by Blair Grey
And, I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of doing that again.
“So, what? You’ve clearly got something in mind,” I challenged. “You’re a little far in to back out now. I’ll go right back in that bar and tell everyone that you attacked me – don’t think I won’t! It’s only going to take a quick look at the security footage for them to see what you’re doing, and you’ll be in a world of hurt then!”
Hanserd laughed. I knew my threats fell on deaf ears. He didn’t believe me. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I believed me, either. I was terrified of the man, and I just wanted him to let me go. I could threaten him all I wanted, but I knew it wasn’t going to make any difference.
He had proven before he didn’t care about my threats, and if I was honest with myself, I didn’t know if the security footage had picked up what he’d done. It was dark enough where we stood that it was hard for me to even see more than his outline, and I was right in front of him.
If I didn’t know him from that night in the shower, I might not have recognized him, at all. But even then, his laugh sent chills right to my bones. I knew there were corrupt guards in that prison, that had been a given since the day I got locked up.
But, Hanserd was the worst of them all. He only cared about himself, and he wasn’t going to back off of me now. Hell, he’d tracked me all the way here, who knew what he’d do.
“I know you’re alone, little girl,” he said. “I’ve been keeping tabs on you since you left. Your mother’s dead, your brothers are nowhere to be found, and you have no one to protect you. Your threats are just as meaningless as your life has become. I know it, and you know it.”
He’s telling you he can do what he wants and no one cares. This man is a complete monster – you need to get out of there before he makes good on his threat.
My eyes darted for an escape, but I knew there wasn’t any. I didn’t know if he’d be able to kidnap me, but I didn’t want to find out,. Suddenly, there was a flash in front of me and Hanserd was gone, thrown to the ground.
Spencer had come out of nowhere, and he had taken the man down with more force than I’d ever seen. I didn’t know he’d even come out of the bar, and I nearly collapsed in relief. I had to hold myself up against the wall to keep from falling to my knees.
I knew I could trust him to keep me safe, and whatever had been happening in the bar a few minutes before, I was damn glad to see him now.
For once in his life, Hanserd obviously didn’t know what hit him.
17
Spencer
I got out of the lap dance as soon as possible, pushing the bride off me and shoving Aaron down in my place. I knew he’d be more than happy to take the rest of the dance from the drunk woman, though I wanted to warn him about whether her fiancé might show up.
Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time Aaron got the shit beat out of him for messing around with another man’s woman, and I was sure it wouldn’t be the last. I headed straight to the bar, forgetting about Aaron and his antics and thinking about Brooke.
She’d seemed to be getting a little unsteady when she was out on the dance floor, and I didn’t her to pay for it with a hangover in the morning. So, I got her a glass of water and headed back to the floor to find her.
But she was gone. At first, I thought she might have taken a minute to slip into the bathroom, so I headed in that direction and waited for a few minutes. When she didn’t emerge, I got the attention of another girl heading in, asking her to check for me.
Come on, Brooke, where the fuck did you go? Oh God! I hope she didn’t see what happened with that bachelorette party. What better way to fuck up what could be between us than for her to see another woman straddling me and grinding away?
The increasingly familiar animosity for Aaron slipped back in my mind, and I had to take a deep breath. I was getting really sick of his shit, and I knew I was going to have to talk to him about it if he was going to stay in my life. I could be in the MC and not get along with him – hell, I’d done it with Zach for long enough.
Maybe she went outside to get some air. It’s muggy in here. She better not have tried to walk herself home this time of night alone in the dark. Hell, we’ve got that guy on the loose and we aren’t sure where or who he is. The last thing I want is for her to be out there alone.
When I didn’t see her sitting back at the bar, I decided to head outside to see if I could find her. It was a warm, clear night. There were plenty of dark spots created by the buildings, but it should have been clear enough for me to see her if she was on the road.
I didn’t know how long she’d been gone. I knew the lap dance had lasted longer than I wanted, though it had been less than a minute if I had to guess. The bride was far too drunk to even know what she was doing, and I was far too agitated to let her try. I didn’t want her on top of me. I wanted Brooke under me. But, I got out of there as soon as I could, and it was now time to find her and try to convince her that there wasn’t anything behind what she saw.
I doubted she’d believe me. She had been hurt so many times she likely assumed that it would just happen again. But, I was going to try with all that I had in me. Hell, I’d never felt about anyone like I felt about Brooke, and I didn’t want this to get fucked up over something so stupid.
I stepped outside. There were a couple people smoking near the window, but Brooke wasn’t with them. I started off. I wasn’t sure what direction to even go and didn’t know if she’d head back to the other bar and try to get a ride home from another member of the MC.
Then again, she could have gotten an Uber to take her back to my place.
If she even wanted to go back to your place. She doesn’t have many other options, but if she just saw what you think she saw, it’s not like she’s going to want to hang out with you. Hell, what is she going to think?
You were dancing on the floor with her one minute, and the next you’re getting straddled by some woman surrounded by all her friends. That’s shitty. There’s no way around it – that’s shitty and you’re going to have to do some explaining when you find her.
I already wasn’t looking forward to the conversation, but I knew it was one we’d have to have. She had to have seen something. It was the only reason I could think for her to leave the bar like that. It didn’t help that I had no idea where she went.
I could only assume back to my place, but I didn’t want to risk it in case she was still around. I’d never be able to forgive myself if something happened to her because I’d left her alone at night.
After turning from the two people smoking, I headed for the other side of the building. She had to be somewhere, and that was as good of a guess as any. Maybe she just didn’t want to be in front of the windows to the bar. She was a private person, so it sounded like something she’d do.
I had scarcely started for the other side of the bar when I heard the sound of a man and woman talking. I couldn’t make out anything that they were saying, but I recognized Brooke’s voice, and she sounded upset. Whatever was going on, she wasn’t happy.
Immediately, I broke into a run. I had to get to her and figure out what was going on, though I could already feel tension rising in my chest. When I rounded the corner, I was so pissed I saw red. I didn’t know who this guy was, but he had Brooke pinned against the wall, and it was clearly a threatening situation.
Before I had the chance to even think, I tackled him. All the aggression I’d had in me since prison came rushing out, and I started beating the shit out of him with both my fists. I had the advantage, taking him down without him seeing the first blow coming, but he was clearly trained to fight himself.
Part of me wondered if he was a prison guard. Hell, he might even be the one who had touched Brooke when she was in the shower that night. The thought of it only pissed me off further, and I continued to beat him.
Catching him off guard like I did allowed me to land a few really good blows, and he was already bleeding from his nose and mouth. But, I w
asn’t stopping. I couldn’t believe he had attacked her right there in the parking lot, and I would happily kill him with my bare hands. In my mind, a man like that deserved to be dead.
And the look on Brooke’s face when I came around the corner didn’t help, either. I could see all the fear in her features. She was terrified this man was going to take advantage of her again, and there was little doubt in my mind that’s what he planned on doing.
Shit, for all I knew, he might even kill her after all that had happened. I didn’t know what discipline he had to go through for his actions, but I imagined it wasn’t pretty. He deserved every single thing he got, I knew that much. But then, I wasn’t even sure he had been disciplined.
From what Brooke had said, the man had gotten away with it because of who he was. Brooke herself had been released on the condition she kept everything quiet, and I didn’t know what that meant for this guy.
All I knew was that I lost control, and I wanted him dead. I didn’t care if I had to kill him right in front of Brooke. He was losing the fight, that was for damn sure, but with each new blow I landed on his pathetic face, I wanted to hit him again, and again after that.
The blows came fast and hard, and I nearly blacked out. I didn’t even realize what I was doing, I just knew that I had to get rid of this man and make sure he never came back. I didn’t want him to bother Brooke ever again, and I was going to do whatever it took in my power to make sure that didn’t happen.
It was the sound of Brooke’s voice that brought me back to reality. Her arms were wrapped around my back and she was trying to pull me off this guy.
“You can’t kill him!” she was shouting. “If you do, you’re going to end up going back to prison, and you’ll never get out!”
As hard as it was for me to come back to reality and stop beating the shit out of the guy on the ground in front of me, I knew she was right. I didn’t want to go back in – that would be a surefire way to lose her. Hell, she wasn’t going to go anywhere back near that place, and I didn’t want to think about what visitation would be like.
So, I stopped hitting the guy and rose, kicking him one more time in the gut before grabbing his shirt collar and lifting him partially to see me.
“I can promise you this. If you ever lay a hand on Brooke again for any reason, I will kill you with my bare hands. I’ll go back to prison, and I’ll serve every day of that sentence with a smile on my face. I don’t ever want to see your pathetic ass around here again, do you fucking understand?” I shook him as I spoke, taking pleasure in the fact he was nodding the entire time with the blood running down his chin.
“Now, get the fuck out of here,” I snapped. I gave him a shove before putting my arm around Brooke. “What happened?”
“I stepped out to get some air,” she said. “After I saw the lap dance you were getting.”
I winced. “That had nothing to do with me. I didn’t want it, and I got out of there as soon as I possibly could.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I knew I didn’t want to see it. So, I came outside, and he grabbed me from behind. He had to have been watching me through the window or something to even know that we were here.”
Before I had the chance to reply, Aaron came out of the bar with one of the women from the bachelorette party on his arm. “What happened?”
He looked from Brooke to me, and I shook my head. “That asshole tried to get away with attacking Brooke in the parking lot, and I beat the shit out of him. The sting is off for the night. I’m going to text the others and let them know what happened, and the two of us are going home. I’m seriously done with this day.”
“Good,” Aaron said with a smile. “Sounds like the problem is solved, and I’m ready to get pretty serious with this pretty little thing right here.”
He walked off with her still on his arm, and I sighed. It was hard to get him to take much seriously when he was drunk. But then, if he had that girl with him for the night, I knew he would be staying out of trouble. At least, I hoped. And with the two of us beating up on that man, who knows if he would have survived.
I turned back to Brooke. “That lap dance… It really wasn’t anything.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said with a shake of her head. She didn’t smile, but she held up her hands to calm me down. “I think you redeemed yourself when you beat the shit out of Hanserd.”
I smiled and held out my arm to her. “Let’s get out of here, you want to?”
She nodded vigorously. “Yes. More than anything, yes.”
18
Brooke
By the time we got back to Spencer’s, I’d felt like I’d been on a rollercoaster. My head was throbbing, I was sore from being thrown against the wall of the bar, and I was exhausted. I had thought about the lap dance on our way home, taking the chance to be with Spencer but not have to talk while on his bike.
I believed he was sorry, and I really didn’t want to think about it anymore. He had made it clear to me that he hadn’t wanted it, and I knew drunk girls could be pushy. Especially when it came to hot guys.
There was a part of me that almost wished I’d gone over to that woman and told her to fuck off. But, I didn’t quite know where I stood with Spencer, and I didn’t want to make a fool of myself.
That is, I didn’t know where I stood with him before he beat the shit out of Hanserd. That had been so hot, and I felt on top of the world seeing him protect me like that. I had been terrified when Hanserd grabbed me, and I was sure he was going to hurt me again.
I hoped now I wasn’t going to have to worry about him. I didn’t know how much he’d take the threat from Spencer to heart, but I had a feeling it wasn’t over yet. I wanted to call the cops on him and report the whole thing. But, Spencer seemed to think that the MC had handled it, and we weren’t going to have to worry about him again.
I trusted him. He clearly knew what he was doing, and all the members of the MC had spread out around town to find Hanserd. They clearly didn’t want a man like that in their town regardless of who he was after. It scared me to think that he had been after me the entire time.
He had to have been in that car that tried to run you down. There’s no way he wasn’t, really. You’ve been locked up for over a year. There’s no way there’s more people who want to see you dead.
But then, what if Hanserd had spread rumors about you? He clearly hates you with a passion. What if he’s gone out to ruin your name? You’ve certainly done enough shit in your life to warrant it.
No. He’s crazy enough to be after me himself. He’s got to be. It’s too much of a coincidence to think that he just randomly showed up here out of the blue if he’s working with other people.
This has to be personal. Entirely personal.
“You okay?” Spencer cut into my thoughts as we pulled up in front of his house. “You’re a million miles away.”
“Just tired,” I said. “That was a lot more excitement than I wanted to deal with tonight.”
“I told you it could get rough in there,” he said with a laugh. “But that wasn’t what I expected. I’m just glad I got to you in time.”
“Me, too. I don’t want to even think about what would have happened if you didn’t show up right when you did. Hell, I was sure he was going to hit me, or choke me, or…” I let the words hang in the air, and Spencer put his arm around me on our way into the house.
I loved how protective of me he was. He was always looking for a chance to put his arm around me and make sure I was safe. After the year I’d just had, I appreciated it more than I could put into words. That was for damn sure. I was struck with how much he cared about every part of me.
He clearly had an attachment that was bigger than I realized, and I wanted to let myself believe it. I was tired of being so scared about the men who had fucked me over in the past. I didn’t want to feel that way anymore. And with Spencer in my life, I didn’t. He was brave, he was strong, and he treated me like I was his p
rincess.
He was so gentle with me, it was hard to think that he had gone through the whole prison thing himself at one point. Hell, even seeing what he did to Hanserd was so out of character from what I had seen in him, and I knew as long as I was with him, I never had to worry about being hurt by anything.
There was something about our relationship that made him want to protect me, and it made me beg to be protected. It had been that way from the beginning, and I never wanted to think of it ending.
We walked through the door and into my bedroom, and he smiled. “You’ve had a long night. I think it might be better for you to get some sleep early. I’ll be out in the other room if you need anything – anything at all. But you’re safe now, and nothing is going to touch you.”
I smiled as I pushed him on the bed. I appreciated all he was doing for me tonight, but I didn’t want to be taken care of. I wanted to sleep with him. I wasn’t going to let him just walk out into the other room and leave me in here alone.
Especially after seeing that woman on his lap. No, I was going to prove to him that I had stellar lap dancing skills myself.
“You really think after what that bride did to you I’m going to let you leave without getting a lap dance from me? I’m every bit as good as her, and I’m going to prove it,” I grinned.
“You really don’t have to. I told you – that meant nothing, and I’m not going to act like it did,” he replied. “That was one of Aaron’s stupid things he thought would be funny because he was drunk. It had nothing to do with me, and I got out of there as fast as I could.”
I smiled again. “I stand by what I said. I’m not going to let you go out there and watch TV when I’m in here horny as hell. It’s been a long day for both of us, and I want to show you my skills.”
He tried to protest again, but I was already doing a strip tease. I had known plenty of strippers back before I went to prison, and I was proud to know how to do an effective tease. One of my friends had painstakingly taught me all she knew, and I was confident in my ability.