But no bullet escapes it—by some stroke of luck, it jams. Without giving Tommy a chance to react, I launch myself at him. I aim my punches to the side of his ribs where I saw Jared kick him. He howls in pain and while he holds his sides, the distraction is enough for me to wrestle the gun out of his hands.
We fight over it, moving across my living room and knocking things over. He elbows me in my side, enough to knock the wind out of me, and follows it with a punch to my stomach.
I drop to the floor, wincing as my knees hit the hardwood. This’ll leave a bruise. I glance up, and Tommy has the gun aimed at my head again. “Stupid second-hand shit.”
Not sure if he’s referring to the gun or me, but either way, I don’t waste another second. I duck under his wrist and punch his groin, grappling for the gun and throwing it away. I don’t want that kind of temptation around me—I’ve seen way too many movies of how it would end.
Tommy surprises me by recovering over the last hit and throwing himself on me. His entire weight pins me down, and his hands go for my throat.
A million self-defense moves run through my head, but all I can focus on is his breathing—and the hard-on pressing against my belly. Flashes of that night pass behind my closed lids, and my breathing goes haywire.
My lungs can’t draw enough air, and all I can see is that night, his weight on me, his hands everywhere, my pleas to stop...
He smiles like a maniac above me. “Maybe before I kill you, I can finish what I started that night.”
Hell. Fucking. NO.
His words are a much-needed cold shower. I swore to myself I would never let another man get control of me, and this is no different. I grit my teeth, then reach up and sink my thumbs in his eyes as deep as I can.
Tommy releases me, howling in pain. I kick him in the nuts for good measure, then scramble away to the gun. Screw being righteous.
When he next looks at me, I have the gun leveled at his face. “Get the fuck out of my house.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
I take the safety off, but I think what’s more telling is there is no shaking in my hands nor my voice. “Try me, Tommy. Just fucking try me.”
He backs away, hands held up in mock-defense, and takes off out my balcony and down the fire escape. I lunge at the door, locking it behind him, and drag a sofa in front of it for good measure.
Then I walk to my bedroom in a daze and dial Dom.
Dominic
In my experience, it’s never good news when a phone rings in the middle of the night. Which is why I answer without checking the caller ID and am greeted by empty air.
“Hello?”
There’s more silence, followed by a single whispered word. “Dom.”
I’m wide awake at Luz’s voice, and everything she’s not telling me. “Where are you? Home?” There’s a whimper, enough to take as confirmation, and already I’m throwing on clothes. “I’ll be there in a few.”
Going as a wolf would be faster, but I have no patience for the ruse it would require. So I hop in my car and blow every red light between our places until I park nearby in a screech of tires. I glance up towards her fire escape, and I can smell Tommy even from here.
My wolf pokes his head, demanding we follow the scumbag and rip him to pieces. But I can hear Luz’s heartbeat inside, and it’s enough to center me. I run up the same fire escape until I’m near her bedroom window and keep my touch light as I knock on the door.
“Luz, it’s me.”
I take in her curled up form on the bed, the panting I can hear even from here. When she turns to me the second time I knock, her eyes are pools of panic. “Let me in, draga mea.”
Luz slides off the bed and pushes the sofa blocking the door. With painfully slow movements, she opens the door, standing there as if waiting for instructions. It’s only then I notice the gun in her hand. I reach for it, but she backs away, shaking her head.
“Luz, it’s me. Darling... Look at me.”
My wolf urges me to seek retribution, and despite not knowing what took place here I want to listen. But first I need to make sure she’s all right.
“Luz?”
She meets my gaze then, her eyes filling with tears. I open my arms, hoping she will come of her own volition, and somehow my prayers are answered. Luz throws herself in my embrace, grasping onto my shirt like I’m an anchor to her drowning.
I wrap my arms around her trembling frame, absorbing all her sobs and vowing Tommy will bleed for each and every single one. Gently, I take the weapon out of her hand and place it on the dresser. We drop into an armchair in the corner, and Luz curls up on my lap.
“Please don’t leave tonight.”
I glance down at her in surprise. Her eyes are closed, cheeks wet with her tears. Her hands clench my shirt, her entire body tense.
“I won’t, iubirea mea. I swear I won’t.”
She relaxes against me ever so slightly, and I chance running my hand up and down her spine. I wish nothing more than to stay like this forever, but it’s killing me not knowing what happened. “Luz...”
She understands my plea though she doesn’t speak right away. It takes another quart of an hour before she admits Tommy broke into her place. Once the full story comes out, my wolf resents me suppressing him, and tremors are going through me.
Despite my best efforts to mask them, Luz catches my agitation and peers up at me with concern. “Are you okay?”
The fact she's checking on my well-being after what she went through makes me choke for very different reasons. I clear my throat, trying to explain myself. “I’m angry, sweetheart. So fucking angry that if I didn’t have you on my lap right now, I would be tearing shit up with no remorse and going after Tommy to rip him apart.”
A deep breath later, I cup her cheek. “Why didn’t you call me from the beginning? Don’t you trust me?”
Tears fill her eyes again and I feel like the world’s biggest jackass. “Of course I do. But I didn’t want you to have issues with Lucas and, Tommy is my problem. It’s only fair I handle it.”
My jaw hurts from the force I’m clenching it with. “Luz... Hear me, I beg you, when I tell you this. I am here for you whenever. Forget Lucas, forget everyone else. I’m here. Please never hesitate to call me.”
She searches my eyes, so fragile in my arms that it tugs on my wolf even more. Then she nods, and it quiets my panic.
“Can we stay like this?”
I smile at her soft-spoken question, nodding against her head and pulling her closer. “As long as you need.”
Luz is silent for a beat, and her voice is sleepy when she asks, “What does iubirea mea mean?”
Thankfully, she’s asleep in the next breath. Because there’s no way I can tell her that I just called her my love. It’ll have her running for the hills, and all I want is her in my arms—where she’s safe.
Lucrezia
I wake up the next morning in my bed. Once my brain jostles me awake with vivid images of the fight with Tommy, I blink my eyes open and scan my surroundings, half-expecting him to pop out of a corner.
But it's only me in my room, and the handsome beast of a man who apparently spent the night playing martyr.
Dom is on the armchair, legs spread and mouth slightly open. He looks so cute I can’t help a slight chuckle—but the noise itself wakes him up.
He glances around, eyes alert for any danger, then his gaze falls on me. His expression, hard before, softens considerably, even more so at my next words.
“You could have slept on the bed.”
Dominic gets off the armchair, stretching like a cat. His shirt rides up and my mouth waters at the expanse of abs I see. He turns too quickly and I don’t have time to hide my expression of longing.
But rather than comment on it, Dom kneels by the bedside and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “You weren’t awake enough to give me permission, and I wasn’t about to intrude.”
His words, spoken in a voice roughened by sleep, almost bri
ng tears to my eyes. “And now I’m making you cry. Why?”
I shake my head, burying it in the pillow. After a few moments of him rubbing my back, I turn back to him and wipe my face. “You’re too much, Dom. You have this player reputation yet all I see is the committed guy—to a fake relationship, for crying out loud!—who keeps me safe and makes me feel all kinds of things. The fact you’re not pushing any boundaries, it’s...” I trail off, incapable to finish.
Dom smiles and steals a kiss off my surprised lips when I least expect it. It’s a slight brush, a quick touch, yet it sends tingles all the way to my stomach. “It’s what makes me so endearing.”
Then he stands, moving by the window. I don’t have to ask, I know he’s checking the area to make sure Tommy isn’t lurking around. He glances over his shoulder, rolling one arm to stretch the muscles. “Are you taking a day off today?”
“No. If I stay I’ll be thinking over what happened, and I’d rather keep busy. Why?”
“I need to talk to Lucas.” Something about the way he says it tells me it won't be a light chat. “Think you can get ready in half an hour?”
I’m already halfway to the bathroom before he’s done talking. “Even faster!”
Less than twenty minutes later, Dom drops me off in front of the shop. He parks illegally right across from it and follows me in, his hand on the small of my back.
“Wait here.”
He disappears in the garage, then comes back out after a minute and heads to the kitchenette and Lucas’ office. By the time he’s back, the tension in him eased somewhat. “No one else but us here.”
“So go talk to Lucas, I’ll be fine.”
He frowns at me, disliking the idea. “Not a chance. When one of the guys shows up, I’ll go. But not before I leave someone I trust with you.”
As luck would have it, Tristan chooses that moment to walk in, throwing off his sweater and a bunch of fresh now off it. “Que merda tempo!” Which, roughly translated, says something unsavory about the shit weather outside.
When we don’t answer, Tristan looks up. It takes one sweeping glance from me to Dom, and his gaze hardens. “What’s going on?”
Dom leaves my side and pulls him away. In hushed tones, he gives him a summary of what happened. To my surprise, Tristan grows tenser by the minute, until at the end all I can hear from him is what appears to be very vivid cussing.
My fake boyfriend leaves his side and kisses my forehead, then my lips. “Tristan will stay with you, and the fates help whoever chooses to be on his wrong side today.”
With the cryptic warning, he takes off and I’m left with Tristan. At first, there’s an awkward tension, so I decide to at least get answers.
“Why did Dom go to see Lucas?”
Tristan freezes like a deer caught in the headlights. It’s such an unlikely expression on him that I can’t help but burst out laughing, which only leads him to frown. When I calm down enough to speak again, I try to explain myself. “You looked so funny, like you got caught in a lie or something.”
He snorts, moving closer. “You’re an odd bird, you know that, beleza?”
I sober up despite his calling me beautiful, more aware of my weirdness than I’d care to admit. “So I’ve been told.”
“It’s not a bad thing.” He’s smiling when I glance up, and I return it, thinking there's nothing intimidating about him now. “As for your question, it might be best if you asked Dom.”
“But Dom’s not here right now.”
Tristan shakes his head, moving away as if not trusting himself. He stands with his back to me, and I can’t figure out why such a tiny question has such an impact.
“Tristan?”
“Foda!” His swearing in Portuguese doesn’t surprise me, but the vehemence behind it is, at the very least, amusing. Then Tristan sighs and faces me once more. “Dom went to ask Lucas for permission.”
“Permission? To do what?”
“To get rid of Tommy once and for all.”
Dominic
When I get to Lucas’ place, the sun is up and Tristan’s been with Luz for about half an hour. I hope to hell he’s not telling her things she can’t know. He always was compulsively honest—maybe too much.
I push past the fence and walk in on Lucas’ workout. He’s hanging off a tree, wearing little other than sweatpants, and pulling himself up over and over. He doesn't glance my way, continuing the countdown under his breath.
“Careful with that training of yours. One of these days, you’ll give some poor lady a heart attack.”
Lucas snorts, landing on his feet and straightening up. “I doubt that’s what you came here for at the break of dawn, amico.”
“You’re right. Tommy attacked Luz last night, broke into her apartment. And I want retribution.”
To his credit, my alpha doesn’t waste time with idiotic questions. Only one passes his lips, heavy with meaning. “How is Lucrezia?”
“Shaken up, but otherwise unharmed. She took him on herself because she didn’t want to cause trouble for me.” I move closer to him until we’re an inch apart. “Enough of this crap, Lucas. Let me go after him.”
Lucas stares at me for a long moment, then inclines his head. “Bene. Permission granted, but only to run him out of town. Force is at your discretion...”
I’m already out the backyard when he adds one more thing. “But no killing him.”
Can’t promise that, boss.
∞ ♦ ∞
I’m standing outside the flea bag motel, leaning against my pickup truck. It’s taking every ounce of willpower for me not to move and head in there to rip Tommy’s head off.
Tristan comes out of the reception area—a dirty entrance, a desk and some poor sucker who got roped into doing the job—and I straighten up. I texted him after the talk with Lucas, and he waited until Finn got to the shop before taking off, leaving Luz in his capable hands.
I vaguely wonder if Finn told Lucas about what we gathered from Tiny, but then all thoughts of pack problems leave my mind when Tristan reaches me.
Most people think Tristan’s aloof, and to outsiders he is. But the last year he warmed up to Luz, and there’s a new edge to his glare. I know behind the sunglasses he’s close to spitting fire, if his clenched jaw is any indication.
“He’s in there all right,” he growls, stopping a few feet from me.
The itch in me nags more. “Good.” I take a step forward, but Tristan grabs my forearm.
“I want to rip his head off as much as you do, and the pinto deserves it, but we have to wait for Lucas.” A few minutes after we got here, I received a text from Lucas saying he would check on Luz, and join us. He also ordered us not to do anything until his arrival.
My mouth is dry and I taste sandpaper, then metal, only to realize I’ve bitten through my lip. “She’s my girl, man. And this dick, like you call him, needs to learn she’s off limits.”
I glance up in Tristan’s stony gaze, and we stare at each other. After a beat, he nods and lets go of me. “Bem, meu amigo. I have your back.”
“What room?”
“11.”
I’m not walking towards it—stomping, more like. If anyone sees us head in, they say nothing, instead watch us and keep their distance. Once we're facing the door, I bang on it with my fist repeatedly until Tommy opens.
His eyes bulge out of their sockets as he takes us in. “What are you—”
We don’t give him a chance to answer, instead moving into the room uninvited. “Let’s talk.”
∞ 8 – Trecut ∞
“Sometimes you don’t get closure. You just move on.”
-Unknown-
LUCREZIA
I smile at the elderly man as I hand him the invoice, and watch him walk away. Mr. Embers is our longest-standing customer, with his old-school Mustang. It was his wife’s, he’d told me once, and he doesn’t have it in him to get rid of it.
But as the antique keeps breaking down, it’s been costing him a pretty penn
y. Unknown to him, Lucas has been fixing the car on his own money, only charging him half of the labor. It basically amounts to paying around twenty-five percent of the repairs.
“Was he happy?”
I jump, then turn to see the devil himself staring at the closed door.
“Yup, as always.”
I try not to read into Lucas’ coming closer, and the stare I feel on me. My skin prickles at the attention until I can’t stand it any longer.
“Did you need something?”
Lucas opens his mouth as if to respond, but Finn barges in looking as panicked as I’ve ever seen him. “You need to come. Now.”
“What is it?” Lucas turns to him, none too worried.
“It’s Dom and Tristan.”
I drop my pen and they both turn towards me. I flush, but don’t cower in front of them. “What happened to Dom?”
Something passes in Lucas’ eyes—annoyance?—but I’m too focused on Finn to try and decipher it. “Finn?”
With one glare from Lucas, he shakes his head and says nothing. They both take off, leaving me fuming and biting my nails.
Dominic
My fist connects with Tommy’s face and I hear a satisfying crunch. It’s one of many, but Tristan doesn’t stop me.
We’re not animals: I offered Tommy to fight me like a man. But it seems he only likes picking on defenseless women. His pitiful cowering form, curled up from my last hit, almost makes me stop.
Then I remember Luz's tears, the panic in her gaze, the trembling in her body...
Like I said, almost.
I pull my arm back, aiming for another punch, when the door bursts open. Lucas takes in the scene, his fists clenching at the obvious disobedience he sees. After a deep breath, he stalks in followed by Finn. My Irish friend glances down at Tommy, then at me and Tristan.
“This isn’t how we do things.”
My wolf snarls, agitated, but Tristan’s arm on my shoulder holds me back. “Lucas approved this.”
Our alpha bares his teeth, onyx eyes glittering with anger. “I never agreed to this. I told you to run him out of town.”
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