Wrath (22 page)

This time I couldn’t just run though.  I was a grown woman, and he was a grown and very sadistic man.  So I stood my ground, and I prepared myself for what I knew was coming. 

The son of a bitch didn’t rush me.  He just strode right up to me, grabbed me by my arm and pushed me face first against the wall.  I wasn’t sure if he intended to fuck me or beat me down, but I didn’t wait to find out. 

I was lucky, honestly.  If he hadn’t relaxed a bit, I might not have been able to unbalance him.  As it was, when I felt him step closer, I pushed off the wall, using it to increase my momentum as I threw my full weight against him.

It was just enough of a shock that he let go as he fell.  That hand scrabbled to drag me down with him, of course, but I was already stumbling forward.  I turned around as he was climbing to his feet and kicked him right in the face.

Watching his head snap back and blood fly from his nose almost froze me with awe.  I’d hit the bastard.  I’d really hit him!

That kick must have hurt like hell and it definitely derailed him a little, but it didn’t knock him out.  He scrambled around on the ground, trying to climb onto his knees.  “Fuck, you little bitch.  I am going to fuck you up.  And I am going to fuck you hard.” 

Needless to say, the words “fuck” and “hard” were not particularly sexy to me at that moment.  There was a difference between a bit of play between lovers and the brutality of what Samuel intended to do to me.  There would be no pleasure on my part, no safe word – just screams and pain.  Because that’s all he wanted. 

He was a seriously fucked up man, and he took great pleasure in destroying other people’s lives.

He leapt at me, taking a swipe at the side of my head.  I ducked and dodged him, but his hand caught my jacket.  He used the sudden handle-hold to jerk me towards him.

He caught me with surprising gentleness, pushed me back before I could get my balance – and then he punched me once, twice, right in the face. 

I felt the blood burst from my lip and nose, and I suddenly was having a hard time seeing.

I staggered but I didn’t fall.  My swing missed, but when he grabbed me again, I reached up and dug my fingers into his face, searching for the squishy meat of his eyes and fighting to keep my fingers clear of his mouth.

I knew too well what he intended to do with me if he got the upper hand.  When he jerked me around, tearing my hand from his face, I bit into his arm.  Hard. 

I broke the skin, the taste of his blood filling my mouth.  It was gross, so gross, but it made him scream – really scream!  He flailed and struck me in the face, knocking me away.

I fell to the ground and struggled to get up, but he kicked me right in the stomach. 

It was as if the world exploded inside of me.  I couldn’t breathe, or control my limbs.  I couldn’t even scream.  And just as I started to get some air in my lungs to scream, he kicked me again, screaming in fury that I had dared to hurt him. 

I couldn’t scream.  By that time I couldn’t even see.  I tasted blood and I was sure bones were breaking as he kicked me again and again…

Then, I heard a few voices, but my brain was getting fuzzy. 

I couldn’t figure out what was going on, but he seemed to be gone for the moment.  Dreading him reappearing to beat me again, I fumbled in my jacket for my phone.  I couldn’t see but my finger searched numbly for the emergency contact button and pressed till I heard the faintest of rings.

When the noise faded, I whispered, “Help me.  Please.”  I wasn’t sure if I had reached Layla or if the call had fallen out. 

Everything just went black, and the horror faded a bit, and then there was nothing but floating in a dark painful haze…

Aidan

I pushed through the swinging door of the hospital, nearly running into the wing where Emma was being kept. 

She’s been rushed to the hospital and admitted.  She was in critical condition.  No one had been able to tell me anything else.

I was sweating and shaking, and had to put my hand on the wall as I rushed down the hall.  My balance was off so badly with shock that I nearly fell twice. 

I had the very real certainty that this was all my fault. 

I should’ve been watching her.  Should’ve had some men keeping an on her.  We had thought she would be safe on campus.  I’d looked into it.  There were emergency phone booths on every corner, and the campus took security very seriously. 

We’d been busy on our end, too.  We hadn’t heard from any contacts on Samuel’s whereabouts and we were sure he had skipped town.  It had started to look like he had sent someone to find out where she lived and then begun harassing her from afar. 

When the packages had stopped coming, I had hoped he had finally realized she was too well protected. 

It had been a stupid assumption.

“Where is she?”  I barked at the nearest prospect.  He’d been closest and had come by to get what information was available.  Layla had told him to say that he was Emma’s cousin.  The staff had believed him only as far as admitting Emma was in critical care. 

Fuck, the kid looked as scared as I felt.

He wasn’t a Tommy.  He was shaking at the sight of me, but he pointed, making sure I could find my girl. 

I wanted to make someone pay for this shit.  Someone had to suffer.  Someone besides my girl.  My Emma. 

Everyone was there, everyone but me.  I’d been training at the gym, had no idea it happened.  No idea that she’d gotten fucked up until one of the guys had told me my phone was spazzing like an electrocuted fish.  Layla and Rage had left a total of fifteen messages. 

I’d called the clubhouse and Mick had made sure I had the right hospital and told me to get my ass over here. 

“Layla?”  My voice begged her to tell me everything would be all right.

Layla broke from the group and placed an arm on mine, leading me through the curtains to Emma’s bedside. 

“She’s fine.  She’s lost some blood, and she has a concussion.  Needed some stitches… There was nothing fatal, but because of the head injury they want to observe her overnight.” 

I nodded but I had eyes only for Emma.

She smiled up at me, her eyes black and there were bruises on her arms.  There was a bit of blood on the bandage that had been taped over her brow.  She looked so tired, laying back on the pillow, but she reached for me.  I saw the IV catheter taped to her forearm, ready to be hooked up if she needed a drip.

I shuddered at the faint smudge of blood under the medical tape.

I was suddenly fighting the urge to throw up all over the floor.  I hated hospitals.  I hated the way they smelled, all the little sounds and hellish white noise. 

I’d spent months in hospitals, living with IVs aching in my arms for weeks, being poked and prodded.  What no one tells you is how lying around that long makes your body ache like a motherfucker. 

I had never wanted to come to another hospital for the rest of my life.

What made it all worse was seeing her lying there, grinning up at me like everything was fine. 

“You okay, darlin’?”

She nodded.  “I’ll make it.”

“We’re tracking down that bastard now, baby girl.  We don’t let him hurt you again.  Have the police been to see you?” 

I looked around to Rage and Thrash who were standing at the head of the bed.

Rage filled me in.  “Yeah, they’ve been here.”

Emma explained.  “I did what I was told.  Told them it was a random mugger.  I didn’t see him.  Didn’t know -”

She drew a confused breath and then looked at me again, her eyes struggling to make sense of it all.

She really did have one hell of a bump on that pretty little head of hers.

“Good.  That’s good, Emma.  This way, if we hurt him, they won’t be able to trace it back to us.”

Her mouth opened into a ‘O’ of surprise.  “Are you going to hurt him?”

“Yes, darlin’.  We are going to make sure he never hurts another woman again, you understand?”  I was going to fucking beat him to a bloody pulp when I got ahold of him.  We’d bury him.  Hand his body over to the Mob to dispose of.  There was no way my girl was going to have to go through anything like this again.  And now that I had a look at what he was willing to do, I was going to make sure he couldn’t do it to anyone else ever again.

“You call Strike?”  I asked Rage, and he nodded.  “I know you didn’t want to get him involved before –”

“They’re good for some things.”  Rage backed away to look me in the eye.  He saw the darkness in them, the chill, merciless hatred. 

Rage didn’t comment on it though, just took me off to the side and muttered what we were planning.  We needed Strike and his resources for more than just murder.  They knew the labyrinth of the drug business that crisscrossed the city.  There were over two thousand heroin suppliers in Pittsburgh alone, all scattered across the city like ticks, and Strike knew them all in one way or another. 

We were looking for a heroin dealer, and those suppliers might just have information for us. 

“How long do you think it’ll take them to find him?”

“Not sure, but I put some weight on this.  He’s a threat to Kat and Kat’s is ours to protect, yeah?  I wouldn’t guess more than a couple of days.” 

Good.  “Can I talk to you, Aidan?  Alone?” 

I couldn’t tell if Emma had been listening, but she looked concerned.

“Sure, sure, baby.”  I turned and looked at the guys, but they were already filing out.  “Thanks.”

Thrash nodded, said, “No problem,” and pulled the curtain closed behind him.

As soon as we heard the door close, she looked at me.  “I don’t want you doing anything stupid, do you understand?” 

“What do you mean, Emma?”

“I don’t want you to cross any lines, Aidan.  You don’t need to hurt this man.  He is a piece of shit, and yeah, maybe you need to rough him up, but don’t do anything serious.”

Oh, I was going to do something serious, alright.  I was going to kill that fucking bastard.  He’d put his hands on the wrong girl. 

Who the fuck did he think he was?  He was going to be meeting the Wrath of Fire and Steel very soon.

“Emma –”

“No, I mean it.  You’ve got murder in your eyes, Aidan, and too much of a conscience to live with yourself after the fact.  I might have hit my head, but I know you…”

She had no idea all the shit that I was still carrying around.  From the war, from my life.

I smoothed over the lines on my face and tried to mask my feelings.  “I got it, baby girl.  You don’t want me to kill him, I won’t kill him.”

I had to lie to her.  Just this once.  Men like Samuel didn’t just go away.  They didn’t suddenly have a change of heart.  They looked like human beings but something inside of them was broken past the point of return, and I knew sure as the sun would rise this motherfucker would be back to hurt my girl.  And next time, he might kill her.

I wasn’t going to let that happen.

“I love you, Aidan,” she murmured, squeezing my hand.

When I leaned down to kiss her, I did it carefully.

She snorted softly.  “I’m not made of glass, Aidan.  I won’t break.”

I didn’t argue with her.  She couldn’t see what her mother’s pimp had done.  And she was underestimating her own bravery.  I could guess facing down the man who had owned her mother had taken some guts, and here she was, just smiling as if she had just tripped in the supermarket. 

She’d come so close to breaking…

This place and the reality of it all began to hit me, and I realized I needed to get out of there.  The walls of the hospital started to close in on me.  My vision darkened a little. 

She could have died. 

She could have
died
…

I needed to go and do something.  Hit something.

“I gotta go, Emma,” I managed to say, but she looked like she was falling into a haze.  I hurried over and banged the door. 

“She’s trying to fall asleep!”  I barked, and Layla dashed past me to shake Emma awake.  I heard their voice, made sure Emma was going to be okay, and then I got the hell out of there. 

If I hit the floor, I wouldn’t be any use to anyone.  And if I went on a rampage, they’d throw me out.  Since I was going to one or the other if I stayed, I booked it for the exit. 

Fuck mercy.  I was going to end this.  Permanently.

Emma

I slid into his Chevelle and sighed, pressing my back against the seat. 

I felt fine.  My headache was completely gone and even the bruises didn’t hurt as much.  Nothing was as bad as it seemed yesterday. 

I was still a little tender and my insides ached from the kicks, but I knew I was going to be all right.  I was with Aidan.

“I want to take you somewhere, are you up for it?”  he asked.  He was being so careful, checking again and again to make sure I was okay.  It was sweet for now, but I was going to have to make him understand I was just fine.  I knew if this kept up too long, it would start to annoy me.

“Where to?”

“Another hang-around of my childhood.  The old bastard that runs the place has been asking to meet you.” 

“Sure.”

He smiled at me, pleased and proud as a little boy, and started the car up, the roar of the engine was almost deafening.  It was part of the charm of that old car, and I had to admit, as much as I preferred his bike, I was always going to love the seats of this old Chevelle.  Just the smell of the vinyl gave me flashbacks of what we’d gotten up to on the side of the road.  In broad daylight.

I leaned into him and took a deep breath.  We were going to have to try that again sometime.  But when I felt better.

When he spoke again, he took me by surprise, murmuring, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”  I was confused.  I didn’t feel one hundred percent yet, but I didn’t think I hit my head that hard.  He hadn’t done this to me.  He had nothing to apologize for.

His thoughts were elsewhere.

“I couldn’t stay yesterday.  I can barely stand going to the VA to see my doctor and get adjusted.  The walls, they started closing on me in there.  I just –”

“Oh, that.  I know.  I could tell you needed some fresh air.  You looked more scared than I’d ever seen you.” 

I knew the moment the words left my mouth that I’d said the wrong thing.

He clamped his jaw, and his walls came down hard. 

I should’ve have said that.  He would never admit he was scared, never let it stop him.  I had figured out years ago that some hurdles were easier for a man to overcome when his woman wasn’t talking about them. 

“It doesn’t matter, Aidan.  You came.  That’s all that matters.” 

He nodded, and removed his arm from around me in order to shift, the car zooming down the highway.  I felt uneasy when his arm did not automatically wrap back around me like it usually did, but I tried to keep it to myself.

He was so edgy right now…

We pulled up to a small street-market of shops, and he parked in front of the last one.  It was a little boxing MMA gym.  A hole in the wall kind of place.  I was certain it had a grouchy old man as the owner.

“Is this it?”  I asked, leaning forward to see the sign.  It just read ‘GYM,’ in big generic letters.

“This place, well, before the club saved me, this place did.” 

He got out and walked around so he could open the door for me.  I stepped out and when I took the hand he offered, he pulled me up and into him.  He kissed me right there in the street and I smiled against his lips.

My man was amazing.  He always came around. 

“I’ve been waiting to do that again, baby.”  His hands pulled me close to him as he looked me right in the eyes, his mouth blowing soft warm breaths in my face.  “You okay?”

I nodded, trying to get my footing.  Being close to Aidan would probably always make me a little dizzy.

“I’m fine.”  I nodded, fighting to stay upright.

He led me into the gym as though it was a penthouse.  It was exactly like I thought it was going to be.  Stuck in the 1970’s, this place hadn’t tried at all to keep up with the times.  It was dark and grimy, and it catered almost exclusively to men.  A boxing ring waited in the center of the facility.  There were a series of bags, weights, and treadmills of all sizes in each of the corners.

“So this is where you go when you need to get it out?”  I asked him, and he nodded.

“Been coming here since I was a teen.  Bart helped me get ready for the service and he helped me recover when I came home.”

“You brought her!”  And elderly man in great shape greeted us, his smile wide as he reached for my hand.

“I’ve heard a shit ton about you, girlie.  Emma, is it?  The only girl he’s ever talked about.  We were making bets on whether he would ever settle down.  You must be special -” The guy talked a mile a minute and I struggled to keep up. 

He was a sweet old man, though, and he definitely had his wits about him.  He didn’t use a bunch of fancy words, but he was sharp and charming and friendly without creeping me out.  That took natural talent – and a lot of time to practice.  I guessed this was ‘Bart.’

I glanced at Aidan, a small smile twitching my lips.

It was hard not to giggle.   The old man was wearing a muscle shirt.  It always cracked me up to see muscles and gray hair on the same person, but I had to admit I was impressed.  The man was well defined.  He was in peak condition for his age.

“I want her to learn some self-defense,” Aidan explained.

Bart nodded, but I just smiled.  “Excuse me, can I have a minute with Aidan, please?”  I asked. 

I pulled him aside.

“I’ve had self-defense training.  Is this about -?”

When his eyes slid away from mine, I huffed.  “I can take care of myself.”

Aidan looked like he was ready for this argument.

“Look, I know you can handle yourself, I just want to make sure that you keep up with the training, Emma.  I don’t want anyone putting another beating on you.  You hear me?”  His eyes were pleading but his voice was demanding.

I could tell he’d practiced his approach.

He went on.  “Look, I just want you to be able to handle anyone.  A mugger, a repeat attack from Samuel.  I don’t want anyone putting you in the hospital again, you feel me?” 

I scowled. 

He was starting to get angry.  I could tell from the fire in his eyes that he was thinking about Samuel and what he wanted to do to the guy.

I was worried about it.  “Fine.  I’ll let Bart teach me some new moves.”  I crossed my arms.

“That doesn’t sound like you want to.”  He glared at me. 

It was cute in a way.

“If you want me to want to, you’ll have to work harder than that.”

If my voice went a little huskier as I leaned into his face, my body closer to his, well, wasn’t that the point?

Aidan opened his mouth and shut it again, glaring down at me, but I saw amusement beginning to creep into his eyes.

Bart made his way back over.  “You get her to agree to it?”

“Yeah… Yeah, man.”

“I’ll put her on the family plan.  Your hero over here doesn’t have to pay nothing.”  He pointed at Aidan.  “Military heroes are complimentary.  So are their significant others.”

Aidan’s jaw hardened but he changed the subject.

“Good.  I hope to get all the Fire and Steel family over here to train eventually, but I wanted Emma to be the first.”

“Even Mick and Crowe?”  I asked, giggling. 

He nodded.

Well, it made sense.  Aidan was the MC’s sergeant at arms.  He wanted to make sure the men were ready to handle anything.  I wasn’t sure if they were wise or masochistic for putting Aidan in charge of physical performance trials.  Military standards could be pretty brutal.

“Especially Mick and Crowe,” he replied.  “Look at Bart, here.  Man’s ten years older than them, at least.”  Aidan shook his head.  “If you are going to run with an MC you have to be tough enough to handle everything that comes with it.”

“Hey, I’m in peak condition.  All the ladies love my body.”  Bart flexed and raised his eyebrows at me. 

I couldn’t help but giggle. 

“I get a lot of action at the independent living communities.”

Wow
.

“This one is too much, Aidan.” 

He grinned.

“So who put the beat-down on you?”  Bart asked me, his tone turning serious.

I didn’t want to remember it.

“Some mugger.” 

I tried not to look like I was lying, but it wasn’t easy.  Samuel had done a number on me.

And I had seen the look in Aidan’s eyes.  I knew he meant to murder him.

Still, he promised me he wouldn’t kill the man, and I had to trust that he meant what he said.  I had to trust that he would be true to his word in the end.  There was no way in hell I’d stay with someone who lied to me. 

The brutal truth, I could take.  But lies?  No.  Tell one, you’d tell a thousand.  And eventually they’d come back to bite me, too.

My mother had been the queen of lies.  I’d rather hear the hard truth any day. 

Still, there was a thick nagging ache in my belly, warning me that the rules had changed.