Chapter 27
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
ATOMIC
“What the actual fuck?” King hisses behind me.
Turning my head, I look over to him. “What?” I ask.
“This place is abandoned. There’s no fucking way this is where he’s staying.”
He’s right. Except there are two tricked-out SUVs parking in spots in front of the building. I’m going to light those SUVs on fire when this is done. There is no way in fuck that any one of those assholes or their cars are surviving this shit.
“Yeah, it is,” I murmur. “This is exactly where a piece of shit would make his men stay, probably women, too, who the fuck knows.”
Nash clears his throat. I look at him, but he’s staring at the building. He jerks his chin toward the second floor, and I follow his gaze all the way up to where I find that same asshole from the hospital.
I watch as that asshole watches me, tilts his head to the side, then smiles. He turns around, showing me his back, then slips into one of the rooms. “Piece of shit,” Nash mutters. “I can tell just by the way he looks. What a dick.”
“Yeah, that’s not the half of it,” I grind out.
“I know. I saw Ryan’s face.”
Grunting, I think about Ryan staying in that fucking hospital bed, her face so fucking bruised that she couldn’t even see out of her swollen eyes. I need that image fresh in my mind so I can torture this fuck wholly.
Completely wholly.
“Do we surround the place?” Brew asks.
“What’s the point?” I ask. “He knows we’re here.”
As soon as I say those words, six men walk out of three hotel rooms on the top floor and stare down at us. They’re trying to look intimidating, but they have no goddamn clue who and what they’re dealing with.
“Where is she?” he calls out.
I know he’s the main one, and I also know Ryan has told me his name, but I don’t give a fuck what it is because he isn’t going to be around me or even breathing long. I give him about five more minutes, and then he’s going to go down. Then he’s going to go up in flames.
“Not your fucking business,” I state.
He frowns, his face starts to turn red, and he grips the railing before he leans forward. I envision him falling over the edge and doing a few flips before he lands, splat, on the ground. It would be so goddamn easy, hilarious even.
I might even take pictures and laugh about it later. But unfortunately, it doesn’t happen. Instead, he lets out a laugh that echoes around us. Nash chuckles behind me, then Brew throws his leg over his bike and takes a step forward.
Joining my brother, even though I’m supposed to be the one in the lead as the president of the MC, King follows, tipping his head back to look up at the balcony. The dipshit decides to speak again, asking me questions as if I’m going to answer him.
I could give a goddamn shit what he thinks or says about me, and I could give a fuck what he wants to know about Ryan. He doesn’t get to know that shit. His men move even closer to him, standing in a straight line, shoulder to shoulder, as they glare down at us.
“That pussy is mine, and it’s time for her to get her ass to work. She’s cost me a lot of money in time and resources. It’s time to pay.”
Anger flows through my veins. Not only is he referring to my woman as that pussy, but he is also acting as if she owes him a damn thing.
But I’m not going to come at him with any reaction at all.
I don’t give a fuck what he thinks he’s owed, what he thinks he deserves, because I know that Ryan is my woman.
Not his.
Never his.
“I’m not sure who you’re talking about,” I say.
“Ryan,” he shouts. “She’s mine. Given to me to repay a debt. It’s time for her to do just that.”
Silence settles throughout the area. “Ryan has never been yours. She will never be yours. She is mine. Get in your stupid fucking SUVs and get the fuck out of Texas.”
He barks out a laugh, then shrugs a shoulder before he speaks. “I’m not going anywhere,” he states. “Not until Ryan is with me. A debt repaid is a fucking debt owed. And she owes me.”
“No.” He’s silent for a moment before he shakes the banister a couple of times, then I continue. “Ellen is your debt. She created it. So you can find her and take it out on her.”
That asshole has the nerve to laugh. “Do you think I would give a fuck about Ellen or that I would come here if Ryan hadn’t agreed to be part of my stable?”
I try not to appear shocked as fuck.
But I am.
“Excuse me?” I ask.
I watch as he moves around the men at his side, jogging down the stairs as those men do the same behind him. His little entourage. When he is close enough to us, he stops in front of me, but Brew, Nash, and King are close to me, my guards and protectors.
They don’t need to be, but it’s nice they are supportive. Then I hear the men moving behind me, my men. Fuck, I don’t know what in the hell I did to deserve these guys at my back, but I’m happy as fuck that they are.
“Ryan,” he begins, “agreed to repay her sister’s debts. That means spreading her legs for me.”
“Show me,” I demand.
The fuck reaches into his pocket, producing a packet of papers, and he shoves them against my chest. King growls, and Brew takes a step forward, but I lift my hand to keep them from advancing.
I look at the papers. It’s a bullshit contract. Not like a contract to whore would ever stand up in court anyway. But this is even worse than that. It’s basically saying that she is essentially his slave in every way possible, more specifically, his sexual one.
I assume it’s mostly bullshit, that it’s just some shit he created and is fake as fuck until I see the signature.
I know Ryan’s handwriting. I memorized that shit a long time ago.
And it’s hers. I don’t know what the fuck she thought she was signing, but there’s no way she knew what this shit was… is there?
Reaching into my shoulder holster, I pull out my gun, point it at the asshole, and pull the trigger. I don’t know if he thought he could talk me into or out of anything, but he’s dead, and that’s all I give a fuck about.
Gunfire erupts around me. Taking a few steps backward, I allow my men to handle this shit.
They’re probably having a fucking blast anyway.
It’s been a while since we fucked up some shit and shot up some assholes.
I watch as they all fall, one by one, almost like a set of dominos.
And if I weren’t so focused on this signature, on this contract, I would probably join them.
But I can’t stop staring at her handwriting.
I know it’s hers.
And I need some goddamn answers.
RYAN
Adam lets out a heavy sigh, his head on my lap as he sleeps. Sliding my fingers through his hair, I close my eyes and rest for a moment. We’ve had lunch, a snack, and dinner. He’s bathed and in his pajamas. In all of that, I’ve yet to hear a word from Grover.
I don’t know where he is or if he’s safe. Shawn has gone to her room to take a nap, but I can’t sleep. Grover is a million times stronger, smarter, and a better person in general than Golden Joker ever could be, but that doesn’t mean Golden isn’t mean.
He is.
He’s a mean stupid asshole, which is honestly the worst kind of asshole to be.
So I worry.
When Adam is, without a doubt, asleep, his body becoming heavier against my lap, I decide to take him to the room to sleep.
I cleaned Grover’s room earlier today. Washed the sheets, and although I wasn’t able to get rid of the whole smell, I was able to air it all out a bit by leaving the window open for most of the day.
Gathering Adam in my arms, I carry him to the bedroom and lay him down, covering him up so he can get some much-needed rest. Although, I won’t be getting any at all. I’m too nervous. Too upset. Too scared.
Watching my son sleep for a moment, I stare at his innocent face. I’ve tried to shield him from the life I had growing up, and for the most part, I have. But I’ve also traumatized him in different ways, and I hate that.
I always wanted to give him a perfect life, and I think I’ve fucked up a bit on that. But everything I’ve ever done for him has been in an effort to give him a better life than I ever had. I hope he doesn’t hate me as he gets older.
He probably will anyway.
Leaving him in the room, fast asleep, I close the door softly behind me until I hear it lock into place.
Making my way back into the bar area, I let out a heavy sigh as I sink back down onto the sofa against the wall.
I bring my feet up to the cushions, wrap my arms around my shins, and rest my chin on my knees as I stare at the door, willing it to open and for Grover to appear.
I don’t know how long I sit there against the wall, my eyes focused on the door and nowhere else when it flies open. It’s dark, so I can’t see who walks through, but I know it’s Grover. I instinctively know it’s him. I can feel his energy flow through me as soon as he walks through the door.
I expect him to stop at the bar. Maybe go to his office, but he doesn’t.
Instead, his eyes find mine, his nostrils flare, and his gaze flashes as he stomps toward me.
The music fades as the blood begins to rush through my ears.
I can tell by the look on his face that he is pissed off.
Not just a little bit mad, but straight-up angry.
Wordlessly, when he approaches, he bends and slides his arms beneath my body as he picks me up. I gasp, wrapping my arms around his neck to attempt to stabilize myself, although I’m not sure it would matter. I’m being carried down a hallway and then dropped unceremoniously onto a sofa.
“Tell me what the fuck this is?” he demands as he throws some papers at me.
I don’t even have to look at the paperwork to know what he’s talking about. A secret I’d been keeping from him, but also being in denial about it myself. I didn’t want to admit that I did it. That I signed the contract.
But I did.
And now he knows.
I can feel my face heat, and I know my cheeks are likely bright red. I’m angry with myself, but beyond that, I’m embarrassed. I fucked up. Big time.
Probably the biggest I ever have, aside from walking away from Grover six years ago. Gripping the papers in my hands, I don’t even look down at them. I can’t. I was hoping I would never see these again.
“You know what it is,” I whisper.
He snorts. The laugh doesn’t sound like he’s finding this funny at all. I don’t blame him because it’s not funny. He doesn’t say anything, his angry gaze focused on me as he waits for me to explain myself.
“I signed my life away in an effort to save my sister. It was stupid. I should have never agreed to it, but she was crying and begging. She swore that it would never come down to me having to do any of it. I was nothing but insurance for her.”
He doesn’t speak. Instead, he turns his back to me and walks over to the window that looks out at the parking lot. I don’t know if he can even see anything in the dark, but he is very interested in whatever is happening, or maybe he’s just so pissed at me that he can’t look me in the face.
I wouldn’t blame him, either. I can’t stand to look at myself. I know what I did, and it came back to bite me in the ass. I was hoping that I could pretend forever that I hadn’t agreed to that, that I hadn’t signed the paperwork I did.
“You may as well have fucking lied to me,” he grinds out. “I can’t trust a fucking thing that comes out of your mouth at this point.”
“Grover,” I whisper.
He spins around, his angry gaze finding mine.
“Atomic. You don’t deserve my name. I killed him.
He won’t come after you. I’ll take care of your strung-out sister, too, but you’re not mine anymore.
You’re just some bitch I knocked up. I’ll take care of you, take care of Adam, too, but beyond that, you’re just some bitch. ”
My entire body jolts, and my stomach drops. My heart crackles and breaks into a million pieces inside of my chest. His words undo me. Sticks and stones may break bones, but these words have completely ruined me.
“Please,” I whisper. “Please.”
“Get the fuck out. Go to my room for tonight. But tomorrow, you take Adam and go back home. It’s your place now, no worries about that. I’ll pay the household bills because my kid deserves it, but that’s that for us.”
And with that. He is done with me.
And with that. My world has crashed.