Bad Boys of Chaos: The Complete Duet Boxset: Books 1-2

by Marie York

  My teeth ground at her words. “That’s what you want?”

  She didn’t say anything, just nodded.

  “Fine.” She didn’t want my help. Wanted to stay with that piece of shit then I wasn’t going to beg her. She had a choice and she just made it.

  The asshole inside of me couldn’t just let her walk away. I wanted to hurt her as badly as she was hurting me right now, so I stepped closer to her and smirked. “You were just another hole to stick my dick in anyway. And when you warned me it wouldn’t happen, you became a game. Girls like you are a dime a dozen.”

  Shock shot across her face, and I could tell she was about to come at me, but then she stopped herself. Her shoulders sunk in defeat. “You’re right. I am.” She hurried to her car, stopping before she jumped in, and turned back to me. “Goodbye, Nix.”

  The finality in her words, punched deep, and I never hated myself more than I did in that moment.

  Chapter 20

  Brooklyn

  One of the hardest things I ever had to do was stand there while Nix said those horrible things, and act like they didn’t destroy me. Because they did. He might as well have reached into my chest and ripped my heart out with his bare hand. Didn’t he get that I was doing this for him? For us.

  Staying with Karl and keeping up this pitiful excuse for a marriage was the only way I knew how to protect Nix from himself. Karl wouldn’t let me go and he’d definitely come after me if I made another attempt to leave him. Nix wouldn’t let him and he’d wind up in jail on murder charges. Nix was willing to sacrifice himself for me. He said he didn’t care, but I did. That guilt would eat away at me and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. This was a no-win situation for any of us, but I’d learned to endure Karl’s psychotic antics, and I would continue to do so until I could find a way out that did not jeopardize Nix and his future. I had to keep him out of my nightmare and find a way out on my own.

  I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was only a quarter after ten. Karl had come home early, and I knew his quest to find some girl at a bar didn’t go well. He had that predatory look in his eyes, so to buy time, I offered to fix him a plate for dinner.

  I smashed up the sleeping pill and stuck it in his mashed potatoes, then excused myself to shower. By the time I had gotten out, he was asleep on the couch. From previous experience, I knew he’d be out for at least a solid eight hours. It was the only reason I was able to meet up with Nix. And, even though the meeting with Nix played out exactly as I hoped, I was full of regrets. More pissed about my past, and the baggage I couldn’t free myself of.

  Then again, even if a miracle were to happen, and I could be with Nix, was going from one abusive man to the next really that smart? Granted, I didn’t think Nixon would ever lay a hand on me, but I couldn’t help but remind myself that I once thought the same thing about Karl. Nix possessed that same instinct towards rage as Karl did. Nix, however, used it as fuel to obliterate his opponents when fighting. It’s what had pushed him to the top of his game. How could I ever trust him to not unleash that same rage on me if we were to somehow be together?

  Then again, every time he touched me, he was gentle. Even when rage was fueling him, he never dug his fingers into my skin or raised a hand to me. Whenever I would flinch at him, he would get angry and not because he wanted to hit me but because he couldn’t believe that I thought he would.

  I had so many thoughts and emotions battling it out in my mind. I was all over the place and couldn’t think clearly. Or maybe I was thinking too clearly.

  I unlocked my door and stepped into the apartment. My heart came to a frantic halt as I realized Karl wasn’t on the couch. Very slowly, I stepped inside, and eased the door closed behind me, but once I did, I spotted Karl in the kitchen.

  He was sitting statue straight at the table as he stared directly ahead of him. How was he awake? There was no possible way. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe it was a form of sleep walking. I treaded lightly to the kitchen and gasped when he tilted his head toward me, his eyes filled with deadly intent.

  “Karl, sweetie, I just went out for…um…” My eyes landed on the pill bottle in his hand. “Some fresh air,” I blurted unable to come up with any other excuse. Fear consumed every part of me, paralyzing me in place. Where did he get those from? I put them away. Hid them under the damn floor board. I know I did. How could he have found them?

  Fear crept up my neck, paralyzing me in place. I swallowed down the lump lodged in my throat and braced myself.

  “You must think I’m really fucking stupid,” he scoffed.

  Suddenly, I became the sad, terrified, pathetic girl I used to be. I averted my eyes to the floor. “No, not at all.”

  He jumped up from the chair and latched onto my throat. With the force of all hundred and ninety pounds of him, he smashed me against the wall. Pain radiated up my spine as my back crashed against the sheetrock.

  “Don’t you talk back to me, you bitch,” he snarled.

  I tried to take soothe calming breaths to keep from going into panic mode, but his fingers dug deeper into my skin, his grip becoming unbearably strong, making it impossible to get air in.

  “You thought I wouldn’t figure it out.” He pulled his arm back, my neck still in his grasp, and slammed my head back against the wall. “Find out that you’ve been drugging me, so you can go out whoring yourself.”

  Everything around me began to spin as my vision became blurry, and my lungs struggled desperately for air. I could feel the energy being sucked from my body, powerless to his death grip. Maybe this time he would actually finish me off. Free me of this horrible curse of a life. I closed my eyes and prayed for an end. Instead, of finding peace in my surrender, I found Nixon.

  Our nights together in the ring popped into my head, reminding me that I wasn’t powerless. I was capable. More capable than I was giving myself credit for. If I didn’t act now, I knew for a fact he would kill me just like…

  He moved into me and I knew this was my chance. My opportunity to finally fight back. To show this piece of shit that I was done cowering in a corner and letting him hurt me, so I lifted my knee, and drove it into his crotch with the force and rage of years of abuse. His hold on me loosened as his face contorted in pain. The fury overtook the pain though, and he shook it off, tightening his fingers even more. I reached up grabbing for his hand as my airway was completely blocked of air.

  “You little fucking bitch,” he growled.

  Pressure built in my eyes and head, but I wouldn’t give up. I was struggling for air and fighting to stay conscious as Nixon’s words filled my mind. You see this hand? This is the hand you have to worry about. This hand is the one that usually finishes the choke. You want to grab it, and try to get it off of you, but remember to stay active. Keep fighting. So, while you are trying to get the hand off, continue to stomp his feet, and keep trying to land an elbow to the body. If you get an elbow to the body, pull that down, and punch him in the groin. Then, shove the hand off, and duck out from the hold.

  The position was different, but it was my only chance. Instinct took over and I stomped Karl’s foot with as much energy as I could muster and then drove my fist into his side. I continued attacking, and he finally let his hand fall away from my throat as he grabbed both my hands and pinned me back against the wall, pushing his weight into me.

  I wasn’t out of danger, but at least I could breathe. I gasped for air as he pressed his face to mine. “So, where were you? With that guy? Fucking whore. You want to be a whore. I’ll treat you like a whore.” He locked his one hand around both of my wrists, and smacked me across the face.

  A sharp stinging ache shot through my cheek as I bit back a cry. His hand went right to his zipper and he pulled out his dick. I was disgusted to see how hard he was. Repulsed that hurting me could turn him on.

  I squirmed against his hold and kicked violently. I would not allow him to rape me. Not again. Never again,

  “Hold still, you cunt!”

&nbs
p; I refused. I’d rather die than allow him to get any pleasure out of me. “No!” I screamed and then spit in his face.

  He became enraged. I could see fire in his eyes as he momentarily let me go to wind his arm back and deck me in the eye. It happened so fast that there wasn’t even time to try and duck or move out of the way. Pain spread through my skull, throbbing so intensely it was all I could focus on.

  I slumped against the wall, and crumbled in a heap to the ground. Karl came at me again, his dick flopping freely from his zipper. I struggled to get away, but the ache in my face became too strong, and everything went black.

  Chapter 21

  Nixon

  I paced the warehouse, too caught up in my own thoughts. I came in here with the intention of beating the bag until the damn thing broke free of its restraints, or my knuckles split open, but every time I walked over to it, I just walked away.

  What I had said to Brooklyn was no different than I’ve said to tons of girls, but this time I felt…guilty. Beating on the bag or lifting weights wouldn’t help. I thought about leaving here and finding a girl to fuck, but then I remembered the last time I did that, and how well it went. The only girl I wanted to put my dick anywhere near was Brooklyn.

  Girls begged for my attention. Would do anything to get it, and for the first time, I actually was willing to give it to a girl, and she tells me to forget about her. Forget about her? I fucking wished.

  She was in my head, and no matter how hard I tried to rid myself of her, I couldn’t. She had taken up permanent residence, and it was driving me fucking mad. I didn’t even know who I was anymore.

  I had a fight in a week, and that should’ve been my main focus, my only focus, but no. I couldn’t focus on anything other than Brooklyn. Those goddamned fuck me eyes of hers, and those tits. My God, they should come with fucking warning labels. They were lethal to my mind. All I could think about was them, that ass, and every curve of her body.

  It wasn’t just her body, though. She was the only girl that stood up to me. Who wouldn’t take my shit or let me seduce her. Even though I had never seen her look more broken than I did as I pulled up earlier, and when she said goodbye to me, it was the strongest I’d ever seen her. She had so many confusing layers, and it was something I could relate to.

  Nobody had ever understood me, but it took Brooklyn all of ten seconds to figure me out. She wasn’t blinded by my charm, she saw right through it, and straight to the man beneath it. She may not have peeled back all the layers, but she knew they were there, and that was further than anyone else had ever gotten.

  I ran my hands through my hair as my pace quickened. This feeling inside me was like nothing I’d ever felt before and I didn’t know how to make it go the fuck away. Finally, I made my way to the bag and struck it with all that I had, but I felt nothing. I was numb to the one thing that always made me feel alive. I hit it again, searching for the pleasure it brought me, but I was completely dead on the inside, void of the high that I continually thrived on.

  “Fuck!” I yelled, my voice echoing across the large space. I spun away from the bag, and started pacing again, but this time I extended the distance before turning back around. I passed the locker room and I thought about the box of spiders that I had opened earlier in the day. So much had happened between then that it seemed like a fucking lifetime ago.

  The words on the card resonated in my mind. Fear is a powerful thing.

  I never knew fear. I hated spiders, possibly feared them, but I suddenly realized that this feeling coursing through me was exactly that. Brooklyn just walked out of my life and back to the man that didn’t think twice about raising his hand to her. What if she was serious? What if I was to never see her again? Or worse. What if no one was to ever see her again?

  Her husband bruised her, and from what I could gather, it was a pretty common occurrence. What if he was like me and couldn’t control the anger? But instead of taking it out on a bag or in a ring, he took all that rage out on her. If no one was there to stop him…

  I grabbed my keys, and ran out of the building. I didn’t give two shits if she told me to never go to her apartment again. I was going and this time, I wasn’t leaving without her. I needed to protect her. Needed to know that he couldn’t lay a single hand on her ever again.

  Because… Fuck. I loved her and it was time she knew I wasn’t going anywhere. If that bastard wanted to fight me for her, I’d show him what it was like to get his ass beat.

  Chapter 22

  Brooklyn

  Light filtered through my eyes and I wondered if this was what death felt like, if the light I was seeing was the light I was supposed to accept and follow. Something heavy weighed down on me, and I assumed it was my life being sucked out of me. Pretty soon, I’d be floating freely above myself, ready to move on to whatever was next.

  My eye blinked open and I realized the weight was nothing otherworldly. It was Karl on top of me. With determination and purpose, he yanked my pants down. Reality and the desire to survive smacked back into me. This psychopath knocked me out cold, and he still wanted nothing more than to fuck me. Sick fucking bastard.

  His body hovered above me, and I stared into his eyes, trying to reach the decent person inside, the one I fell in love with. But he was gone. There was no soul to be found. He lost that a long time ago. All I saw were eyes, filled with so much rage and hatred. He seemed almost inhuman, and I knew with that realization, that I needed to fight for my life. I was done being his punching bag. I needed to take back the control he exerted over me. I dug deep, willing myself to be strong. I felt him grab his cock, and I knew what was coming. He was going to rape me, and I would not let that happen.

  Not again. Not anymore.

  I had to accept the fact that one of us might not make it out alive, but it was a risk I was willing to take. Nixon’s words floated into my head. As long as you keep your arms extended, no matter how big the other person is, you can pretty much hold them up.

  Instinctively, I threw my arms up, smacking them into Karl’s shoulders as he leaned into me. A vicious evil glare clouded his eyes as he pushed toward me, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get at me. It was working, and I refused to bend my arms to give him any leverage. If only I could just remember what to do next? Shit. We never got that far because he kissed me, and I freaked out. I thought of all the things Nixon taught me and I went with instinct. He told me to trust my gut, and right now, I was putting all of my trust into it. I placed my feet on Karl’s thighs, and pushed just as I grabbed his arms. He leaned up, my hands sliding with him as they went to his wrists. He sat up, putting his face right in front of my feet. I began to kick as hard as I could, delivering blow after blow, until he finally broke free and got up. It gave me enough time to get off the floor before he came back at me.

  I had never fought back, and I wasn’t sure how long he would let this go on, but what I did know was that I wasn’t going down easily. Not this time. For so long, I let him control me. Hurt me. Let him manipulate me to think that I was worthless and that no one would ever want me. He latched onto my insecurities and turned them into mountains I couldn’t look past.

  Nixon changed all that. I finally began to look over the mountains because he gave me the tools to fight back. He empowered me with knowledge and ignited a fire in me that made me want to take back control of my life. I thought running away was a mistake when Karl found me, and turned me back into that sad pathetic girl he could control, but it was the best thing I had ever done.

  Now after all the years of enduring Karl’s abuse, and listening to his taunts about being fat and worthless, making me think that I was ugly and stupid it was time to put an end to it all.

  Thought after thought flashed in and out of my head, churning the simmering hatred I felt toward him into a blazing fire of rage. All the beatings, cuts, bruises, broken bones and black eyes I suffered through. For what? A few rare words of kindness. A fuck that was more pain than pleasure.

 
I wasn’t pathetic. He was. He had done more heinous acts than some of the worst criminals, yet he got to walk freely because of who his daddy was. He should’ve been thrown in jail years ago for all that he’d done.

  “You fucking bitch,” he barked as he swiped a finger across the blood pouring out of his nose. “You’re going to pay.”

  My world turned black, but this time it wasn’t because he knocked me out cold. No, this time it was because the years of anger and hatred boiled to the surface tainting any good that was left in me. A fury brewed deep inside of me and I let it. I started embracing it. Feeding on it.

  He deserved to pay for everything he did to me. To feel the pain, the fear of not knowing if he was taking his last breaths, everything. He always said the only way to escape him was over his dead body, well, I was willing to drive a knife through his chest if it meant I could finally be free of him.

  Karl stood across the room his eyes fixated on me, but all I could see was a disgusting excuse for a human being. I wasn’t going to pay. He was, or I would die trying.

  I stared back at him, showing no mercy to his threatening glare.

  Game on, asshole.

  Chapter 23

  Nixon

  I didn’t have a plan other than getting Brooklyn out of that apartment and safe into mine. Whatever happened from point A to point B I would just have to deal with. Luckily, I thrived on the unexpected.

  I ran up the stairs and down the hall that would lead me to her. The old hag from across the hall peered out with a phone pressed to her ear. When she saw me, she quickly shut the door and I heard the sound of a chain lock sliding into place.