Chapter 8
GRAYSON
Pulling my elbow back, I hit the bastard in the face and watch him stumble a step back.
Satisfaction makes me grin like a madman.
He snaps at me, shock and rage burning in his eyes, but they’re nothing compared to what’s happening inside me.
To the utter wrath bubbling in my stomach, a volcano about to erupt.
This man touched my woman. He was clearly trying to hurt her. And he won’t leave unscathed. I don’t know who the fuck he thinks he is, but he won’t ever touch her again. If it’s up to me, no one will ever think of hurting her.
“I don’t know what’s happening here,” I roar, “but she’s not alone. Don’t you dare touch her again.” Protecting her is the least I can do, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.
I knew there was something wrong, something hesitant about the way she treated me.
When she looked at me, I knew we had something going on.
I knew she felt the same as I did. Still, she wouldn’t give in, not completely.
I knew she had been hurt; I knew she was maybe traumatized by a previous experience, and I wanted to be the one to heal her broken heart.
The man raises his eyes and straightens his spine, getting ready for a fight. I think it takes him a moment to realize how much bigger I am but once he does, he deflates. It’s actually funny. He looks up and up until he makes eye contact.
Then he looks at Mia, rage foaming at his mouth, and he spits on her feet.
“Already fucking someone else? You fucking slut,” he slurs.
The little shit.
I pull my arm back and punch him again. My knuckles crack against bone, hit soft skin.
It doesn’t even sting. He stumbles, hits the counter, then straightens again and jumps on me.
He comes straight at my fist. Maybe I should feel ashamed about hitting someone half my size, but I don’t give a fuck.
Not when he hurt her. I punch him again.
His nose breaks, blood spurting into my hand.
Some drops hit my shirt. And I fucking grin.
Mia cries out, stumbling away. I try to shoot her a calming glance, but she winces.
Fuck. Fuck. What have I done? I don’t know what this fucker did to her, but he hurt her bad.
And she’s afraid of me now. I wonder if he’s been violent before.
I wonder if she’s afraid of me now because of their past.
Should I stop? Should I stop hitting him because I’m hurting her?
She’s afraid, and she must be wondering if I’m ever going to hurt her, too.
I don’t want her to think that. I want her to believe I love her.
I want her to know that I’m just doing it to keep her safe.
But how could she? How could she when we know each other so little?
I step back, lowering my fists. Maybe I should try a different approach. Anything not to scare her. “What are you doing here?” I ask as he stumbles back to his feet.
“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are,” he says, “but this is between me and her. I think you should leave. Or I’m going to kill you after I’m done with her.”
Shit. He shouldn’t have said that. The threat breaks the weak restraints inside me, and I jump on him.
I pull an elbow back and hit him in the face again and again.
Mia cries out. Then her hands come around my shoulders, grip at my shirt, pulling me away from the man.
Is she trying to protect him? The mere idea is a knife to my chest. I whirl around to face her.
She winces, then shuts her eyes. The sight squeezes my heart, but she swallows hard and looks up at me.
It’s that fire in her eyes all over again.
“Please, Grayson, you’re going to kill him.”
In the back of my mind, I don’t really mind, but I step away once more and put my hands down. “Who is this man?” I ask.
“This is Trey, my ex-boyfriend.”
“So, he is the one who hurt you.”
She shoots me a doubtful glance. She’s right to be hesitant. She’s never told me anything about this. But I know it. I know from the way she reacts, from how she hesitates, that someone hurt her. And now I know who did it.
“He isn’t going to hurt you anymore,” I promise her. Then I look at him, stretched out on the floor, whimpering, a hand around his bleeding chin.
Mia shakes her head. “No, please. He hurt me, and he was going to do so much worse if you hadn’t arrived. But don’t kill him. You’d be thrown into jail, and he wouldn’t pay for the things he did to me. It wouldn’t be worth it.”
I gaze into her eyes, study her expression, then look back at the man half passed out on my feet. “Mia. What did he do to you?”
“What?”
“What did he do to you? Is he the reason you winced when you saw me hitting him?”
She pales, looking away. “Yes.” Mia nods, more tears streaming down her cheeks. “He was abusive. He used to tell me I would find no one better than him, so I had to stick around. He made me feel awful, just so I would stay. He hurt me, but it’s over now.”
“Is he the one that made the loan in your name?”
Her eyes go round. “Yes, but how did you…”
“I overheard you mentioning something about it. I had to check. I’m sorry I didn’t ask you first, but I wasn’t sure how it would go. I didn’t want to get your hopes up. I thought about telling you today.”
“Wait. So you are the one who went ahead with a lawsuit against him?”
“Yes. My lawyers told me not to worry. It’s an easy lawsuit. It won’t take long at all, and he’ll have to return your money.”
Her eyebrows shoot up her forehead. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I wanted to do it the same way.” I look at my hands, knuckles covered in blood, the skin stretched and cracked from hitting the man.
I’m not sure I did the right thing. Mia was hurt before, and my actions may have made it worse.
She didn’t have to see this. She didn’t have to see me acting like a wild animal when she ran away from a man that acted just the same.
Fear of losing her coils in my stomach. Will she forgive me?
Besides, I don’t want her to feel like she owes me.
I want her to be happy, to fulfill her dreams and the debts were holding her back.
Now it doesn’t matter. I might have just fucked up.
Mia touches my arm and the bloodstain on the shirt. She smiles. It’s a small, small smile, but it’s better than I hoped for. “This will take forever to clean,” she says, pointing at the stain.
“Doesn’t matter. I bought so many just so I could rip them and bring them to be fixed. Just because I wanted to see you.”
She smiles again. “Really? I wondered how you could destroy so many shirts in a single week. I thought it was because you are a big man.”
A peal of laughter escapes me. I shouldn’t laugh, but it’s hard not to. Mia’s eyes turn sad as she looks between the man and me again. I reach out a hand and cup her cheek, careful not to dirty her with the blood.
“I’m sorry you had to go through this, love. And I’m so sorry you had to see this. But I don’t regret hitting him. Whatever he wanted to do, it didn’t look good. I’m asking for a restraining order as soon as I get back to the office.”
“It’s okay. You scared me there, but I think it’s more of a muscle memory thing. It’s not you. I know you’re not violent. It’s just that… He hurt me so many times, and in so many ways. Sometimes it’s hard to believe someone wants me for who I am.”
I gape into her sad expression, and I want to wipe every tear away.
“I love you,” I burst. Her eyes go round, and I almost regret saying it, but I don’t stop.
“I love you, and I love you for who you are. You are beautiful, and you’re talented, and brave.
Fuck, you were so fierce the first time I saw you.
What caught my eye was not even how hot you looked, though you are really, really hot, too.
” She chuckles. “What caught my eye was how hard you defended what you believe in. The fire burning in you. Your sense of justice. You didn’t back down even when you learned I was your boss.
I’ve never met someone with your guts, Mia. ”
She chuckles. “That’s… The best compliment I’ve ever received.”
“All I wanted to do,” I say, “is to keep you safe. And seeing him dragging you around like that, manhandling you? It drove me mad to a new level. I’ve never been a man for violence, which might be hard to believe about someone my size, but this time?
This time I would have killed if it meant he would never touch you again. ”
Mia’s hand slides down my arm to intertwine our fingers. Hers with my bloody ones. I try to pull back, but she tightens the hold.
“Oh, Grayson. Thank you. I’ve never had someone standing up for me before.
I’ve never had someone defending me like this.
And, even if it was a bit aggressive for my taste, I…
” She looks away, then back at me, with those eyes glittering under the artificial lights.
“I kind of like it. A lot.” And her pupils widen.
Shit. Did she have to make my cock hard now?
Ms. Wellington rushes into the store, her eyes huge on her face, and a man in blue follows her.
The two stop next to us, then the man in blue, the mall security, kneels next to Trey and grips his wrists, crossing them behind his back.
The guard forces him to his feet, even as Trey stumbles and trips.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Cox,” the man says. “Do you want me to call the cops?”
“Yes,” I say with a curt nod. “And I’m calling my lawyer. This man won’t ever see the outside again if I can help it.”
The security guard drags Trey out of the store.
Ms. Wellington checks on Mia and hugs her, and I’m glad my woman has a close friend who can help her through this.
Mia turns to me as Ms. Wellington steps away.
She nods in gratitude, and I nod back. She had the foresight of seeing the fight and calling security, saving me from more violence.
Mia folds an arm around mine, then raises herself on tiptoes. She presses her face to my shoulder, then smiles up at me.
“I don’t… I don’t want you to think that I’m saying this out of gratitude.
Honestly. This comes from the bottom of my heart.
” She smiles. “I wish there was a better way of telling you this, but I’m in love with you, too.
And I’ve been in love with you for a while now.
You broke through my barriers, my walls, so easily. Just by loving me right.”
I smile back, bend, and capture her lips with mine in a peck. “I was just defending the woman of my life.”
She smiles and this time, it’s a wide, bright smile that chases away all the shadows.
“I like that,” she says. “I like being the woman of your life.”
“Good, because our life together has just begun.”