Chapter 6 #3
“Get the fuck away from her,” Skeeter snapped as he appeared and jerked me away from him, my head spinning from the sudden movement.
“You fucking punched her!” Marco growled, putting his hands out when I swayed slightly.
“What?” Skeeter asked with confusion. Nausea swam inside me from the dizziness, and he tightened his hold on me. “Aurora?”
“I think she’s going to hurl,” Marco sighed, somehow managing to get Skeeter to let go of me so he could steer me towards the garden. I gagged, holding onto the side of the house to keep myself upright.
I’d been hit plenty over the years, but a solid knock to the temple like that from a guy? Yeah, that was concussion material, and I’d learned from last time that Skeeter’s fists were like concrete.
Mule appeared with an ice pack, and I was a little surprised when Marco pressed it against my temple, keeping an arm around me in case my legs gave out.
“Fuck,” I mumbled, needing my head to stop spinning.
“Close your eyes, it helps,” he said gently, and I felt a hand on the back of my neck.
“You okay?” It was Hunter.
“Does she fucking look okay?” Marco bit out, and I closed my eyes to try and stop myself from throwing up.
It helped a little, but not much.
“Where’s Skeet?” I asked, leaning forward to press my forehead against the cool wall.
“Having a pity party,” Marco said bluntly, and I managed to reach up and take over holding the ice pack. After a moment, fingers carefully ran through my hair. “You want me to take you home?”
“I’d fall off the bike,” I scoffed, wincing as it hurt my head.
“I’ll drive Hunter’s car. I think you need a hospital. That was a fucking hard hit,” he murmured, continuing to tease my scalp with his fingers.
“You guys need to leave. Skeet can take me home,” I said as firmly as possible.
My phone was ringing, and I fumbled trying to pull it out, but Marco slipped his hand into my pocket and answered it.
“Hello? She’s fine. She’ll be home soon,” I heard him say before he sighed. “Skeet. Tell Josie Rory’s coming home soon. She thinks I kidnapped her.”
I looked over at Skeeter, the sunlight hurting my head. His eyes were on me as he approached, taking the phone from Marco’s hand.
“Hey, it’s Skeet. I’m with her. I’ll bring her home myself.”
Nausea hit again, and Marco’s fingers wrapped around my hair in time for me to throw up in the garden. I’d only had this a couple of times from fighting, and it fucking sucked.
I threw up again, hearing Marco mumbling something behind me, but I couldn’t hear it over the ringing in my ears.
“I’ve got her,” he said a little more clearly, once I’d finished throwing up, his hand letting go of my hair as he started leading me towards the road, handing the ice pack back to Mule. “Close your eyes again. I won’t let you run into anything.”
Reluctantly, I did as he said and let him lead me, hearing Hunter and Skeeter talking close by as a car door opened. I didn’t want to go anywhere with Marco, so I opened my eyes to tell him, but I found myself in front of the McLaren.
Marco helped me inside, putting my hood up to tug it down over my eyes as best as possible.
“Call Hunt if you need us,” he said quietly, his fingers brushing my cheek for a second before I heard the car door close.
My head dropped back on the head rest as I savored the silence, the driver’s door opening after a few moments before closing again.
I was starting to think Skeeter wasn’t going to speak, but then he carefully pushed my hood out of the way to gently touch the tender skin, his voice cracking. “I’m so sorry.”
My eyes slowly opened to look at him, seeing the devastation written all over his face.
“It was an accident. I know not to get between you and someone when you’re fighting,” I replied.
“Are the guys home?”
“They weren’t earlier. Why?”
“Someone needs to stay with you, and I can’t.
I only checked my phone because I was about to call Brick.
I didn’t know you’d tried calling, I just saw Mule’s text come through as I unlocked my phone and jumped straight in the car.
I have to drop you off and get back to the Shed. I’m in the middle of something.”
“Let Mule take me home then, we’re having a movie night anyway. If you’re busy—”
“I want to check you out properly before I go. You need to rest in the dark and stay off screens. Movie night with Mule will have to wait,” he sighed, his eyes sliding to my window.
I turned my head, finding Marco approaching with my tools in hand. He must have taken them from Mule’s car.
The door opened and he placed them on the floor by my feet, looking at Skeeter.
“I know you’re going through it right now, but you’re lucky I don’t knock your teeth out. That hit could have killed her.”
“I’m well aware of how dangerous my fists are. It was an accident. One that could have been prevented if you guys stayed the fuck away from my girl,” Skeeter warned in a low voice.
“Maybe if you kept an eye on her, we wouldn’t have to run around playing bodyguard all the time. We’ve had every chance to take her to spite you and never have. All we’ve done is keep her safe. I’m not the fucking enemy here, you are.”
“How the fuck—”
This was starting to hurt my head, so I tugged the hood back down over my eyes, letting them argue.
“Hunt saw you, Skeet. You were driving the truck for Savage,” Marco said sharply, and Skeeter scoffed.
“I always drove the trucks for the drug and gun hauls. What’s your point?”
“You hauled trucks full of women, you idiot. Admit it.”
“For the last time, we never traded in flesh. Never have, never will,” Skeeter gritted out, and I could hear rustling before an arm moved across my thighs and an awful sound reached my ears.
I moved the hood out of the way, finding Marco’s arm across my lap with his phone in hand, showing Skeeter something on it. I could make out a truck by a warehouse, watching as women cried as they were unloaded like cattle. Some dressed, some naked, and some definitely underage.
I wanted to throw up again.
“What’s this?” Skeeter demanded, but he didn’t sound angry, just confused.
“This is the haul from the night Hunter saw you driving the truck. He followed. After you left, Savage stayed and helped unload them all to the warehouse that was hosting the auction,” Marco answered with disgust, but I saw it as his face fell a fraction at Skeeter’s silence as he took the phone in his hands, hitting the replay button in disbelief. “You really didn’t know?”
“This isn’t right,” Skeeter muttered, scanning the screen. “It was machine guns. I remember that delivery. That’s the warehouse in Riverside.”
“It was human trafficking. That girl there, the one with the pig tails? She was nine. She was bought for two hundred k and given to Lopez as a trade for a debt owed by some asshole. You don’t even want to hear the list of things that happened to that kid.
You know how sick and twisted the Demons were. ”
Skeeter looked sick as he handed the phone back. “Send that to me.”
“I can do that if you unblock my number,” he said dryly, moving his arm from my leg and looking up at my face. “Put more ice on it when you get home.”
“Not my first rodeo,” I answered, drawing Skeeter’s attention to the fact I was here. He’d completely forgotten.
“I’ve got her,” Skeeter said gruffly as he started the car, leaving the second Marco backed away and shut the door.
He remained silent the entire drive, lost in his own head. Once we arrived at the house, he checked his phone, most likely to unblock Marco, then his hands came up to hold my face gently to inspect my temple.
He muttered curses under his breath, letting go when Caden’s car pulled in close by.
“Get Holloway to keep an eye on you. My phone’s ringing like mad, so I need to get back.”
“I will,” I promised as I opened the door and hauled myself out, holding onto the car to make sure I had my balance when everything spun a little.
“Hey. What happened?” Caden asked as he climbed out of his car, the others starting to pull in a second later, and I winced at the sun.
“She got between me and Hunter,” Skeeter said with a cringe, putting his window down to talk properly. “I didn’t realize she was even there. I just kept punching him until I heard Marco yelling at us that Rory got hit.”
“You hit her?” he bristled, walking around the car to slide an arm around my waist.
“It was an accident. I need to get back to the Shed. We can talk about it later. Right now, she needs to lie down in a dark room and rest. Make sure she ices it. She’s got a nasty concussion.”
“Why the fuck aren’t you coming in? This is your fault.”
“I’d much rather be here than the shitshow that’s currently happening at the Shed, but I can’t.
If I don’t handle business, Matteo’s going to push me out and take over.
I don’t think you understand how bad that would be,” he explained, reaching over to grab the tools off the floor and handing them out the window .
“Please. I need you to look after her until I can get back. Baby girl, you know I—”
“I know. Go. Don’t give Matteo more ammo,” I said as I waved a dismissive hand at him. “I’ll go lie down.”
He nodded and drove off, leaving Caden and the guys to fuss over me.
Thankfully, they snuck me past Josie and told her I had a headache so I was going for a nap.