“See ya,” I say, and then I close the door before I change my mind.
Chapter 16
Threats
The next day …
I’m leaning against the wall outside of the dorm, enjoying the breeze and the temporary buzz of joy it gives me. I’m thinking about my life here at college and what I should do about my lacking enthusiasm for homework. I really want to give this thing I have with Leafy a chance, although I’m afraid nothing will help my ‘strainer brain’ with remembering things.
When I cock my head, I look at her lying in the grass, reading her book. I followed her outside, keeping guard at a relatively safe distance. I don’t want to come across as a pervert, watching her from afar, but I want to be here in case there’s trouble. There’s this feeling I have that I can’t shake off … like I’m a bit possessive of her. I need to protect her, and I feel like she’s in danger all the time ever since she started hanging out with me.
Watching her casually reading a book while enjoying the sun makes it hard for me to concentrate, though. I like looking at her. It brings me peace.
It’s not long before I’m pulled back into the harsh reality that life sucks. From the corner of my eye I spot Leafy’s ‘friend,’ the guy who was also in the Alpha Psi club, arguing with a girl. They’re screaming so loud I don’t even have to try to overhear.
“Stop! Just stop, okay?” she yells, snatching a bag of pills from his hand and crushing it between her fingers.
“Goddammit! Now you’ve wasted a good batch!” he yells back.
“Who cares? Why do you keep doing this? I don’t want this, Brody. I can’t take it anymore.”
“Hey.” He grabs her wrist. “Don’t back out now. It’s too late for that.”
“Why not? What’s the point in staying? You don’t even love me anymore.”
“Stop saying that bullshit, you know it’s not true.”
“Your ‘business’ is more important to you than me.” She makes quotation marks with her fingers.
“I told you from the beginning that I wanted this to work. I will sacrifice everything for it,” he snaps.
“Even me?” she says. I can see from a distance tears are running down her cheeks.
He doesn’t answer, which is enough for her to storm off campus and not look back.
I shrug. Oh well, who doesn’t enjoy a public fight?
As I turn around, there’s someone standing next to me, and my heart makes a jump.
“You shouldn’t stick your nose in other people’s business,” Wes says.
“Huh? I wasn’t. I was already standing here when they started yelling at each other.”
“Hmm … Well, you’d better watch out anyway.”
The way he says it with a dark undertone makes my skin crawl.
He cocks his head in the guy’s direction. “The guy has a temper.”
“You know him?” I ask.
Wes nods. “One of the distributors. His name is Brody Forrester. Nasty little fucker if you ask me. Looks all slick and smooth on the outside, but when he cracks all hell breaks loose, and you don’t wanna be near him when it happens.”
One of my eyebrows lifts. “Oh …” I didn’t see that coming. And he’s Leafy’s friend? Shit. That makes it even scarier.
“What were they arguing about this time?” Wes asks.
“The gang.”
He nods slowly. “Figures. I wonder why she’s still with him. They fight non-stop.”
I don’t say anything. I feel like I’m treading a thin line, and keeping my mouth shut is the wisest thing a person can do in those situations.
“Do you have a girl?”
“Huh?” I stammer, jerked from my thoughts. “Uh, no.”
“Hmmm … Not even a little?”
“Why?”
It bothers me how he’s so interested in me now all of a sudden. I wonder what he’s got on his agenda. It can’t be good.
“Not even that girl over there?” he says.
When his finger rises, I only need to glance to know who he’s talking about. The frizzy girl lying in the grass, enjoying a book, oblivious to the world around her. My Leafy.
“No, not really,” I say, my heart pounding in my throat. Fuck. How the fuck did they find out about her?
“Oh, c’mon, I know you’ve been hanging out with her.” He turns around toward me and leans against the wall, sticking his hands into his pockets. “Don’t lie.”
I swallow. Fuck.
“I heard what happened with your clients at Denny’s. The Bentley boys.”
How? Did they tell him? Of course they did! Fuck me. Of course this would happen; why didn’t I think that thing through? Goddammit!
“Hey, I don’t blame you for trying to do the right thing,” he says, placing his hand on my shoulder. It feels uncomfortable and disgusting as he digs his fingers into my shirt. “You probably had a very good reason for it.”
“They were harassing her,” I say, my lips barely separating as I speak.
He lifts one eyebrow. “And that’s why you got into a fight with them?”
“I won’t let them rape anyone. That’s not part of the job.”
“No,” he says, his demeanor suddenly changing. His eyes narrow, his eyebrows draw closer together, and he squeezes my shoulder so hard I have trouble not wincing. “Your job is to give them what they want.” His voice is unusually calm and authoritative. Bone-chilling.
“Sorry.”
He stares at me for a second with a blank look on his face. Then he bursts out into laughter. “Look, kid, I admire your chivalry and dedication toward protecting the weaker sex, but that girl is not worth the risk.”
My stomach churns, and rage storms through my head. The more I hear him talk, the angrier I get. He’s messing with me.
“Besides, your role here in Alpha Psi is far more important.” He squeezes my shoulder some more and leans forward. “If that girl poses a threat to our business, we have no choice but to make it go away. Distractions aren’t good for our workers.”
I swallow away the gut-wrenching fear building up in my body. Holy motherfucker. They’re threatening to hurt her.
He inches closer, whispering into my ear, “Do you understand that?”
For a moment we stare each other down, both squinting, while I duel the raging fury inside me trying to escape.
“Do you?” he repeats.
“Yes,” I hiss, clenching my teeth together afterward. His face is right up in mine and I want to give him a fucking head butt as a way to tell him the truth, but my brain kicks into gear right on time. I need to hold on. I can’t be kicked out of Alpha Psi now, otherwise I’ll never find out who the leader is and I’ll never get my brother back.
“Good,” Wes says, letting out a breath and releasing my shoulder.
“So you’re not kicking me out then?” I say.
He chuckles like it’s all fun and games. “What kind of a brotherhood would we be if we did that to rookies after their first mistake? But you’ll have to regain our trust, though.”
“How?” I snap, wanting to know the answer as soon as possible, so I can get the fuck away from him.
“You’ll fight in the arena in a couple of days. I’ll let you know the exact date and time.”
“That’s it?”
“No. I also want you to do a drug trade with a very special client of mine.”
I raise an eyebrow, curious as to why he’s making it sound so special. It’s almost as if he’s trying to trick me into something way, way worse than just the arena.
“Let’s just say that we’ll know for sure if you’ll be able to handle this job or not once you’ve completed your assignment.” He takes a piece of paper from his pocket and hands it to me. “You’ll be delivering a bag of cocaine to a lady named Jennifer. She’ll meet you outside the fence tomorrow night. You have enough in your stash?” he asks.
I nod.
“Great. Then let’s keep it at that. I’ll check up on you la
ter.” Wes turns and raises his hand to wave at me while walking away. “We’re watching you,” is the last thing he says before he turns the corner.
Fuck. They’re always watching me. They know goddamn everything!
I want to punch the wall again, and I have trouble restraining myself. I don’t have the luxury of fucking this gig up again. They’re fucking messing with me. Trying to get to me by threatening to hurt her—the girl I want. Fuck, she’s really in danger.
I pace around outside, blocking out the sun with my hands. I can’t let them do that to her. Shit! It’s too late to keep her out now, and it’s my fault. The only thing I can do now is train her, help her become stronger, so that maybe she can save her own life if I’m not around to protect her. She needs to be able to hold her own, because they’ll attack her when she least expects it. They always do. Bastards.
I jog over to Leafy, determined to get her fit and ready in case they do come for her. No, I know they will. We both have to be prepared for it. It’s only a matter of time.
She looks up at me as I block the sunlight. I get to my knees and snatch the book from her hands.
“Hey!” she protests. “I was reading that.”
“Yeah, ‘was.’ And now you’re not,” I say, and I hold out my hand. We don’t have time for small talk or wasting time on books. “Get up.”
She grabs my hand and I pull her to her feet in no time, making her tits bounce, which obviously attracts my attention. Focus, Hunter, focus.
She blushes. “What’s this for?” she says, frowning.
“Time for some training.” I snatch the blanket from the ground and roll it up.
“What, now?”
“Yes, now. My classes are finished, and by the looks of it so are yours. We don’t have much time, so let’s make the best use of it.”
“B-but I have to study and―”
Dammit! Now’s not the time to worry about grades. “But, but, but,” I snap. “If you wanna learn how to defend yourself, you gotta put in the effort.”
She scowls, and it’s definitely not one of her best looks. “I was busy. You think I’m just going to adjust to your schedule?”
Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. You’re in fucking danger, and I want to protect you the best I can, which means teaching you the ropes. I’m just not going to tell her that, because that would scare the living shit out of her. “You can read a book anytime you want. I can’t do this with you anytime I want. If I could, I would, trust me.”
I throw the book and the blanket away, making sure we have enough room to spar. I take off my jacket and get pumped up by jumping up and down a little, rubbing my hands together in the process. “C’mon,” I say, rubbing my hands together. “I’m ready for you.”
“What? In these clothes? I’m not dressed for sparring,” she says.
I sigh and laugh at the same time. “You won’t be dressed for it when they attack you again either. Now c’mon.” I signal her with my finger.
I swear, if she doesn’t start soon, I’m going to get a whole lot less nice. And she doesn’t want to see me when I’m angry. I get all up in her private space, and she’s clearly not into that. Not yet, at least.
She frowns, annoyed, and places her hands on her thighs in protest. I roll my eyes. “Well? Are you going to come at me or what?”
Taking another deep breath, she starts flinging her arms in an attempt to get ready to fight with me, I think. I’m not sure what she’s doing, but at least she’s willing to try now. It’s taking forever, though.
“Don’t make me wait … I hate it when girls make me wait.” She’d better not make me wait too long or else I might jump her.
She laughs. “Oh, really? What then? Are you going to kick a wall again or something?”
What? She’s still bringing that up? What’s she trying to do? Make me angry? She’s using my own tactic against me now …
“I’ll come after you myself if I have to. And things get rough with me pretty fast,” I say with a rumbling laugh. My chest rapidly expands, and I think my heart is about to burst out just thinking about what I’ll do to her if she doesn’t come here fast. If she wants to play it dirty, I’ll give her dirty.
A flush tempers her skin, turning her cheeks and vibrant skin rosy. It ignites my longing for her, which is hard to ignore.
She clears her throat. “Okay. Here I come.”
She blows out a big breath like she’s training for a kung-fu match, and then she runs straight at me like she thinks ramming into me will make me fall over. She bounces up against me, and it feels more like a bump. Her feet move against mine, trying to topple me, but instead she’s the one falling down.
“Ouch!”
I burst out into laughter, because it’s funny to see her try so hard and fail. It’s the way she goes about it that’s making it impossible for me not to laugh. I mean, it’s funny how she thinks she can tackle me while shouting it out loud.
“Why are you announcing you’re going to attack? That’s like playing right into my hands,” I say, and I help her get up.
She tries to bring me down with her, but I’m much stronger than her. I shake my head and finger. “You think it’s that easy to bring me down?”
“I’ll make it happen. Eventually.” Her eyes are filled with passion and determination, which sets my body on fire. I like it when she’s feisty, because it means she’s growing out of her shell and that she’s finally getting used to me.
“I like your spunk.” I step back a little. “Try again.”
She brushes the dirt from her pants and frowns, biting her lip. I wonder why she’s waiting so long to attack me again. Is she trying to surprise me this time? I hope so, but she sure is taking her sweet time.
“C’mon. I can take you, Leafy,” I say, biting my lip in reaction to her. She’s looking hot and bothered by my refusal to stop, and it’s only making me want to bother her more.
She runs toward me again, this time without warning, but now she tries to kick me between my legs. I grab her thigh and push it down, my fingers digging into her soft flesh. Grabbing her lower arm, I stop her from hitting me. But damn, she tried to kick me in the nuts. “You’re getting dirty.” I pull her closer. She didn’t strike me as the type, but I kind of dig her provocations. “I like it.”
She tries to jerk loose, but my fingers are tightly wrapped around her arm, preventing her from leaving. I’m the one who pulls the strings, not her. She might think she is, but that’s not the case. I’m always in control. That’s the way I like it.
If she wants to stay safe and not be attacked like that again, she needs to be ready to train hard. She needs to be a fighter; she needs to defend herself. She has to learn how to beat me.
“Put a little effort into it,” I say. “Nobody’s going to be nice for you. I’m not either.”
She hits me against my arm, trying to wriggle loose, but it’s not working. I barely even feel it. Not much muscle in this chick.
“C’mon, hit me.” I’m getting more and more agitated because she’s not really giving me her all. I know there’s more inside of her, she’s just not showing it to me yet. “Hit me!”
“I’m trying!”
No, you’re not.
She’s not trying. She’s barely even putting any energy into this. I can feel it. Maybe she needs some motivation first. I always get pumped up whenever I get crazily mad. Maybe it’s the same for her. If I push her buttons and get her angry, it’ll make this sparring much better. She probably won’t like it, though.
“You’re a wuss. A boneless nerd. You can’t fend for yourself. Can’t live in the real world. Not even one day,” I say, trying to lure out her anger.
“Shut up!” she yells. She balls her hands into fists and punches me before I know it, right in the guts. This time I feel it. Oh, hell yes. Damn, that was a nice hit.
She squirms free from my grip, and says, “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Her eyes are getting watery. “You’re being an asshole, and you
know it.”
I groan and rub my belly. “Damn, that was a good jab.”
“Who cares? You’re a bully.”
What gave her that idea? I laugh and take a step forward. I’m not a bully. Far from it. She just doesn’t realize how effective anger is when it comes to fighting. She looks like she wants to leave any moment now, so I grab her wrist. I’m not finished with her yet. “I’m helping you.”
She scowls, her eyes full of contempt. “Helping me? You’re insulting me, belittling me, and making me feel like a pile of crap.”
“And those guys didn’t?” She’s making it sound like I’m doing it to hurt her, but I’m trying to get her to see that she needs to grow a thick skin and face her aggressors head-on.
Breathing raggedly, she tries to jerk free, but I’m not letting her go when she’s raging like this. Not until she understands what I’m trying to say. “Anger helps you fight. It fuels you.”
I smile. It surprises me she doesn’t know this. “Guess this is your first time finding out about the power of rage.”
Her lip pulls up, and she snarls, “Whatever.”
She’s still angry at me? That wasn’t the point of this exercise. “C’mon. You know I didn’t mean any of it. It’s just to get you worked up.”
Let me go,” she hisses.
Now she’s really making a fuss about it. I can’t help but find it a little amusing to see her try to squirm free from my grasp. I feel like I caught her in my net and she’s my prize for winning. “Make me,” I jest. I’m only playing around. Although, I have to say, I don’t mind holding onto her like this. I kinda like having my hands on her.
Suddenly she kicks my lower leg, and I lose my balance. Shit. I’m not letting her win this easily with such a low move. So I grab her leg and pull her with me.
However, I didn’t expect her to land right on top of me.
Blinking a couple of times, my breath hitches in my throat as I stare right into her beautiful blue eyes that sparkle with rage and excitement. She tenses up, and her chest stops moving, probably holding a breath. I’m still breathing, but I’m concentrating on not getting a boner.
Fury (New Adult Romance) - #1.5 Fierce Series Page 13