Chapter Sixteen
Her name was Jessica and underneath all the bruising, she was a beautiful woman. Her skin was smooth and pale with freckles peppered across her smooth face. She was young and in a terrible situation.
On some level, I understood. I hadn’t been beaten, but I knew what it was like to feel cast aside and to be made to feel like you didn’t matter. I washed the dirt off her face and offered her a fresh towel and some clothes so that she could clean up.
Once she was ready to shower, I left her alone and wandered downstairs where Dylan was already preparing for a fight. He slid into his leather jacket and glanced over at me. “What are you doing?” he asked as I started to dress myself.
I shrugged and smiled. “I don’t want to hold you guys up when it’s time to head out,” I said.
He frowned and put his hands on his hips. “You actually think you’re going to go with us?” he asked incredulously.
I threw my hair into a messy ponytail and glanced at him, brow cocked. “Of course I am. Why would I stay here?”
“Because it’s safe here.”
I frowned and looked over at him, reaching out to touch his hand. “Listen, you asked me if I wanted to join you. You asked me if I wanted to be a part of this family and I said yes. I agreed to be here and that means I agreed to be a part of everything that goes on around here, good and bad. I’m not going to just stick around for the good stuff, I want to help. I think it’s really amazing what you guys do, and I want to be a part of it,” I said, looking up at him.
He hesitated, but finally cracked a smile and took my face into his hands. “You never cease to amaze me,” he said with a sigh, leaning in to press a kiss to my lips.
I all but melted into him, sighing as my body began to tingle with a warmth I only felt when I was with him. My eyes fluttered closed and I took in his scent, enjoying the smell of leather and musk that always seemed to surround him. Everything about Dylan made me turn into goo.
A smile touched my lips and I stared up at him with a starry look in my eyes. I felt ridiculous for feeling this way about a man I barely knew, but Dylan made me believe it was possible to fall for someone this quickly. He’d done so much to show me he cared and while I didn’t necessarily feel indebted to him, I wanted to do anything I could to make him proud of me and to make his life easier.
He pulled away and looked at me. “You really want to be a part of this? You really want to join?”
“Of course.”
“Then we’re going to have to get you some ink.”
My eyes widened but I didn’t argue. Everyone else wore is sign, I suppose I had to as well. I chewed my lip but nodded. He walked over and grabbed his leather jacket out of the closet and dug in the pockets. He pulled out a single piece of leather cord that had a small silver scale charm on it. He wrapped it around my neck and tied it off.
“Until we can get that ink on you. You wear that. It lets everyone know you’re one of us...and you’re mine,” he said.
I touched the silver charm almost tenderly. “Where is it from?”
“Dad wore it on his jacket.”
The statement took me back. It was his father's? And he was giving it to me? I wrapped my fingers around it and nodded firmly. I was going to make sure I made him and Dylan proud.
“We better get going,” he said, kissing my temple. “As soon as Jessica is out of the shower she’s going to take us to her husband so we can set the asshole straight.”
I hesitated and looked at the gun tucked into the back of his pants. It was almost always there, hidden by the shirts he wore. I’d only noticed it a few times when he turned and leaned just right. I swallowed a little and chewed my lip.
“You aren’t going to kill him, are you?” I asked.
He glanced at me and put his hands on my shoulders. “I don’t anticipate it, but you can never really tell how these things are going to pan out,” he said. “We aren’t going to go in there with guns blazing, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
I nodded, feeling a little more relaxed at his reassurance. “Okay,” I said.
Dylan glanced up as Jessica came down the stairs, her hair wet.
She was dressed in the clothes I’d loaned her, though they were just a little big on her. The poor girl looked completely malnourished, though I suppose that could have been due to drug addiction. I’d spotted some track marks on her arms while I was cleaning her up. Dylan glanced at her and smiled softly.
“Hey there. We were just talking about how this was going to go. We’re not going to let that prick touch you, okay? We need you to show me where you live and then maybe we can get you to your family?”
Her cheeks flushed and tears came to her eyes. “I don’t have any,” she admitted.
“We’ll find you a place here then,” he said softly, reaching out and offering his hand. “You can stay with someone here until we can get you back on your feet.”
“Really?” she whispered, her eyes wide.
Dylan smiled and nodded. “Really,” he assured her.
Jessica seemed nervous but was coming around. Having another woman around was helping, as she had obvious reasons for being nervous around men. She moved over close to me and looked up at me, her eyes full of sadness and a strange kind of regret I couldn’t really place.
“We’re going to get make sure your husband never touches you again, okay?” I assured, grinning down at her. “Dylan and his crew are really good at what they do. I promise you won’t have to worry about him ever again.”
She smiled a little and nodded, blushing and looking down. “Right,” she whispered, wiping her eyes. “I’ve just, I’ve never had anyone go to bat for me like this before.”
“Well, you aren’t alone anymore.”
She nodded and I led her outside where everyone else was waiting. She got on Snake’s bike and soon enough we were following them to the house she’d just escaped. I was excited to help her and to take part in what Dylan did, but I couldn’t get the feeling of uneasiness out of my head.
Something didn’t feel right, but I just couldn’t place my finger on it.