Better When He's Bold

by Jay Crownover

  I pondered Karsen’s words, how wise beyond her years she seemed, and how futile my efforts to shield her from the harsh realities of our family and the world really had been. It rubbed me raw that my baby sister seemed to have a better handle on what was really rotating around us than I did. I got out of the BMW in a huff and walked over to the truck where it idled behind the parking space. I shoved my sunglasses to the top of my head and forced myself to look directly into those pale eyes without once glancing at that wicked scar.

  “I’m in class all day today, so you can take off until seven or so.”

  Booker let one of his beefy arms dangle out of the window and arched a dark eyebrow over the eye with the imperfection. It made him look all the more sinister.

  “Sure you don’t want me to walk you to class and carry your books?”

  The sarcasm in his voice was thick enough that I could almost touch it. I cocked my head to the side and lifted an eyebrow right back.

  “You obviously don’t want to be doing this. What exactly does Race have on you?”

  He barked out a dry laugh and smoothed a hand over his hair that was shiny with product. “I might look like a dumb-ass, but I grew up in the Point, so I know which horse to pick in the race if I want to get out with my vital organs intact.” I rolled my eyes at his clever turn of phrase. “Race doesn’t have anything on me and I don’t owe him a goddamn thing. I offered to be here, Blondie, because I want that pretty boy of yours to owe me in the long run. Plus, following two beautiful girls around isn’t a hardship, even if it is boring as hell so far.”

  Jesus. No one in Race’s world did anything out of the goodness of their heart. In fact, I was starting to think my golden god was the only one walking amongst the shadows who was plagued with that particular body part.

  “My sister is just a kid, so keep your eyes to yourself, Gigantor.” I adjusted my school bag on my shoulder and narrowed my eyes at him. “Whatever your reasons, I appreciate you keeping an eye on me.”

  “Honey, I got out of the pen not too long ago. I have no intention of going back for a pretty young thing, and I also have no desire to have all my bits and pieces cut off and scattered across the city if I get on your boy’s bad side. Like I said, I might look like a dumb-ass, but looks can be deceiving.”

  He was preaching to the choir with that, so I just waved him off and headed toward the building where my statistics class met. One thing was for sure: the characters that were now a part of my life since hooking up with Race were hands down some of the most interesting and terrifying people a girl could ever come across. I wondered what it said about me that I preferred them over the frat guys and academics that were swarming by me as we all pounded up the staircase to the second floor of the building.

  I was so lost in thought that when I was jostled from the side, I just shook it off without turning to see who the culprit was. The staircase was packed with students and all of them had cumbersome bags full of books and school junk, so I was sure it was just an accident and I had accidentally been bumped by someone careless and in a rush. I made a move to see if I could get out of the center of the swarm when I felt another bump, only this one was harder and had me whipping my head around to tell whoever the offender was to be more careful. That was a mistake.

  I had one foot on the steps getting ready to move up and my balance was off because of my own heavy school bag. I was nowhere near the railing and didn’t have anything to grab on to or any kind of traction to keep me from toppling backward when someone nailed me hard in the side and sent me careening in the wrong direction as startled groups of people split up around me and just let me fall. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal, people fall down the stairs all the time, but when hard hands appeared out of nowhere and gave me one last shove to ensure I went flailing to the hard, cement floor a story below with the most force possible, the outcome wasn’t going to be pretty. I let out a scream that died on a short breath because I knew the impact was imminent.

  Luckily, somewhere toward the end of my free fall, an unsuspecting and oblivious kid that had to have been unaware of the impending impact didn’t move fast enough and ended up braking my descent. I landed half on him, half on the floor. Unfortunately for me, it was my top half that cracked onto linoleum covered concrete. My head made a sickening sound and pain exploded in starbursts across my vision. I could smell my own blood and the dull roar of concerned voices as a crowd gathered around me. I heard someone call my name and I tried to turn my head in that direction, which had fire and electric agony racing through every nerve ending I had. Darkness was starting to fill my cloudy vision, and I wanted to call out that someone had pushed me, that someone was trying to hurt me. But more than anything, I wanted to tell someone to call Race. I wanted him.

  I heard someone mention a fall and I wanted to bellow that no, I had been pushed, but the coppery, iron tang of blood was getting stronger in my nose and I think I was starting to taste it. It was so much easier just to close my eyes and let the blackness that was covering me like a blanket take over. Finally letting go was so easy and I just let the dark fill me up and surround me.

  “I’M NOT LETTING YOU two go back to the house after this.”

  I couldn’t pry my eyes open but I heard Race’s voice and the anger that was tight in it from somewhere in the hazy cloud I was floating in. Karsen’s voice was shaky when she answered him.

  “Nowhere seems safe anymore.”

  Race swore and I felt gentle fingers dance across my forehead. Even blacked out and consumed with pain, I would know Race’s touch anywhere.

  “I’m going to change that. As soon as she wakes up I’m headed to that school. Someone had to see what happened, and if I have to give every student on that campus a black eye or broken nose to get answers, I will.”

  Karsen sniffled and I wanted to open my eyes to tell her there was no need to cry, but I just couldn’t do it. The dark was warm, it was welcoming, and while I was here I didn’t have to worry about things like losing the house, falling in love with a criminal, or the fact someone was obviously trying to kill me. It was a nice change of pace.

  “When she wakes up, the doctor is going to want to do a CT scan. She hit her head really, really hard.” Karsen’s voice was shaky.

  I felt the light touch caressing my forehead flitter over my eyebrows. I wanted to turn into it, to just let him soothe me and take care of everything from here on out. I knew that he would if I just let it all go and handed some of it over to him. That terrified me. I didn’t want to think about what it meant to rely on Race when he already had the fate of an entire city balanced precariously in the palm of his hands.

  “It’s a good thing your sister has a hard head, then. She’ll be okay. She just has to open her eyes. I know you can hear me, Bry. Get those baby blues open for me.”

  Karsen laughed a sad little sound that made me want to hug her. “She’s going to freak when she sees what they had to do to her hair in order to stitch the back of her head closed.”

  My hair! That had my eyes snapping open and a groan ripping out of my chest when the lights assaulted me. I hurt everywhere there was to hurt.

  “What happened to my hair?” Sure, it was shallow of me, and there were far more pressing things at hand, but dammit, I had awesome hair. It was just one more reason to be furious at the way this stalker had invaded my life. My voice was raspy and it rattled in my ears all tinny and thin.

  Race’s tender caress stopped midstroke and his dark green eyes were suddenly all I could see as he loomed over the edge of the bed. His mouth was tight and there were scary shadows dancing behind the concern in his gaze as he looked down at me.

  “There she is. Karsen, why don’t you grab a nurse and let them know she’s awake.”

  The forest got closer and he brushed his mouth over mine.

  “Can’t tell you how worried you had me, Brysen.” His voice was gruff and I wanted to touch his face, but even moving my eyelids sent pain shooting across the su
rface of my skin.

  “I got pushed down the stairs.”

  “I know. You fell down an entire flight of stairs onto the floor. The back of your head split open. You lost a ton of blood and have been unconscious for four hours. The doctor was worried you bruised your brain.”

  That all sounded pretty serious. I groaned again and focused on something that I could actually get my head around. “What happened to my hair?”

  He sighed against my lips and straightened up. He cupped my cheek in his palm and flashed that killer dimple at me.

  “You’re gonna need a haircut when you get back on your feet. You have no less than thirty stitches holding the back of your head closed. You cracked your noggin good, pretty girl.”

  I swore under my breath and blinked up at him.

  “This sucks, Race.” I knew that he would know I meant more than having my hair butchered.

  “He’s escalating. I don’t think you’re safe, even with Booker on your ass. I’m finding somewhere to move you and Karsen until I can get a bead on this guy. I’m done playing around and waiting to see what he has in store for you next. You aren’t something I’m willing to risk.”

  Well, wasn’t that enough to have my heart melting, or it would have been if I could feel my heart through all the pain and agony flooding my entire system.

  “What am I supposed to do now?”

  His head dropped down again, and this time his kiss had a fierceness behind it I could taste.

  “You’re stuck here for a little while. We need to make sure you’re a hundred percent. I’m gonna ask Booker to stay here with you, and I’m going to find somewhere safe to stash your sister. Then I’m going to rattle every cage I can find until this asshole falls out of it.”

  He straightened up and reached for my limp hand. I squeezed his fingers and let my eyes drift closed.

  “You can’t take my sister to a chop shop. Thank you for wanting to keep her safe, but that isn’t any kind of place for her, Race.”

  He chuckled a little. “It’s only a chop shop sometimes, but I know she can’t go there. I have something else in mind. Just trust me, Brysen.”

  I pried my eyes back open so he could see what I was feeling inside of my gaze. I hoped it showed through the pain.

  “I do. I didn’t think I could, but more than anyone else in my life right now, you are the one constant I trust.”

  “I’m going to take care of you.”

  I let my eyes slide back closed and squeezed his fingers again. Karsen’s voice was right outside the door and I heard the low rumble of another voice asking her questions. I was ready to let it go. I couldn’t hold on to everything anymore, and I wasn’t lying. I did trust Race and I knew he meant it when he said he was going to take care of me. I think I was finally ready to let him do it, and even more than that, I was ready to let him help me take care of my sister. I just hoped he didn’t let either one of us down because I knew, just knew, if Race failed, no one was going to make it out of this situation alive.

  He whispered a soft good-bye and told me he would be back as soon as he could. He also reminded me that Booker, in all his hulking and threatening-ness, would be right outside my door, so I should rest easy and not worry about anyone getting to me while I couldn’t move. That, of course, was easier said than done.

  He was gone and my sister replaced him. I forced a wincing smile for her but couldn’t pull my heavy eyelids back open. I tugged on her hand when she picked mine up and demanded, “How bad is my hair—really?”

  Her quick intake of breath was all the answer I needed. I hoped when Race finally did unearth my stalker I got a minute alone with whoever it was and some scissors. Payback was a bitch.

  Chapter 16

  Race

  I WAS GETTING FRUSTRATED, and as a result I was getting careless. It was Saturday night; I was tired and I was sick of no one having any of the answers I needed. I was pissed off that Booker had been the one to take Brysen to the location I had secured for her and Karsen. The doctors at the hospital had kept her under observation for three full days, but she was out of the danger zone now, and the only lasting effects of the fall were a dull headache and a terrible haircut. I wanted to be with her, but between fight night happening on Friday and the burning need to find whoever it was that was terrorizing her, all I had managed was a few quick visits and a few rushed phone calls. It made me feel like an asshole, but her safety was more important to me than anything else. I should be the one taking her home from the hospital. I should be the one guiding her to safety—not Booker. It sucked that I had other things I had to take care of. So here I was, back at a university party. This time, Bax was with me, and this time, I was a hundred times more dangerous because I wasn’t here to get paid. I was here for information.

  I was on the back deck, the same back deck I had dragged Brysen across what felt like a lifetime ago. The back door had been fixed, but these college kids obviously hadn’t gotten any smarter. The one I picked to shake down was friends with the frat guy who had pulled the gun on me and subsequently ended up with a broken neck. When I hauled his drunken, struggling ass through the party crowd to somewhere that was more secluded, he had made a big production of calling me names, telling me he didn’t owe me shit, and trying to posture like he was some kind of big shot. The moron had already seen what happened when I got a gun pulled on me, and like his friend, he was too young and arrogant to have any kind of redeeming qualities as far as I could tell. When he took a sloppy swing at me, my paper-thin patience shredded.

  Now I had the frat guy on his back with my knee firmly planted in the center of his chest. I had my forearm braced across his throat while he clawed at me with frantic fingers. His cheeks were billowing in and out as he struggled for air, but I refused to lessen my choke hold. His eyes were bugged out in his face and his skin was turning a sickly shade of blue, but I had no intention of letting him up.

  “If he passes out he won’t be able to tell you anything.”

  Bax sounded bored but he was right, so I lifted up my arm and balled up a fist. I cranked the college guy in the mouth with a sickening thud that immediately had his lips splitting in half and rivers of bright red blood coating his teeth and his chin. I made sure my knee ground as hard as it could into his breastbone as I climbed to my feet. The guy grunted and spit out a mouthful of blood.

  “What do you want, Hartman? I don’t owe you any fucking money.”

  He hoisted himself up on his elbows and glared at me from his prone position. I looked over at Bax, when his phone started to ring. He pulled it out of the pocket of his hoodie and lifted a dark eyebrow.

  “Titus.”

  I nodded as he took a few steps away to answer the call from his brother.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and glowered down at my prey.

  “You know Brysen Carter?”

  Another mouthful of blood got coughed up and spit out. “Sure. She’s a babe, but she doesn’t party much and doesn’t come across as very friendly, so no one really messes around with her.”

  “Someone shoved her down the stairs while she was going to class a few days ago. Who would want to do that to her?”

  He groaned and levered himself up into a sitting position. “Fuck if I know. Like I said, she keeps to herself, she comes across as kind of a bitch, in all honesty. Maybe she pissed the wrong guy off.”

  I narrowed my eyes even further. “What guy?”

  “What’s it matter to you anyway? You screwing her?”

  Seriously, this guy must have had a giant bowl of stupid for breakfast. I didn’t even think, I just leaned down a little and clocked him as hard as I could on the left side of his face. I felt my middle knuckle split open and the force of the blow had him yelling in surprise and listing off to the side. I shook my hand as I straightened back up and asked him again, “What guy?”

  He lifted his hands up in surrender and gripped his head in his hands.

  “She hangs around this guy named Drew Donner.
He follows her around like a puppy. It’s pretty obvious he wants out of the friend zone, but Brysen isn’t budging. The guy is kind of intense and a little off. He transferred here a year ago and hasn’t made any attempt to hang out or party. All he does is tag along after Brysen. There was even a rumor going around for a while that he had some kind of breakdown when he couldn’t get himself into all of the same classes she was enrolled in because he didn’t have the right prerequisites. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t get all worked up over some chick that doesn’t put out.”

  I just stared at him for a minute, trying to weigh the validity of his statements against everything I already knew. Brysen hadn’t mentioned this Drew guy at all.

  I was going to ask the frat guy where I could find Drew when Bax’s hand landed on my shoulder. When I turned to look at him, my heart sank because his dark eyes were even blacker than normal. That meant bad news—really bad news.

  “We have to go. Now.” His tone left no room for argument.

  I dipped my chin down to indicate that I understood his unspoken urgency. I pointed at the college kid still sprawled at my feet.

  “If you notice anything off, anything out of the ordinary with this Drew kid, you call me and let me know.” I turned on my heel and followed Bax back through the throng of drunken partygoers.

  When we got to the Hemi, Bax looked at me over the roof of the car as we both pulled the doors open.

  “That was Nassir. He’s been trying to call you for an hour.”

  I bit off a string of dirty words. “Fight night was last night. He’s probably waiting for the payout. I had other things on my mind.”

  “No. That’s not what he wants.” Bax arched an eyebrow until it almost reached his hairline. “The Pit exploded.”

  I just stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language. “What?”