay.”

Though he hoped like hell not too slow.

His phone rang beside him, and he glanced down. His mother. Pulling over on the side of the road, he quickly answered it. “Yeah, Ma.”

He could barely hear what she was saying through her sobs, but what he did hear was his father’s name.

Then he heard the banging. The yelling.

Jesus Christ.

“You called the cops?”

“Yes, but I’m scared.”

“I’ll be right there.” He ended the call, swung the car around, and gunned it, heading back the way they’d come.

“What’s going on? Was that your mother? Is she okay?” Rusty’s voice was full of concern.

Why now? Why tonight?

His father always managed to crawl back into his life and fuck it up. Always. Looked as though the old bastard was about to do it again. “Old man’s on a bender, decided to pay her a visit. Looks like you’ll get to meet the folks.”

She remained silent, but he could feel her eyes locked on him. He knew she was taking in the change, could no doubt feel the anger and hatred pouring out of him in waves.

Maybe this was for the best. He couldn’t walk away. He knew that now. And if he didn’t, he’d only drag her down with him, down into the hell that was the reality of his fucked-up life. In some twisted way, he was pleased this was happening tonight. Before he knew what it was like to have her in his bed, how it felt to hold her while she slept, before he lost himself to her completely.

Now he wouldn’t have to push her away. She’d take one look at where he came from, see the toxic crap that ran through his veins, and run in the other direction.

It took ten minutes to reach his mother’s place, a three-bedroom condo on a quiet street. He’d bought it for her a few years ago. He’d wanted to put her in an apartment, one with decent security, but she’d hated the idea. She wanted a garden, and this place had a small patch of grass down the side where she grew vegetables. She loved that damn garden. Spent hours in the thing.

His father was currently stumbling through it, tearing it up, coming around from the back, banging on the windows as he went, screaming his mother’s name on the way to the front door.

They’d arrived before the cops, and he knew his old man well enough to know if he didn’t do something to stop him, he’d smash a window or kick the door clean off its hinges.

He turned to Rusty. “Stay here.”

She stared at him, eyes wide—shock, horror, pity, all there on her beautiful expressive face. “Do you want me to call the police again?”

He shook his head. “They’ll be here soon.”

Climbing out of the car, he approached the man who had made his life a living hell for as far back as he could remember. “What’re you doing here, old man?”

His father swung around, face red with anger and whiskey. As soon as he saw Reid, a sneer twisted his lips. “Nobody asked you to stick your fucking nose into this, boy. She’s my wife, and you have no right keeping her from me.”

Reid stared him down. “She’s not your wife anymore, remember? You need to leave, now.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do, you little piece of shit. I’ll see my wife whenever the fuck I like.” Then he stumbled up the steps and proceeded to bang the hell out of the front door. “Let me in, Carol. Bitch, you’ll be fucking sorry if you don’t.”

The curtain slid open, and her ashen face peered out, even with the lights out, he could see the tears streaking down her cheeks, the way she shook. He’d seen his mother cry more than he’d ever seen her smile, had heard more of her sobs than he had her laughter, and it was all because of this asshole.

Striding forward, he gripped his father’s shirt and yanked him away from the door. The bastard spun and clocked the side of his jaw. For a drunk he was quick, always had been. He went for a second shot, but Reid ducked out of the way. The momentum had his father stumbling to the side, and Reid managed to twist his arm up his back, kick his legs out from under him, and shove him to the ground.

“I’ll fucking kill you, Carol,” his father screamed. “I’ll make you bleed, bitch.”

Reid slammed his fist into his prone father’s kidney to shut him up. He deserved it, that and a whole lot more. “Shut the hell up.”

His mother had made friends in this neighborhood. This would humiliate her, take her back to a time when she’d had no one, had been too afraid to make friends. Her life had revolved around this bastard, avoiding his fists, hiding the truth from everyone around them.

His father grunted and sucked in a sharp breath. “Y-you always were a mama’s boy, weren’t you, you fucking waste of space.”

Reid ignored the insults, had heard them all before, had heard them since before he was old enough to understand what they meant.

“Son,” his father rasped. “Come on, let me up, son.”

He knew what came next. The pleading, the bargaining. “Just keep your mouth shut till the cops get here.”

“I just need some cash, and then I’ll go away. I won’t come back, you hear me? I’m just down on my luck is all. I just need a little to tide me over. Come on, boy. Help your old man out?”

“I’m gonna tell you the same thing I tell you every time you come groveling. I will never give you a damn cent. Ever. I owe you nothing.”

As always, this sent the bastard off all over again. Reid pinned him down, while he continued to yell insults and threats.

“The police are here.”

He twisted his head at the sound of Rusty’s voice. He hadn’t even seen her get out of the car. “I told you to stay put.”

She flinched at the rough edge to his voice, the way he snapped at her, but his control was shot. He’d dealt with this asshole one too many times, and the last thing he wanted or needed was an audience. An audience with big green eyes filled with goddamn pity.

Two officers came over and cuffed his father, dragging him toward a patrol car. Reid followed to give them his statement, while the second officer went and spoke to his mother. When they finally finished and he’d watched them drive away, he went looking for Rusty.

She was gone.

What the hell did you expect?

He knew bringing her here, witnessing this nightmare, was a bad idea. She’d seen a side of him he’d never wanted her to see, and he’d scared her away.

He’d been an idiot to believe, if only for a minute, that he could have her, because he’d known right from the beginning, he couldn’t. These last couple of days, he’d been kidding himself to think otherwise. Not with the dark shit that twisted inside him. He’d let it surface tonight, had taken his frustration and anger out on her, when she was only trying to help. He shoved a hand in his hair. Jesus, he’d screwed everything up.

Striding across the lawn to his mother’s house, he used his key to get in. He could hear the television going in the living room out back and headed down the short hall. When he rounded the door he came to a dead stop, heart kicking into overdrive at what he saw.

Rusty sat on the couch beside his distraught mother, arm wrapped around her thin shoulders, holding one of her hands and doing her best to comfort a woman she had never met in her life, a complete stranger.

“Would you like a hot drink, Carol? Tea, coffee, maybe a hot chocolate?”

“No, I’m fine, dear.” His mom patted Rusty’s hand.

“You have nothing to worry about now. Reid will make sure of it.”

The surety in Rusty’s voice made his chest ache. “You’re here?” The words formed on their own, escaped before he could stop them.

Her chin lifted, and those exquisite eyes landed on him, unwavering. “Of course. Where else would I be?”

As far away from me as you can get
. That’s where she should be.

But she was still here. She hadn’t left. He didn’t know what to say. How to feel about it with so many emotions battling for dominance right then.

His mother came off the couch, came straight to him. He wrapped her in his arms, and she broke down all over again. He held her while she cried, her slight frame shaking under his hands. “It’s okay, Ma. He’s gone. I’ll look at finding you a new place, okay? Somewhere with better security.”

She shook her head. “I’m not letting you do that. Besides, I like it here. I have friends here, my garden. I-I don’t want to move.”

“It’s all right. We’ll sort something out.”

Rusty stood and left the room, giving his mother her privacy while she pulled it together. Again showing him that sweet side of her nature, the side she kept hidden from nearly everyone else. Everyone except those she cared about, those she trusted.

She trusts you.

She didn’t run.

Jesus, he couldn’t think about that now. The way he felt right then, about her—he could easily say something he could never take back. Something that would only make it harder to walk away.

When she returned, she had coffee for all of them. They drank their drinks, mostly in silence, and he kept an eye on his mother the whole time. She’d calmed down, but he wasn’t leaving her, not after that. Seeing the old man always affected her deeply. All the self-confidence she’d worked hard to gain would evaporate. The sparkle in her eyes that took too many years to return would dim.

“Will you be okay for a bit? I’ll take Rusty home, then come back. I’ll stay here tonight.”

His mother shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I called a friend, and she’s coming to keep me company. You go on. I’ll be fine.”

“Ma…”

“I’m fine.” She looked over at Rusty. “It was lovely to meet you, dear. I’m just sorry about the reason behind it. You and Reid will have to come for dinner sometime soon.”

His father had just been hauled away for breaking the conditions of the restraining order against him, and she was talking about dinner plans. She hated anyone knowing what she’d been through, was ashamed of it, and was doing a damn fine job of pretending she was okay. Rusty being as astute as she was, picked up on what his mother was doing and went along with it, like his old man hadn’t just tried to break the front door down.

“I’d like that, Carol, very much.” And she offered her one of those killer smiles.

A few minutes later the friend arrived, and they were being ushered to the front door. They said their good-byes, and his ma gave him another hug, squeezing him tight, and before she released him, whispered, “I like her.”

Yeah, you and me both.

His mom worried about him. Went on about him settling down every other week. The last thing he needed was her getting false hope.

They left, and Rusty walked beside him in silence. Then without a word, she slid her hand in his, silently offering up a piece of herself to him. He latched on, took what she was freely giving. Right then he
needed
it, needed her. Her touch, her warmth—shit, it made his gut twist in knots.

“Take me home, Reid.” Her voice was soft, softer than he’d ever heard it, and sweet. His stomach clenched at her words. Of course she wanted him to take her home.

All he wanted to do was crush her to him and never let her go.