Chapter 18~
Danny and I plop down on the surprisingly white leather couch. Stu tucks into the giant-ass swivel chair, and Charlie falls into the matching white loveseat by the windows. With a groan, he roughly rubs his hands down in his face then leans his head back on the loveseat, staring up at the ceiling.
“What a fucking mess,” He grumbles. With a heavy sigh, he leans forward and braces his forearms on his knees. Staring at the floor for a moment, he begins nodding before looking up at Stu. “Ok, spill.”
Stu’s eyes shoot up to meet Charlie’s gaze. Time stands still as they have a silent conversation. Stu’s brows furrow into a deep scowl, and Charlie raises his brow in dominance.
“No, no way,” Stu shakes his head adamantly and all but yells. “I will not betray her like that.” Since I’m a little closer to Stu, I can see his hands trembling even though the rest of him seems stiff as a board.
Danny shuffles closer to me, intertwining our fingers in my lap and scooching forward on the couch. Little shit loves drama.
I’m mid-eye-roll when Charlie grunts dismissively. His voice is low and menacing as he glares at Stu and delivers each word he speaks with purpose and authority. “I don’t give a fuck about betrayal. Right now, we’re in some unknown woman’s house, who has a fucking dungeon in her garage- and don’t think we won’t be talking about that, either- who you all clearly know and-” He grunts and waves his hand in there dismissively. “Clearly know or like or are fuckin-”
Stu shoots up off the couch and is in Charlie’s space faster than I can blink. A low, rumbling growl fills the silence. When Danny rubs my thigh with his other hand, I realize the growl is coming from me.
Shaking my head out of the daze that is Bea, I look back at Stu squaring off with Charlie. Charlie’s standing to his full height, putting him about four inches above Stu, but he doesn’t seem bothered by it. In fact, Stu’s whole body seems to shift and broaden to match Charlie’s much larger, bulkier frame.
With a thin finger, Stu pokes Charlie in the chest. His voice is deeper and, frankly, scarier than I’ve ever heard it before. “Don’t ever talk about her like that again.” He grits through his teeth. “She is my friend and you will respect her. She is not a danger to us, or anyone else…” His demeanor shifts slightly as he loses some of his fight. “Well, not to anyone who isn’t a soulless, filthy, rat bastard who preys on others.”
As he shrugs a shoulder with indifference, I feel my face mirror Charlie’s: brows raised high, jaws open in shock. Did he just insinuate that…
Stu jumps in again, “And don”t think I didn”t see the look on your face when you came back to the room. What the hell was that about?!”
“Stu?!” A groggy, pained voice echoes through the living room, ending the remaining standoff between our leader and our hacker. Danny and I bolt upright and see Bea trying to wrap her arms around herself. Her clothes are still torn and tattered. The bruising on her face and arms is more prominent in the light of the living room.
We all stare in shock, not only to see her awake, but to also see her eyes fill with steely determination and a hint of hurt.
Stepping forward, I go to reassure her, but she immediately moves backward, hitting the wall behind her. Squinting at me, she takes in my now dirty clothes, then travels over to Danny, then Charlie, before settling on Stu. This close, I can see the tears forming in her eyes as she looks over at him. “Why are you here? Why did you bring them here? How did y-?”
Stu raises his hands and slowly moves towards her like she’s a wounded animal. “Woah, easy Bea.” With a glance over his shoulder to Charlie, who nods his permission, Stu turns back and takes another step. “I know you don’t know a lot about what I, what we, do…” He gestures to us causing her to flit her eyes over us quickly before landing back on him. “But, we were tracking a guy. A bad guy. And, we found out you two were meeting. What happened tonight…” With a heavy sigh, he drops his hands and furrows his brows in sorrow. “You weren’t the first. He’s, they’ve, done this before. We tracked him to that property, and got you back here.”
I briefly glance over at him and realize that he looks pained. Like it’s taking every ounce of restraint he has not to run to her and scoop her into his arms.
The air is still; the silence becomes oppressive as she darts her eyes around the room. Finally, she bites her lip, that plush delicious lip, and softly speaks, “Th-the cuts and stuff. Did you, um-” Her cheek, without the hand-shaped bruise, flushes with embarrassment.
“No. We have a doctor on call. He checked you out. Also said if you wanted tests for, ya know…” He awkwardly flings his hands toward her vagina, and I groan at his sweet but ridiculous inability to talk normally around her. Not that I can blame him.
Her face turns beet red, and her lips begin to tremble. Her voice comes out raspy, likely from her screaming, and so low that we all silently shuffle closer to her. Staring at the ground, she whispers, “So, you found me, saved me, then brought everyone here?”
Stu nods silently, looking at her with worry written all over his body. He kind of looks like a boy who just got sent to the principal”s office, and he”s scared they”re going to call his parents. I’m trying to put the pieces together of their strange dynamic when she interrupts my thoughts.
“Thank you. For your help. But, um, I’m good. You can leave, now.”
Danny and I give her gentle smiles and begin to make our way around the couch before Charlie calls out, “We need to grab the other two first. Then we can move out.” His whole voice changes from his usually grave tone to something deeper and kind of awkward. What the hell is going on?
Bea’s eyes grow wide with alarm as she scans the room, assuming she missed who he”s talking about. “They’re not with us, Queenie. We put them in your holding room while Doc checked your injuries.” Stu’s calm and laid-back response is much closer to his usual demeanor which causes me to relax a little.
But, apparently, that was too soon.
“What?!” Bea screeches indignantly. “Have you lost your ding-dang mind?” Her eyes flash with fury as she stares Stu down. I shuffle a little, the fire in her eyes causing my cock to stir. Images of her sassing me in the forest flash through my mind and I have to actively hold back a moan.
Stu huffs in exasperation, rolling his eyes. “What else were we supposed to do Bea? You were fucking out of it. Danny took out the asshole on top of you and Even had to handle the one-eyed dipshit. And you needed help! This was the closest place we could bring you to get you help as quickly and safely as possible.” Stu’s pacing like a caged animal; anguish and desperation waft off of him in waves. He tugs his bright pink hair by the roots and growls out.
But, Bea’s not backing down. “So you brought a bunch of men, strangers, to my place? To my dang house and let them see my, my,” she flaps her arms towards the garage as she loses her words for a second. Eventually, she huffs out a sigh and rolls her eyes, slapping her hands on her thighs. Then she mumbles, shaking her head angrily, “Figures. Just like every other forking-”
“Don’t you dare say I’m like the others! I’m not Matt!” Spittle flies out of Stu’s mouth as he releases his emotions. I don’t know who the fuck Matt is, but he clearly messed Bea up. And, Stu’s so sensitive when it comes to her that if she’s trying to compare them, he’s going to lose it.
Charlie must sense the same thing as we both step towards them, hoping to de-escalate the situation. But, we don’t get far…
Slap!“You son-of-a-jackal! How dare you. Just because you didn’t use your friend status to guilt-trip me into fucking you doesn’t mean you didn’t betray me. How dare you use that against me!”
What. The. Fuck.