Chapter Thirteen
You Can’t Make Me Let Go
The sound of my heart drowned out everything as I hurtled outside, the bright lights of the diner fading into the darkness the deeper I went into the parking lot. As my eyes adjusted, I glimpsed the silhouette of a man closing in on another, before both disappeared around the back of the diner. I hightailed it in that direction, not at all surprised to hear the sound of growled curses and flesh impacting flesh. My Marvel-induced berserker rage evaporated with each step, overcome by the need to get to Romeo. I didn’t think about why I had to be with him now, or why I couldn’t bear to think about the possibility of him getting hurt because of me. I just needed to be with him more than I needed to rage-kill Marvel.
When I rounded the corner, the breath in my lungs backed up as I was confronted by a scene that looked like it would be more at home in a gladiator ring than the alleyway that ran along the back of Buzzby’s. Romeo stood in a wrestler’s semi-crouch, his body slightly turned toward Marvel, whose nose appeared to be off to one side and flowing freely with blood. His eyes were also flowing, no doubt from the sheer sting of an obviously broken nose, while his lips curled back to reveal blood-smeared teeth. He snarled like a feral dog before launching at Romeo, who let him close the distance like he couldn’t understand the danger he was in.
“Romeo!” I couldn’t stop myself from crying out a warning even as he unexpectedly dropped into a crouch, avoided Marvel’s kick, then somehow flipped Marvel over his shoulder and plowed him into the ground.
Whoa.
Then Romeo was on him, pummeling Marvel’s face like it was his mission in life to smash it out of existence, and the sound of his powerful fist impacting flesh and bone made my stomach crawl sideways. I swallowed hard and kept my gaze steady while Romeo did what I had always wanted to do but didn’t have the physical strength to pull off—beat the living daylights out of Marvel.
It was a thing of nightmarish beauty, the efficient way Romeo delivered violence to my own personal nightmare. His right hand worked like a piston as he sat on Marvel’s chest, before suddenly switching things up and letting his left fist even things out. But all too soon I realized that Marvel had stopped moving in any significant way, and another sudden fear propelled me forward—the fear that Romeo would actually kill him. I didn’t give a damn about Marvel; having him beaten to death was a favorite fantasy of mine.
But I couldn’t let Romeo risk prison. That would mean losing him.
I couldn’t let that happen.
Not when I’d just found him.
“Stop. Romeo, stop.” I didn’t think. To be honest I’d pretty much stopped thinking from the moment Marvel and his dick of a friend walked into the diner. I was running on pure adrenaline as I stepped right up and grabbed Romeo’s powerful arm before it could plow into Marvel’s bloody face once more. “For God’s sake, stop. You’re killing him.”
Though the alleyway was cloaked in darkness, there was enough light for me to see Romeo’s sea-colored eyes look up and lock onto me. First with no recognition, then with towering rage. “You’re seriously trying to save this fucker, Shy?”
“I’m trying to save you.” I don’t know what possessed me. All I knew was that one minute I’m holding on to his arm, and the next I’m kneeling on the ground next to him, kissing his bloody knuckles while pressing my free hand to his bristly cheek. “He’s nothing, a total piece of shit who doesn’t even know that this is what he is, and what he’ll always be. You’re the one I’m here for. You’re the one who means something to me, so I’m not going to let go of you, okay? You can’t make me let go.”
“Shy. Jesus fuck, Shy.” Breathing hard, Romeo closed his eyes, and I could feel him struggling to find his way back from the madness that had gripped him. Then he did something that stopped my heart. He leaned into my touch, his cheek gently nuzzling my palm as if my touch was the most precious thing in the world to him. A second later the moment was gone, and as he lifted himself off of Marvel, he took my hands in his so that he could bring me up with him. “You just keep holding on to me, you hear me? Don’t ever let go.”
“I won’t.”
“I mean it, baby. Don’t you ever let go of me.”
“I won’t.”
“I’m holding you to that.” His expression hardened as he looked around the alley, before he wrapped a strong arm around my shoulders and headed toward the parking lot. “Let’s get you out of here before this shit-stain’s brothers come along and scrape up whatever’s left of him.”
*
Romeo
Anger.
I thought I knew what that felt like. As far as I was concerned, it was an emotion I could mold into a weapon whenever I needed it and could wield to my advantage.
But this…
As I drove Shy to my place, I could feel my hands shaking as they gripped the wheel. Not from fear. Hell, no. My whole damn body shook with a rage so epic it didn’t seem to have an end. But it had a beginning, and that beginning’s name was Marvel.
You wanted to spread your legs for me right from the jump, so crying rape now is pretty goddamn hilarious.
To hear that sonofabitch slut-shame the woman he’d raped snapped something in me that I hadn’t even known was there. My Shy had been damaged by that motherfucker, and now he dared to come back to rub her nose in it. So fuck him. Fuck him, fuck the fact that he was Hades Colgrave’s son, and fuck the fact that beating that unworthy little worm into nothing would no doubt trigger the First Blood rule and cause a war. I didn’t give a shit. No one disrespected Shiloh while I was around.
No one.
“Are your hands okay?”
The violent rage roaring through me quieted as if by magic at the sound of Shiloh’s voice. God, how I loved her voice—soft and sweet and more soothing than any music on the planet. Quickly I glanced over at her, huddled in the passenger’s seat in a way that made me think she was trying to make herself as small a target as possible. Because she was scared of me?
Oh shit, was my Shy girl afraid of me?
My breath caught as that thought beat back the remaining anger, until all that remained was her. As gently as I knew how, I reached over to take her hand in mine.
“You tell me, baby. Look, see how good my hands are? I can hold your hand like nobody’s business.” For extra reassurance, I gave her fingers a squeeze. My heart did a crazy bump when she squeezed right back.
“I’m so worried you’re going to be in trouble now,” she confided, and at last her taut expression made sense. She wasn’t scared of me. She was scared for me. “What if Marvel and Radar go to the police? They know who you are. They could identify you.”
I couldn’t hold back a laugh, my chest suddenly feeling lighter than air. “Oh, my sweet Shy girl. You worried I’ll be dragged off to the pokey?”
“This isn’t funny, Romeo. I’ve heard of people sentenced to years behind bars for a fight like that.”
“Baby, the last thing those knuckleheads are going to do is go crying to the police about a beatdown. Hell, they wouldn’t go to the cops if I’d murdered their entire families all the way down to their pets. Going to the police is how the civilian world works, but you’re in the Gravediggers world now. We handle our problems ourselves.”
I heard her swallow. “Why do I get the feeling that going to the cops would be a way less murder-y thing to do?”
“Because you’re smart. And brave as hell,” I added, shooting her another glance. If anything, she looked more freaked out than ever, which was the last thing I wanted. “I came into the restaurant just at the tail end of you giving that piece of shit a first-class tongue-lashing while he sat there looking like he was about to bawl. But as much as I love the fact that you refused to let yourself be intimidated by him, I thought I told you to not engage. Did I not make myself clear?”
Her worried little face suddenly scowled, and that flash of feistiness cheered me right up.
“My idiot manager refused to let me hide out in the back until you got there, even when I told him that my kidnapper-slash-rapist had made an appearance. It didn’t matter that I’ve never been a problem employee before, or that I felt I was in danger. All that mattered to Dubya was me getting back out there on the floor, so fuck him. Even if he hadn’t fired me just now, I would’ve quit. I can’t work at a place where no one gives a damn about me.”
“Good,” I nodded, pleased. This was going better than expected. “You’re too good for that place, anyway. What do you know about office stuff?”
“Office stuff?”
“Clientele lists, billing, schedules for staff meetings, keeping track of purchases from distributors, payroll, inventory. That kind of thing.”
“Um… every summer during my high school years, I was an intern for a family friend at a business he owned—mechanical parts for small engines like vacuums and sewing machines. My dad can fix literally anything, including machinery like that, so they were good buddies. Why?”
“Business is booming for our custom choppers. It’s winter now, usually our slow season, but it’s still going gangbusters, so we’re anticipating a huge demand in the spring. We’re going to need office support to get shit done the right way, which means hiring competent workers we can trust.”
“I don’t know if I fall into that category.”
I slowed for a turn and shot her a glance. “Competent, or trustworthy?”
“Both.” Then she shook her head. “Besides, I don’t know if this would be a good fit. I haven’t worked in an office in years.”
“So come in and intern for thirty days. Usually the pay for being an office intern is shit, but we know we’re a different sort of business in a different sort of world. Loyal employees are worth their weight in gold, and I know for a fact that you’re trustworthy. As far as I’m concerned the job is yours if you want it.”
“How do you know I’m trustworthy?”
“You kicked at a gun to protect me, remember? That’s all I need to know about where your loyalties lie.”
Even in the semi-dark I could see her face turn pink. “You sure do hang a lot on that one move, pal.”
“Hell, yeah, I do. Because that one move said a thousand words about the kind of woman you are, Shiloh McKeen.”
“Yeah? What kind of woman am I?”
“My kind of woman.” I pulled the truck into a residential street, the sedate sign at the mouth of the street displaying the subdivision’s name, Auburn Ridge. “Tomorrow morning I’ll take you to the showroom, introduce you to everyone and get you squared away.”
“I’ll give it a look,” she said, her noncommittal tone so Shiloh-esque I couldn’t help but grin. “Where are we?”
“Home. Or almost.”
“What? You live in a suburban subdivision?”
Again I glanced at her as I turned onto my street. “Why do you sound like you’re about to fall over dead from shock?”
“Because.” She flailed an expressive hand at my neighbors’ houses. “It’s a subdivision!”
“And?”
“Well… I don’t know. I mean, I can’t imagine a biker-type dude putting up with an uptight HOA.”
“It’s an older community, so it doesn’t have one of those. Don’t think I could put up with all those rules and regs.”
She sat back in her seat, staring at the neat rows of houses. “Not to mention you’d be kicked out for roaring your bike up and down these quiet streets.”
“I’d never rip up the streets on my chopper anyway, because that’s a total asshole move.” I shrugged, amused by her straight-up shock. “Where did you imagine I lived?”
“I’m not sure I imagined anything. But a nice, quiet subdivision wouldn’t have been in my top five guesses, that’s for sure.”
“Believe it or not, most of my brothers have nice houses in stable communities. We’re just regular people, Shy,” I added, while she kept her attention turned to the night-darkened window. “I get that your first impression of the biker world was just about as bad as it gets, but that’s not who we all are. At least, not the Gravediggers under Tyr. His uncle, Hades, though…” I shook my head while hitting the garage door button. “He’s about as bad as they come. It fucking shits me that you fell into his hands so long ago. If I’d known you then, that sonofabitch never would’ve gotten close to you.”
“I believe it,” she said so quietly I almost didn’t hear her. But I was glad I did; those soft words were all I needed to feel like a conqueror of worlds. “Thank you for coming to my rescue tonight, Romeo.”
“My pleasure.” No lies detected.
“I knew you’d be there when I needed you.” She turned in her seat to face me as I parked the truck next to my two favorite rides, a Harley Softail and a custom chopper of my own design, with ape-hanger handlebars and a black and silver cobweb pattern along the fuel tank and fenders. “Long ago I learned a hard lesson—never rely on anyone but yourself. You’ll just be disappointed when people you trust aren’t there for you, or when they turn their backs on you just when you need them the most. It’s a hard lesson, but a good one, I think. It keeps you from being taken advantage of. It keeps you from being hurt.”
The slow-burn of rage at her family sparked back to life. “It keeps you from connecting to the rest of the world.”
“Not from you.” The admission was soft but unwavering, and it matched the strength of her gaze locking with mine. Damn, she really had it going on with the first-class eye-sex. “That’s what I’m trying to say, Romeo. When Marvel and Radar showed up tonight, my first instinct was to call on you for help. And I knew you’d be there. I just knew it.”
What she was saying hit me in all the best ways. “Because you believe in me?”
“Yeah.” She took a breath, and when it shook something in my chest twisted and made me ache all the way to my soul. “Belief comes hard for me, but I do, Romeo. I believe in you. So…”
“So?”
“So don’t fuck this up, okay? Because that just might kill me.”
“No promises on fucking up in general. Fair warning, I’m a big believer in making at least ten mistakes a day and learning from all of them. But not one of those mistakes will ever have to do with letting you down, fucking you over or bringing you damage. You have my word on that, Shy girl. That’s the best I can do.”
“That’s enough.” For the first time that night, her face brightened with that special smile of hers, the kind that lit up the world. “And I promise you the same thing—mistakes galore, but never any that would deliberately hurt you. I would never want to hurt you or have you be hurt because…”
The air in the truck’s cab dwindled to nothing. “Because?”
“Because you matter to me.” She expelled a breath, as if that admission had cost her dearly, before she opened the door and slid out. “Ready to show me your place?”
Oh, the things she was about to be shown. “Let’s do it.”