Chapter 15 #2
“You might want to rethink your plan, asshole. The cops are going to be here any minute.”
The fucker grins. “I wouldn’t be so sure. You see, a police force is a lot like a brotherhood. We have each other’s backs, through thick and thin. One of my buddies moved out here after that bitch got him fired.” He gestures to Ellie behind him. “I made sure he was covering dispatch tonight.”
I try not to show any reaction to the news that no cops are on their way. You don’t need them, I tell myself. This asshole doesn’t understand that I have a brotherhood, too. The Barlowe boys and Nick should be on their way. If I can just keep Ellie safe for long enough…
“Such a tough guy,” I snarl, gesturing at Trisha. “Knocking out a defenseless woman.”
He shrugs. “That bitch was just a bonus. I’ve been wanting to beat the shit out of her ever since I found out where my wife went.” Anger crosses his face. “Interfering fucking cunt.”
“She’s not your wife anymore.”
He snarls, taking a step forward, the barrel of the gun nearly touching my forehead now. “She’ll always be mine. She fucking belongs to me. And she’s going to pay for whoring herself out to you. Her and that fucking kid.”
The strangest feeling washes over me, something shifting in my chest, like the pieces of me are being rearranged into a new order. The anger is still there, getting worse by the second, actually. So is the fear. But underneath it all is a deep well of certainty I’ve never experienced before.
I knew from the second I locked eyes on Ellie that I wanted her.
That connection between us was so immediate.
I’m not sure what would have happened if I hadn’t been there that day to see the package from her ex.
Would I have been more patient? Would I have tried to talk myself out of pursuing her once I knew she had a kid?
I never in a million years would have seen myself taking on a fatherly role for a boy I’ve only known a few months. Honestly, I never would have thought I’d be good enough for them—either of them. I’ve been a troublemaker and a fucking loser from the day I was born.
There’s a good chance that I would have chickened out before I really got the chance to get to know either one of them. But I didn’t have a choice once I saw that fucking box he sent her, once I realized what she was up against. I had to step in and step up for them.
And thank God I did. Because Ellie and Lucas are the best things that ever happened to me.
It doesn’t matter if I can’t see myself being a father—that kid is mine.
Mine to protect and mine to love. Mine to teach and provide for.
I’m gonna show Lucas what it means to be a man.
I’ll teach him not to make the same stupid mistakes I made.
More than anything else, I’m going to show him exactly how a woman deserves to be treated.
He’ll grow up knowing that his mother is a queen.
And I’ll die before I let this asshole ever hurt either of them again.
“You’re not going to touch Lucas or Ellie,” I tell him, my voice low and firm.
He snorts, waving the gun around. “Who the hell is going to stop me?”
“That would be me.”
A look of confusion crosses the bastard’s face as he hears a familiar voice come from his side. Everyone has always told us that for as similar me and Sawyer are in appearance, we’re even more identical in voice.
The confusion is enough to distract Ellie’s ex. He turns his head toward Sawyer, just for a second. But it’s enough. I hurl myself over Trisha and go for his knees, bringing him down with a roar.
He grunts as he hits the ground and I’m on top of him before he can bring the gun up.
He’s a strong fucker, though, and he’s every bit as pissed off as I am.
He lands a solid punch to my jaw but I don’t even feel the pain.
Adrenaline is pumping through me, the only thought in my head to keep the hand with the gun incapacitated so he can’t hurt Ellie.
A second later another hand clamps down on his arm. Sawyer jerks it away from my body while I use my knees to pin the writhing, bucking body to the ground. A door slams open, shouts filling the space.
“You’re a dead man,” Kevin snarls at me, managing to jab a knee into my kidney. Fuck, that one hurt, bad enough that I almost let go. But I keep my hold on him, throwing a punch to his evil fucking face.
“You think you’re going to stop me?” he taunts. “You think there’s anything you could ever do to keep me away from her? She’s mine, asshole. She’ll always be mine—”
I punch him again, right in the mouth this time. Then I do it again, sick satisfaction running through me at the spray of blood that hits my knuckles.
“Not so much fun fighting someone your own size, is it?” I ask him, landing a punch to his jaw. “You pathetic piece of shit.”
“Jonah, get up,” Sawyer says, his voice calm. “We’ve got him.”
I blink and realize Nick and Lawson are kneeling beside Sawyer, holding Kevin down. Their arrival must have been the shouts I heard a moment ago.
“We’ve got him,” Nick assures me, breathing hard. He’s looking down at Kevin like he’s the dog shit on his shoe.
“The gun—”
“Already secured,” he says, nodding to the side. I glance over to see Mac removing the magazine from a pistol. Apparently, all the Barlowe boys answered the call tonight.
“Can you call your contact at the police station?” I ask my brother. “We need to talk to someone directly—this fucker had someone in dispatch screening Sawyer’s call earlier.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Mac says.
“He probably fucked with the security system, too,” I mutter. Seems like something a former cop would know how to do.
“We need an ambulance for Trisha,” Sawyer says, and the reminder of the lengths this prick went to in order to hurt my girl has fresh rage washing through me, and I pull back my fist to land another blow.
“Jonah,” my twin says, his voice sharp. “Stop. Lucas is watching.”