32. Jasper
32
JASPER
There aren’t many things in life that shock me anymore. Amuse me and surprise me, sure. But shock? Not really. I’d like to credit my absolute piece-of-shit father for that one. Because once you find out that one of your parents had a whole ass double life for your entire life, it changes your perspective on things.
But Coraline Carter standing in front of my room inside the clubhouse with tears in her eyes and a red mark on her face not only shocks the hell out of me. It knocks something loose inside of me. This dark and depraved thing that I don’t know if I knew existed.
It’s different from the pieces of myself I’ve had to reshape and mold to survive those tough years of warring MCs.
Nah this—this is something far more dangerous. A beast without morals or rules, it’s tether held by one person alone. It rears up, pawing the air in agitation before it prowls along inside my consciousness.
I don’t think. I scoop her into my arms, bringing her inside my room and kicking the door closed with the bottom of my boot.
She buries her face in my chest, her tears soaking my shirt, but not before I see the swollen, red skin around her eye. I hold her tighter, my jaw clenched, trying to tamp down the rage bubbling inside me.
“What happened, baby?”
She shakes her head against my chest.
Whoever did this to her is a fucking dead man , I vow. The thought of someone hurting her sends a surge of anger through me, so potent it’s almost blinding. But I force myself to stay calm. I don’t go off half-cocked without the facts. That’s never been me.
Nah, if I’m going to ruin someone, I like to have all the information first. So I can plan properly and all that.
I carry her to the edge of my desk and set her down, my hands smoothing along the flare of her hips. I step into the open space between her legs, my gaze locked with hers as I search for any hint of what’s going on in that pretty little head of hers.
“Jasper,” she whispers, her bottom lip trembling.
My name sounds like a plea and a prayer on her lips, and I swallow hard. The raw vulnerability in her eyes hits me straight in the chest like some kind of fucked-up arrow. I uncurl her fingers from the edge of the desk and bring her hand to my mouth, brushing my lips along her knuckles.
“I’m here, baby.”
She shakes her head, pinching her lips closed as tears slide down her cheeks. She pulls her hands back and wipes the tears away. “It’s fine. I’m fine. Really.” She flashes me the saddest smile I’ve ever fucking seen before.
But I can see through it like it was made of paper. A surge of protectiveness rises through me unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. And I realize something with acute clarity.
Coraline Carter is going to ruin me.
It’ll be the most exquisite ruination, and I’ll welcome it with open arms.
“It’s not fine. Someone put their hands on you, baby, and now they’re going to lose them, yeah?”
She startles, blinking those beautiful eyes of hers a few times. “What? Jasper, no . You can’t just casually talk about un handing someone!”
Nothing about this is funny, but the sight of my girl shouting unhanding in this context makes the side of my mouth twitch.
I nod a few times. “Alright. I won’t talk about it.”
She places her hand on my shoulder, her palm warm against my skin. “Don’t do it, Jasper. Don’t risk it, okay? Not for me.”
I turn toward her arm and place a kiss along the inside of her wrist. “You let me worry about that, yeah?”
Her fingers twitch. “I . . .”
“Let me take care of you,” I practically beg.
“I don’t know how,” she whispers, her eyes filling with tears.
She looks cracked open and vulnerable, and that prowling, gnawing beast inside of me grows larger and promises vengeance of its own.
“Just talk to me, Coraline. That’s it. I’ll take care of the rest.” With the back of my index finger, I brush her hair away from her face, getting a better look at her cheek. It’s swollen, a dark bruise already starting to form.
“I was stupid,” she says with a cry, looking over my shoulder and sniffing. “I—I provoked them. But I-I didn’t think. And then they?—”
I bring her focus back to me with my curved knuckle under her chin. Her big blue eyes look like the sky on a winter afternoon, clear and icy. “Who did this to you? Give me a name, and I’ll take care of it.”
She shakes her head, her hair falling over her shoulder. “No, I-I don’t want you to have to do anything. That’s not why I came here.”
I link one hand with hers, squeezing it a little. “Why did you come here, to me?”
She looks at me, all wide-eyed and lips parted like she doesn’t know why she ended up at my door. She swipes her tongue along her bottom lip. “I, uh, I don’t know. I just got in my car and started driving. And I ended up here,” she murmurs the last couple words, like the admission is a confusing discovery. Her voice is barely a whisper, choked with emotion.
I place a small kiss along the side of her mouth. “I’m glad you’re here, baby. You can always come to me, yeah?” I tilt her head so my lips brush against hers as I say, “Stay here. I’m just gonna get the first aid kit.”
She nods, barely a movement, and I force myself to step back. I grab my kit from the bathroom, and I’m back at her side in thirty seconds. She hasn’t moved a single inch, still staring sort of vacantly at the action movie on my TV.
Her gaze snaps to mine when I pull out antiseptic wipes and ointment. I crouch down, our faces level, and gently clean the cut on her cheek.
“Ah.” She winces, sucking in a breath.
“Sorry, baby,” I whisper. “Almost done.” The sight of her in pain, the fear in her eyes—it’s like a knife twisting in my gut. I discard the garbage and crack an ice pack, pressing it gently to her cheek.
She hisses a breath at the coldness, covering my hand with hers. “Thank you.”
“Can you tell me what happened?” I ask, my voice low and rough.
She exhales this big sigh and looks toward the ceiling for a moment. “I can’t believe this happened. I’ve taken self-defense before, you know, but somehow, all of that information flew from my brain like it never even existed.” She shakes her head and looks at me. “These guys, they just came out of nowhere. Showed up outside my house, threatened me, and then I . . . I don’t know. I lashed out. It’s my fault—I provoked them, Jasper. And they— he —he didn’t like it. He hit me.” Her fingers ghost over her cheekbone.
My hand finds the side of her neck, and I use my thumb to tilt her face toward mine. “I need you to listen to me when I tell you that none of this is your fault. None of it . I don’t give a fuck what you said, there is no excuse for a man to put his hand on you. And baby? I will take an enormous amount of joy in teaching these motherfuckers this valuable life lesson.”
It takes a second, but eventually, a slow smirk tilts up the corner of her mouth. “I think I’d like to see that.”
“That can definitely be arranged. Tell me who it was.”
“I don’t even know. But they . . . they knew where I lived, Jasper.” She looks at me, her eyes imploring me to understand the meaning.
I don’t understand all of it, but I have a hunch I know exactly who paid my girl an unwelcome visit tonight. And come tomorrow, Falcone and his band of misfit motherfuckers are gonna regret ever darkening my girl’s door. Let alone marking her.
I take a deep breath, trying to calm the storm of emotions raging inside me. I rest my forehead against hers, closing my eyes. “You’re safe with me,” I whisper, my voice thick with emotion. “I protect what’s mine, and you, Coraline Carter, are mine .”
She shakes her head again with a watery chuckle, a tear spilling over. “My pretend boyfriend.”
I catch her tear with the tip of my tongue. She’s not really ready to hear about all of my not-pretend feelings when it comes to her. And tonight is not the night to dive into it.
I pull back and look between her eyes. There’s a little less fear there than when she first got here. “You up for a ride? I want to take you somewhere.”
“Where?” she asks with a sniff and a small smile.
“My house.”
Her brows knit together. “I thought this was your home?” Her voice is soft, uncertain.
I flash her a small smile at the reminder of how much we have left to learn about one another. “Nah, this is my room in the clubhouse. My actual house is in Avalon Falls. On one of the small chain lakes.” I pause, searching her eyes. “You up for it?”
She bites her lip, hesitating for a moment before nodding. “Okay,” she whispers.
Relief floods through me, and I settle my hands on her waist and pull her in for a hug. I squeeze her, savoring the feel of her in my arms. The way she feels so fucking perfect in my arms.
My lips press against her forehead, a silent promise. I won’t let anything happen to her again. Not now, not ever.