Chapter 33
Pipe
I would never understand how Brinks and Slayer managed to make that place an even bigger hell hole.
Four empty pizza boxes were stacked on the kitchen counter, at least fifteen beer cans were littered around the living room, and the mysterious brown stain on the living room carpet seemed to have grown. A lot.
Thoughts of Nikki naked and wet in the shower outweighed taking the time to clean up. The mess would still be here after I thoroughly fucked Nikki. Twice.
I grabbed a clean shirt and a pair of boxers from my dresser and headed over to Nikki’s side of the duplex. I pulled my door shut behind me, locked it, and noticed Nikki’s door was wide open.
“What the fuck,” I mumbled. I sidestepped to her door and listened. All I could hear was the sound of the shower, but something wasn’t right. I looked around, wishing that I hadn’t left my gun next door, and remembered I had a piece of pipe in the back of my truck.
I gripped the pipe in my hand, thankful that I hadn’t cleaned out the back of my truck, and slinked back over to the front door.
Nikki’s clothes were littered on the floor, her usual trail she made to the bathroom.
“Fucking heavy, bitch.”
My blood ran cold, and I clenched my fists. He had Nikki. That fucking cocksucker.
I plastered myself against the hallway wall and sidestepped down it. I peeked around the corner and saw the bathroom was empty, but the bathroom mat was scrunched up against the side of the tub, and there was a bloody handprint on the counter.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. She was okay. She had to be okay. I tightened my grip on the pipe and moved toward the bedroom. I heard Richard before I saw him. He was grunting and groaning all while I assumed he was trying to get Nikki on the bed.
“Never should have hit her over the head,” he grumbled. “Or I should have at least waited until she was on the bed.”
The guy was a fucking whack job. I made it to the doorway, looked into the bedroom, and saw Nikki’s body lying limply half on the bed.
I was gonna kill the fucker.
My gaze ran over him, making sure he didn’t have a weapon or anything on him that he could use against me.
He grabbed her leg and yanked her onto the bed, and a groan came from her mouth.
I breathed a sigh of relief and closed my eyes for a second. Thank God she was alive.
“Quiet, bitch,” he grunted. “Don’t make me hit you again. As soon as I get you on this bed, I’m going to give you exactly what you need.”
“No,” Nikki groaned. “Please.”
I soundlessly crept into the room, and my eyes connected with Nikki’s. I put a finger to my lips and shook my head so she wouldn’t alert Richard that I was in the room.
She groaned and closed her eyes, knowing that all of this was going to be over soon.
“Hey cocksucker,” I boomed.
Richard spun around, surprise on his face. “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded like I was the one in the wrong.
Mother fucker was gonna pay. “I got the same question for you.”
“You don’t fucking deserve her,” he spit out.
“I know I fucking don’t, but I’m a selfish bastard, and I’m going to work for her ‘til I fucking die.”
Richard opened his mouth, but I wasn’t going to listen to him anymore.
I reared back, lifting the pipe over my head, and swung, connecting with the nutjob’s head. Nikki screamed, and I heard the crushing of his skull as I swung with all my might. His body lifted off the floor with the force of the blow, and then he landed on the floor like a ragdoll.
“Oh, my God,” Nikki screamed.
I dropped the pipe at my feet and gathered Nikki in my arms. “Where are you hurt?” I demanded. I ran my hands over her body, but I couldn’t find any blood from the handprint in the bathroom. “Where are you bleeding?”
Nikki groaned and laid her head on my shoulder. “I don’t think I’m bleeding. He hit me over the head pretty hard, but I don’t think he broke the skin.”
I cradled her head in my hands and looked down at her. “There was blood in the bathroom, sugar. Where did it come from?”
She shook her head and closed her eyes. “It’s not mine,” she mumbled.
“Stay awake for me, Nikki. You can’t go to sleep right now.” My fingers gently probed her head and felt a huge goose egg on the side of it. “What did he hit you with, sugar?”
She opened her eyes, and a loopy smile spread across her lips. “I don’t want to tell you because then you’ll say that you were right.”
Even banged up and concussed, Nikki still had sass to throw around. “I’m not gonna brag. Just tell me what he hit you with.”
“My damn blow dryer you always complain about me never putting away.”
I closed my eyes and sighed. She was right, I was totally going to give her hell over that, but not until I knew that she was okay. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly called nine-one-one.
The dispatcher told me a car and ambulance were on the way and should be here shortly. I tossed the phone on the bed and looked down at Richard.
“Did you kill him?” Nikki asked meekly. She looked at his limp body and grimaced.
“No, he’s still breathing.” His chest shifted up and down, but he wasn’t moving. When he did finally wake up, he was going to have one hell of a headache.
“Where did you get a pipe from?”
“It was in the back of my truck.”
She laid her head on my shoulder and sighed. “I think I know how you got the name Pipe now.” She was right about that.
Her eyes closed, and I cradled her cheek. “Open your eyes for me, sugar.” She opened one eye and looked up at me.
“I’m naked, aren’t I?” she whispered.
“Yeah, but you’re okay.” I didn’t want to ask the question, but I needed to know. “He didn’t touch you or anything, did he?”
She gently shook her head and grimaced. “No. At least not in a way to get his rocks off. He hit me over the head, but he didn’t have enough time to do anything before you came in.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you okay to put a shirt on?” As much as I knew I shouldn’t move her in case there was something more wrong with her, I wasn’t fond of the idea of anyone seeing her topless. Her panties were still on, but she must have taken her bra off before Richard hit her.
“I’m fine. My head just hurts a bit.” I laid her back onto the bed, sliding a pillow under her head, and grabbed a shirt out of her dresser. “Can you sit up for two seconds?”
She closed her eyes and nodded. “Yeah.”
I hated seeing her like this. My strong, beautiful, passionate Nikki was beaten and hurt, and there was nothing I could do to help her.
She swung her legs over the bed, and I squatted in front of her. “Easy, sugar.” She put her hands on my shoulders and smiled. “Thank you for saving me,” she whispered.
“I fucking love you, Nikki,” I croaked. I couldn’t go another second without her knowing. “I’m pretty sure I fell in love with you the first time you smiled at me, but I was too stupid to realize it.”
“You were pretty stupid,” she laughed.
“Even with a concussion, you still give me shit.”
“It’s all part of my charm.” She gave me a wonky wink and tilted her head to the side. “My head really hurts, but I have to tell you I love you too before I pass out. I’m not stupid and knew I loved you after you took off my underwear.” She closed her eyes and giggled. “That sounded way more romantic in my head.”
“It sounded pretty good to me, sugar.” She loved me. Holy shit, she loved me.
Sirens sounded in the distance, snapping me out of my stupor. “Let’s get this shirt on you so you can go for a ride in the ambulance.”
Her eyes snapped open, and a goofy grin spread across her lips. “That sounds like fun. Do you think they’ll let you lay down with me in the abulancey?”
I chuckled and slipped the shirt over her head. “Feeling a little woozy?”
She nodded her head and grimaced. “Just a bit.”
I put her arms into the holes and pulled the shirt over her body. “I should be able to ride with you in the ambulance, but I don’t think I’ll be able to lay down with you.”
She leaned forward and rested her head on my shoulder. “Major bummer,” she mumbled.
A loud knock sounded on the door, and I hollered that we were in the bedroom.
The EMT’s worked on Nikki first. They loaded her onto the stretcher, and asked her fifty questions, and then rolled her out of the room. The police had called for a second ambulance when they saw that Richard was injured too, and they showed up as Nikki was being wheeled out.
They were working on Richard when the cop pulled me out of the room and asked for a quick rundown of what had occurred. It was obvious to see what had happened, but I understood they needed to get facts straight.
I managed to jump in the back of the ambulance before they closed the doors. “Pipe,” Nikki gasped. “I was afraid you were going to have to stay.”
I probably should have, but I didn’t want to leave Nikki. “I’ll never leave you, sugar.”
Nikki babbled the whole way on the short ride to the hospital even though her eyes were closed the whole time. She insisted she wasn't tired, but the light hurt her eyes. The EMT said that was common with concussions and reassured me that it was a good sign that she was coherent and talking.
By the time we were in a room, and a doctor had looked her over, Nikki was fading fast.
“Are you sure I can sleep? I always thought you’re not supposed to sleep when you have a concussion,” she mumbled.
I pulled a chair up to her bed and threaded my fingers through hers. “That’s why they got you hooked up like a car battery right now. They’re monitoring everything, so if you do fall asleep, they can still check on you.”
She closed her eyes and smiled. “Did you really say you loved me before, or did I imagine that?”
I sat back and squeezed her hand. “I said it then, and I’ll say it again. I love you, sugar.”
She sighed and opened her eyes. “Would you still love me if I said I never want to step foot in that duplex again?”
I laughed and stroked the back of her hand with my thumb. “I’m pretty sure that’s reasonable.”
“Can we move back to Weston? I love Kales Corners, Alice, and Bos, but I miss Weston.”
“Sugar, maybe you should try to get some sleep, and we can talk about this in the morning.”
She shook her head and tried to sit up. I put a hand on her arm, and leaned forward, holding her down.
“Nikki, calm down.”
“I am calm. I just need to know that we’re moving back to Weston. That’s what Karmen was talking about when she said I needed to just talk to you. I wanted to move back before this whole mess. I saw how you were in Weston, and how much the club means to you. I didn’t want to be the reason why you weren’t there.”
I reached up and brushed her hair from her eyes. “I want the club, but I want you too.”
“And you can have both in Weston. I like my job at the diner, but I loved my job at the nursing home. I miss home.”
“I should probably tell you that Wrecker told me I had to be back in Weston in eight days, and I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to get you back there with me.”
She smiled and laid back down. “Dodged a bullet with that one, didn’t you?”
I sat back and smirked. “You have no idea, sugar. Nickel told me I had to make you think it was your idea to move.”
Her eyes bugged out. “Karmen told me the same thing when we were dancing around each other. Told me I had to call the shots but make you think that you were.”
“And you think you did that?”
She closed her eyes. “You did fall in love with me the first time I smiled at you, so you tell me?” She sighed deeply and nestled into her pillow. “I’m gonna sleep now. Promise you won’t leave?”
I squeezed her hand and shifted my chair closer to her bed. “I’ll never leave you, Nikki.”
*