Beautiful Savage (Savage & Ink Book 2)

by Victoria Ashley

  White-blonde hair covers her face, so I can’t see what she looks like or why she’s crying.

  “Are you okay?” I bend down in front of her and grab her arm. She flinches as if she’s afraid of me, so I let go and move away a little. “I won’t hurt you. Please tell me what’s wrong.”

  “Do you promise?”

  “I promise.”

  It feels like a long time before she finally looks up. When she does, her small green eyes search my face. I hardly notice it at first, but there’s a bruise on her left cheek and a little blood on her lip.

  Tears are streaming down her tiny face and she’s shaking. She’s so little. I don’t know how anyone could hurt someone so small. Even upset she’s pretty. I bet she’s real pretty when she smiles.

  The helpless look in her eyes hits me in the chest and I feel my cheeks become wet as I reach out to touch her arm. “Who hurt you? Will you tell me?”

  She shakes her head and reaches up to wipe at her face, before she hides it in her arms. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’ll get in trouble,” she whispers.

  “What if I promise not to tell anyone? Will you tell me then?”

  She stops crying and looks up at me. “You really won’t tell no one?”

  I move closer to her and grab the bottom of my shirt to dry her face off a bit. My mom used to do it when I was upset and she didn’t have a tissue. “Not if you don’t want me to. I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble.”

  “My daddy. He’s been angry with me since my mom ran away. I miss her and he gets mad when I cry for her. He says me crying isn’t going to bring her back, because we’re worthless to her and she doesn’t love us.”

  Her words make me angry, but also make me forget about being hungry. I just want to sit here with her and make her feel better. “Don’t listen to your dad. He sounds like a big jerk.” I sit down beside her and grab her hand, so she’ll look at me. “What’s your name?”

  “Alexandra.” She squeezes my hand and scoots closer to me, as if I make her feel safe. I like that feeling. “What’s yours?”

  “Jaxon.”

  After I tell her my name she rests her head on my shoulder and we sit here in silence for a while. I’m not for sure how long, but it feels like an hour or more.

  My heart fills with happiness that she trusts me. She needs me. No one else seems to need me. My mom won’t let me help her. She’s letting me help her. I’m never going to leave her side.

  “Can I call you Lex?” I whisper.

  I hear her sniffle before she wipes an arm over her face. “If I can call you Jax.”

  “You can call me anything you want, Lex.”

  Because after tonight, I’m not going anywhere. She’s my Lex and I’m her Jax . . .

  ADRENALINE COURSES THROUGH ME AS I pull up at the shitty rundown motel just out of town that Mark discovered James has been staying at.

  It’s just past midnight, so I’m hoping this motherfucker has decided to stay in tonight, because I’m running extremely low on patience.

  I toss my helmet and climb off my motorcycle when Blaine pulls up behind me, right in front of the room number James is supposedly staying in. If he is here, the asshole has another thing coming if he thinks about running.

  He knows we’re here. He heard our bikes pull up, there’s no doubt about that.

  Climbing off his bike, Blaine pulls out a cigarette and his fancy-ass Zippo he loves so much. Looking at the motel door, he places his smoke between his lips and lights it, taking a long drag, before slowly blowing smoke out. “I’ll give you a head start. Just don’t have too much fun without me, Brother.”

  I take a deep breath and slowly exhale, because if I don’t then I’ll end up killing this dick before I get my answer. That’s something I refuse to let happen.

  Mentally preparing for the shitshow that’s about to go down, I walk over to the door and check the handle. When I discover it’s locked, I pull the bandana from my back pocket and wrap it around my fist, before punching it through the cheap window.

  I faintly hear James’ footsteps before a door slams. I’m assuming the dick thinks hiding in the bathroom will save him. A humorless laugh leaves me as I kick the rest of the glass out enough for me to climb in.

  “Go back inside your room.” I hear Blaine growl to someone behind me.

  But I couldn’t care less who’s watching. Mark has ensured us he’ll be the first one on the scene if anyone calls the cops, but with as shitty as this place is, I doubt anyone wants to deal with the cops. All that lingers around here is hookers, homeless people, and addicts. It’s a good place to run drugs out of, which is probably why James chose to stay here to begin with.

  After climbing through the window, I flex my jaw in annoyance when I notice the bags of drugs covering the bed. The sorry fucker must be preparing to make a run. It makes me sick that Alexandra was ever involved with this piece of shit.

  Growling out, I kick the bathroom door open and come at James who is standing on top of the toilet, trying to fit out the tiny-ass window above it.

  I grab him by the back of the shirt and throw him down to the ground, before placing my boot to his throat. “Tell me where the fuck I can find Jasper. Now.”

  He shakes his head and grabs my boot, attempting to push it away from his throat. “He never told me where . . .”

  I push my boot harder, gargling sounds already commencing, while leaning over him to turn on the cold water and fill the tub.

  His arms are flailing below me, panic setting in from the lack of oxygen, so I step on his right arm with my free foot and bend down to look him in the eyes. “Because of you that motherfucker almost took my girl’s life. Alexandra has been in the goddamn hospital, because of what he did.” I remove my boot from his throat and punch him across the face, forcing his head to the other side, before yanking him up to toss him into the tub. “Now tell me and maybe I’ll put you in the hospital versus the ground!”

  His eyes widen right before I press down on his face, holding him under the shallow water.

  I remember every bruise, every area of blood, and every injured place on her body. My anger builds. The reminder of what happened to Alexandra has me holding him under water a little too long, before yanking him up by his hair and slamming my fist into his face. The cycle continues–I ask him where Jasper is, he doesn’t know, and each time I hold him down longer than before.

  I’ve lost count of how many cigarettes I’ve smoked to calm my nerves between each time, trying to stop myself from just killing him.

  I didn’t want to leave Alexandra while she’s still recovering, but it’s time to stop stalling. I can’t wait until she’s out of the hospital and risk Jasper coming after her when I’m not around. This needs to end. Now.

  That motherfucker needs to be dealt with before.

  Mark hasn’t been able to get me a location on Jasper yet, since the asshole must have a different legal name, but he was able to find this place.

  My grip around James’ throat tightens as I hold his head above the bathwater, giving him a few moments to catch his breath.

  The prick can hardly remember his name at this point from the lack of oxygen to his brain, but I don’t give a fuck. Either that or he’s not talking still. Too bad his loyalty doesn’t lie with someone that would return it. One way or another, he has answers that I need and I’m not leaving here without them.

  “Where is he?” I ask again, my voice gruff as I lean in close to his bloodied and swollen face. “This is your last chance.”

  He coughs and digs at my hands when I give his throat a firm squeeze and lift him higher out of the water.

  “I don’t . . .” he coughs, “ . . . know.”

  “You’re lying! Do you think I’m stupid? Tell me, or I’ll rip your fucking throat out.” Anger courses through me, making me see red when I don’t get the answer I need. “Fuck this.”

  Growling out, I shove him back into the wate
r, watching with dead eyes, all the fucks in the world gone as he gasps for air and slaps at the porcelain surrounding him.

  It’s hard to see him through the bloodstained water, yet I keep my gaze on him, not wanting to miss a second of his suffering.

  With my hand still around James’ throat, I step into the water and kneel above his body, so I can get a better grip. Looking him dead in the eyes, I reach into my boot and pull out my knife, placing it to his cheek.

  “Tell me where the fuck he is before I start cutting you into pieces, starting with your tongue. Now!” I scream in his face, before releasing his throat with a shove.

  I keep my body above his, not giving him a chance to escape even if he had it left in him, which he doesn’t.

  We’ve been at this for over twenty minutes now.

  “I don’t know . . .” he gasps out, gripping at the bathtub. “I swear! I fucking swear! Please, don’t. Please . . .”

  Letting out some pent-up anger, I slam my fist into his face, knocking him out cold this time.

  I still need him alive, so I grab him by the shirt and pull him above the water, before walking across the room to grab another cigarette from the sink.

  “Fuck!” I smash the box in my hand, before tossing the empty package at the wall. This is not a good time to run out of smokes. They’re about the only thing keeping me from killing this asshole.

  Yelling out, I grip my hair, before reaching for the closest thing to me and breaking it against the wall. I don’t stop until everything in this small bathroom is broken and out of place.

  When I stop to catch my breath, I look into the mirror, staring long and hard at the monster I’ve become for her. She is the only girl I’d kill for. Always has been.

  I slam my fist into the glass repeatedly, not stopping until my skin is hanging from my knuckles.

  Blood covers everything.

  My fist.

  The sink.

  The floor.

  It looks like a horror scene in here. And I know more blood will spill until I get what I need, because I won’t stop until I’m standing above Jasper’s lifeless body and he’s paid for hurting the one person I love most in this shitty world.

  “Need me to get crazy in here?” Blaine appears in the doorway, staring at James in the bathtub, while he cracks his neck. He’s been anxious to draw blood since he saw me on the ground with Alexandra in my arms. “I’m ready to get bloody.”

  “Fuck it. Give me a cigarette.”

  Blaine grins and hands me a smoke, not wasting any time before he slaps James across the face to wake him up. “Let’s play, bitch.”

  James’ eyes widen as he watches Blaine pull the knife from his pocket. He screams out in pain as Blaine shoves it into his bicep and twists.

  “Fuck! Fuck! I already told you I don’t know where he is!” Tears stream down his face as Blaine puts a little pressure on the knife. “Check my phone! Check my phone!”

  “Where is it?” Blaine pulls the knife from his arm and smiles as blood gushes out. “I said where is–”

  “Next to the TV! It’s next to the TV. Jasper was supposed to text me tonight when he needs me. I swear that’s all I know. He gives me a new place to meet him every time. I swear.”

  Tired of his pathetic voice, I knock him out again, before draining the tub and leaving him there. I toss my cigarette in the water and rush to find his phone.

  There aren’t any missed texts from Jasper, so I shove his phone into my jacket pocket. “I hope you’re ready for a long night. If not, then I can handle it on my own.”

  “Let’s get out of here and wait for that fucking text, because I’m not going anywhere until that fucker takes his last breath. This has been a long time coming.”

  I nod and we both head outside to our bikes.

  Jasper is going to be in for a huge surprise when James isn’t the one showing up tonight. He doesn’t know this, but tonight he has an appointment with the devil . . .

  IT’S BEEN CLOSE TO TWO hours since we left James at the motel, barely breathing, and a text from Jasper hasn’t come through yet.

  I’m anxious, because I’m ready to get back to the hospital to be with my woman. I’m close to losing my shit and taking it out on Blaine since he’s here with me and won’t stop talking about how Madison broke shit off. First, he pushed me to tell him what happened with James and those fuckers jumping me and now this shit.

  That’s the last thing I care about right now. Everything he says keeps going in one ear and out the other.

  I’m focused right now, all of my attention aimed at James’ phone, waiting for the message we desperately need to come through.

  “ . . . she knew from the beginning that I’m fucked-up in the head. It’s not my fault she chose to jump on my dick and expected me to change. I can’t.”

  “Would you shut the hell up?” I squeeze James’ phone in my hand, trying my best not to break it against the wall of Blaine’s living room. “I’m starting to think this asshole isn’t texting tonight.”

  “He’ll text and we’ll get to him. Just hold your fucking dick and be patient. It’ll happen. Even if I have to drive around all night to find him.” Blaine stops by the window and looks outside for the hundredth time since we got here. “I don’t have shit else to do.”

  The phone vibrates in my hand, causing my heart to skip a damn beat. It’s from a number with no name, so I open it and read it.

  My stomach twists into knots as I read the location for a second time. It’s the same spot in the woods Alexandra and I used to go to when were kids. The spot with the tire swing that is now gone.

  “Let’s go.” Blaine barely has a chance to grab his jacket before I’m out the door and jumping into James’ shitbox of a car, about to drive off.

  “Damn. I couldn’t leave without my gun and jacket.” He slams the door shut and gives me a hard look. “I’m more intimidating in this badass leather.”

  “Shut the hell up, Blaine.” I grip the steering wheel and flex my jaw, mentally preparing to come face to face with Jasper.

  I’ve thought of all the slow, painful deaths, deciding which I’d like to deliver to him, but the more time I had to think, waiting to get to him tonight, the more I keep imagining a quick death, ready to rid the world of this scum.

  This should have been done long ago. He’s taken up too much time of my life already. He took my childhood from me, forced me to provide for myself, because he kept my mother high and barely functioning. Then he had the balls to come after the woman I love, trying to take her from me too.

  My insides burn with rage and by the time we make it down the long path and park in front of Jasper’s truck, I’m on the verge of exploding.

  He’s sitting on the tailgate, chilling, as if he’s the king of the world. The fucker doesn’t even look up from his phone to see who has pulled up. All that does is piss me off more.

  Jasper seems to be alone, so I shoot Blaine a look that tells him to stay put, before I step out of the car and close the door behind me.

  I can barely catch my breath and my heartbeat skyrockets as I walk down the path to where his truck is parked. The unsuspecting bastard is still paying too much attention to his phone to look up and see that it’s me approaching and not James.

  “This son of a bitch wants to fuck with me.” He growls, while punching a text into his phone. “Got the money?”

  He finally looks up from his phone, shock visible on his face when his eyes lock with mine. He fumbles to reach behind him for what I’m assuming is a weapon, but I grab him by the throat and throw him down to the ground before he can reach it. “Nothing can save you now.” I growl down at him, before placing my knee on his chest and aiming my gun at his forehead.

  “Jax, you don’t have to do this.” He swallows nervously, keeping his eyes on mine. “Come on, Man. I’ve known you since you were a kid. Put that away and we can talk this out like grown men.”

  “Shut the fuck up!” I scream in his face and push the
barrel of the gun harder into his forehead, digging it in. “Don’t fucking talk! Your words won’t save you.” I hit him across the face with the pistol, before cocking the hammer back and tilting my head.

  His eyes widen and his breathing picks up when he hears Blaine’s car door shut. “Who’s with you? Who the fuck–”

  I hit him across the face again to shut him up, before turning to Blaine once he’s standing beside me. “Check his truck for his stash.”

  Jasper growls as if his merchandise is more important than his life. But he doesn’t dare say shit as Blaine walks over to start his search. He comes back moments later and holds up a brick of cocaine. With a grin, he pulls out his knife and slices the top of it open, chunks of the white powder spilling from the knife blade slicing through it.

  “No! No! No!” Jasper shakes his head and starts struggling under my weight when Blaine comes at him with it. Blaine shoves the cocaine in Jasper’s face, smothering him with his own supply.

  I watch, numb as fuck as he struggles to breathe, while Blaine shoves the cocaine into his eyes, nose and mouth.

  Everything inside of me is screaming to take him out. To shoot him right now and end his life, so I put my hand up, letting Blaine know that I’m ready.

  He nods and takes a step back.

  “You’re not worth my fucking time. I’m done wasting it on you.” I place the gun back to his forehead and look him in the eyes. What I can see of them at least, since they’re covered with residue of white. Just as he gets ready to say something, I pull the trigger, blood splattering all over the white as I blow his brains out.

  I sit here for a while, covered in his blood as I stare down at his lifeless body. A part of me doesn’t believe he’s gone, even though I’m the one that pulled the trigger.

  “He’s gone, Man.” Blaine grips my shoulder. “Mark is on the way to handle shit. We need to get out of here in case someone called the cops.”

  I swallow and slowly stand up, my hands shaking as Blaine takes the gun from me. There are so many things I should’ve said to that piece of shit before ending him, but once I came face to face with him, the only thing I could do was think how relieved I’d be to finally live in a world he wasn’t in. I wanted to be the one to take his life and ensure that he’ll never fuck with anyone I love again.