Chapter Twenty-Seven
The ride on Mac’s bike over to the house I have come to call mine feels like it flashes by. I don’t even get to truly enjoy it as he pulls into the drive. We both get off, walking up to the house hand in hand. I unlock the door, stepping inside.
It feels so different now.
What was once a safe haven is now flooded with the memory of those men breaking in. I know after tonight, all I will see is Evan when I come in here. As much as I love Mac and want to be with him, we will need to move. I can’t stay in this place.
Shaking my thoughts off, I turn to Mac.
“This is it,” I tell him.
He grabs both of my hands, squeezing them between his much bigger ones.
“Are you sure about this? It’s not too late. We can find another way.”
I shake my head. “Most of my life, I have been playing by his rules. Tonight, he plays by mine. I’ll get what you need, then say the word. You and the rest of the guys will come in and save me.”
He nods. “Tank is out front. We don’t know what he is going to do in order to get past him, but remember, Tank is allowing him to come to the door, and he will be right there. Here are a knife and a gun. Use them if you feel you are in danger and cannot say the word.”
He hands me the items. They make me uncomfortable. I don’t like the idea of having to hurt anyone, even Evan. As much as I hate him, I can’t see myself stabbing him.
Then again, if it’s me or him, will I?
I shake the thoughts away.
“I know. I remember the plan. You should go,” I say softly.
He leans in, kissing me like it is the only thing in the world he has left to do. When he finally pulls back, he presses a kiss to my forehead.
“I love you, Jane. More than you know. Please be safe.”
I can’t help the small smile despite the situation we are in.
“I love you, Colin,” I say, using his real name. “You be safe too.”
His eyes flare. “I can’t wait to hear you calling out my name.”
“Me neither, so how about we get this over with and move on with the rest of our lives?”
He lets out a deep sigh.
“As you wish, a mhuirnín.”
He places one last kiss on my lips before turning and leaving the house. I listen as his motorcycle starts, then the sound fades away.
This is it. You can do it. He can’t hurt you anymore, not after this.
He is used to the weak Jane who left him, not the new one in her place. I won’t let him push me around anymore. I will fight back.
Setting the gun between two books on the bookshelf, I hide it. The knife I keep sheathed and stick it in my waistband. I don’t know if I can use the gun, but I have no problem waving a knife around to buy time.
It doesn’t take him long to get here. I have no idea where Tank is, but Evan is pounding on my door not five minutes after Mac leaves.
“Jane, open this door, you fucking bitch.”
I wince, going to the door. I unlock it and open it.
He pushes his way through, slamming it shut. Then he whirls to face me. I know the look in his eyes. He is itching to start a fight and hurt me.
Moving away from the door quickly, I place myself across the living room from him.
“What are you doing here, Evan? Why couldn’t you just let me go? I wasn’t asking for money or anything from you. All I wanted was to be free,” I tell him.
He scoffs. “Free? You will never be free from me. Since you were fourteen years old, I have owned you. I still own you. You can’t think that I would let you disappear and take my children with you.”
“Children? Do you even care about them? When was the last time you asked about school? Spent one-on-one time with either of them? You don’t love those kids, and you don’t love me either.
We are possessions to you. Fancy little toys to put on a shelf when you aren’t playing with them.
Well, I am done. No more. Your biggest mistake was touching Tanner.
I might have stayed with you until you killed me if you hadn’t.
I was willing to take that abuse, but Tanner doesn’t deserve that.
Frankly, neither do I,” I spit out at him.
I can see his hands clench in anger.
“Oh, you think that you don’t deserve it?
You are a pitiful excuse for a wife. You raised those children to be weak.
Tanner thought he could stand up to me. Show me disrespect.
I refuse to allow that in any child of mine.
Now I am going to take them back, and I will raise Tanner and Emily the right way.
Emily will be the perfect obedient wife for whatever man I deem worthy, while Tanner will grow up to be just like his old man. ”
Tears start to prick my eyes at his words. It’s my worst fear. He wants to take them back from me and ruin their lives for good. I refuse to let him.
“No. You are wrong. Those children are strong. They have had to endure more than any child should simply by being born with your DNA. Don’t worry. It won’t be a problem anymore. They have a new father now. One who loves and cherishes them. You won’t hurt them again.”
He strides across the room, grabbing me before I can escape. I struggle in his hold, even though his hands are bruising my arms.
“You think that biker can save you? Henry is already working on getting them arrested for good. I don’t even have to do anything shady.
They are shady enough on their own. Hell, the one out front who is supposed to protect you took money to let me inside.
Does that sound like men who care about you?
” He snorts. “I was going to keep you alive. Maybe use you for a few more years before your untimely demise, but I’m bored with your antics.
You need to be punished for leaving me and taking my children with you.
Do you have any last words? Because you won’t be leaving here tonight. ”
I spit in his face, making his face blaze with anger. “Do whatever you want to me, but you will never find them. They are already so far gone that you will never catch up to them. Even if I die here tonight, they are finally free.”
He slaps my face, making my head dizzy as I process the pain. Then he pins me to the wall, his hand on my throat.
I try to call out the safe word, but I can’t. Not with him cutting off my air supply. My fingernails dig into his arms, trying to stop him, but it’s no use.
It’s now or never.
Reaching into my waistband, I pull out the knife. He is so focused on my face that he doesn’t even see the threat. He underestimated me.
Pulling it out of the sheath, I slam it into his arm, making him drop it.
“You fucking bitch!” he screams out, holding his arm.
I don’t hesitate.
“Anchovies.”
“You are going to regret this,” Evan continues, unaware that his whole world is about to change.
After dropping my bike several streets away, I ran back through the neighborhood until I slipped through the back door of the house across the street.
Mrs. Davis is a sweet older lady. She had no problem going on the casino cruise with money from the club.
She even asked me to watch her place. It was exactly what we wanted.
“Is he there yet?” I ask Smoke as soon as I am through the door.
“Just arrived and bribed Tank. He’s inside now.”
Moving closer to him, I put an earbud in and listen.
What I hear has the rage in my blood boiling to new points. I will kill him one way or another. He will never hurt my woman again.
We can’t see inside. It was too risky to install cameras, knowing the place was likely being watched, but Jane is wearing a wire, so we can hear everything.
When I hear a loud clap, I know he hit her. Smoke has to grab my arm to stop me from rushing the place too soon.
Then I hear it. The word we gave her.
Anchovies.
That one word has all of us moving without hesitation. Tank is the first through the door with Smoke and me right behind him.
He has his gun up and pointed at Evan.
My eyes roam over Jane. Her neck is redder than it was before, and she has a red patch on her cheek from where he likely hit her. Other than that, she seems okay.
Her eyes aren’t on me, though. They are watching Evan, like he is the most dangerous thing in the room.
She has that wrong, though. I am the most dangerous thing in this room, and Evan is about to figure that out.
“Evan Anderson. You really are a piece of shit, aren’t you?” I say, drawing his attention to me from Tank.
“Colin Sheridan, biker wannabe, who is lapping up my sloppy seconds. Tell me, how does my dick taste?” Evan spits back at me.
I hear a small gasp from Jane, but I cannot take my focus off Evan.
I laugh, moving closer to the man.
“Oh, it’s cute you think I got your seconds when Jane never even orgasmed until she met me.
It tasted so sweet on my tongue, but you don’t even know what she tastes like, do you?
You are a selfish man and a selfish lover.
Don’t worry. It won’t matter for long because tonight you will be dealt with. ”
Evan snorts. “Henry knows I am here. If anything happens to me, he has been told to release all the information we have on you and Jane. The children will go to him. We have ensured it.”
I lick my lips, smiling. “Oh, you have no idea who we really are, do you? Or at least who I am. It doesn’t matter. You are about to learn. Come on, Evan. You want to hit someone? Hit me. I can take it.”
He growls. “I will do no such thing. It’s a setup.”
I laugh even louder. “Wow. Jane said you were a coward, but I didn’t think it was true.
A man who has as much anger as you have, I thought you would jump at the chance to get some of it out.
I guess you only like to hit people who won’t hit back.
” My eyes trail to his bleeding arm. “Or I guess she did this time. I’m proud of you, a mhuirnín. ”
His hand twitches, the knife still in it from where he pulled it from his arm. I’m not worried about his knife, though, and I don’t plan to use my gun. No, I want to teach this man a lesson. Let him feel everything that Jane has had to feel. I want to see the fear in his eyes as I hand him his ass.
“Fuck that bitch. She is nothing. I will decimate her. You might have stopped me from ending her life tonight, but she will come back home, and then you won’t be able to do anything,” he promises.
“So you were going to kill her tonight?” I ask.
“Yes. She doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air I breathe. She betrayed me. She’s nothing but a two-bit whore.”
My anger reaches new heights hearing him talk about her that way, but I react as I speak to Smoke.
“Is that enough?” I ask.
“Plenty. I’ll go get them. Try not to go too crazy.”
That’s his way of saying don’t kill the man. We could cover it up, but it would be a hell of a lot of work.
Smoke leaves, and I want to ask him to take Jane with him, but she is frozen on the other side of Evan. I need to get him away from her.
“Well, come on, big man.” I wave him forward. “Come take care of me so you can take care of her, because I won’t leave this place unless I am in a body bag.”
Evan’s eyes flare. He doesn’t want to fight me. I can see it behind those evil eyes, but he refuses to allow me to show him up.
He lunges forward, trying to use the knife to stab me.
I hear Jane call something out, but I ignore her. Tank has her. He won’t let anything happen to her.
Instead, I focus on the fight in front of me. I duck the knife, bringing my fist to his kidney. He grunts, but spins on me. I smile, waving him forward again. That only angers him more.
This time, when he comes for me, he changes direction, the knife slicing across my shoulder. It’s not deep enough to do any real damage, but the burn spurs me on. I land another perfectly placed punch to his ribs.
He screams when I feel one give way. A broken rib isn’t anything to joke about.
Still, he stands tall, his hands now shaking.
“Come on. Choke me like you do her. I want to know what it feels like,” I taunt him.
He goes on the offensive again, but this time, I chop his arm, making him drop the knife, then I spin him away from it and into the closest wall. He doesn’t go down without a fight, though.
He kicks and swings his arms wildly, hitting me a few times. I ignore the pain, my hand coming to his neck as I hold him up against the wall. His hands reach for my arm as my hand closes around him, cutting off his air supply.
“This is how she felt every time you would threaten her. This is the fear she felt, wondering if this was the moment she would die. This is what you would do to that woman, who is the best thing to grace this Earth,” I tell him as he sputters, trying to save himself.
I see it then. The fear. He thinks this is how he will die. He would deserve it too.
“Mac, buddy. We need him alive,” Tank reminds me.
The red haze has taken over, though. I’m too angry to stop. If I let him go, he still breathes, and she is still in danger.
I need to eliminate him for her.
“Mac, let him go.”
Evan is looking a little blue now. His hands are barely moving as his eyes dim.
Only a few more seconds.
“Jane is freaking out and needs you. Save her,” Tank barks out.
That has me dropping Evan to the floor, ignoring his gasps as I turn to my woman.
Tank was right. She isn’t in this room with us right now. The guilt sits in. She hates violence, and I just made her witness me dealing it out.
I’m in her face in a second, cupping her cheek.
“Jane?”
She doesn’t answer me. It’s like she’s not even here with us.
“Jane,” I growl out.
I can’t lose her. I refuse to lose her. I need to bring her back to me.