by Unknown
“That’s enough.”
A look crossed over Dillon’s face. What the actual french toast was happening right now?
Matt’s grip on me only tightened and I just didn’t even think to doubt his motives, his appearance or his presence in my life – he was always there. Always.
“Did you know your dad didn’t have a heart attack? He was attacked!” Dillon pushed, eyes wild.
My eyes grew impossibly large, but I tried to hide it from him because quite frankly, he was scaring the hell out of me and seemed delirious.
Matt cocked the hammer back on his piece but before the warning processed, boots stomped up the staircase; Tommy and Peyton shouting, calling out for us had me distracted.
“You could have had me, but you just won’t stop chasing that asshole. He doesn’t deserve you and he can never have you. You’re MINE!” Dillon roared.
Matt and Dillon pulled the trigger simultaneously and the sound rang out, deafening me; deflating me. Dillon barked out and hit the ground while I felt Matt slump the most miniscule amount in my arms and it smacked me in the face like a brick.
I took my eyes off of Dillon and looked over at Matty’s face; his cool, calm and collected exterior was gone and all I saw was rough, rugged and worn. This man was a born fighter and how I didn’t see it was beyond me. Once more, the door banged open as if someone hooked it up with an explosive charge, and the two knuckleheads came rushing in, guns raised, full battle rattle (protective gear to keep from being penetrated by bullets). I’d thank hallelujah but hallelujah let me down when I thought Dillon was here to save me from Leif. Was Leif really just protecting me in his own sick way? And what about Dillon?
Dillon. I turned back to where he had just fallen but all I saw were the linens billowing in the open doorway, highlighting a blood trail.
Oh, fuck.
I guess I got my answer.
Matt slumped down, noticing too that he was gone and no longer fighting the pain as gracefully.
“Mother Fucker hit me with hollow points. Got me once in the chest and one on my thigh.” Matt coughed and spit a bit of blood up.
“Oh my God, Matty.” I cried, pulling him over to the bed and helping him down.
Tommy met us in two strides and helped me ease him down. “How did he shoot you twice? I only heard him shoot once?” Then I remembered. He had shot twice earlier when I thought he hit Leif – but he must have hit Matt then, too. I couldn’t believe how long he held it together after being hit, vest or no vest; that hit would have hurt like no other, but I supposed it was better to have a vest than come in naked.
“What happened to Captain America?” Tommy mused.
“I guess he’s a little rusty. I haven’t cocked a gun in years.” Matt chuckled half-heartedly.
“This is no time for jokes.” I chided them both, my face beginning to heat back up with fury and guilt.
“Are you okay Matt? What can I do?”
I was running my fingers all over his upper body as my eyes ran over his lower body.
“I have a vest on, help me get it off. I can’t breathe so good right now.”
I nodded and was going to oblige when Tommy gently shoved me out of the way and made quick work of his clothes and vest.
“What the fuck happened?” He demanded.
“Well, we know who the two stalkers are. I hate to have to give you this news.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s eating you up inside.”
“I mean… technically…” Matt tried to laugh as he motioned toward his wounds.
“Har. Har. Peyton, get me my first aid pack out of the bathroom. Taylor grab some towels.”
We moved and I almost totally forgot about Leif until I nearly tripped over his prone body. Peyton brought back the towels and pack as I got on my knees and checked Leif for a pulse.
“Who?” Peyton asked, trying to keep his voice down so I wouldn’t hear. Sometimes I swear the boy is dumber than a box of rocks. I was here when the whole thing went down. I appreciated his need to protect me but I was a big girl, regardless.
“Leif and… Dillon.” I choked out.
My fingers pressed into Leif’s neck and his body gave a slight jump. I almost shrieked but that would be in poor fashion as I had held it together thus far and I was bound and determined to keep it going. Later, I would fall apart. Later, I would let Tommy wrap me up and I would get lost in his essence, then I would cry until the river ran dry and there was nothing left. He would hold me and when I was ready, he would pick me back up again, like he had done my entire life.
“Leif’s still alive!” I hollered for Peyton to come help him. My twin hesitated but he knew it was the right thing to do. Plus, with Leif alive, they could pretend he wasn’t cooperating and torture him – that’s what these kinds of men liked to do, right?
“Annie.” Leif breathed, trying to raise a hand to my cheek.
I moved back and let Peyton take care of it.
“He’s hit just above the heart. Enough blood loss that if we don’t get him to the hospital soon, he will bleed out.”
“He deserves the pain.” Tommy grunted.
“No, you will try to save him. He was only trying to protect me.” I demanded, pointing at Leif.
“We’ll talk about it later.” I knew he was trying to placate me, but I was too exhausted to put up much of a fight anymore. I made my way to Matt’s side and hovered over his beautiful face.
“How ya doin’ buddy?”
“Better now that you’re here next to me.” He gave me a smile and my insides melted for his love.
“I’ll always be here.” I assured him.
Tommy made a noise that stuck in his throat and it was pretty obvious he was fighting back that barbarian, caveman thing he had going on.
“Hey.” He said and I looked back into his eyes. They crinkled with his broad grin.
“I told you I’d show you something cool when I came upstairs.”
The laughter bubbled out of my throat before I could help it. Of all the things he could have said after going all 007 on me and saving my life that was what he chose.
“If you weren’t so hurt right now, I would punch you.”
I shook my head and snuggled as close to him as I could get while Tommy retrieved the bullet from his thigh and stitched him up. Looking would not be in my favor right now.
“I didn’t know you could do all of this.”
Tommy looked up at me and his expression said that he didn’t know if I was talking to him or Matt. Both, I decided.
“I learned in the Army. It helps to know a few things in case shit like this happens.”
Matt grunted in agreement and reached his right arm across his chest to pat my head.
“I told you there was a lot about me that you didn’t know but I would tell you one day.” He simply said, giving no further details.
Tommy nodded his head and continued his work.
Matt ground his teeth and more footsteps sounded from the entry.
Peyton had his gun out but said, “The cavalry’s here.”
* * *
“What.The.Fuck.Happened?” Mike’s voice boomed as he walked into the master bedroom; Noah, Candace, Charlie, Luke and Tommy’s father all close behind him.
“Dillon.” Tommy answered, still hating the way it tasted in his mouth. The man who was raised by their sides, like a brother, welcomed with open arms and he turned his back on everything; betrayed everyone.
Noah punched the wall and Charlie paled. Charlie who was closer to Dillon than anyone, was going to be hit the hardest by this whole situation, even Taylor.
“Wait for it.” Noah whispered to Taylor, scooting up beside her.
“He’s mine.” Charlie claimed.
“No, he’s mine. That mother fucker walked into my home and tried to take my wife!” Tommy shouted, unable to hold it all in any longer.
“Hah! There it is.” Noah chuckled silently, inches from my ear. He squeezed her arms in support and possib
ly to keep her from attempting murder of his brother. Not that he wouldn’t enjoy watching her try.
Taylor gasped but he wasn’t done. To hell with the secret.
“We hunt him like the scum that he is - we don’t eat, sleep, fuck, until we find him and when we do, he is mine. He is going to pay with every ounce of his flesh for the damage he has done; for the hell that he has reeked on Taylor and Nic, on our whole family.”
You could hear the crickets out back, singing to the night; you could hear the moon yawn; pins dropped and you could hear everyone’s thoughts, that’s how quiet it got.
“We are going to need to get back to Betty and set a plan in place. What we have working is obviously no longer effective and we know the enemy now.” He swallowed loudly, the word enemy burning his throat. “Taylor comes with us – Matt, too. We need all hands on deck.”
* * *
“We hunt him like the scum that he is - we don’t eat, sleep, fuck, until we find him and when we do, he is mine. He is going to pay with every ounce of his flesh for the damage he has done; for the hell that he has reeked on Taylor and Nic, on our whole family.”
That was six months ago.
There’s been crying, hugging, searching, fighting, happiness, sadness, anger and confusion. The confusion was mainly on Mrs. Cynde, mama and my parts; we never expected in a million years how someone we loved so deeply and wholly, could be someone that never even existed. It felt like a knife had just been permanently embedded into the deepest corners of my heart and constantly twisted; the Dillon I knew was my brother and yeah, I had a lot of them, (and yeah I hadn’t spent any time at home the past six years) but none of them had ever stalked me, tried to kill off my family and friends and hunted me. Oh, and let’s not forget how he declared his undying love of me, to me. Dillon was twisted, needed help and care, but I didn’t know if he needed death.
It took me a few weeks to get over the initial rage that shook my body at the mere thought of him aiming his gun at my best friend and attacking my father, but once that subsided and I could think clearly… that’s when the hurt set in and I realized he was certifiable, literally. If we could find him and get him the help he really needed, instead of putting a bullet in his brain, I liked to think that I wouldn’t be pulling the trigger. Tommy on the other hand, wouldn’t need a gun; his hands were itching to get around Dillon’s throat and destroy him, little breath by little skittering breath. Honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t put it past Tommy or hell, even Matt, to kill him by way of suffocation and then bring him back, and do it again – over and over. Safe to say, their rage has not dwindled.
If it isn’t Tommy, Matt is attached to my hip like a frigging pair of yoga pants. While they’re close, they have me held down over in Betty’s underground dungeon; I call it a dungeon, but it’s actually quite nice. I just really hate being stuck here. Matt has been able to continue his work via emails and a secure phone line. I’m still writing every day, every chance I get, to distract me from what’s going on around me.
My dad was able to come home after about a week of additional tests and monitoring; he was ornery as all hell with everyone but mama – he knows she’ll whoop his fourth point of contact in to shape real quick! His heart is fine, for now, and he’s resumed life as usual not shying away from his whiskey or smokes. Despite the scare after Dillon attacked him, he still smokes like a chimney (for going on 40 years) and drinks; not a lick of cancer or any other kind of health issues to be found. Bless the Lord.
Every day is a new worry for me, with Jamie still M.I.A. and no leads on her. Luke is some kind of techie God, not that it was a surprise, but he has yet to track down Dillon or Jamie. The last I heard was something about Miami International.
My heart hurt for her, worrying that she could be in a shallow grave somewhere (which I tried real hard not to think about) or if she was suffering in silence, locked away. The idea that she was locked away really put an extra pinch on my heart because Jamie was absolutely terrified of small, dark places – especially if they had a lock on them; it’s a huge reason why she was interested in the apartment with me. The converted warehouse was open and spacious, the rooms large. Once I learned how utterly petrified she was, I called Matt over under the guise of an emergency (which I thought it was) and had him help us switch rooms so she could have the bigger bedroom with the open master bathroom plan and open closet area.
In a weird way, Jamie and I were the same in that we never talked about our past; though where I kept to myself, Jamie was all about the future. Unfortunately the silence of what haunted us was pretty much where our similarities ended. From her reactions and watching her mannerisms, I knew that what was in my dear friend’s past was utterly horrific and made from the same stuff as nightmares. My take was that she would either tell us, or she wouldn’t and I wouldn’t pry one way or the other; it was our job as her friends to love and support her, to push her and hold her up, so that was what we did.
While Tommy’s speech was motivating (and insanely angry), the only thing true about it, was that we did not fuck. We slept, not a lot but we slept; we ate, me more than most because shut up, that’s why; we.did.not.fuck. Tommy and I slept on separate schedules so Matt was usually with me and I was taking full advantage – I had him curl up behind me and cuddle me into oblivion; basically I was doing everything I could to get Tommy’s attention and I could not explain why. Well, maybe I could, but I wasn’t trying to spend any time analyzing my actions let alone my motives. All thinking did was lead to trouble. For example, thinking of how his body moved, flowed – like a smooth double barrel whiskey, delicious with the potential for danger; that had me thinking of what it was like to be under him, feel his massive cock inside me, stretching me and filling me to overflowing. Those thoughts had me running to the nearest unoccupied space with a lock on the door; unfortunately the first few times I didn’t pay attention to what rooms I was in and after an awkward visit from Luke, I realized some rooms were not without security cameras. Can you imagine my horror – and then my delight when I found out Tommy had seen, kicked everyone and watched, apparently to protect my integrity and honor. I realized then what my presence was doing to him, even if he wasn’t going to acknowledge me personally; the wheels were set in motion, turning in my head, trying so many different things just to get a reaction. If my brothers weren’t the ones standing around that war room with him, I would have just walked in nekkid as the day I was born.
We would pass in the hall or in a room we both occupied until he went running like a little girl, and I was purposely brushing against him; my butt to his front, my chest to his and sometimes to his back; my hand on his arm or my fingernails down his back briefly. So the fingernails weren’t so subtle but really, it was working. Mostly. I think. I hoped. He was like damn Fort Knox with his attention and I was starting to pass the frustrated phase and ram square into the pissed off phase. A woman could take only so much.
Everyone except for Noah had come to the general consensus that they should ignore Tom’s comment about me being his wife, after Dillon had attacked Matt and me, so no one had haggled him about it.
Except Noah.
I was getting the sneaking suspicion that Noah actually knew our secret but was mostly keeping it to himself knowing it was a great source of stress and pain for his little brother. While Noah loved me tremendously, he always expressed how it was his duty to incessantly bug his “baby” brother – regardless of their age. In the end, everyone including Tommy, knew that Noah would do anything for him and made his own decision years ago to simply ignore Noah. It worked…until recently. Noah’s still sporting the black eye and walking a little funny.
“You’re his kryptonite – always have been, baby.” Noah told me, lightly chucking my chin.
Tommy growled, Noah laughed and I shrugged, walking away (after grabbing Noah’s hand and taking him with me). It served two purposes; I made Tommy jealous, again, and I got Noah safely away from him saving both of them some bruises and
possibly broken bones.
Today started out mildly okay and turned dark after I ran head first into the brick wall that was Michael Kane.
“Fuck.” I said under my breath.
“No.” He replied.
“It wasn’t an offer.” My face twisted like I just tasted something sour.
Before I came flying back into town, Mike and I had always been decently close. I mean, he was a few years older than us – same age as Charlie – but we were all one big pretty tight knit family. Apparently things had changed and I didn’t get the memo; I sure noticed the arctic freeze when I got back though.
I stepped to the right to get out of his way and continue on mine to the kitchen when he stepped to the right also. Coincidence. I stepped left, he stepped left. No coincidence. I threw my hands on my hips, head back, huffed out a hot breath and looked back into his eyes. His face was so ruggedly handsome, strong, chiseled like the finest statues.
“What do you want, Mike?”
He crossed his arms, and dear God they were friggin huge. For imagery purposes, they are probably as big as, if not bigger than, my head. Looking at him was a guarantee that somewhere in his house was a personal gym and it was not neglected.
His face softened a tiny bit and he lowered his voice from booming to almost shouting.
“How are you doing?”
I actually choked. If I had mastered the silly skill, I would have rolled my eyes back in my head.
“6 months have passed and you want to know now, how I’m doing?”
“I asked didn’t I?”
I rolled my eyes. Too little too late, bub.
“Forgive me – I was under the impression that you didn’t give a flying fruitcake about me.”
He had the audacity to chuckle.
“What is up your ass?”
“MY ass? You wanna talk about what’s up my ass? You shoved the freakin’ ice queen out of her mansion and took over her rule when I got home. What’s up your ass?” I hollered, shoving my pointer finger in his chest.