Chapter Thirty-Nine
Misty
Butch flies off me, and I scramble towards the light, tears streaming down my face. My jaw aches, but I’m free.
I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay.
No matter what I tell myself, it doesn’t calm me. One of the worst things I can ever imagine almost happened, and I can’t breathe. I can’t get a breath in as I sob, and a large hand touches my shoulder.
I let out a squeal and kick myself backwards. The leather is familiar. Daredevils. And the man with a large white scar on the left side of his face holds his hands up in the air as he crouches in front of me.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Misty. I just wanted to see if you’re okay. Shit, he got you good.”
My hand shakes as I touch my cheek, and I wince. It’s where I scraped it on the cement when he dragged me back, but all of my face hurts. My eye where he punched me. My jaw where he squeezed. The scrapes. The back of my head when I hit the building.
Curling up on myself, I hug my knees and rock back and forth. There’s only one person I want right now, and I’m not sure if he’s even here.
“Motherfucker!” Butch huffs out, and I hear a loud crack.
My eyes widen as an older man walks in front of me and into the darkness. “You attacked her? You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“Zep…” I manage to get out. “Can you… I want Zep.”
My voice is barely more than a whisper, but the scarred man nods. He stands and shouts into the alley. “Zep! Misty needs you!”
Wait, Zep’s in the alley? I turn toward the darkness like I’ll magically have night vision, but I see nothing. How did I miss him?
“I want his bones fucking broken,” Zep shouts and runs to me. The moment he comes into the light, I burst into tears and reach out for him. “Misty, oh my God!”
He pulls me into his arms and rocks me as I scream and cry into his shirt. I was told not to go out at night alone, and I thought I was okay. That it was just a warning I didn’t need to worry about now that Zep and I aren’t together anymore.
Turns out, Butch doesn’t actually care. He’s a monster.
“Baby, I need to look at you, okay? It’s okay. You’re okay now,” Zep whispers and pulls me back to look at my face as he brushes the hair from my cheeks. “Jesus Christ, we should take you to the hospital.”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t want to… No. I’m okay.”
His fingers gently touch the areas of my face I can feel swelling. My skin is tight and hot, and I can only imagine how terrible I look.
“Did he…?”
The pain in his eyes makes me cry, but I shake my head. “No, you… someone… pushed him off before…”
“Why were you out here alone?”
“I worked late, and I just… I wanted something to eat. And I… hoped to run into you,” I say between sobs. “We aren’t together, so I thought… but then he offered me a smoke… and… and…”
“Shh,” he says and runs his hand over my hair as he pulls me against his chest again. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re gonna be okay.”
Butch cries out as another crack sounds, and Wylie runs out with a few others wearing Venom leather. I cling to Zep but see Wylie’s eyes widen when he looks at me in his half-brother’s arms.
The look he gives me lasts only a second before he runs into the alley after his dad. It was sympathy, I think. Maybe he’s not as much like his father as he seems.
“Get off me, asshole!” Butch shouts.
“What the fuck is going on?” Wylie shouts and uses a flashlight to light up the darkness that was just my own personal hell. “Are you fucking kidding right now?”
“Look what he did to her,” the man with the scar says, pointing at me. “Proud of your daddy? Huh? That’s what you want to be when you grow up?”
Wylie glances back, and I see that look again. But then his face hardens and says, “Probably asked for it.”
Zep tenses, but I cling to him, stopping him. I get the feeling Wylie doesn’t mean it, but he can’t disrespect his father. Or the president of his club.
They help Butch out, the others wearing rival leather holding knives to keep Zep’s club back, and I push Zep away as I throw up. Butch’s jeans are still undone with his now-soft cock hanging out.
Holding my hair, Zep rubs my back. “You might have a concussion.”
“Or seeing that crusty willy did her in. I know it’s making me nauseous,” a man with dark blond hair says.
Nancy storms out with a baseball bat in hand. “What the hell do you think—Oh my God, Misty! Are you okay?”
“Butch tried to…” Zep trails off, unable to finish the sentence.
“Guess I heard racoons out here. Those little buggers will dig through all trash. No matter how grotesque it is,” she says, glaring at Butch with disgust. “Do you need anything, sweetheart?”
Shaking my head, I let Zep help me stand. I just want to leave. “No, thanks.”
“Add my drinks to my tab, Nan. I gotta take off and get her home.” Turning to me, he cups my face and bends down to look into my eyes. There’s a mix of pain and concern in his expression, and it makes me want to break down again. “I have pizza at my place. Does that work?”
I nod, pick up my purse, and follow him to his bike. Clinging to him like my life depends on it, I fight the tears. I’m not scared of the bike or the rider, but I still feel Butch’s hand on my wrist. It’s a fear of being ripped away from the only person who makes me feel safe right now.
We pull up to his house, and I stay where I am as he puts the kickstand down and turns off the bike. Zep doesn’t rush me. He doesn’t try to talk me down. He just puts his hand on mine and lets me hold onto him.
After a few minutes, I gather my strength and let him go. I climb off the bike, and Zep’s right there to catch me when I stumble.
“Can we… I need something from my house.”
Thank God Bernie’s not home, but I need something of hers. Something to ground me and keep me from flying off the handle.
Zep guides me across the street, and he takes my keys from me when my hands shake too much to unlock the front door. “What do you need, baby?”
I drop my bag, and walk upstairs into Bernie’s room. She has a stuffed cat she never let out of her sight for four years, and I pull it into my arms and hug it tightly. I feel safe right now. Stronger.
“Misty?” Zep calls. “Your phone’s ringing. Carly’s mom.”
Shit. No, Bernie, I can’t let you come home right now.
Hurrying down the stairs, I take my phone from him, ignoring that he had to go through my purse to get it. “Janet? Is Bernie okay?”
“Bernie’s fine,” she says. “I heard about what happened at the bar. Are you okay?”
“You… you heard about what happened?”
My stomach drops. I don’t know how I’ll explain this to Bernie, but now I have to worry about others telling her first.
“Yeah, sorry. Small town. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay and see if you wanted Bernie to stay an extra night. If it was me, I’d need some more time to settle, so I wanted to offer.”
“That would be… That would be really helpful, Janet. I don’t… I don’t want her to see me like this right now. I’m kind of a mess.”
“I can only imagine. I’ll just let Bernie know we talked and asked if she could stay an extra night. We have a pool, and she and Carly are like little fish.”
Sniffling, I smile. Bernie loves swimming. “She’ll love it. Thank you.”
“No problem. This might not be the right time, but can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Are you dating that handsome biker that lives across the street from you?”
Seriously, I’m not loving the small town at the moment. “Um, not right now. Why?”
“Because Troy Martin told my husband about what he did.”
Glancing at Zep, I frown. “What are you talking about?”
“How your biker and a few of his friends showed up to threaten Troy. They said if he didn’t get Sierra to stop bullying Bernie, they’d hurt him. Scared him shitless, which was a nice change. He’s a pompous ass.”
“Oh, is that right?”
“So hot. I’m married, but you’re a lucky lady if he’s your guy. And it was nice to have someone put him in his place. I’ve needed a good reason to keep Carly from spending so much time with Sierra. And Bernie’s so sweet.”
I lick my lips. “Do you know when this happened?”
“Um, I believe it was the night of their first sleepover. The next day, I guess.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” I say.
“Take care, Misty. I’ve got Bernie.”
We hang up, and Zep tilts his head. “Everything okay with her?”
“Uh, yeah. Carly’s mom heard what happened and is keeping her an extra night.” I’m not in the right headspace to ask about the Troy situation, and I stare at a vase of flowers, confused. “Where did those come from?”
Turning, Zep lets out a sigh. “Oh, those are… from me.”
“What?”
He nods into the living room, and as we walk, I gape. Vase after vase of daisies sit on every surface of the house. The tables. The counters. And as I walk into my bedroom, they’re on the dresser and nightstands. The windowsill. My vanity.
“Bernie let me in to do this before she went with Carly’s mom. It was supposed to be a surprise when you came home from work.”
Tears fill my eyes. “No one’s ever given me flowers before.”
“I know. Bernie told me, and she said daisies were your favorite. But it’s really not important right now. I have a pretty extensive first aid kit at home. It would make me feel a lot better if I can clean up those wounds.”
He bought me flowers. My favorite flowers. And Bernie helped. He tried.
“Okay,” I whisper and take his outstretched hand.
I don’t want to stay in my house. I don’t feel safe just yet, and Zep feels safe. His house feels safe. All I want to do is curl up in his bed and let him hold me while I try to forget this night ever happened.