CHAPTER SEVEN
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JAKE
OUTSIDE MY HOUSE, my muscles tensed as my boots pounded the ground on the way to my Harley. “Where’s he at?”
Behind me, Angela’s footsteps hurried to catch up. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Apparently you do want me to worry about it,” I stopped walking toward my bike and locked my eyes on Angela’s, “or you wouldn’t have showed up at my house.”
“Jake, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your night. You were the only one I could think of who would help and not turn me away.”
As the tears started down her cheeks, I turned toward my bike. I stopped being a sucker for tears years ago, and Angela was too accustomed to using them to her advantage.
“Tell me where he’s at.”
“He’s a Wild Royal. You can’t take that on, Jake.”
I handed her my helmet and nodded for her to get on. “If you want my help, tell me where’s he at.” Straddling the bike, I waited for her to climb on and take hold of my waist. I glanced back waiting for her response. My ride wasn’t going anywhere until she told me where the piece of shit who tore up her face was.
“He went to Spitzer’s, outside of town.”
“He alone or with his brothers?”
“I don’t know. He might have a couple of them with him.”
My boot hit the clutch, and I fired her up. I drove Angela to the Kings Club. The party had died out, save for a couple stragglers too drunk to notice anything unusual about me walking in with her. I kept Angela out of their sight and led her upstairs to one of the offices turned sleeping quarters.
“I’m gonna have to tell Nix you’re here.”
“Please don’t.” Angela’s eyes widened and she let out a whimper. “I can be out of here before he comes in. I just need a place to crash for tonight until Rex cools off. I’ll call a friend to come get me in the morning.”
My eyes narrowed in on hers. “That friend better not be your ol’ man, cuz he’s not gonna be able to ride when I’m done with him.”
“Don’t, Jake. He didn’t mean it.”
“That’s what they all say.” My jawed tightened. I turned my back to her and walked out. Her black and blue face was plenty enough reason for me to hunt the bastard down. I hopped on my bike and headed to Spitzer’s. When I rolled up to the bar, I assumed he was still there when I saw a couple of Harleys sitting outside. I looked at my watch, it was one-fifty-seven a.m. The bar would be closing at two.
I leaned against my bike and waited for the coward to come out. His drunken ass came walking out six minutes later with his arm draped around a woman dressed like a one-night-stand. His buddy came out behind him, stumbling with a beer in one hand and the other groping the woman Rex had his arm around. Their intentions with her were evident. Too bad for them I was about to ruin it.
“You Rex?”
The man’s dark eyes lifted to mine. Annoyance and curiosity filled them. “Who the fuck wants to know?”
“Who I am doesn’t matter, but the name of the woman you beat like a punching bag does.”
He raised his chin. “How the fuck do you know Angela?”
“Old friend.”
Rex removed his arm from around the woman and squared his shoulders. Just like I hoped, he wanted a fight. “You fucking my ol’ lady?”
A smirk lifted the corner of my mouth. Being an asshole and a drunk was too easy to antagonize. “No, but I used to.”
His arm came swinging and I quickly moved off my bike and dodged his fist. His movements were quicker than I expected. Repeated drinking had turned him into a functioning alcoholic. His buddy decided to jump in on the fun, only his ass was too far gone for a good fight. I slammed my fist into his face and he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
The click of a knife whipped my attention back to Rex. It was too late. The blade was already slicing through my t-shirt, splitting my skin in two. A dull ache and wetness filled the area. The scent of copper reached my nostrils when the blade came at my face. I grabbed his hand and used it as leverage to turn his arm and shove it down until his shoulder was twisting out of the socket, then slammed the side of my palm down on his elbow with the intention of breaking it. He bellowed and writhed beneath me. The woman started screaming at me that she was going to call the police.
“If you’re gonna do it, get to it.”
I buried my fist into Rex’s face and blood spattered onto the sidewalk from his busted lip and probably broken teeth. My fist gripped Rex’s shirt and jacket and dragged him toward me, so I could look him in the eye.
“I don’t like fuckers who get off on hitting women. Be grateful I didn’t kill you. Hit Angela again and next time, I will.”
Before shoving him to the ground, I rammed my fist into his face, giving him the same black eye he gave Angela. He fell to the ground, and I kicked the blade down the sidewalk, out of his reach. I looked up at the woman whose eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and terror.
“Need me to call you a cab?”
She slowly shook her head. “I drove myself.”
“All right then.” I turned my back on her, still high on adrenaline, and needing the road under my wheels to cool me down. After climbing on my bike, I glanced over at the woman and was relieved to see her getting in a car parked outside the bar. I waited until she pulled out, then did the same.
The adrenaline dump took its toll on the way back to my house. The relentless throbbing reminded me of the cut in my side. Blood had soaked into my shirt and jeans and the skin on my knuckles were busted open and covered in dried blood.
Pulling into my drive, Liz was the first thing on my mind. I hoped she wouldn’t freak when she saw me. Her trust of me was already thin, but if she ever truly wanted to be with me, she’d have to learn I was impulsive.
When I walked in the door, all the lights were out. With only the bit of moonlight streaming through the living room window, I went to Rocky’s crate and soothed his whimpers, so he wouldn’t wake Liz who I assumed was sleeping. I walked to my bedroom and sure enough, she was lying in my bed, wrapped under the blanket, sound asleep. Seeing her lying there in my bed, waiting for me filled me with more satisfaction than I expected.
Needing to patch up my knife wound, I went into the bathroom and stripped down to my briefs. After cleaning out the wound and dousing it in alcohol, I covered it up with gauze and tape. I cleaned up my knuckles and face, took a few aspirins, then returned to my room. When I raised the blanket, my cock jumped at the sight of Liz in her thong and one of my t-shirts. Her ass was perfectly round and had enough curve I could squeeze her cheeks firmly in my hands. Damn, if I didn’t want to wake her and finish what we started. The throbbing wound in my side reminded me it would have to wait. I slid in behind her, wrapping my arm around her.
She mumbled in her sleep, and the sound of her sweet and sleepy voice coming out of those full, pink lips had the hard shit around my heart crumbling. I pulled her body into my chest, resting my hand on the softest part of her, right between her thighs. She let out a drowsy moan and nuzzled her ass into my cock before falling fast sleep. I kissed her neck, then let sleep roll in once my head hit the pillow.