“You should be asking about what your son has done.” My voice was level.
“Excuse me?” The man rose up to his full stature.
But I was taller.
I made a point to look down at him.
“This isn’t the time nor place, Robert,” my dad said. Then he turned to me. “Let’s go, Roman.”
“It seems like the perfect time,” he intoned. “Especially since your son is walking out of here and my son is admitted.”
“He isn’t going to jail?” Rimmel asked immediately. The fear in her tone pissed me off all over again.
“Yes, but he’s entitled to medical care first,” my father explained to her. “That’s why the police are here. He’s still in their custody.”
“And who is this?” Robert asked haughtily.
I dropped my arm and stepped away from Rimmel, angling so he could actually see all of her. “This is the girl your son strung up like some circus piñata and tried to drown with a garden hose.”
Robert’s eyes widened and he looked over Rimmel.
A look of regret passed behind his eyes, and then it was gone. “And your face?” he asked.
She cleared her throat. “That’s where your son assaulted me.”
Her voice was strong and clear.
It made me want to kiss her.
Robert seemed to take in her small size once more before clearing his throat and turning back to me. “I will be pressing assault charges against you.”
My father stepped forward. “They won’t stick and you know it.”
“My son was battered tonight.”
“My son didn’t walk away unscathed.” My father’s tone turned hard and cold. The shark lawyer in him was beginning to surface.
“But he is walking away.”
“It was self defense,” Rimmel said.
“And what of the blows my son received after he was already incapacitated?”
“You mean when he hijacked a lawn mower and hit a pole?” I asked. Then I shrugged. “I don’t recall hitting him after that.”
Robert’s eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t see anything.” Rimmel agreed.
“Well, his dislocated jaw, fractured nose, missing tooth, and head laceration say otherwise.”
“This conversation is highly inappropriate and is borderline harassment,” my father said with an air of authority. “If you want to go over the case, as documented by the authorities, call my office on Monday.”
The elevator was waiting, so when Dad stepped around Robert to push the button, it opened immediately.
Braeden and my dad filed in first, and then I moved so Rimmel could go ahead and I blocked her from behind.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Braeden looked at me. There was a bit of pride shining in his eyes. “Dude.”
My lips twitched. “What?”
“You inflicted all that damage on Zach?”
My lips twitched again, and I glanced at my father. “I can’t recall.”
He held up his fist and we pounded it out.
Rimmel sagged against the wall of the elevator, and I moved in close beside her.
“Do not talk to anyone about this,” my father cautioned. “This is now a legal matter. The less you say in public the better.”
We all nodded as the elevator slid to a stop. As the doors began to open, Braeden glanced at me and Rim. “Warning, you got an audience. Get ready to address your people.”
“His people?” Rimmel muttered.
I shrugged. “My people.”
She rolled her eyes but straightened away from the wall.
“I’ll meet you at the entrance with the Hellcat,” my father said.
The doors opened, and an entire crowd stood watching to see who was going to step off. The minute the four of us came into view, a murmur went through the horde.
Dad moved fast and disappeared, swallowed pretty quickly by the crowd. Braeden moved to Rimmel’s other side so she was between us. I reached for her hand, and she gave it eagerly.
The three of us stepped out of the box as one unit. Every single eye went to my arm. A few people started to cry.
Ivy broke out from the edge of the crowd and rushed toward Rimmel.
Everyone else just stood there.
Waiting.
Watching.
I couldn’t say much, but I had to say something.
I’d always known I was popular here. But the amount of people who sat waiting for hours…
I was surprised.
And oddly, I was touched.
Clearly, dating Rimmel was making me soft.
But I’d never admit that out loud.
“Wolves stick together,” I said loud. “And the loyalty I’m looking at right now says it all. We are one pack united!”
Everyone erupted into cheers and applause.
When they died down, people still looked at me expectantly. Many gazes were on the brace fastened around my arm. They truly wanted to know if I was going to be okay.
“What you see here is only temporary,” I spoke out. “It takes a lot more than a broken bone to keep this man down!”
Everyone cheered and whistled. A few people in the back of the room chanted my number.
No one stopped us from leaving. They all parted so we had a clear path to the door. Outside, more people lingered, and I fist-bumped a few on our way to the Hellcat, which was already waiting.
“Pizza?” Braeden asked over Rimmel’s head. I knew he needed more info than the small amount he’d gotten inside.
I really wanted alone time with Rimmel, but I would make sure we got it.
“For sure,” I replied.
Braeden didn’t hesitate. He looped an arm around Rimmel and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’ll bring ya some extra anchovies,” he joked.
Rimmel stuck out her tongue, and Braeden jogged off.
Ivy had followed us out and was standing nearby. After Rimmel hugged her and promised to call, we were finally able to get in the car.
No one said a word the entire drive home, and my thoughts centered on Zach. I’d always thought his vendetta against me was somehow fueled by jealousy.
I’d been wrong.
I was beginning to see it wasn’t personal at all.
The more I thought, the more I replayed everything that happened and the vision of the way he stared at us with those maniacal eyes back in his room…
I understood.
Zach was seriously imbalanced.
AKA: crazy as hell.
And that made him even more dangerous.
Chapter Five
Rimmel
I was half afraid his mother would be at his place when we got there.
But the idea wasn’t enough to make me linger outside in the blustery winter air. In just a few hours, the sun would start to rise, and I really hoped to be in bed when it did. Exhausted didn’t even begin to cover the way I felt just then.
I left Romeo and his father standing in the driveway, talking about details from tonight, and pushed the door open and went inside. The warmth of the room seeped into me, and I sighed as I walked farther.
Murphy was curled up on the couch, and he blinked up at me when I stood in the doorway. The kitchen light was on, so I kept going, thinking maybe Valerie would be there.
But she wasn’t.
It was clear she had been, though.
A new, very large bottle of over-the-counter pain reliever was sitting on the counter beside several cold packs that could be activated by breaking them up between my hands. There were also several sheets of instructions on how Romeo should care for his arm.
I picked them up and read through the information so I would know how to help him.
Beside those things was a brand new box of apple cider packets. The kind you just dumped into a mug and mixed with hot water.
They were for me.
Why would she do something so sweet when she’d made it perfectly clear how she felt about me?
>
I left the cider where it sat and padded into the bedroom to find my slippers.
The front door opened and closed, and Romeo called out my name.
“In here!” I answered as I grabbed the soft boots and sat on the edge of the bed to pull them on.
Leaning over for even just a few seconds made my face throb, and I sat up quickly.
Romeo stepped into the room, moving more stiffly than ever.
“We need to get your arm propped up on some pillows. The elevation will help with the swelling. And then I’ll get you some meds.”
He seemed amused by my instructions.
“Take off your shirt,” he ordered.
“I don’t really think now is the time for that.”
He gave me a wolfish smile. “Baby, I could be half dead and it would be the time for that.” I rolled my eyes, and he grinned some more. “But that isn’t the reason I want you to get naked.”
I started to ask why, but I stopped myself. “Seeing the marks on my body won’t change anything.”
Romeo prowled closer. The way his hips swiveled as he walked drew my attention, and I swallowed thickly. He stopped in front of me, and from my position on the bed, his crotch was directly in front of my face.
“I need to see the places I need to be careful of when I’m touching you.” His voice was hoarse, and I tore my eyes from his nether regions and glanced up. Desire danced in his stare. “C’mon.” He motioned with his chin and stepped back a little so I could stand.
I did because arguing with him was the last thing I felt like doing and also because I really hated this pink shirt. Carefully, I pulled it over my head and tossed it aside.
I wasn’t wearing a bra. I’d thrown it in the trash. The air, even though warm, still felt cold to my flesh and my nipples tightened, but for once, he didn’t seem to notice.
Romeo’s eyes darkened and his mouth flattened in a hard line. “Damn, baby.”
I wandered over to the mirror near the closet and stood before it, finally seeing the damage for myself.
It was pretty much what I expected.
I had purple rings encircling my ribs, just below my breasts. The skin was red and irritated; some places were puffy and raw. The rings extended all the way down to my belly button, and my lower back looked the same. What I hadn’t expected were the rope burns wrapping vertically around my shoulders, cutting beneath my armpits. It’s how he anchored the rope up around me and the pole.
Those marks were pretty angry-looking too.
Romeo stepped up behind me, his face filled with sadness, and he reached out to skim his finger over a bruise I had yet to notice on my upper arm. It was a handprint. I was glad these marks would fade. Looking at them was just a reminder. A reminder I didn’t want or need.
It was bad enough the police took photos. They said they needed the pictures for evidence since this was now a legal case. It made sense to me, but I still hated the thought those photos would mean the bruises—the handprints Zach left behind—would never totally be gone. There would always be proof of this horrible night.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t fucking there.” Romeo’s voice cracked.
I met his eyes through the mirror. “I don’t blame you for this.”
“I know, and that makes me feel even worse.”
I turned away from my reflection and faced him. He towered over me, and his right forearm rested across his middle so I couldn’t press myself against him. Instead, I leaned forward and let my forehead rest against his chest.
Romeo skimmed his knuckles lightly down my back and dipped his fingers in the rolled waistband of the yoga pants. I wasn’t wearing any underwear either.
They were still wet when we got to the hospital, and sitting around in them had been uncomfortable.
The fingers against the base of my spine jerked a little and delved deeper. It took him all of three seconds to realize there was nothing beneath the pants.
His entire body shifted slightly closer, and his hips titled toward me. One large, warm palm cupped my butt and kneaded the bare flesh. My eyes slipped closed as he massaged my backside. A long expelled breath floated above my head, and before I knew it, he was sliding his forearm beneath me and lifting me up his body.
I gasped and held myself still, trying to keep from bumping his arm. I resisted the urge to wrap my legs around him like I usually would, but he pulled me in closer.
“Do it,” he growled.
I surrendered and wrapped my thighs around him, taking care to keep my legs low on his waist. Even though his arm was splinted and in a sling, his hand was free. His fingers caressed the bare skin of my waist, and his eyes searched mine.
He was doing it again.
Looking at me like I was all that existed.
My lips sought his and we fused together. I felt like I’d been wandering through a dry desert for days and I was suddenly bestowed the gift of drinking water. His lips felt like silk against mine, sliding over me with the greatest of ease. Boldly, I pulled his lower lip between my teeth and tugged. He smiled a little, and I sucked it farther into my mouth, milking every last drop I could.
He spun around without breaking our kiss and lowered onto the end of the bed so he was sitting and I was straddling his lap. The arm that had been supporting me came up so his fingers could tangle in my hair, and he tugged my head back so my neck was exposed.
His lips left a hot, moist trail down the sensitive skin below my jaw, and his teeth nipped and tugged so his tongue could come behind and soothe the bite.
I started rocking against him, a subconscious reaction to the hunger coursing through my system. As he sucked at the side of my neck, I shuddered because he felt so incredibly delicious.
“Romeo,” I panted. “We can’t. Your arm.”
“I don’t need my arm to make love to you, baby,” he murmured between kisses across my collarbone.
I groaned and palmed the back of his head, reveling in how his messy blond strands curled around my fingers as I tugged him down to my breast.
His tongue wasn’t as smooth as his lips, so when he brought it out to encircle my rock-hard nipple, I shuddered in his lap.
Somewhere in the house, the sound of a door opening and closing barely broke through the haze of need that eclipsed everything else.
Romeo’s mouth stilled, and then he swore against my breast. “Braeden’s here.”
I sucked in a shaky breath and tried to calm my racing heart. “Okay.”
Romeo chuckled, the sound causing me to rock against him one last time. “I’ll tell him to leave.”
I so wanted to agree, but the small part of me that wasn’t totally overwhelmed my Romeo’s touch knew it was better this way.
“No.” My voice was hoarse. “You need to eat something and get your arm propped up. We need to get the swelling down as much as possible.”
“What about the swelling in my pants?” he quipped.
I laughed.
“Yo! You guys decent?” B yelled from outside the room.
“Hells no,” Romeo replied.
“More pizza for me, then,” he called, and I heard him retreating to the kitchen.
Romeo raised an eyebrow and looked at me as if to say, “Where were we?”
I smiled and pressed a quick kiss to his fully intoxicating mouth. Before I pulled away, I whispered, “I love you.”
“Does that mean you’re going to help me out with what’s happening downstairs?” he murmured.
Lightly, I caressed the rigid length between his legs. “Later.”
He looked like he was about to argue, so I shook my head. “Food. Pain reliever. Elevate your arm.” I climbed off his lap as I spoke and evaded his searching grasp.
“I think I’m going to take a shower,” I said. “I still feel kind of chilly…” I glanced away. “And kind of dirty.”
His jaw hardened and a stricken look filled his eyes. “What else did he do to you?” He pushed up off the bed and paced away, then right back.
>
“He didn’t touch me, not like that.” I assured him. “He never even alluded to any kind of sexual misconduct. I honestly think it never occurred to him.”
Romeo muttered something under his breath.
“It was like he was beyond that,” I said, lost in my own memory of what had happened. “I truly think something inside his brain just snapped. There was no remorse in his eyes, not even the shrewd look of vengeance.” I shuddered and met Romeo’s stare. “There was nothing but crazy.”
He tugged me against him, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “You want some company in the shower?”
“Nice try.” I scoffed. “Go eat. Talk to Braeden. I’ll come out when I’m finished showering.”
He pressed one last kiss to my forehead and then left me standing in the center of the room.
Without him beside me, the room felt ten degrees colder.
I grabbed a fresh pair of panties off my little pile of clothes nearby and rummaged through Romeo’s drawers for one of his shirts and took it into the bathroom with me.
I could hear Braeden’s and Romeo’s quiet voices as I shut myself in and went to the shower, reached in, and turned on the spray.
A sick feeling slithered down my spine, but I ignored it and went to the sink. As I pulled off the rest of my clothes and brushed my teeth, I avoided the foggy mirror because I already knew how terrible I looked.
When I finished, I reached for the shower curtain and pulled it back.
My body locked up.
Panic clawed at the back of my throat.
All I could do was stand there and stare.
Chapter Six
Romeo
Braeden was sitting at the counter when I walked into the kitchen.
My body was feeling the effects of the night, and the pain reliever they gave me hours ago at the hospital was starting to wear off.
The marks all over Rimmel did nothing to improve my disposition. The vision of her strung up on that field was never far from the back of my mind.
Braeden paused in devouring the slice of meat lover’s pizza and looked up at me. I didn’t say anything as I grabbed the bottle of pain reliever I was sure my mother put there and dumped some in my hand.
There were several bottles of chilled water by the pizza, and Braeden grabbed one, unscrewed the cap, and handed it over after I dumped the pills in my mouth. I grunted my thanks and downed the meds with a large gulp.
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