by Alex Grayson
I almost huff out a laugh, because he’s right. No one here really knows me, and they’ve got no reason to take my word. But it still angers me that he would doubt me. I’ve been through hell by Diego’s hands. I witnessed him disembowel a woman, was beaten by him, threatened, then found my dog eviscerated. Why in the hell would I keep the chip after all that? Whatever’s on it is something Diego doesn’t want people to see, so it has to be bad. If I had it, I would have already handed it over to the police. Or at the very least, given it to JW to handle.
“I’ll only say this one more time,” I warn, my voice rising. “I don’t. Have. The fucking chip. If I did, I would have already handed it over. I don’t have a death wish.”
“If I find out you’re lying—”
“That’s enough, Judge,” Jenny says, getting up from the bed, angry on my behalf. “If she said she doesn’t have the chip, then she doesn’t have it.”
Judge’s eyes narrow on Jenny. “We can’t know that for sure.”
“I said—” She stalks up to Judge and pokes his chest with her pointer finger, “—that’s enough.”
A growl rumbles from his throat, but thankfully doesn’t question my word further. Instead, he asks a question I don’t want to answer, but know I have to.
“Did he say anything else?”
I look to Jenny and see her sweet and innocent face. Even angry, she still appears angelic. The thought of her being hurt, gutted like the woman I saw Diego slice open, sends a violent wave of both anger and fear running through me.
I turn my eyes back to Judge, my voice husky when I answer. “He said if I don’t get him the chip, he’ll kill Jenny.”
Jenny inhales sharply beside me. I don’t look at her but keep my eyes locked on Judge, hoping he sees the pain of what Diego’s threat did to me. Anger flares in his green eyes. It’s so hot it makes his eyes burn brighter. Thankfully, it’s not directed at me though.
“I’m calling JW.” His voice is tense, resolute. “This shit is being taken care of now.”
I nod and let out a deep breath. I want JW here too. For some bizarre reason, he makes me feel safe. He left yesterday, said he had some business he had to attend to, and is due back this afternoon. Ever since I watched him pull away from Remi and Trouble’s house yesterday, I’ve felt anxious, edgy. I blamed it on being sexually frustrated; that was the second time something I knew would be amazing sex was dangled in front of my face and it was snatched away. I know now that wasn’t it—I mean, yeah, I wanted the amazing sex—but it was JW being away, not near me, not in Malus to protect me if Diego made an appearance.
Judge already has his phone to his ear and walking out of the room. I sit back on the bed and Jenny comes to sit beside me. Her eyes are still wide, and guilt twists my stomach. I grab her hand and squeeze it tightly in mine.
“Don’t worry. They won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I’m not worried about myself,” she says, and I look at her. “I’m more worried about you. It’s you he really wants. The men will protect us both, but it has to be so scary for you, knowing someone like him is out there.”
I try to smile, to act brave, but I’m sure it comes out more a grimace than anything. “I am scared, but I refuse to let him have control over me.” I close my eyes for a moment and take a long breath before looking back at Jenny earnestly. “I swear I don’t have whatever he thinks I have.”
She nods once. “I know you don’t. I believe you. And Judge is just worried. He can be an asshole when he’s worried. He cares a lot about the people of Malus.”
I can understand that. From what I’ve seen so far, this small community is more like a family than a town. It must be nice to have so many people care about you and care about them in return.
“Thank you,” I clear my throat when it comes out hoarse. “Thank you for believing me.”
Now it’s her turn to squeeze my hand. We both look toward the bedroom door and wait.
JW
I DROP EMO OFF AT HIS PLACE, glad to see Grace’s car parked in the driveway, knowing she’ll take care of him. My tires squeal as I hit the gas hard, pulling away from the curb too fast, but not caring. I’m the damn sheriff of Malus. It’s not like someone will pull me over.
I’m impatient to get to Judge and Jenny’s house. My jaw clamps shut and my blood simmers, coursing through my veins at a rapid speed.
I got a call from Judge just as we were leaving Emiliano’s house, telling me about Eden’s phone conversation with Diego. His threat came before Emiliano could issue his own warning to his son, so hopefully his call to Eden was for nothing and he’ll forget about his pursuit of her. Something tells me he won’t though. Something tells me he won’t stop until he either kills Eden or he’s stopped by my brothers and me.
I pull up to Judge and Jenny’s house a few minutes later. My steps are heavy and quick as I walk up the steps and through the front door without knocking. My eyes immediately lock on Eden’s. She’s sitting at the bar, a cup of coffee in her hands. It pleases me when her eyes give away her relief when she sees me. Judge and Jenny are on the couch. I ignore them as I stalk over to Eden. She’s on her feet before I get to her. I don’t stop until I have my arms around her waist and her face is smashed to my chest. I love the way she feels against me. It feels familiar, like we’ve been doing this for years and not just days. She shudders against me, but when she pulls away a few minutes later, her mouth is set into a firm angry line.
“I need to leave,” she says, her chin lifting. “I can’t stay here any longer.”
“Like fuck you can’t,” I growl and tug her closer. “You aren’t going anywhere, Gypsy.”
“Listen to me. All I’m doing is bringing trouble here. If someone else were to get hurt because of me….” Her throat constricts. “I couldn’t live with myself.”
“You’re still not leaving.”
“Damnit, JW, just let me leave,” she argues foolishly. “I’ll find somewhere to hide out until Diego forgets this whole thing.”
I narrow my eyes and bend my knees so we’re eye-to-eye. “Do you really think he’s just going to give up? You know Diego better than me. Does he come across as the quitting type? Especially when you saw what you did and it could come back and bite him in the ass one day.”
She huffs out a breath and a small growl of frustration leaves her lips.
“Why are you doing this?” she demands. “I know you said it’s your job, but how can you know for sure I don’t have the chip he wants? How do you know I’m not lying to you?”
I pause for a moment, because I’m not sure how to answer. How do I know she doesn’t have the chip? I don’t know for sure, but I have a gut feeling, and my gut’s never led me astray before.
“I just do,” I give her the best answer I can.
The fight leaves her eyes and her forehead thumps against my sternum. I look over her head to Judge and glare at him. I didn’t miss the subtle glance in his direction when she asked how I knew she wasn’t lying. I also didn’t miss the misery in her eyes when she did so. Judge accused her of something, and I’ll damn sure find out what later.
I lift her chin with my finger. “Go grab some clothes. You’re coming home with me.”
Her shoulders slump, but she gives me a nod anyway. Before she walks away, I peck her lips with mine then wait until she leaves the room. I cast Judge another glare as he gets up from the couch.
“What in the hell did you say to her?”
He straightens his spine and glares right back at me. “I asked if she had the chip.”
I laugh, but there’s nothing humorous in the sound. Nope. It’s bitter and filled with loathing. Judge may be my brother and I love him, but he really pisses me off sometimes.
“You,” I point my finger at him, “just stay the fuck away from Eden. You don’t get to give your opinion anymore.”
“The fuck I don’t,” he grates. “That bastard threatened Jenny’s life. Like it or not, I’m smack dab in the mid
dle of the shit now. And fuck you, JW. You’re so Goddamn far up that woman’s ass that you can’t see the possibility that she very well could be lying to us. I’m not one bit sorry for caring for this town enough to think of all avenues. She’s a fuckin’ stranger, and you’re willing to put everyone here in danger, over someone you don’t fuckin’ know.”
I seethe. My chest goes crazy as I breath in and out rapidly. Red clouds my vision, and before I know it, I’m in Judge’s face. He doesn’t move, not even an inch, as I invade his space. Not that I expected him to.
Jenny squeaks from the couch at my sudden advance, but we both pay her no mind. I’ve never been tempted to hit one of my brother’s before, but right now, as I stare at Judge with contempt, it takes everything in me to not pound his face in.
“You don’t think I care about the people of Malus?” I ask with a deceptively calm voice. “You don’t think I’d give my life for every single one of them? You, Trouble, Emo, and I came back and rebuilt this town into what it is today. It’s not just a town and its people, it’s my fuckin’ family. I may have been born into a shit one, just as you, Trouble, and Emo, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what a real family is supposed to be. It doesn’t fuckin’ mean I won’t do whatever in the hell I have to do to protect them.” Reaching in my pocket, I pull out my phone and bring up the picture I got earlier from an unknown number. I shove the phone under his nose. “But it also doesn’t mean I’ll let an innocent woman end up like the one in that picture. It doesn’t fuckin’ matter if she has the chip or not, but you want to know why I know she doesn’t? Because of that picture. Because anyone with any sort of survival instincts would give it up to avoid becoming that.”
I turn away from him, and because I’ve got so much pent up anger pouring through me, and I’m trying not to release it on Judge, I snatch up a glass from the coffee table and hurl it across the room. It smashes against a wall, pieces of glass raining everywhere. My hands go to my hips, and I drop my head. I suck in deep breaths, willing my body to calm down.
“That’s her.” I turn at Eden’s hesitant voice. Tears swim in her eyes when they meet mine. “That’s the girl Diego had chained to his wall.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I recognize the tattoo on her arm.” She glances back down at the picture, only to lift her eyes again. “But how? Where did you get this?”
“From an unknown number.”
Judge snaps his eyes to me. “Was Emo—?”
I’m shaking my head before he can finish. “No. It was sent from a burner phone. The phone was broken and dropped in a trash can; no way Emo could trace it.”
“Damnit,” Judge mutters, mimicking my same thoughts when Emo and I found the broken phone.
“Do you think Diego sent it?” Eden asks. Her arms are hugging her middle. I hold my hand out to her and she rushes to me. I pull her snuggly to my side. Having her close cools my temper a few degrees.
“When was this sent?”
I look to Judge, still irate at his accusation against Eden, but I answer him. “About five minutes after I got your call.”
“Then no, it couldn’t have been Diego. I was able to get a general area of where his phone call to Eden came from. It’s within a five-mile radius of the center of town. He wouldn’t have had time to make it to San Antonio.”
“But then who sent it? And why? Was there a message with the picture?” Eden asks, looking up at me.
I tip my chin to Judge and he looks back down at the phone.
“This is what will happen to her if you don’t stop him,” he recites the message that came with the picture.
Eden trembles against my side, so I pull her closer, trying to absorb her fear into me.
Jenny, who’s been quiet this whole time, approaches Judge and tries to look at the phone. He holds it away from her.
“No,” he demands. “You don’t need to see it.”
“Let me see, Judge,” she says calmly.
“Jenny,” Judge and I both warn. It’s already bad enough that Eden saw the picture. Hell, she saw it in person. No one should see something like that.
“Let me see the damn picture, Judge.”
With a tight jaw, he holds the phone for her to see, and just as expected, her face pales and she sucks in a gasp. “Oh, God.” She throws her hand up to her mouth. Muttering a curse, Judge leads her to the couch to sit down before she passes out.
The woman in the picture is mutilated almost beyond recognition. I’m surprised Eden was able to recognize her. That tattoo her only clue as to who she was. Her face is swollen and bloody, her body covered in bruises and lacerations, and her insides are no longer inside her, but lying next to her body.
“Find that bastard. This shit stops,” Judge growls.
I lock eyes with him, both of us silently saying what we can’t say out loud.
That woman in the picture, what was done to her… will be nothing compared to the hell we’ll bring down on Diego fucking Tomas.
EDEN
I’M QUIET AS JW LEADS me into his house, which happens to be just around the block from Jenny and Judge’s. My thoughts are scattered and it leaves me feeling numb. I’ve never considered myself a weak person. I stand my ground, I’m not afraid to give my opinion, I always fight for what I believe in, and I’ve never let a man treat me like shit.
I feel weak right now though. Diego makes me feel weak and helpless. No matter what I do, I’m going to lose. If I run, I’ll be leaving everyone I care about behind, including JW and the others in Malus I’ve begun to think of as friends, for God knows how long. JW was right earlier. There’s no way Diego will give up looking for me. He may go back to San Antonio when he realizes I’m no longer here, but it’ll never be safe for me to return, and I’ll always be looking over my shoulder.
If I stay, I run the risk of someone else getting hurt. Even if JW and his brothers manage to capture him, there’s a chance one of them will get hurt, possibly even killed, in the process. And if they aren’t, Diego is part of the Tomas cartel. He’s Emiliano’s son. He’ll no doubt send goons to Malus, and I don’t want to imagine the havoc they would cause.
“Hey,” JW calls. I blink and look up at him, briefly remembering him walking me to his room and sitting me on his bed before he left the room. I didn’t even see him come back. “What’s going through your mind?”
I drop my eyes to his shirt where I pick at an invisible string. “Just how stupid I was to ever get involved with Diego. And that no matter what I do, someone is bound to get hurt.”
He grabs my chin and forces my head up. His brows are slashed down into a frown. “You need to have more faith in me. Diego’s done. He won’t be hurting anyone else. That, I can promise you.”
I want to believe him. I want so badly to take his word and run with it, but there’s no way he can guarantee it. There are no guarantees in life. It’s unpredictable, no matter how much we may try to make it otherwise.
“Come on. It’s early, but I’m exhausted, and you look dead on your feet.”
It’s dark, but it’s early. Only about nine o’clock or so. He’s right, though. I’m exhausted to my bones. Earlier, after the initial shock of seeing the picture of the girl, JW called in Trouble and Emo. Remi and Grace came with them. After Jenny gave the women a short run down of what happened, she quickly changed the subject. I think she knew I was on the verge of a mental break down and needed a distraction. The four men sequestered themselves into Judge’s office and talked about… I don’t know what, but I know they were planning something and it had to do with Diego. I want to ask JW about it, but a part of me doesn’t want to know. I just want to pretend for one night that he doesn’t exist.
Pulling in a deep breath, I get to my feet in front of him.
“I want to forget.” I run my hands up his chest. “Help me forget, JW.”
His eyes flicker back and forth between mine. “Are you sure? You’ve had a rough day.”
I offer him the be
st smile I have in me. “I’m completely sure. I need this. I need you.”
His eyes darken when he palms my cheeks, dipping his head and lightly settling his lips over mine. He’s slow and gentle at first, his lips barely touching me. I release a contented sigh and my grip on his shoulders tightens.
His arms lock around my waist, and I’m suddenly smashed against his chest. I curse the long skirt I have on because it’s preventing me from wrapping my legs around his hips.
His kiss becomes more demanding, swiping his tongue across my lips and forcing them open. The moment our tongues meet, he lets out a groan so deep I feel the vibrations against my chest.
“Never in my life have I tasted something so good as you. You’re addicting, Eden Delmont.”
I smile against his lips because I feel the same way about him. I could kiss him all day long and never get tired of it.
His hands leave my cheeks and move down my sides. Once he reaches the bottom of my shirt, he dips his fingers underneath. His touch brings goosebumps to my flesh, and I shiver. I need more of him. So much more. Thankfully, it’s only seconds later that he starts lifting my shirt. Our lips part so he can pull the material over my head. His eyes immediately drop to my bra-covered breasts. Using one finger, he traces a line from the hollow of my throat down to my cleavage. I watch his eyes as they follow the movement, desire making the beautiful blue turn to a stormy grey.
“So damn beautiful,” he murmurs.
He grabs the lace edge of one of the cups and pulls it down, my boob spilling free of its confinement. His head dips, and I toss mine back when his lips engulf the nipple. He bites down on the hard peak, but not enough to hurt. Just a slight stinging pleasurable pain. My hands go to the back of his head, and I hold him to me.
He yanks the other cup down and palms my sensitive breast, tweaking the tip lightly before releasing my nipple with a pop so he can give the other one the same treatment. My breasts have never been overly sensitive, not like some women, but having JW pay homage to them, already has me on the edge.