by Blair Grey
I had to fight the urge to scrub at it when I was in the shower. Sure, I knew it would hurt like Hell, but I didn’t care. If that was what I had to do to get rid of it, I would have done it in a heartbeat.
But, I knew it wasn’t going anywhere, and the more I messed with it, the worse it would get. Hell, I might even give myself some sort of infection, not that I would have really cared. I was so eager to get out of this relationship – I was almost desperate, in fact.
More than anything, I just wanted to be free to make my own choices. I wanted to be free to be loved and to love someone. I had wanted so much with Shade, and for a long time, I thought I had it. But, time had clearly proven me wrong.
I didn’t have nearly what I thought I did with him, and, well, my life was a shit show because of it. I hated to admit death had crossed my mind as a way out more than once, and it scared me to think that’s how things would have to be.
I wasn’t suicidal, but there were times when I certainly did think that if I died, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. As hard as it was for me to admit that fact, it was true, and something I had to come to terms with. I hated it – more than anything, I hated it.
I nearly jumped off the bed when I heard someone at the door. I had been at the hotel long enough, I had grown used to the sound of the maid working her way around the halls and from room to room, but there was someone trying to come inside, and within seconds of my feet hitting the ground the door flew open.
“Are you ignoring me?” Shade asked as he stalked his way into the room.
“No, I-” I tried, but he didn’t give me the chance to talk.
“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all morning, and nothing!” he snapped. He grabbed my phone off the dresser and flipped through it, making sure I wasn’t talking to anyone else. He didn’t just forbid me from talking to other men, he didn’t want me to talk to anyone, at all.
I had next to no friends as it was, but ever since he brought me to the hotel, he made it clear I wasn’t to have contact with the outside world. He was the only one I could contact besides the staff who were in the hotel itself.
And even then, I had to be careful.
“I’ve been sleeping off and on most of the morning,” I told him. “I didn’t sleep for shit last night, and I was trying to catch up.”
“Pity you can’t put all that energy you have at night to good use,” he snapped, and I cringed. I hated it when he insinuated I should really prostitute myself out, but he didn’t even stay on that subject for very long.
“I’ve got the answer to our problem,” he said.
“Our problem?” I asked.
“Yes,” he snapped. “The problem I’ve been trying to figure out since you started staying here. The problem that you fucked up even more when you turned me into that company and made sure I couldn’t use them to make some money on the side. Sound familiar?”
I wanted to shake my head. He hadn’t told me much about what was going on, and I still wasn’t entirely sure why he was mad at me in the first place. There was something going on, and I knew he had gotten caught up in the wrong crowd, but that didn’t give me any of the answers I was looking for.
No, there was more to it than that, and I was biding my time to figure out what it might be. Perhaps now he was finally going to let me know what was going on.
And, why he was holding me hostage.
“You’re going to fix this for me,” he said.
“Fix what?”
He shot me a look that told me to shut up, and I did. I didn’t want to piss him off, even if I hated him. I hated everything about him, but I knew this would get a lot worse if he got mad at me. He was already clenching and unclenching his fists as he walked back and forth in the room, his hand squeezing my phone before nearly dropping it.
Finally, he got fed up with hanging onto it and threw it in my direction. I ducked, glad that it hit the pillow on the bed, rather than smacking into the wall. I didn’t have the money for a new phone, and I knew he wasn’t going to get one for me, either.
“The fucking problem! If I have to explain it to you again, I swear I’m going to lose my shit!” he yelled. “And, you know what? You’re going to be taking the fall for this one, too. I’ve tried to work with you to fix this, but fuck it. I can’t seem to get you to do anything I want you to do, and I’m not going to put up with this shit anymore. You’re going to take the blame for this, and hopefully it’s not going to turn out too bad.”
“You need to tell me what you’re planning on doing!” I yelled back. There were times when I had a bit of courage inside me, and though I was still scared of what he was going to do to me, I wasn’t going to sit and cower and let him bully me completely. “You need to tell me what’s happening!”
“I told you I was working with that MC!” he snapped. “And thanks to you, things have gone wrong. Now, it’s time you face the music!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I told him defiantly. “I didn’t do anything with you or any of the men you hang out with. You know me. I hate being involved in anything that’s illegal, and I didn’t start now!”
“Exactly, I know you,” he laughed. “And, I know you’re not going to have the balls to do anything against me when I tell you this is what’s going to happen. You’re going to take the fall for this, then we’re going to get our asses out of town, you got that?”
“I’m not following,” I said with a smirk. “Are you saying you’re going to get me in trouble, and then you’re going to run away with me?”
“I’m saying they aren’t going to come down on you as hard as they would on me since you’re a woman, and that’s going to work to our advantage,” he said.
I laughed. I didn’t find it funny, but I found the way he thought I would just blindly go along with his plan to be very humorous. Of course, any gang member would hold me just as accountable in the situation as a man. MC or not, they weren’t going to go easy on me because I was a woman, and I wasn’t going to let him lie to me and make me think things were going to be okay.
“I’m not going to do it,” I told him. “You got yourself into this mess, and now you’re going to have to get yourself back out of it. I’m done being the one who takes the fall for everything you do, and I’m not going to let them beat me up or kill me because you just got yourself in over your head again.”
“Excuse me?” he asked. He took a step toward me, and I braced myself. I knew he was going to try to intimidate me, but I tried not to give in. I was still pissed off over the tattoo, and I kept thinking about what Harley had said to me the other night.
I had to stand up for myself. He was going to keep doing this as long as he could get away with it, and he would keep getting away with it if I didn’t stand up for myself at some point. I was tired of him bullying me, and I knew I had to tell him to stop.
“I said I wasn’t going to do it,” I announced once more. My hands grew clammy, and I was afraid of what was going to come next, but I squared my shoulders and looked at him with pure defiance in my eyes. I knew I was on thin ice, and if I said the wrong thing, he was going to come down on me with all the fury he had in him. But, I still stood my ground. I had to. If this was going to stop, then I was going to have to put a stop to it in the best way I knew how.
“Oh?” He looked at me with hatred in his eyes, and once more, I had to stop from gulping. “Because I thought you knew the punishment for defying me.”
“I know what you said you were going to do to me, but I’m still telling you I’m not doing it,” I said with my arms folding in front of me. I shook on the inside, but I fought to maintain a straight face as I looked up toward him with my jaw set. I wasn’t going to back down. Nothing he said or did could make me want to.
There was silence in the room for a brief second, and I felt a pin could be heard if it were dropped. But then, just as I expected, all Hell broke loose. Shade charged at me, making a noise similar to a bull charging someone in a
red cape.
There wasn’t time to move, and I acted out of instinct. He was on me in a flash, and I fought back as best I could. His blows came down on me hard and without any particular aim. But, I struggled to hold my own.
I had to fight back. I knew he was aware he was losing control, and I had to stand up for myself with everything I had inside me. If I didn’t, he would kill me. I didn’t know how I knew that, but there wasn’t any doubt in my mind that’s what would happen.
I had to stand up for myself. I had to fight him off.
And, I prayed to God I’d make it through.
Chapter 11
Harley
I polished the chrome on the rim of the bike, looking at my own reflection as I did so. It was perfectly beautiful, and I couldn’t help but feel proud of what I’d done.
I was tired after being up most of the night, but it wasn’t stopping me from working through the list of things I had to do at the shop that day. If there was one thing I didn’t do, it was let personal matters get in the way of what I was doing professionally.
And though I was still worried about Paisley and wanted nothing more than for her to be okay, that wasn’t going to interfere in what I was doing on a day to day basis at work especially. There were still a lot of things I had to get done, and I couldn’t let my personal feelings get in the way.
Still, the more I worked on the bikes, the harder it was for me not to let my mind drift back to her. I was still pissed off over what I had seen outside the tattoo parlor, and I knew if I ever saw that guy in public, I would be more than happy to throw my fist right into his face.
He needed to be taught a lesson, that was for damn sure, and I would be delighted if I was the one who could teach it to him. But, more than that, I had to make sure Paisley was taken care of.
I wasn’t about to let her be that jerk’s victim any longer. She didn’t deserve that, and I wasn’t going to stand for it. If she wasn’t going to get herself out of that situation, then I would step in and get her out of it. The entire thing seemed plain and simple to me, but then, so did many things in life.
I wasn’t the kind of guy who let the world get the best of me. I was the one who called the shots, and I made sure the people I cared about did the same in their own lives, too. But, it was hard when I barely knew a person, and she was too afraid to make a move on her own.
All too often, I had seen the very same scenario unfold with other women. They would stay with the man who was abusing them for way too long, and there were times when it ended up costing them their lives. It was sad, really, but it happened, and when it did, it was a tragedy.
I might not be able to save all of them, but I sure as Hell wasn’t going to just sit by and let this girl suffer at the hands of the monster who had a hold in her life. No, I would track them down, and I would find a way to convince her to have the courage to leave him.
There was no other option, and I would stand by that no matter what.
I was torn from my work by the sound of a car pulling up outside, so I looked up from what I was doing to find a vehicle I didn’t recognize coming to a stop outside the shop. It wasn’t the sort of car we would often service at the shop, so at first, I was a little surprised at what I was seeing.
But, when the side door opened, I was even more surprised to see Paisley step out and nearly fall to the ground. She was bloody and bruised, and her clothes were torn in several places. She was dragging a little bag alongside her, though she let it fall and only held onto the strap as she made her way toward the door.
Anger blurred my sight as I dropped the tool to the ground and flew to my feet, heading straight for the door to meet her. The car sped off, not wanting to get involved in the situation, clearly, and I didn’t care.
I didn’t know who the driver was, but I wasn’t going to figure it out, either. Whoever it was, whether friend or someone who had just given her a ride to my place, it didn’t matter. All that mattered right now was taking care of her and making sure she was okay.
“What the Hell happened to you?” I asked as I flew out the garage door and headed straight for her side. She nearly fell into my arms, sob reaching her throat as she did so.
“I’m so sorry!” she managed. “I’m sorry I came here like this! I didn’t know where else to go, and it all happened so fast, I wasn’t sure what to do. I would have called someone to come get me, but my phone broke, and I don’t know their numbers, and I didn’t have any money except for the money you gave me the other night, and I really wasn’t sure what to do.”
She kept repeating herself, and I quickly pulled my jacket off before throwing it around her shoulders, giving her more privacy. I was surprised whoever was in the car hadn’t offered her more clothing considering how much of her was exposed, but there were other things to worry about now.
“Don’t worry about that,” I told her. “I’m glad you came.”
“Your shop was the only thing I could remember clearly, so I got an Uber to bring me out here. They didn’t know the address, so it took us a while, but we were able to find it.”
“Did you use your phone?” I asked.
“We used the phone the driver had,” she said with a strange smile. She was clearly in shock, and I put my arm around her shoulder.
“What happened?” I asked. “Did you finally tell that asshole you’re leaving him?”
“In not so many words,” Paisley said. She spoke in a calm, quiet voice, and I couldn’t help but assume she was in a greater of a state of shock than I had realized, but I didn’t have time to try to figure it all out right now. I had to make sure she was okay, and I didn’t want her standing out in the parking lot of my shop for everyone who drove by to see.
“Come with me,” I said. “Let’s get you inside, and you can sit down for a minute. I want to know what happened to you.”
“It was stupid, really,” she shook her head. “I went and got this tattoo with him the other day. I didn’t want it. I hate it, but then I realized he’s just going to keep doing this to me until the day I die. I realized I had to get out of there, and if I died in the process, then I died.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” I growled. “I would have had to go kill him if he did that to you. As it stands, I’m going to make sure he never walks again when I get my hands on him.”
“Don’t bother,” Paisley shook her head. “I’m going to get a few things together, and then I promise I’ll get out of your hair, okay? I just didn’t have the money to go anywhere, and I knew I had to get out of there fast. After the fight, I didn’t want to know what was going to happen if he woke up and I was still there.”
“Did you hit him?” I asked her in surprise. She nodded before laughing.
“I guess you could say that. It all happened so fast, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I mean, he came down on me – hard – and I fought back. I wasn’t going to let him take me out like that. He was hitting me and calling me worthless, telling me all the things he was going to do to me. And, I fought back. I fought back,” she said with another giggle.
“Did you hit him?” I asked her again. She still didn’t make a lot of sense, making it difficult for me to even know what she was trying to say. I’d gotten the impression she had been hit on the head, but then, it seemed she was in shock for leaving her boyfriend in the first place.
This had to be the first time in her life she had done this. She wasn’t the kind of girl to stand up for herself, and I knew I had to help her with that. She was brave, and strong. I knew she had it in her, that was for sure. It killed me to think she would be forced to live a life in fear like that.
“He came down on me,” she said quietly. “And when he did, I hit him hard. I grabbed the lamp off the nightstand, and I hit him as hard as I could in the head. He fell to the ground unconscious, and there was blood coming out of the side of his head where I hit him. At first, I thought he was dead, but then I checked his pulse and he was still breathing, so I got the Hell out of there.�
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“Did you call the cops?”
Paisley shook her head. “No, I didn’t want it to turn into something even bigger than it was. I just wanted to get the Hell out of there before I got caught up in something I couldn’t get back out of. He would have killed me if he got his hands on me after he woke up, and if the police didn’t do anything to help me, well, I know it would be the end of me.”
“I think you should go to the hospital,” I told her. “You need to get looked at and make sure everything’s okay.”
“I’m fine.” Paisley shook her head, but I gave her a look that tried to convince her I wasn’t messing around. I wanted to make sure she was okay without a doubt, and with the way she was in so much shock, I would have felt better if I knew a real doctor had looked at her.
“I need to figure out what to do to get out of here,” she said.
“Don’t worry about that,” I told her. “You need to worry about making sure you’re okay first, and then we’re going to figure out what’s next. But, plan on staying here for a while. There’s no way in Hell I’m going to let you leave with that asshole still out there and likely after you.”
Paisley gave me a look that told me clearly how she felt, but I wasn’t budging. I made up my mind, and I would stick with it. She was going to stay with me for as long as she needed to until we got rid of this guy. Or, if she refused to stay at my place, I’d put her up somewhere.
But, I wasn’t going to turn my back on her again. She needed help, and no matter what, I had to do to make sure she got it, I would do it.
I couldn’t get this woman off my mind, and I knew there had to be a reason for that. And now, I’d make sure I saw this through to the end. There was something about this woman that brought out a whole new side of me, and I wasn’t about to ignore that.
Paisley was something no one else had ever been in my life, and I wasn’t about to let that go without finding out what it really meant. That’s just the way it was.
And once I made a decision like that, I wasn’t changing my mind.