Chapter 12
12
Jack
W hen my brother Micah re-entered my life, he had a lot to say. Micah thought he had a lot of sage advice, and although I’d never admit it to him, he was right.
One piece of advice was this: If you let anger control you, it will destroy you. But if you harness it, you can use it to destroy other people.
As I stood at the entrance to Dick Doyle’s office and witnessed him leering at Aviva as he threatened her, I reminded myself about Micah’s advice. It was difficult as hell, because all I wanted to do was plant my fist in the bar owner’s face and punch him in the junk for good measure before carrying Aviva out of there. It didn’t matter that she was the enemy, that I hated her for trying to ruin Coach’s life. She was mine , and no one else in the whole fucking world got to talk to her that way. Only me.
I’d address the hypocrisy of that later.
But punching him in the face wouldn’t get me anywhere, except maybe kicked off the team for violence against a community member. No, as satisfying as it would be to hear his nose crack and blood explode everywhere, I had better options than my fists. I had power, real power—and I was going to use it.
Aviva stared at me. The relief on her face was obvious; her anger at being relieved was subtler, but I still saw it. She didn’t want me to be her savior. Too fucking bad. I’d taken her virginity. She was mine now, when so little was.
“Jack—” she started.
“Jack Feldman?” Dick spluttered, eyes wide. “I’m a huge fan, son.”
Only Coach got to call me son. He was the father figure in my life.
“Really?” I said, affecting a casual tone. “Because I’m not a fan of yours. I heard what you were saying to her.”
“How?” Aviva asked.
“Through the door.” I didn’t even look at her. If I did, she’d be in my arms before I could stop myself, and I needed to focus on the worm in front of me, first.
Dick waved that away. “We were having a performance review.”
“A performance review, huh? Pretty sure that most job performance reviews don’t include harassing your employees or threatening to fire them if they don’t perform sexual favors. But I’m sure the Gehenom Chamber of Commerce would love to hear all about it.”
Aviva laughed but covered it with a cough. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shoulders straighten.
Dick glared at me. “Now listen here, kid, you have no idea what you’re talking about, and no one would believe you. I’m a pillar of this community, and?—”
“Are you, Dick? Or are you just some pathetic college dropout who lucked out that his dad died and left him a successful bar?”
“How dare you?—”
I rolled my eyes. “You don’t want to know what else I’d dare to do. Like, for instance, inform the Gehenom police that you’ve been selling Vixen and Vice here, and the only reason no girl’s been roofied or raped is because you have good, responsible staff. Like Aviva. ”
For a moment, Dick stopped breathing. If he had a heart attack right here and died, the world would be a better place.
It wouldn’t hurt to make that more likely, would it?
I’d never murdered anyone, but I was angry enough to, now. Besides, murder and violence ran in the family; I’m sure I could figure it out.
Striding toward him, I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him out of his chair so I could stare him right in the eyes.
Dick flailed.
“You’re going to want to listen to me, Richard, because I’ll only give you this warning once. You’re going to apologize to Aviva, and then you’re going to leave her the hell alone.
You won’t touch her, you won’t threaten her, you won’t harass her, you won’t come near her other than to pay her—and you’re going to give her a raise.”
Dick coughed.
I squeezed, determined to get my point across.
Dick gasped.
“Jack!” Aviva said. “Jack, stop. You’re going to kill him.”
Fuck.
The red haze began to clear.
I’d lost control of my anger for a second. But her voice alone, solid and strong, calmed me .
Exhaling slowly, I released Dick, who dropped back into the chair with a yelp.
“Do you get me?” I asked.
“I—I got you,” he wheezed.
“Don’t you owe someone an apology?”
He glanced over at Aviva. “I’m sorry, Aviva.”
“Good,” I said. “Aviva’s done here for the night. Oh, and Dick? If I find out you used Vixen on anyone, if you start harrassing your other female employees, I’ll be back to see you—and you’ll like my second visit even less.”
He nodded.
“C’mon, pr—Aviva.”
Aviva gaped at me.
I walked to her, grabbing her by the hand and tugging her from the room. “You either walk out of here with me, or I’m throwing you over my shoulder and carrying you out.”
She rolled her eyes but let me lead her out.
“Remember what I said, Richard,” I called over my shoulder at the sniveling, pathetic worm of a man behind me before I slammed the door.
I didn’t speak, fully focused on Aviva behind me, her harsh, surprised breaths. Her hand was soft, smooth, delicate. Fully surrounded and protected by mine. An unfamiliar feeling, one I’d only ever experienced with my siblings, filled me.
Protective. I felt protective. Aviva was a flame, magnificent and dangerous, and at risk of being extinguished.
I didn’t want to extinguish her. I wanted to protect her, even if it meant we both burned.
Fuck even if . I wanted to protect her because it meant we both would burn.
Possessed by some wild urge, I intertwined our fingers.
“Jack, what are you doing?” she hissed .
I glanced over at her. There were gold striations in her brown eyes; I had missed them before.
“Taking you home,” I told her, briefly captivated.
“I mean, what the hell were you thinking, following me? Barging into my boss’s office? Threatening him?”
I stopped, backing her up against the wall. We were at the end of the hallway; one more step and it would spit us back out into the bar. Light spilled in, illuminating her rosy skin and making it glow.
“I was thinking that you’re mine for as long as I want you to be. I fucked your untouched cunt, and that changed everything . Your body’s mine, your pussy’s mine, your decisions are mine . Everything about you is mine, and I protect what’s mine. ”
“I’m not yours,” she argued. “And making this about my virginity is barbaric.”
I didn’t even bother responding to her nonsense. Instead, I wrapped my hands around her head, positioning her where I wanted her, and swallowed her protests with my mouth. She fought me, pushing at my chest with her hands, but I had her right where I wanted her, and I wasn’t letting her go anytime soon. I was too invested in the taste of her, the apples and honey smell of her, the feel of her soft skin under my hands, the soft gasps as I kissed her. Possessed once again by those urges I couldn’t make sense of, I softened the kiss, slowing it until we were molasses together, sweet and thick and difficult to tear apart.
I could’ve kissed her forever this way, held her in this space forever. Time could’ve stopped, and I wouldn’t give a fuck. Not when I held this girl in my arms, this furious and caring, vulnerable and strong, wise and brave girl. But Aviva must have felt differently, because there was a sharp sting on my lower lip .
She’d bitten me.
Again.
I pulled back, releasing her head to touch my lower lip with my thumb. It came away wet with blood.
I gazed at my thumb, then her.
“You want it rough?”
She glared. “Don’t kiss me like you like me.”
“Oh, princess. I don’t like you. I like watching the Winter Olympics. I like my Classics advisor. Like is too gentle of a word for how I feel about you.”
“That would sound romantic if I didn’t know what an asshole you are,” she said, her voice hoarse with anger.
I stared at her. It wasn’t romantic.
So I continued. “Don’t interrupt me. Like doesn’t cover all the ways I’m going to defile you, ruin you. Destroy you. But you’re forgetting, so I’ll remind you: you don’t decide how this goes. I do. ”
In case she didn’t understand how serious I was, I leaned over, pushing my right shoulder against her soft stomach, before standing again with her over my shoulder.
“What the hell!”
I slapped her ass. “Quiet, little fighter. I told you I’d carry you out of here if you weren’t amenable.”
“You said if I didn’t walk with you! I would’ve walked with you!”
I laughed, but it was harsh, hard. I’d lost my mind there for a bit, feeling soft toward someone I couldn’t be soft with. Aviva hadn’t earned that from me, didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve my protection, either. The most she deserved was to be the receptacle for my cock and my come. No more, no less.
Then why do you want to wrap her soft body in wool and take her somewhere where she’s safe—even from you? Why are you so impressed with her strength, bravery, compassion and loyalty if you truly hate her?
I fucking hated my inner voice.
Carrying her back into the bar, I stopped in the center of the floor. The place had filled up since I’d followed her into the back office, students sitting at tables, sharing pitchers, others gathered at the bar itself, waiting for drinks from a harried and overworked Tovah.
“Oh thank god, you’re back—what are you doing with her?” Tovah asked, spotting Aviva over my shoulder.
“Put. Me. Down.” Aviva ordered.
“Put her down, or I’ll make you put her down. I swear to god, Feldman—” Tovah ranted. I ignored her.
“Bro,” Isaac warned, from his perch on the same bar stool. One of the girls from earlier was sitting on his lap.
I lifted my chin at him, and he shook his head but dropped it.
Placing my hand casually on Aviva’s ass, I turned in a circle so even hanging upside down she could see everyone—and everyone could see her.
I raised my voice, making sure everyone could hear me. “Sorry, Tovah, I’m taking my cumdumpster home for the night. She has a more important job to do.”
There was silence at first as people digested my words. Then laughter rang out, almost haunting in its mockery.
Isaac shook his head. “Too far, man,” he said.
For a moment, I felt guilty, but the emotion was quashed by satisfaction. I’d done two things at once:
Successfully humiliated Aviva.
And made it absolutely clear to everyone that she was mine.
“I hate you,” I thought I heard her say .
It was okay, because as I’d said, I didn’t like her. An emotion this big? It had to be hate.
Had to be.
Galvanized by the catcalls around us, I carried her out the door and down the block to my BMW XM, setting her roughly on the ground and gripping her hip to keep her in place while I unlocked the car.
“Get in,” I told her.
“No.”
“Aviva, get the fuck in the car or so help me god, I will strip you naked on College Ave and make you suck me off in front of every goddamned person who walks by , and if they have a penis, I’ll make you suck them off, too. Those are your only options.”
Glaring at me, she pulled the passenger side door open with a jerk, and I couldn’t hold back my wince when the bottom of the door dragged across the curb.
“Do that again, and I’ll spank your ass so hard, my handprint will be embedded in your ass until the day you die,” I warned.
She didn’t say a word, just got in the car. I leaned down, making sure to take care of her seatbelt for her like she was a child before closing her door. Going around to the driver’s side, I shut the door, starting up the car. Matt Maeson started playing as I pulled out of the spot and made a u-turn, headed toward her apartment.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“Home.”
She sat up straight. “How do you know where I live?”
I glanced at her.
“Princess, you still don’t seem to get it. I know more about you than you can even imagine. Don’t worry your pretty little head though; I’ll know everything soon. ”
She shook her head. “Jack, it doesn’t matter how much snooping you do. Until you realize I’m not a liar, you won’t know me at all.”
With that shit-stirring statement, she went silent, and didn’t speak a word to me for the rest of the drive.
She was lying.
She had to be.
Because if she wasn’t, then she wasn’t the one living in a house of cards.
I was.