Chapter 6 – Betsy
CHAPTER SIX
BETSY
My mind is so consumed with working on ways to find out who the hell is threatening Mor, that I didn’t even notice if Archer or the others were out on the deck when I pulled onto my drive.
Wasting no time, I storm inside and briskly walk upstairs to my room to change into one of my oversized T-shirts that comes to the top of my thighs.
It’s a hot and humid day, so I don’t even bother with shorts.
I pile my hair on top of my head and grab my laptop before heading outside onto my decking.
After placing down my laptop on the table, I quickly head back inside to grab myself a bottle of water, a bag of chips and guacamole, and bring them out with me. Snacks would help make this easier.
The next thing I do is press the button on the wall with my elbow for the awning to shelter me from the burning sun.
Picking up my phone, I press the button on my app that I created, which starts up the fan I had installed outside.
Mor and Eden tease me for always being indoors, but here I am, outside with my inside comforts.
Grinning to myself as I start working, I begin running the images I’d already saved earlier through a database.
Within minutes, I’ve detected the software used to make the images, and unfortunately it has over a hundred thousand users.
I then begin looking into each club member that was around from when it was formed.
Looking into each person and their extended families takes me longer, but it’ll be worth it.
After three hours, I sigh and lean back on my chair, removing my glasses to rub my tired eyes before putting them back on. I can’t give up yet. I’ve only made a tiny dent. I’m on person two of twelve. Feeling peckish and frustrated, I begin to devour some of the chips and guacamole.
“I didn’t expect you back so soon,” a deep voice states to the left of me.
“Holy fuck!” I screech, nearly falling out of my seat while sending chips scattering everywhere. I turn to the sound of the voice and see Archer stood, casually leaning against the handrail. “What the hell are you doing in my back yard?!” I pant, my heart still beating erratically in my chest.
He pushes off the railing and arrogantly strides towards me.
I freeze. He rests a hand on the table and leans into my space, reaching his hand out towards me.
I automatically flinch. He frowns briefly, pausing before continuing to pull something from my hair.
Grinning, he holds out a chip in front of my face before chucking it over his shoulder.
That’s when his gaze turns to my laptop.
“What are you working on, little gremlin?” he murmurs, his eyes looking over the screen.
I reach out, slamming the laptop closed.
“None of your damn business. Now get off my property,” I snap, awkwardly pushing my glasses up my nose while still trying to come across as assertive.
Jesus, if he just tried to attack me, then I could cope.
I could kick his ass. However, this behaviour, I have no idea how to deal with it.
He doesn’t move back, his body still cages me in, invading my personal space. His sharp eyes look me over from head to toe, and I notice he lingers a little too long on my bare thighs. He takes a slow inhale of breath, like I’m annoying him and he’s trying to compose himself.
“I never realised you had tattoos,” he rasps, deep in his throat, his eyes fixed on the tops of my thighs. I quickly shift, pulling down my oversized T-shirt.
“Back up,” I warn through gritted teeth.
His eyes snap to mine, alighting with a spark of amusement, and as he runs his tongue along his bottom lip, a slow grin creeps across his face. “We didn’t finish our little game.” His eyes flicker to my mouth.
I panic and reach out, grabbing a handful of chips and shove them in my mouth.
His eyes widen in surprise. “Nope,” I say, muffled around a mouthful of chips.
“I kissed you,” I mutter, still chewing.
“Game over.” I swallow, reaching for my bottle of water, forcing him to move back slightly as I chug down half the bottle.
I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, followed by a loud burp right in his face.
He blinks in stunned surprise, and I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face.
“Is there onion in that guacamole?” he asks, his face void of humour while I’m trying to contain mine.
“Hhm, hmm,” I nod, biting down on my bottom lip, fighting back the bubble of laughter which threatens to irrupt from me.
He nods casually. “Thought so.” He reaches for a chip and scoops up a large amount of guacamole on it before shoving it in his mouth, all while he still braces one hand on the back of my chair. “Hhm, delicious,” he mumbles as he chews.
“You have a, er, bit on the side of your mouth,” I point out.
“Huh? Where?” he asks, wiping the opposite side of his mouth I pointed to.
“No, there,” I point.
He again plays the fool by wiping the other side.
I roll my eyes. “For god sake, come here,” I huff, grabbing his chin in my hand, feeling the roughness of his stubble under the pad of my thumb.
I swipe the dip from the corner of his mouth and release my hold of his chin and sit back, holding up my fingertip and showing him the guacamole.
“Thank you. See? You can be a civilised neighbour,” he taunts.
“Me?! Are you serious!” I snap as I go to wipe the guacamole on my T-shirt, only he snatches his hand out, grabbing my wrist firmly in his. Instinctively, my body goes on high alert, ready to fight or flee.
“Don’t waste it,” he states, lifting my finger to his lips, his vibrant green eyes watching me.
My eyes widen, my lips parting as my heart gallops in my chest. His tongue swipes out seductively, licking the guacamole off the tip of my finger.
I feel my cheeks flush with heat, which I’m sure is embarrassment.
Embarrassment that I haven’t pushed him away, that I haven’t handed him his ass like I’ve done to so many others.
God damn him!
Bending my knees up, I press the soles of my feet against his middle and shove, causing him to stumble and fall back onto his backside. I stand over him, a triumphant smile playing at my lips as he stares up at me with shock.
“What the fuck?” he huffs, getting to his feet. “One minute we are casually sharing chips and dip, then you decide to shove me to the ground.”
“You’re unbelievable,” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“Why, thank you.” He grins arrogantly.
“For fuck’s sake. Just leave. Get off my property.
You weren’t invited. You will never be invited,” I snap, crossing my arms over my chest as I stare up at him.
His green eyes burn with anger as he steps into my space, his body millimetres from touching mine.
I have to tilt my head further back to look at him, my eyes a blaze matching his fury.
His eyes flicker over my face. I arch my brow, goading him to respond. “Careful, little gremlin,” he warns in a low rasp.
I do a mock yawn. “You’re boring me now. You have thirty seconds to get off my property, or I will get my gun and shoot you.”
“You can’t just threaten to shoot someone,” he counters.
“I’m not threatening you. I’m warning you, as is my legal right to get off my property,” I say through gritted teeth.
He smirks, not the least bit phased. Lifting his hand, he grabs hold of my scrunchie, giving it a swift tug, freeing my hair.
I gasp and try to snatch it back from him. “Give it back,” I snap.
He just laughs, dangling it from his finger.
“Next time you think you can threaten me, little gremlin, you might want to remember this moment. The fact that you can’t even get your hair tie back off me.
You think you are like your friends, but you’re nothing like them.
You are weak, you can’t fight back. What are you going to do about it?
You going to cry? Beg?” His words wash over me, causing a ringing in my ears that drowns me.
You going to cry? You going to beg us to stop? Voices, their voices from that night repeating and echoing around my head. Panic like spreading ice seeps along my spine as my mind threatens to take me back to that night.
I blink, focusing on tiny piece of thread on his T-shirt, breathing in and out, in and out, until I feel safe enough not to have a breakdown.
I look back up at him, and his eyes are narrowed, his face rigid as he watches me with a look of disgust. I swallow, pushing past the flashback and the sting of his words.
Don’t forget who you are, make men pay. Make them all pay, I repeat in my head, turning that pain, that trauma into anger.
Swiftly, I bring my knee up to collide right between his legs, completely catching him off guard.
A whoosh of air bursts out of him, his eyes widening in sudden agony.
He drops my scrunchie as his hands move to cup his balls.
I grab it and jump over him as he curls into a ball on the floor.
Reaching my special lockup, I quickly type in my code and open it up to release my handgun.
Whirling back toward him, gun cocked, I’m aimed and ready to shoot, depending on his next move.
My chest is heaving, my jaw is set tight as I attempt to push those memories to the back of my mind, to my mental vault in an attempt to keep it locked up.
I never want to relive that night, relive that nightmare.
I force my mind to focus on the pain of his other words swirling around my gut.
They shouldn’t hurt. They were just pathetic bullying words, but what he said is true, and the truth always has the ability to hurt.
He groans in pain as he slowly gets to his feet.
My eyes are pinned on him, the barrel of my gun following his every movement.
Once he’s finally to his feet, his gaze assesses me, assessing my gun that is aiming right at his chest. He doesn’t say anything.
He just walks past me. I move, keeping my back to my house and my gun aimed at him.
As he reaches the fence that divides our backyards, he stops, looking over his shoulder at me, his emerald eyes, those eyes that seem to seep into my soul always rendering me helpless, trapping me in his gaze.
His mouth sets in a tight line. “I’ll see you around, little gremlin,” he simply says before jumping over the fence.
I remain unmoving, waiting for him to return. My gun is still poised at where he was just standing. After what feels like an eternity, I finally relax my shoulder and slowly lower my gun, satisfied he’s no longer there and not about to return. Only then do I allow one tear to fall. A single tear.
“No more. I am more than that girl. I am stronger, I am stronger. I am not weak, I am not weak,” I say to myself aloud, squeezing my eyes closed.
Pausing to inhale a deep breath, I open my eyes and put the safety back on my gun before locking it away.
I grab my phone and laptop, leaving everything else on the table, and as soon as I step inside my house, I shut the door, lock it, and close the blinds, closing myself inside from the outside world.
Shutting myself away from him.