Chapter 20
Alec
I pull Tye off Billy—a young, miserable kid who recently joined the crew. Tye’s chest slams against mine as he tries to get back at him, which is odd, because Tye is the most level-headed guy I know. Whatever caused this fight would have been something worth fighting over.
“Tye! Come on, he’s not worth it,” I grunt as I hold him back. A bruise forms over his eye, but it’s nowhere near as bad as Billy’s face.
“Yeah, go back to that fat bitch!” Billy yells, and Tye’s chest hits my back as I turn toward the kid.
My jaw clenches. “Is that what this is about?”
“He’s said some shit things about Tegan,” Tye says behind me. When he sees my shaking fists, the tables turn, and Tye steps in front of me. “Don’t,” he warns.
“Don’t what? Fucking kill him? Because that’s what I fully intend to do.” I slam into his brick body as he holds me back. No one speaks about Tegan like that.
“I suggest you get the fuck out of here, kid!” Tye yells, aiming his words behind him and hurling them toward Billy. Only once he’s out of my sight do I remember why we’re fighting at all.
“Where’s Tegan?” Tye asks.
A distant grunt reaches our ears, almost imperceptible, but we both look at one another.
We take off across the parking lot, heading toward the sound. When I turn the corner, I can’t believe what I see. Rolo has Tegan pinned against the wall. His pants are half down his ass, and he’s working on hers.
A red veil drops over my vision. I have lived most of my adult life fantasizing about other men with my girl. Dreamed about it. But those fantasies never involved the pain or fear I see in Tegan’s wide eyes right now. In my fantasies, she enjoys it. She isn’t enjoying this at all.
I grab Rolo, shocked that someone I’ve ridden with for years would ever do something like this, let alone to my girl.
“Hey!” he screams as I pull him against my chest.
I punch him in the dick, and he crumples at the knees and hits the ground. “Take her, Tye! Take care of her!”
My fists pummel his face, over and over, and I don’t think that red veil will ever recede again. I continue the onslaught until my fists ache. I stand and trade the punches for kicks. Each time my shoe makes solid contact with his abdomen or his fucking face, it’s for Tegan.
“Fuck you!” I scream down at him as I send the sole of my shoe onto his skull.
I’m not even sure Rolo is still alive, and I don’t fucking care, but then he groans.
“Don’t ever fucking look at her. Don’t speak to her.
You’re lucky you aren’t leaving this hallway in a fucking body bag, you worthless piece of shit. ”
Rolo groans again, and I leave him with his injuries so that I can check on Tegan. Maybe he’ll die. One can hope.
I race down the wall of doors until I reach mine. My hands scramble through my pockets, but then I remember that Tye has the key. My fists bang against the door, and it opens seconds later.
“Where is she?” I ask, breaking past Tye.
“Ace!” He grips my arm and rips me backward. “You can’t go to her like that. You’re covered in his blood. Go to my room and clean up!”
I look down at my torso, and he’s right. Blood soaks my shoes and pants. Red splatters stipple my shirt. Even so, there isn’t time for that. I need to know she’s okay.
I rip my arm from his grasp and head toward the closed bathroom door. It’s locked. I take a deep breath and control my voice so that I don’t sound as angry as I am.
“Pup? Hey, it’s me. Can you open the door?”
Seconds pass. The door eases open, and her eyes widen as she looks at me. It looks like I committed a homicide, and hell, maybe I did, but she doesn’t flinch as I take a step forward and pull her into me.
“Look at me, pup,” I say, but her eyes refuse to obey. I shake her shoulders. “Fucking look at me.”
Her hazel eyes finally rise to meet mine. “Ace.”
“Did he . . . ?” I don’t even finish my sentence. I can’t.
She blinks up at me and shakes her head, but I don’t know if I believe her, and I can’t get a read one way or another.
As someone who knows how to stuff that hurt deep down into their gut until they shit it out, I can’t blame her for masking her pain.
But I’m afraid she won’t share it at all.
The shame of assault can be too fucking much.
Gripping the sides of her face, I force her to look into my eyes. “Tell me the truth, Tegan. Tell me right now. Did he—?”
“What the hell are you doing, Ace?” Tye’s voice is a booming roar that I’ve never heard before. He charges forward and scruffs my shirt like a cat, and I can’t even speak. “Go clean yourself off. It’s not a suggestion anymore.”
He hauls me out of the bathroom and tosses his room key at my feet. The way he squares up makes me certain I need to do exactly that or risk losing both of them, so I take the key and head to his room.
I wash the blood from my arms and neck, but I can’t do anything about the stains on my shirt. The bloody water swirls around the sink’s drain. I avoid my own reflection as I wipe blood from my cheek. What I did to Tegan was awful. Instead of comforting her, I was too focused on the facts.
I’ve never cared about anyone the way I care about her.
It’s like she’s directly connected to me by some firm thread of familiar trauma.
I want nothing more than to protect her from everyone and everything.
I needed to know that what I did to Rolo was sufficient.
If he actually touched her, she’s still mine.
Wholeheartedly mine. It wouldn’t affect how I feel about her. It would only affect my next actions.
Because if he violated her, what I did to him will no longer be enough. He’s already out of the crew. Stacks can fight me if he wants, but it’s Rolo or me.
I stay for a few minutes longer, just trying to calm myself down.
For her. For myself. Then I go back to my room.
I ease the door open and find Tye in bed with Tegan.
Not sexually. No. This is so much worse.
He’s in bed with her, fully clothed, but their body language speaks of the intimacy I denied her when I chose rage instead of comfort.
Her head rests on his chest as he idly strokes her hair. She sniffles and breathes deeply, completely relaxed. As soon as they see me, they leap apart. Tye stands and gets between us.
That hurts.
More than if I walked in on them fucking, to be honest. I fucked up by shaking her and yelling, but I would never physically hurt her.
“You don’t need to protect her from me,” I say.
“You sure?”
“I just . . . had to know.”
“Explain to her, not me.”
So I do. I sit beside her and lift her chin. My heart squeezes in my chest when she peers up at me.
“I’m sorry. I let myself regress back to a person I thought I’d long left behind. When things happened to me, I bottled them until I was drunk off anger. And I had to know the truth. Someone has to pay for this, and I need to be sure he pays with his life if necessary.”
She blinks up at me. Even if she doesn’t say anything, I can see the understanding in her eyes. I didn’t yell at her to harm her. But it did, regardless.
Tye plops down on the other side of Tegan, and everyone seems a little too broken tonight. Tye’s eye is fucked. Tegan’s dignity is damaged. And my pride is broken.
To my utter surprise, Tegan leans over and kisses me.
But not just me. She breaks away and turns toward Tye.
With much more hesitation, she draws him toward her for a kiss.
That’s the weird part about broken people.
Sometimes we don’t heal the way we’re expected to.
Or the way we should. After everything, the last thing Tegan should want is to be kissed, but here she is, letting our lips ease her pain.
“Princess,” Tye groans against her lips, and that word invokes a dangerous response from me.
I clear my throat. “I have something to tell you, Tye . . .”