by Raven Scott
“A drunken brawl in the middle of the day on a public street?” Spyder snipes before she clicked her teeth, audibly annoyed, and rolled her eyes before she caught Spyder’s gaze. “We can’t lie our way outta this, Bailey.”
“You can lie about anything if you control the information. Plus, we’re gonna be dealing with cops from Saint George, not Provo.” Davey strokes his neck and shoulders with both hands, squeezing his head between powerful arms as he rocks back on his heels. Surprise rippled palpably through the room, and a man I didn’t recognize shook his head. “There aren’t any cameras on that street, and the doorbell camera on the house didn’t catch anything because Bruiser’s truck flipped. Also, why would the Hellraisers admit to getting the shit kicked outta them when they outnumbered you four to one? And a third thing is Mathew probably didn’t know about it.”
Bruiser’s sluggish mumble broke the tension in the atmosphere, and I turned to him as he lounged, drugged out of his mind. Concern speared my chest, but the man’s frustrated sigh stole my attention.
“I didn’t have to do anything. One of my buddies is a dispatcher and said they got a busy night. We talk about how horrible it is there all the time.” What? I shook my head viciously, turning to Bruiser as his head flopped to the side. “That all being said, Mathew’s losing control of his gang. That’s what’s really happening. I think you need to come up with a new plan.”
“We can’t bring them back. Parker can’t, anyway, but there’s too much risk bringing Bruiser back. The next step would be to cross town lines, and the obvious target is him. Bruiser’s beat up bad enough that if he had to defend himself, he’d fuck himself up.” Cole spoke up again, and my hand shot up like I was in middle school and excited about a question. He and Spyder shared a look before nodding at each other, and my mouth dried.
“My sister’s a nurse practitioner. I can take him home with me and have someone to call if I need help.” Relief slumped my shoulders when Spyder nodded reluctantly, and I sat on the edge of Bruiser’s bed. “Good. Okay. What about Parker? I can check on him, too, if you need.”
“I’m staying here with him.” My gaze flung to Cole, and maybe my intentions were written all over my face before he shook his head. “I’m gonna get a hotel. I’ve got some recouping of my own to do, and no offense, but it doesn’t involve sleeping on a sofa.”
“O-okay. Here. Take my num—” Bruiser grabbed my arm lightly, so lightly it was almost uncomfortable, and my breath hitched as I twisted. His eyes struggled to meet mine under heavy lids, and his smile drooped down his face like in a cartoon. My heart ached painfully, and he had to work to speak.
“My ride or die girl, huh?” I couldn’t hold my tears back even as Bruiser passed out cold right in front of me. Blinking back the sting in my eyes, I sniffled harshly before releasing a shuddering breath of stale air.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Bruiser
“I won’t stand for this, Nicole. The second that guy can walk, he’s gone.” Jackie’s vicious whispers were for nothing as I leaned against the wall, just beyond the corner of the hallway to the kitchen. “I don’t give a shit how good he is in bed, Nicole! You’re not seeing him anymore!”
“What happened to not telling me what to do? You’re not Mom, Jackie.” Nicole sounded just as angry, and I crossed my arms over my chest as my mind focused on my hearing. I could barely see, anyway. Not even the throbbing pain could blur their fighting. “I called you here to check on the stitches on his leg, okay, not to fucking bitch at me about my choice!”
“Like fuck am I gonna let you go through this, Nicole! I may not be Mom, but apparently, I’m the only one available to talk your ass off the fucking cliff! How can you think you should still associate with him after gang on gang violence that almost killed him!”
“It’s not a gang. It’s a club! There’s a difference!” My face flared in pain as a smile twitched my cheek, and there was a short silence before a fwop of a towel being thrown sounded. “Get out if you don’t like it! I’ll figure it out myself! The only thing you’ve ever done is tell me to stand up for myself. Well, Jackie, this is me! Standing up for myself! I will not let you treat me this way!”
Nicole shouted with all the authority of a pissed-off chihuahua, but it was music to my ears as it echoed. Caught in the dense atmosphere, her outburst hung heavy, and I crossed my arms gingerly over my chest. Behind my swollen eyes, I could almost see her fuming steam, glaring at her sister, and her sister glaring back. They were polar opposites, and some of the weight eased off my chest when a shrill grunt of frustration sounded.
“Fine! But don’t come crying to me when he breaks up with you for your own good! Damnit, Nicole! I’m gonna kick you in the shin, damnit!” The atmosphere changed noticeably, the tension no longer rippling against my cheek, and Jackie groaned softly. “You piss me off sometimes. You know that? Why you gotta be so stubborn all of a sudden?”
“Because he makes me happy, and this is the one thing I won’t let someone else’s feelings screw up for me.” So softly, Nicole replied, and the earnestness in her tone was touching. Clutching my chest, I managed a somewhat deep breath as all the pain vanished. I shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but Nicole wasn’t gonna care. If anything, she’ll be relieved she doesn’t have to say it again.
“Are you in love with him?” My heart almost stopped beating as I waited, my lungs screeching for fresh air. The silence seemed to go on forever, and I gulped down the tightness in my throat.
“Bruiser makes me happy. That’s all. As long as we keep making each other happy, I don’t think ‘love’ is an appropriate label. He has my back, Jackie. He won’t let me get involved. It was hard enough to convince him to stay here when he woke up. Please, okay? Just go take a look at him really quick. I stare at it so much I think I might be imagining it’s turning yellow.” And back to the pain. It really fucking hurts to hear the concern in Nicole’s tone. Glancing down at my leg blearily, I rubbed the edges of the line of stitches up my thigh. It definitely wasn’t yellowish, leaking, or fiery.
“Well, I don’t condone this at all, Nicole, but I will because he’s hurt and needs help. But I don’t like it.” I slumped against the wall, tearing my eyes off my battered, abused body, and Jackie stopped short when she saw me. Her eyes widened, and she jumped back a bit, but I didn’t care how she saw me. Nicole popped her head around the corner, concern drenching her expression when she saw me standing.
“You! Get back in bed!” Nicole rushed the few feet to me, and I wrapped an arm around her. Her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’, her face tinging red up to her ears. Pressing my forehead against hers, I leaned heavily against the wall to stop myself from falling on top of her. “Bruiser?”
“Once I handle this, quit your job and come down to Margot with me.” Her breath hitched loudly, sucking in hot air from my chin at my murmur. “You can do your art full time. We can fuck whenever we want. I’ll take you for rides on my bike . . . come with me, baby.”
“O-oh . . . let’s talk about it when you’re not out of it, okay?” I couldn’t deny that logic, and I grunted lowly in acknowledgment. Nicole slipped under my arm to help me, and I savored her softness even as her sister’s glare burned holes into my back. “You feelin’ okay?”
“Yeah. Anyone call?” I braced my hand on the wall to pant and catch my breath; words had never been so difficult to utter. Reaching to prod my swollen eye, I winced as pain shot down my jaw and neck. Jackie’s glare softened against my back when I tensed, hissing a breath, but I couldn’t give a shit about her opinion on a good day, and this certainly wasn’t a good day.
“Cole called a little while ago to let me know he got to the hotel. Um, also your little cousin called. He’s not doin’ okay.” Her voice wavered, drawing my attention, and I scowled darkly into space. “He was really upset. I don’t know why Cole gave him my number, but he just yelled a lot and then hung up on me before I could say anything.”
“Little shit. Fuck him.” My frustr
ated sigh morphed into a groan as I clutched my side, and I sniffed harshly through my clogged nose. Mucus clung to the back of my throat, making it hard to breathe, and I pushed Nicole away to stumble into the bathroom. Hacking up blood and snot into the toilet, I gripped the seat with both hands and resisted the urge to throw up.
“Do you have any discharge papers for him?” Spitting into the bowl, I rocked back on my heels to crane my neck and breathe heaving gulps of air. Out of the corner of my bleary gaze, Nicole disappears again with determination ticking her jaw. Reaching to rub the thick bandage over my nose, I clamored up to the sink to stare at myself. My eye was almost swollen shut, and I reached down only to realize I wasn’t wearing my jeans. Jackie continued glaring at me in the mirror, and I turned to her to frown when she pointed at me. Damn bitch is gonna attack me without Nicole here to make her think twice. “I don’t like you.”
“Why would I care what you think? You ain’t the one I want.” Alarm flashed in her eyes, and I braced myself on the sink gingerly before gesturing to my face. Jackie was taken aback by my response, and she clenched her jaw hard. “Judging strangers is for bitches fuckin’ the pummel of their high horse. You got no right not to like me. You don’t even know me. I’ll tell you what I told her. I don’t start shit, but I’ll fuckin’ finish it. I warned her, but it ain’t my job to police her.”
“That’s why you’re a piece of shit. You didn’t try beyond the minimum effort required.” I cocked my head at Jackie’s aggressive snap, and my vision cleared a bit as a whirlwind of emotions swirled in my chest. The silence was tense while I thought of my next words carefully, but I didn’t drop her gaze. She tinged darker red with each second that crawled past; it was honestly kinda funny how much emotion Jackie put into it.
“If I am, I am, but then what does that make you, huh?” Jackie’s eyes widened as her face twisted with anger, but I ignored her to turn back to the mirror. Sucking in a sharp breath as I pried apart my swollen eyelids, spiderwebbing pin prickles engulfed my head and stabbed my eyes. I should just leave it to heal by itself, I knew, but the time it was a’tickin’.
Warpath was gonna have to move fast to subjugate Saint George Hellraisers now that things had spiraled so far out of control. I’m gonna have to go back to Margot as soon as possible. We’re down three people. This was so fucking bad it couldn’t even register on the meter.
“I found it.” Nicole shoved the packet at her sister’s chest before her worried eyes found mine in the mirror. I winced as their light pierced my brain, but it’d be easier after today. My body would acclimate to my injuries, and then I’d start healing. “Do you need more ice?”
“Nah, can you get me a paring knife and some alcohol, baby?” Questions floated across her face, but Nicole nodded before striding off in the other direction. Once again, Jackie scowled at me, taking special time to look up from my discharge papers.
“It makes me a good sister.”
“No, it makes you a controlling bitch.” Jackie tensed, glaring at my back. I was sure I had permanent burn marks between my shoulder blades, now. “Don’t judge anyone else’s happiness by your own standards. She’s your sister, yeah, but she ain’t you, and she doesn’t want what you got. So, pull the silver spoon outta your ass because I ain’t gonna be the one that walks out that door.”
Realization flashed in her eyes that I’d heard some of their conversation, although I was sure it wasn’t all of it. Jackie harrumphed, turning to the packet she held in white-knuckle fists and stewed in her rage and shitty morale.
“You’re not gonna cut open your stupid eye, are you? That’s not gonna help you heal.” Grumbling haltingly, Jackie didn’t look up this time as I nodded; I needed to see right now, even if it took a couple of extra days to heal. “You could get an infection.”
“This ain’t my first time. I’ll tell you what—” Turning to Jackie just as Nicole popped up next to her, I frowned darkly. “You wanna call me a piece of shit. Fine. Judge me for whatever. Don’t like me. I don’t give a fuck either way. But stay the fuck in your lane, and we ain’t gonna have any problems. If I want you to open your big ass mouth, I’ll ask you a question.”
Jackie trembled with rage before twisting to stomp to the living room, and my lip curled in a horrible, ugly disgust. Nicole looked between myself and where her sister had just stood and sighed, shaking her head. Setting the bottle of isopropyl alcohol on the sink, Nicole frowned disapprovingly at me.
“That was mean.” Grunting lowly, I reached to cup her cheek, and her cool skin dampened the fire raging through me. Nicole turned into my palm, but the contact didn’t last long before she reached to touch my swollen, black eye. “Is she right? About your eye?”
“Yeah, but it’ll be fine. I’ve done it plenty. Listen, baby . . .” I blinked hard, trying to get the clearest, most focused field of vision I could manage. Nicole stared at me levelly, and I sniffled harshly through my clogged nose before jerking my head in a nod. “If I gotta be the bad guy, I will. Ain’t nothin’ to it. Better your sister hate me than hate you for bein’ with me.”
“What’s the difference?” Emotion thickened her tone, and Nicole covered my hand with hers to gaze from under long lashes.
“Because she’ll blame me. And that’s okay. You changed, and she already blames me, so why not just keep on keepin’ on?” I grabbed her hand to caress the pretty, modest diamond ring on Nicole’s finger. “Sometimes, the people we love most are the ones that want us to stay as we are. It’s not malicious, usually, but your sister doesn’t like the very thing she’s urged you to do because you didn’t do it the way she imagined. So, I’ll be the bad guy. Happily.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Nicole
Sitting back on my butt, I stretch out my legs and arch sharply with a groan. I blinked hard and shook my head of the fuzziness of my vision, and accomplishment blossomed in my chest. The cat I’d been commissioned to create was coming along beautifully, and I hauled myself to my feet to stretch my arms hard above my head.
“Looks good, baby,” Bruiser mumbled, and I twisted to smile at him splayed on the sofa. Gesturing me over, his face and body glowed the faintest green-yellow from bruises that hadn’t quite faded yet. “You’ve gotten so much done. I’m impressed.”
“Yeah. I’m happy with myself, too. I’ll finally catch up on some deadlines that’d been worrying me.” Sitting next to him, I pull my knees up as his arm slithered around my back to secure me to his side. Today, the sunlight streaming through my apartment was brighter, and I rested my head on his chest. “You’re lookin’ good, too, Bruiser. Do bruises usually go away so fast?”
“It’s been over two weeks, right? Yeah, that sounds about right. They weren’t that deep. Go figure.” He says that but he still mumbles and grumbles like it’s painful to talk. I couldn’t reasonably expect Bruiser to be right as rain, of course. Parker was still in a coma, his truck was completely totaled, and he was essentially stranded here with me. Shrewd eyes met mine, and he put his hardened, heavy palm on my head to ruffle my bun. “Your sister is still protesting. That can’t feel that great.”
“That’s her problem that she’s got a problem in the first place. You said it yourself, Bruiser. She doesn’t get a say, so she’s not happy I’m doing what she wanted the way I want. She’ll stew over it for a while before giving up and making nice, even if she doesn’t apologize in so many words. I’m sure Jackie feels she’s got nothing to apologize for.” We hadn’t talked about Jackie, but I knew Jackie talked about me to everyone. My parents had called me and asked if I was in danger, for crap’s sake! It’d taken a few hours to get them to calm down, and heat suffused my cheeks, remembering the conversations. “Our parents believe me. They know how, er, passionate she can get about things. And even if they didn’t, I’m the one dating you, so I’m the one who gets to decide how deep into this I go.”
“I wanna take you out for a ride one of these days.” Bruiser kissed the top of my head, burying his nose in
my hair to take a deep breath. His chest strained against my cheek, and I positively basked in his presence. “When I’m cleared of my concussion and can safely drive, of course.”
“These past couple weeks . . . not workin’ at the restaurant and being able to do my art my way without restrictions . . . I really like it.” I confessed warily, and Bruiser tensed next to me as he hummed against my crown. “I’ve been thinkin’ about what you said about moving down with you. If it could be like this all the time, I know it won’t be easy, but . . .”
“You’ve got time, Nicole. I wanna resolve this issue with those bitches that ambushed us first . . .” Bruiser trailed off to flop his head back against the sofa cushions, and I nod in agreement to the tune of his frustrated sigh. “I gotta get cleared by the doc, and Parker needs to wake the fuck up. That idiot, getting bashed like that when he knows he can’t fistfight for shit.” I didn’t know a lot about Parker, but it seemed to me like all the men in Bruiser’s club could handle themselves if it came down to it.
“My lease isn’t up for another few months, and I gotta go back to work at the restaurant, anyway. I’ve still got bills to pay, and my sick days are just about up.” I closed my eyes to savor this moment, and Bruiser scratched my head tenderly as the silence stretched. Regret glues my tongue to the roof of my mouth; I wanted this to be my life, my art, Bruiser, and devoting my life to both of them. Sweeping my palm up his bare chest, I fingered his chest hairs leisurely. “So, yeah. We’ve got time.”
“Do you wanna cook dinner, or should—” Bruiser’s question cuts off when my phone trilled on the coffee table. Reluctance slowed my movements, but I slumped over to grab the device and frown. Bruiser tapped my shoulder before standing up with a strained grunt, and I nodded. “I’ll let you take that. I’ll order a pizza or something.”