Chapter Three #2
Conflicting violence and tenderness warred inside him.
A huge part of him wanted to go back over to Jason and finish the job—rip him from limb to limb, make him beg for his life, only to snuff it out.
But another impulse, softer and more dangerous, wanted to gather Beth in his arms and promise he’d never let her experience a moment of sadness again.
And beneath both of those lurked something he shoved down but knew would be harder to ignore once she recovered her sass and sparkle.
He wanted her, plain and simple. That desire could easily land him in the same position as her boyfriend, beaten and bloodied, except Copper would be the one dealing the blows.
As gently as possible, he tilted her chin side to side, inspecting her cheek and neck.
Despite how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep the scowl off his face as he stared at her discolored skin.
A small trail of blood ran from her lower lip, but that seemed to be the worst of the damage aside from bruising.
Before he could stop himself, he traced his finger up the line of her neck, over the worst of the marks, barely skimming her soft skin.
Beth shivered as a tiny gasp escaped, but she didn’t protest.
“This ends now,” he said, forcing himself to release her and sit back on his heels before he did something foolish. “You’re safe, and that piece of shit will never touch you again.”
“Jason,” she said, voice rough. “His name is Jason.”
“I don’t give a shit what his name is, though I guess someone will need it for his obituary.”
That had her snapping into action. She dropped her knees and lunged forward, grabbing his arm. “No, Lee, you can’t. Please, you’ve done enough to him.”
He growled like a junkyard dog. “I haven’t begun to make him pay.”
She didn’t seem aware of how tightly she gripped his arm, and he tried not to enjoy the feel of her fingers denting his skin. Beneath her hold, his Hell’s Handlers brand burned like it had the night Copper had held the white-hot iron to his skin.
Fitting.
Copper would also be the one to flay it from his body if Saint didn’t do right by his daughter.
She shook her head. “Please. You said it was over, so let it be over.”
Clearly, she’d been away from the MC for too long. “Babe, you forget who you grew up with? You think Copper is gonna let this shit slide? That douchebag, Jason, or whoever the fuck, will be lucky if your father doesn’t kill him, then resurrect him so he can kill him again.”
“Don’t tell him.”
The idea was so absurd he couldn’t help but laugh, sharp and humorless. “Christ, Beth, are you crazy? Who do you think sent me here?”
Her jade eyes bored into his, pleading. “This is my life, Lee. Mine. I love my parents, but I’m an adult, and they don’t get to know if I don’t want them to know.”
Fuck. Saint was a goddamn sap because he already knew he’d regret what he was about to do, but would still do it.
The look on her face wrecked him. Fear and shame tangled together into a woman who’d just had every ounce of control ripped from her, now begging to keep the one thing she had left, the choice of who found out.
He sighed and glanced at Jason, sprawled on the floor, before turning back to her. “Why do you want to protect that piece of shit?”
“I’m not.” She shook her head, jostling his arm with her movements. “I’m trying to protect you. And my dad. I don’t want his blood on your hands.”
“Too late,” he said, showing her his knuckles once again.
“You know what I mean, Lee.”
His heavy sigh heaved his entire upper half. “Beth… you know who we are.”
She sniffed as she squeezed his arm tighter. “Not at my expense. Please, Lee. I don’t want you to have to do this because of me. It’s not worth it.”
Of course, it was worth it. If not to protect the ones they loved, why did they do any of it? The loans, the threats, and the beatings were all to keep the club safe, fed, and standing. That was the code.
Fuck.
“Three conditions,” he said finally.
“Okay…”
He held up a finger. “One, you don’t see that fucker again. Ever.”
A shudder ran through her, visible from hair to toes. “I never want to.”
He nodded as he lifted a second finger. “Two, you come back to Tennessee with me.”
Her eyes widened. “For good?”
Yes. The word sat heavily on his tongue. “For now, to start.”
“And the third?”
The one she’d have the hardest time accepting. “You tell your parents eventually. Not today or tomorrow, but when you’re ready. It’s not a secret that can be kept forever.”
Her gaze drifted to Jason, and Saint clenched his teeth against the urge to snap at her not to even look at the shitbag. Her defeated sigh had him close to wavering, but fuck that. There was no way he’d leave her in this town alone with this jackass still breathing.
“All right. Okay. I…I can do that.”
“Good.” He climbed to his feet and extended a hand for her. “You get cleaned up and pack while I take out the trash,” he said, pointing to Jason, who groaned and began to stir. His fingers flexed, wanting another round.
She narrowed her eyes at him, but as she let him help her to her feet, he swore she muttered something about damn bossy bikers. He’d take her fire and sass any day over the traumatized state she’d been in when he arrived, though he had a feeling her road would be rocky over the next few weeks.
As soon as she was on her feet and steady, he released her hand. “Good?”
“Um, yeah.” She nodded, glancing around the apartment with a lost expression. “Just… processing. Are we going to head back tonight?”
Much as he loved riding, his ass had sat on his bike enough for one day. “Nah, I’ve been riding too fucking long. I’ll get us a room for the night, and we can head out in the morning.”
Beth gnawed her lower lip as a troubled cloud crossed her face.
He was sure she didn’t love the idea of being in close quarters with him, a man she barely knew, but two rooms were out of the question.
She’d have her own bed and could erect a damn electric fence between them if it made her feel safer, but she wouldn’t be out of his sight.
Not with this asshole still breathing, a decision he prayed he wouldn’t come to regret.
“Okay, I shouldn’t need more than thirty minutes or so,” she said.
“Take your time, babe. I’ll chat with my man, Jason.”
She opened her mouth as though to warn him not to hurt Jason again, then shut it with a nod. “Okay.”
Then she lifted her gaze to his, and something twisted low in his gut, something he had no business feeling right now. He dug his fingernail into his palm to redirect the sensation.
She didn’t seem to realize her effect on him, and he needed to keep it that way. Some lines didn’t get crossed, and Copper’s daughter was one of them.
After a final frown at Jason, Beth turned for her room, then stopped before stepping away from him. “Lee?” she said as she spun back.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Thank you. If you hadn’t shown up when you did…”
The vulnerability in her voice stabbed his heart. His jaw ticked. Despite giving Beth his word, it would take every ounce of strength he had not to break Jason’s neck the second she walked into her room.
“Babe…”
“I know.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t think that way. You’re here. I’m safe, and I’m actually excited to go to Tennessee. It’s been way too long. Just… thank you. I know I’m asking something huge of you, keeping this from Copper.”
“Well, maybe just put in a good word for me if your dad ever decides to murder me,” he said.
Her lips twitched. “I can do that. Thank you, Lee.”
“Saint.”
He couldn’t handle hearing his given name falling from that sexy mouth. It made him imagine her saying it for other reasons, in different positions, in a much breathier, pleading tone, and that way lay death.
His literal death.
Her nose wrinkled, and his damn dick twitched. Why did she have to be so damn attractive? “Saint?”
“No one has called me Lee in years.”
“Yeah, but… Saint?”
He shrugged as he winked, needing the lightness as much as she did. “I guess it was opposite day when Thunder gave me the name, seeing as how I’m nowhere near sainthood.”
Beth’s face lit up as she laughed for the first time since he’d set foot in her apartment.
He bit off a groan before she could hear it.
It was going to be a long few days back to Tennessee.