Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Judge
We’ve been on the road for about fifteen minutes, and I notice Evie fidgeting. She keeps playing with the blanket that Hammer handed her after we pulled off campus. She leans against the door, then sits up.
“Babe, what’s up?” I look over at her for a moment.
“N-nothing.”
Reaching across the console, I take her hand and lace our fingers together. “Talk to me.”
She sighs big and looks over her shoulder at Hammer, who leans against the window with his eyes closed. From years of being friends, I know he’s not sleeping. He’s alert, but he lets her think he’s asleep, so she’ll freely talk.
“I don’t know what to expect now. Will Justin come after me? Will he give up? I just don’t know.”
“Don’t overthink it.” That’s, of course, easier said than done, so I give her a bit more.
“He’s going to either give up and realize he can’t have you anymore, or he’ll attempt to seek his revenge on me or come after you.
We’ll be prepared. That’s all you can do.
You can’t control what others are going to think, say, or do.
Let it go. Instead, think about what you want to do with your future.
” I pause because she needs to understand where her future lies now.
“You’ll be able to design clothes, but I can’t let you go to New York or somewhere else.
Once I have you, there is no turning back, sweet cheeks. ”
“Oh, I don’t want to go to New York. I want to design, maybe have a small boutique, and…” she pauses before turning away from me. “Have a family. I want kids. I want to be a mom.”
“Thank fuck.” I realize I said that out loud, and we both laugh. “I can’t wait to see you round with my baby. I’ll do whatever it takes to help you make your dreams come true. As long as you stay with me and don’t mind living in Jupiter.”
“I’ve always wanted to live in a small town. I hated all the stuck-up people in Newport.”
I’m about to ask her to marry me tomorrow when my phone rings. I answer it through the truck. “You’re on speaker,” I warn the caller. Hammer shifts in the back seat and alerts to the conversation.
“Hey, it’s Frost,” his deep voice comes through the speakers. “We’ve been hiding out, surveilling the apartment. He showed up. Pounded on the door and woke up some of the neighbors. He’s aware that she was moved by you.”
“Me specifically?”
“Yep. Not long after that, the sheriff showed up. He’s related to Hemingway, so Gambit got the call right away.
Asked why we, along with another club, kidnapped his fiancée.
” Frost chuckles. Not sure what he finds funny.
“Gambit said he didn’t kidnap anyone, and he doesn’t know of any kidnapping.
He told Evander that we helped another club move their president’s ol’ lady out. ”
“Good. Anything else?”
“Yeah,” Frost pauses. “Good thing we took pictures and video of what the apartment looked like when we left, because that fucker went through and destroyed a bunch of shit.” Evie pulls her hand from mine as she gasps, and I look over at the worry on her face. “Holes and shit in the walls.”
“The photographic evidence was sent to the apartment manager before we pulled away. We have witnesses, too. It will be okay.” I look at Evie to ensure she knows this. “Frost, keep an eye out, but thanks.”
“No problem, man. Talk to you soon.” He hangs up, and we continue our drive.
Evie starts groaning when she moves now; the pain is getting to her.
Her poor body was put through a lot over the last few hours.
Hammer told me that Lach would be off his shift at the hospital by the time we got to the clubhouse, so he could check her over.
Lach is the town’s physician. He has a small private practice, but he also works every other weekend in the ER at the hospital the next town over.
He’s also been the club’s doc since he prospected years ago.
“Try to relax, baby, we’ll be there in another ten minutes or so.”
“Okay,” she murmurs as she shifts, trying to find a comfortable position. “My back is starting to hurt.”
“How is everything else?”
“It all hurts.”
“I can imagine. I’ve been in fights before, so I know that pain. What cut into your back?” When I cleaned her face earlier, she shifted around so I could get to the cut on her back.
“A towel dispenser.”
“What the fuck?” Hammer says from the backseat. “How did that happen?”
Evie adjusts herself so she can acknowledge him, too.
“Well.” She takes a deep sigh and starts the story.
“I was in the restroom when Paris confronted me. I sassed her, and she didn’t like that.
She went to attack me, and I moved so that she slammed into my hands.
I’m tired of her bullying me. I stood up to her. ”
“Good. The best way to stop a bully is to show them you aren’t intimidated by them anymore,” Hammer says.
“Well, she fell but over exaggerated it, as if she knew Justin was right outside the door, because he came in and helped her up, coddled her, then attacked me. He backhanded me before slamming me into the wall behind me. That’s when I hit the towel machine the first time.
When I told him no, he smacked me again.
” She points to her ear. “He smashed me against the wall a couple more times, and it cut into my back from that. That’s also when he shoved me so hard that my head hit the wall.
” Her hand goes to the back of her head, where I felt the lump earlier.
“Jesus, baby, how often did he physically abuse you?”
“It was what I thought I had to do. The day you came to the game in September is when it really started. I’d already broken up with him, but I went home for dinner, and his family was all there with mine.
He announced that we were back together and talking about a quick wedding.
” She pauses as if she’s collecting her thoughts.
“He took me aside afterward and told me that if I didn’t marry him, he’d kill my family.
Since then, he’s beaten me several times.
But so has Paris. She thought they were going to be together, but instead, he just sleeps with her and wants to marry me.
She once told me that she was the Marilyn to my Jackie.
She knew how much I thought Jacqueline was a fashion icon. ”
I don’t have the words, but thank goodness Hammer does. “I’ve seen it many times. You and other women think you must put up with the abuse, either to protect someone or because he has you convinced that it’s all your fault. Typically, by saying, ‘Look what you made me do.’”
“That’s exactly what he said to me earlier.”
“It’s not you. It’s all on the abuser. They feel inadequate, or something else in their mind is scrambled.”
“Thank you for saying that. I kept your card, but I just couldn’t see a way to protect my family.”
“I get it.” Hammer shrugs it off.
Another call comes through the car, and at first, I consider taking it directly on my phone, but Evie will want to know if her family is safe.
“Hello,” I answer. “You’re on speaker.” Again, I let them know. This time, the caller pauses.
“It’s Ridley.” Her voice breaks through the quiet. Evie sits up at the sound of a woman’s voice on my speaker. An evasive woman. “Evelise, I expect that you're sitting there, and that’s why Judge said I’m on speaker.”
“Yes,” Evie responds.
Justin broke my girl so far down that it’ll take some time to make her understand that I’m only interested in her.
“I have a message for you from your family.”
Evie sits forward. “You know my family?”
“Yes, I’m in charge of their security. I sent a couple of my guys with them on their trip. They wanted me to tell you that they love you and wish you had told them what Justin was doing to you.” Ridley pauses. “They are safe now, so what I’m about to tell Judge, don’t worry about, okay?”
“Uh, okay, I guess.”
“Judge, you were correct, and it was a good thing we did this tonight. My team intercepted an apparent attack on the parents. They are safe and were never touched. We will be questioning the attackers as soon as we can, but we wanted to secure the family first.”
“Okay, keep me posted.”
“I will.” Ridley hangs up, and Evie turns toward me.
“He really went after my parents?”
“Yeah, we figured it was a possibility, but something changed with him this evening. Do you have any ideas?”
“The party was to celebrate a new company he purchased. They just got a huge contract for something.”
“What kind of company?” Hammer sits up in the back seat. “Do you remember what it did?”
That’s when the puzzle pieces begin sliding into place. “Hammer, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yep.”
“What?” she asks, but we turn down Main Street, and I watch as Evie combs the darkness, with only the streetlights from the core part of our small town.
My chest constricts with worry until she turns to look at me and gives me a gentle smile.
The tightness eases, and when we pause at the club’s gate, I turn in and wave to the prospect guarding the entrance.
Pulling forward to the front of the clubhouse, I look over to Evie and say, “Stay there.”
She nods, and Hammer slips out the back with her cat kennel.
Evelise
On the drive here, not only did I realize I want this thing with Lucian to work, but also just how serious Justin is.
I’m scared and worried about what this could mean.
Even if I had succeeded in killing myself tonight, my family would have been injured, or worse, killed, according to Ridley. That’s terrifying.
As Lucian comes around from his side of the truck to mine, opening my door, I push the thoughts away and unbuckle my belt before he wraps his hands around my waist and lifts me out of the truck.
Taking off his vest, he cloaks me in it, and I slip my arms into the holes. “Wear that whenever you are walking around here. Got it?”