I heard a sharp intake of breath before a familiar voice...Six's voice exclaimed, “Oh my fucking... Oh shit, baby no.” Suddenly I was scooped up into strong arms and a familiar masculine scent enveloped me. I closed my eyes and let out a long pained, guttural moan. I had no tears left. Nothing but pain and fear.
“Shhh...come on baby it's all right. You're going to be fine. We'll deal with this, okay?”
I heaved anguished dry sobs on him and he just let me. He held me tight to his chest and rocked me back and forth...back and forth as he stroked my hair.
Eventually he pulled me away from his body and cupped my face in his huge, calloused hands. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked really pale. “Now, listen to me, okay? I want you to tell me exactly what happened here. Every detail, all right?”
I nodded and in a whispered, hoarse voice I began to recount what happened from the moment Brett pushed his way into my apartment. How he knocked me out and about his fumbled—and thankfully failed—attempt to sexually assault me. Once I started to speak I closed my eyes. I couldn't bear the look of horror in Six's expression or the way his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared.
But the anger radiating from him was so very palpable. Like an entity in its own right.
My whole body shuddered and I wasn't sure if it was shock or the fact that the room was cold. But Six must have noticed as he wrapped the throw blanket from my couch around my shoulders and pulled me into his lap.
My favorite place to be.
My safe place.
“And...and he said he knew Jagger from Loki's Legion...the guy from the Hub who attacked me...and that's how he found me.”
He slammed his fist into the couch and my eyes sprang open.
His breaths were loud and heavy like he'd been running. “I fucking knew it. I knew they'd be involved somehow. Fuck!”
I tentatively raised my gaze to find his locked on me. His jaw was still clenching and unclenching and I absently found myself thinking it must ache.
He tucked my hair behind my ears. “I'm so, so sorry, Chloe.”
I shook my head, confused at his apology. “F-for what?”
“I should've known something like this would happen. I'm a dumb fucker. I should've come in with you when I brought you home. Or, at least I should've come right back here once I'd heard what had happened with Cain... God...I...I just can't believe what the fuck is happening right now.”
The despondent tone of his voice worried me in spite of what had happened in my own life. “W-what happened with Cain?”
He swallowed and closed his eyes. Whatever it was it was clearly causing him pain. “No, no don't worry about that. Let's just...let's just sort this bastard out.” He nodded his head toward the slumped corpse by the kitchen.
Panic washed over me anew. “I...I need to call the police.”
Six gripped my upper arms tightly. “No. They'll arrest you, Chloe. There are no witnesses and the Legion are involved. No police okay? I can deal with it. We just need to wait until nightfall. But...”
His hesitation worried me. “But what?”
He stroked my cheek tenderly and a crease appeared between his eyebrows. Sadness washed over him and he closed his eyes briefly. “I'm afraid you're going to have to get away, Chloe.”
I shook my head. “Get away? What do you mean?”
His expression turned grave. “You need to go find your mom. Make sure she's okay and then get far away. Just leave. Leave the state. Leave the country if you can. Just get the hell away from here.”
“Six, I'm already terrified of what's happened here, of what...of what I've done. I don't think I can cope with cryptic answers just be straight with me please.”
He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Melody is dead. Cain found her at the house they were going to rent together. Their...their baby died with her. Colt reckons that the Legion killed her. He wants Rosa and Cain to get away after the funeral because he thinks they'll be the next target. And I'm worried that you will be too. Especially if this prick doesn't go back with your body in tow. It's like a fucking all-out war. All over nothing. It's so fucking dumb but I still can't even begin to understand it all. I've just about had enough.”
“So come with me,” I blurted the words out before thinking.
He sighed and closed his eyes briefly. “I can't. You need to get far away from me, baby. I want to save you from all this fucking shit. You don't need this.”
My lip began to tremble and my heart ached. “But I don't want to leave. What if something happens to you?”
He shrugged. “I can handle myself. But I can't sit around shit scared they'll get to you and finish what they started. I...I need you gone as much as you need to go.”
His words were like a direct hit to my stomach and I sobbed. I don't know where the tears came from but they were streaming down my face at the thought of leaving him. Of what had happened. Of the culmination of what had been a very stressful few weeks.
“Hey.” He lifted my chin. “Look, this is not what I want, okay? It's what we both need. You can't stay here. It's not safe. But it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change how much I want you. Don't ever think that.”
Six took sheets from my closet and wrapped Brett's body as I sat there like a mannequin. A dumb stupid, useless mannequin. He dragged the body over to the door and then collected cleaning products from my kitchen. It was then that I seemed to snap out of my zombified trance.
I jumped up and snatched the cloth and bottle of disinfectant from his hands. “No! Six, let me clean up. This is my mess.”
He grabbed them back. “It's fine. Go sit. I can do this. I've done it before.” As soon as the admission fell from his lips he clamped them shut, closed his eyes and dropped his chin to his chest.
I swallowed the bile that had risen up from my stomach. “You've...you've cleaned up after a...”
As if I had been in some kind of daze I suddenly widened my eyes and clutched my chest. “I killed him...I'm a... I'm a murderer...Oh my God, Six I murdered him.” The shaking returned with a vengeance only this time I knew it was shock. Shock and realisation of what I had become.
Six dropped the cleaning products and gripped my face hard in his hands. The pain snapped my focus back to him.
His eyes were wide and determined. “You did NOT murder him, Chloe. It was self-defense. The bastard was going to... Look, you did nothing wrong. Nothing. You hear me?” I heard but I couldn't believe him. It wouldn't sink in. “Hey! If I had been here I would have killed the bastard and it wouldn't have been a fucking accident. You did nothing wrong. And you tell no one about any of this, okay? You do not breathe a single word of any of this to anyone. You hearing me?”
I nodded as his features became blurred through my tears but I wasn't sure how I would be able to live with myself.
Not after this.
He stood, lifted me into his arms and carried me over to the couch. As he placed me down he told me, “I want you to lie here and rest, okay? I'm gonna clean up and once it gets dark I'll get rid of the... I'll get rid of that.” I got the impression he was trying not to say certain words so he didn't freak me out more than I already was. I closed my eyes and tried not to picture the events of the last couple days. The events had drained and terrified me and in spite of what had happened I drifted off to sleep.
“Hey...Chloe, baby, wake up.” My eyes sprang open and I gasped. But soothing hands were stroking my hair. “It's okay, it's me, Six. Everything's dealt with. And I've packed your clothes and some of the things I think are special to you. Now...it's dark out and I need to take you out of town to the bus station. I have my car downstairs ready. You need to get as far away as possible okay?”
“But...but my job...Ellie...I...”
He handed me a wad of cash and I stared at it open mouthed. There must have been thousands.
He squeezed my hands around the money. “I want you to wait until you get as far as you can go by bus. Then I want you to buy a car. Chan
ge your clothes, change your hair color, whatever you can okay? Contact Ellie once you're out of the state and tell her you decided to go home to your mom's as she'd contacted you and told you that Brett had left her and she needed you. Whatever you need to say, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
He stood and held out his hand to me. “Come on, we have to go now.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chloe
We drove for about an hour in complete silence until we reached the Greyhound bus depot that I'd coincidentally arrived at when I first came here. I think I was in some kind of denial. My brain was struggling to process everything that had happened. The fact that I was being encouraged to run away went against everything I believed. But then I reminded myself I was already—to all intents and purposes—a criminal, seeing as I had stolen from my own mother. I mean who does that, but a killer? That was a whole other ball game. And one I had no interest in playing.
Six was right though. I had acted in self-defense. He would have raped me and then maybe killed me—he'd insinuated as much when he had me pinned to the floor. And I had done what I'd had to do. But would the police understand that? I doubted it. Considering the fact that I was an exotic dancer they would no doubt presume I was a hooker too, as so many were, and that he was a client I was trying to rob.
Would I wind up in jail for defending myself? It happened. I knew for a fact I wouldn't hack jail and so maybe Six was right. Maybe running was the best way to deal with it. Maybe I could wait a while and return. Yeah, 'cause that was going to happen.
Six pulled his car into the parking lot just as a bus parked and people began to get off. I watched as sleepy looking folks carried huge bags to waiting cabs. Who knew that traveling at this ridiculous hour was so popular?
My heart began to pound at the thought of leaving and I swivelled in my seat to face him. “Six, I...I don't want to do this. I can't. It's not right. I want to go to the police.” I feared the panic in my voice made me sound pathetic and weak.
He unclipped his seat belt and turned toward me. He reached over and took hold of my hands. “You have to promise me that you won't, okay? I'm sorry to have to say this but you'll land us both in shit if you do. And there's no point. It's all dealt with so you have to keep quiet. Can you do that? For me? For both of us?”
Good question. Could I? Or would guilt get the better of me eventually? Eating away at me until I couldn't stand it any longer and until I did something stupid. But in the dimly lit car interior, I could make out the sparkle of his caramel eyes and the concern for my welfare that radiated from him and right then I would have done anything for him.
After all, he'd done so much for me.
With my resolve strengthened I nodded and he reached up to cup my cheek. “Like I said, baby, it's all dealt with. You have nothing to worry about apart from getting away from this place for a while.”
It didn't matter that I hadn't known him for long. He knew more about me than anyone. And I guessed I knew more about him than he had ever intended. We had formed a bizarre but special bond in our short time together. Was it love? If it wasn't it was something pretty damn close, and letting go of something that could have been was going to hurt like hell.
He got out of the car and came around to my door. He paused before opening it and I peered at him through the window. His head was back and his eyes were closed. It was clear that he was fighting an internal battle as I watched his chest rise and fall with every deep breath. Eventually, he opened my door and held out his hand. I slipped mine into his and he ran his thumb over my skin.
It was such a tender gesture that my eyes began to sting and my lip trembled.
I don't want to say goodbye.
I climbed out of the vehicle and was immediately pulled into his arms. His masculine scent infiltrated my nostrils and I tried hard to memorize it and the feeling of his arms around me holding me close and keeping me safe. How could I leave...and how could he let me go?
He stroked his hands down my back causing shivers to follow in his wake. “I want you to take care okay? But...don't contact me for a while. Just...lay low...disappear okay?”
My stomach dropped. Was this his way of letting me down easy? “Oh...okay.”
“I know it's shitty but it really is for the best. If they know you're still involved with me they'll come after you to hurt me and I would never forgive myself if that happened.”
I nuzzled his chest and relished the familiar feeling of his hard body against mine. “But what if someone comes looking for me? What if the police—”
He kissed my head and tilted my chin back forcing me to connect with him. “I promise you that won't happen.”
“But how can you be sure?”
Dragging his thumb across my bottom lip he gazed into my eyes and a crease appeared between his eyebrows. “Remember I told you what my crew are like. I told you we're not to be messed with. We deal with shit. Just like we'll deal with Loki's Legion and make sure they never cause harm to one of our own again. We...have people. On the inside if you know what I mean. We're left to serve up our own justice to a certain extent. But...the trouble is...what I can't do is win this damn war and protect you at the same time. But believe me, I hate that this is the only way.”
I gazed up at the man who had become my lover and my hero in a very short space of time and my stomach knotted. This whole situation was the last thing I wanted. But he was leaving me no other choice. The fact that he wanted to keep me safe didn't ease the pain inside of me.
I was reluctant to board the bus. That would mean this was over. And I so didn't want it to be over.
“What will you tell people...if they ask about me? You know, Delilah and...well...anyone.” I was playing for time. It was unlikely anyone would even notice I'd gone. A sad fact in itself.
He sighed heavily. “At the moment they're going to have to deal with Melody's funeral and I'm pretty sure Colt will want Cain to get away too. Before he does something crazy and this whole thing gets worse before it gets better. And because Loki's Legion are clearly gunning for him. But once the dust settles, I'll just tell people we...we stopped seeing each other and you left to go home. It's not forever, babe.”
He rested his forehead on mine and his breath heated my skin. And even though he added those few words to the end of his sentence it still felt like goodbye. A permanent goodbye. After what had happened I wasn't sure that I would want to return once I had left. And although Six was a huge draw to me, it wasn't like we were officially a couple. In the back of my mind, a little voice was telling me this was a good thing. That leaving here was the right action to take. And that realistically Six and I would never have amounted to anything.
Damn that little voice.
My stomach lurched as the unwelcome thoughts rattled around my mind.
Six took my hand and led me toward the bus. The sign on the front said Denver, Colorado. We stopped at the side of the huge silver beast of a vehicle and he gazed down at me.
“I'm so sorry about all of this, sweetheart. About you getting involved in my problems. And about...well everything.” Sadness was evident in his eyes and I wondered if this was hurting him as much as it was hurting me.
“Me too.” A lump lodged in my throat as I clung to his hands reluctant to let go. He was all dressed in black and it felt appropriate in light of the events of the past twenty-four hours. “You should go. Cain needs you.” I hated to say the words but they were true. Cain was his best friend.
“Yeah... Poor bastard. I don't know how he'll get through this.”
My heart ached for his loss and selfishly for my own. “It's going to be a hard road for him.” And that was an understatement. He had lost his woman and his child in one fell swoop. It's crazy to think it after such a short time, but I had wanted Six and I to become something like Cain and Melody had been. But you can't always get what you want. That was something I had learned from a very young age.
“You boarding Ma'am?” A v
oice from behind me called.
“She'll be right with you,” Six replied to the driver. Then his eyes locked on mine once more. “You are one fucking beautiful woman, you know that? You're a fighter, CD. Don't let what happened back there hang around in your mind. He doesn't deserve to have any effect on you anymore. You're worth a million of him. Don't ever forget that.”
I turned away as my lip began to tremble all over again. He didn't need to see me cry. I'd shed enough tears on him to last a lifetime. Instead I chewed the inside of my lip and began to ascend the stairs onto the bus.
As I reached the top, I faced him once again, “I'll call you from wherever I end up. Look after yourself...and Cain.”
He closed his eyes and lowered his head for a moment. For some reason I knew what his next words were going to be and I really didn't want to be right.
When he lifted his face again some kind of mask had descended and it was like he'd somehow become a different man. His expression had hardened and my heart began to pound. I wanted to run back down the steps and kiss him. Remind him of what we'd almost had. But I stood stock still and waited. Holding my breath and hoping my instincts were wrong.
Sadly they weren't.
He stared up at me. “I don't want to hear from you. I don't want to know where you end up. Okay? And when I said this wasn't forever...well...maybe it is. Goodbye, Chloe dancer. It was fun while it lasted, huh?”
His words were like a stab to my heart and I exhaled the air from my lungs as I gripped the handrail in case my legs crumpled beneath me. The driver closed the doors and began to pull away from the stop before I even had a chance to sit. I watched Six turn and walk away.
Out of my life for good.
Six: Company of Sinners MC #2 Page 13