Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
NIGEL
“T ell me the fucking truth,” I demand as I hold the ice pack to her bright red cheek. Beth has remained tight-lipped about whatever the fuck has been happening in that house since she first arrived in Grove Hill. I’ve allowed her to keep her secret this long, but it ends now. I heard the fear in her voice when she called me for help. It’s the kind one only speaks with when they think they’re about to die. That fear cannot be emulated.
“Nothing happened.” She tries to placate me, but I’m not fooled at all, and she knows it. I’m not letting her get away with trying to protect her mother. The woman scared her so severely she called me to rescue her. One thing I’ve learned about Beth is that she doesn’t need anyone to save her. She saves herself day in and day out, but for some reason, she won’t open up to me about this.
Why the fuck is she being so tight-lipped?
I grip her chin between my fingers and gently press the ice pack to her cheek, ensuring I’m not hurting her, but my point is made. I’m firm as I say, “Stop lying to me. Just tell me what happened. Why did your mom do this?”
“My mom didn’t do anything. I ran into a cabinet in the kitchen. My mom was just being a pain in the ass, and she was drunk in the middle of the day. No surprise there.” She avoids my gaze, and there’s only one reason for it. She knows I’ll see the lie in her eyes.
“Butterfly, I’m losing my patience. Stop fucking around. You were scared shitless, and unless you want me to go over there and deal with your mother myself, you’ll tell me what happened.”
Her eyes widen with shock. She probably never expected me to threaten her with that. I’m not afraid of her preacher mother, and I will gladly confront her if it will get me some answers. Granted, it might end in Preacher Mercer’s blood being spilled, but that’s no skin off my back.
“You wouldn’t.” She scowls at me defiantly.
I don’t hesitate to drop the ice pack and turn on my heels, heading for my bedroom door, but before I reach the doorknob, she’s in front of me, blocking my way.
“No,” she refuses while locking the door.
“Why are you protecting her?” What exactly is this? I understand abuse victims hiding behind their abusers, but this is ridiculous. I’m not looking at a victim. Beth is a survivor and a protector.
“She’s my mom, Nigel!” she yells, panic in her eyes. “I don’t know what you do to people who break your rules, but I won’t be responsible for anything happening to my mom. I already lost my dad, and she’s just having a hard time.”
“Hard time?” I scoff. “Your dad died years?—”
“He was the love of her life, and it wasn’t some terminal illness. He had a car accident. Grief can do terrible things to people.”
Anger surges from her indirect confirmation, but I don’t move forward. I want to throttle her for not conceding to my demands, but I sympathize with her need to protect her family.
It's something ingrained in us as people. We protect those we care about and she cares about her mom.
I lean down to her level and stare deep into her hypnotizing green eyes, holding her gaze through her long, ragged breaths. She’s scared and I have to wonder if she's scared of what I might do to her. She has seen what I'm capable of, even if not all of it. She knows that I can go low.
There have been plenty of times where she's told me no and tried to push me off of her, but it was always a front. I know last night was different. Ollie doesn't make idle threats and I just got my woman to agree to fully be mine. I'm not going to risk losing everything just because we enjoy a little dubious consent every now and then. We won’t do it anymore if it will prevent her from having the type of reaction she did.
Beth is mine and I'm not going to let her get away from me or be loved by someone else. I'd kill any fucker who tries to take her from me. She is my property, whether she likes it or not, and that will never fucking change.
“You really don’t know what I would do, butterfly?” I ask, keeping my voice low. “How I would punish her, make her pay for ever laying a hand on you?”
She gulps loudly as I run my fingers over her jaw, searching the tense muscle for a tick, something to be able to tell if I’m scaring her. She should be scared. I rather like that hint of fear in her eyes.
“Do you want to know?” I taunt her, but honestly, I know I’m about to do something that may send her running. If I don’t take this plunge, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I need to be honest with her.
I need it to be clear to her that she'll be safe from her mother if she tells me what she has done to her, but also that she will understand what will happen to me if she doesn't keep last night between us.
She opens her mouth to respond, but a knock sounds on my bedroom door.
“What?” I growl at the intrusion.
“Put your dick away, O’Reilly,” Oisin says on the other side with a laugh. “Vaughn has been released. We’re on the move.”
Vaughn , I snarl the name in my head. That piece of shit. Tanner Vaughn.
I groan and pull back from her. “Grab your jacket,” I say as I snatch my kutte from the coat rack in the corner of the room.
“What?” she mutters as she gapes at me.
“You’re coming with me. Put on your jacket.” I grab her coat and toss it at her before yanking the door wide open. Snatching her hand, I pull her behind me, but she doesn’t protest. On the contrary, she follows closely as I move down the stairs. Ronan, Oisin, Charlie and Ollie stand in the living room, waiting for me. Arely sits on the couch with a nail file like this is routine. She’s been around so long it probably is to her, but not Beth. She hasn’t been around for any of this.
“Beth, you can hang with Arely. We’ll be back—” Oisin starts as he runs a tired hand over his face, but I’m not about to let him push her off to the side.
“She’s coming with us,” I say.
Everyone’s heads snap up in shock, including Arely, who scowls at me. “Then, I’m coming, too!”
“No, you’re not.” I pin her with a look that says she better not try to challenge me.
I may not be the oldest of our group—that title belongs to Ollie—but I run everything, and what I say goes. If I say Beth is coming along, they know not to fight me on it.
The only one who seems the slightest bit irked by the ruling is my best friend, who is eyeing us suspiciously.
“That’s not fair, Ni! If I have to stay behind, shouldn’t Beth also? I’ve been around for years, and you barely even know her. How do you know she won’t just turn on you?”
I’m about to reprimand her when Beth beats me to it.
“How fucking dare you,” she growls at Arely. “Just because you’re all butt hurt doesn’t mean you can drag my name through the fucking mud.” My woman’s eyes blaze with rage at the insinuation that she would ever betray me. With that, I know she’s never going to. She’ll always stand by me. Either that or she’s pissed at being called a snitch.
“Fuck off, Arely. This doesn’t concern you. You could just as easily go home.” I back up my woman and throw an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in and away from Arely, guiding her out of the house. “Get in the truck.”
Beth doesn’t fight it or question me. She follows instructions, closing the door behind her.
“Are you sure about this, man?” Ollie asks as he walks up behind me. Unlike the others, I know this is a concern, not a challenge. I can’t be mad about that.
“Yes.”
“Why?” He’s suspicious, and I can’t blame him.
“Because I need her to know what she’s getting into and…her mother is a problem,” I explain, barely containing the rage I have directed at the preacher.
“Her mom?” Ollie’s expression remains stoic even as I notice his eyes shift with surprise and confusion.
“She won’t admit it, but I know her mom is beating on her. She constantly has bruises that she tries to explain away. Even today, she had to crawl out the window because her mother broke her bedroom door down trying to get to her. Her cheek was swollen and she tried to say she walked into a cabinet door. She’s used that excuse three times before. The only thing she hasn’t lied about concerning her mother is that her mom hasn’t been the same since her dad died. I need her to trust me to keep her safe.”
“How can she trust you to keep her safe when you’re hurting her, too?”
Well, that was a kick to the balls.
I wasn’t trying to fucking hurt her. He has to know that, right?
His eyes darken as he looks at Beth through the window of the passenger side door. “This could very easily backfire on you. How would you navigate that? You need to think this through." His gaze lingers on her a little too long for comfort.
I'm not blind. I've noticed him watching her as if he's dissecting her layer by layer. I don't know what is going through his head when he's looking at her and a part of me doesn't want to know. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
"She’ll be fine. See you at the warehouse,” I say before walking around my truck. I climb inside and turn it on before throwing on my seat belt.
“Where are we going?” Beth asks, giving me a cautious once-over before meeting my eyes. She’s uncertain but not running, which is a plus.
“You want to know what happens to someone who breaks the rules, butterfly? You’re about to see it unless you want to hang back with Arely.” I’m not going to force this on her. If her eyes become open to everything I do, it will be her choice, not mine.
Her lips twist up in concentration, thinking over her options. She takes a moment and looks out the window where Ollie is climbing into his car. The silence seems to last forever before she puts on her seat belt. “Let’s go.”
I couldn’t possibly be as proud of her as I am right now.