Chapter Two
Dallas
It was a little after midnight when we made our way to my tiny woman’s place. My mind refused to truly register she had a goddamn ring on her finger, not until I knew why she hadn’t been wearing it back in Melbourne.
I sent a chin lift to Knife towards the road, and then another to Beast, and he shifted off to around the back of the large fuckin’ ranch style house in the middle of the bloody city. From my time in the army and on a special-forces team not many knew about, I’d learned many skills. One being I was able to move around undetected, despite my bulk.
To start with, I checked all the front windows. I clenched my jaw, pissed when I found all were shut and locked tight. Without another way in, I risked the front door. Getting to my knees, I slid the tools outta my back pocket and just as I was about to get to work, the door flew open. A pair of biker boots was the first thing I saw. Glancing up, Beast was looking down at me, smirking with a raised brow.
The fucker managed to get in before me.
Rolling my eyes, I stood. Beast shifted to the side and closed the door behind me. His hand came down on my shoulder before I moved off. Meeting his gaze, he touched his ear and then threw his hands out like a bomb going off.
“Alarm?” I mouthed.
He nodded, then sliced his finger across his neck. It told me he’d already disabled it. Hell, maybe our brother could walk through fuckin’ walls and cut any alarm down with one look while I twiddled my thumbs checking the windows out front.
It was likely.
Jutting my chin up and out, he disappeared down to the right of the house, while I took the left. My first room was the living room. I looked around and noticed a lack of photos. Not even a wedding photo was displayed. The place was neat and tidy, sterile in fact. Did they even live in the house? Obviously I knew they did because I’d staked them out enough to know where they worked, ate, and resided.
For the past week, they’d come back to this house each night, yet the place didn’t look lived in. It was as if they only existed there.
Creeping outta the living area, I went into the kitchen. The same vibe was present, a room that felt cold.
The house wasn’t a home.
I shook my head. Nothing was adding up.
Down the hall, I went to the last room knowing it would be the main bedroom. Placing my ear against the door, I listened and heard nothing but a soft snore behind it. Christ, I didn’t want to go in and see my woman in bed with another man, but I had to.
Fuck, if she was curled up happily next to him, I’d leave her to it, despite wanting answers to why she’d played the flirt with me.
If she looked content in bed with another man, it meant she wasn’t for me. Which, for some fucked reason, sent a pang through my chest.
Slowly and quietly, I opened the door just an inch. All I saw was a door to either the robe or bathroom and some chest drawers. Listening, I caught another snuffle of a snore, so knowing I hadn’t woken anyone, I opened it further and stuck my head in. The bed was over by the huge-arse windows. The open blinds helped me make out the shape in bed.
There was only one.
Their back was to me, and the covers were pulled all the way up. Her dickwad was on the smaller-size build, so I didn’t know if it was Melissa or him. Though, if it was only one of them, where in the hell was the other?
With every step I took closer to the bed, my pulse raced harder; adrenaline was riding my arse.
At the side of the bed, my lungs seized. It wasn’t her.
Then where in the fuck was she?
Glaring down at the fucker in the bed, I wondered yet again what he had on her. It had to be something for her to lie about being married. Shit, she hadn’t even told Julian about him. She probably didn’t want to worry a single soul about what was happenin’ in her life.
Too bad she never thought I’d actually follow up on my threat and follow her.
Heading back to the door, I was just out the room and closing the door behind me when I sensed someone coming my way. Before I took to hiding, I glanced around and saw Beast strolling down the hall. From the light of the moon shining in the many fuckin’ windows around the house, I could see my brother was pissed about something.
He jerked his head towards the way he’d just come. I followed without a sound back down the hall, past the kitchen and down another hall to the room at the other end of the long house.
The door was open, meaning Beast had already been in there. Otherwise, like all the other rooms off the halls, the door would have been closed.
Before I went to enter, Beast’s hand came down on my shoulder. He turned me to face him and his other hand landed on my other shoulder. His hard eyes met mine and he gave me a gentle shake, keeping my stare.
Fuck me.
Whatever was in that room was gonna piss me off.
He wanted me to have my head.
Nodding, I started to move, until he shook his head and gave me a chin lift. With my own hard glare, I nodded again and took a deep breath.
His hands dropped, and I moved in. Beast wasn’t far behind me. I felt his heat.
Fucking hell.
His action told me what I was about to see was gonna piss me off, but it was also gonna set me off to want to kill a person.
Fisting and releasing my hands, I stretched my neck and stepped further into the room. It was similar to the main bedroom, only it was the opposite. The bed was to the left under the big windows. A small figure was curled up into a ball on the bed with no covers over them.
Melissa.
She had on sleep pants and a long-sleeved tee. As I got closer, I sucked back a sharp breath and felt Beast’s hand on my back.
Her face was marred with bruises.
Bruises she hadn’t had at the restaurant.
They were new.
Fuck me.
They were new.
I could have stopped it from happening and taken her with me when I’d had the chance.
Christ, I had a lot of chances in the past week to nab her and take her home with me. Seeing her with black, purple, and brown bruises on her face stabbed me deep in the chest because I knew, I fuckin’ knew, I could have stopped it from happening.
Jesus.
I got to my knees on the side of the bed, and with the light outside her room from the street lamp, I could see she’d cried herself to sleep. Her cheeks were still wet. She hadn’t long drifted off and was no doubt in pain because even in her sleep she wore a frown.
My head dropped, my chin touching my chest. I sucked in another breath.
My woman was sleeping in pain while the fucker down the other end slept like he didn’t have a care in the world.
That was going to change.
He’d care.
He’d definitely care because I’d make sure he did.
And if he still didn’t in the end, then he’d breathe no longer.
A hand came down on the back of my neck. Glancing up and around, Beast rose his brow. He wanted to know how we were going to deal with it.
I didn’t have a fuckin’ clue.
Melissa was smart. If she could have, she would have gotten out of an abusive relationship. Fuck, she’d even kick the shit outta the person who’d try crap with her. So there was something I was missing. Something that was keeping her where she was.
I had to find out what it was.
Only, how did I go about doing it?
Did I take her from this fucked up place and risk whatever was holding her there?
No. Before anything, I needed to get my answers right from the source.
Tensing, I watched her shift slightly on the bed and then wince from it. I took out my phone and texted Knife: Found her beaten in a room. Need to find out what the fuck is going on. Need a closer eye on the place, all the way around. Be fast and silent.
Knife: Will do, brother. You taking her out tonight?
Me: No. Something’s keeping her here. Gotta find out what and now.
Knife: Go gentle.
Shaking my head, I glared down at my phone and typed back: She’s mine. I know how to treat her.
At least I hoped.
Being around women for long periods of time wasn’t something I liked or wanted.
Until her.
Beast’s hand came into view, he was asking for the phone. I handed it over and watched him read it. He gave me his eyes after and nodded. He was down with the play.
There was no way I could walk outta that room to leave my tiny woman with that fucker. Not after seeing her like that. Not until she knew I was there and if need be, I’d have her back.
Glancing to Beast, I jerked my chin towards the door. He nodded and made his way outta the room, shutting the door behind him. He’d keep an eye on the inside while Knife took the outside. That left me with a small amount of time to wake my woman and find out what in the fuck was going down.
Fear reared its ugly head inside me. Fear that she’d wake and tell me to get the fuck out. That she liked where she was, and the way she had been with me was just her messin’ about.
Rolling back my shoulders, I shook out the tension.
What I was about to do would get my arse kicked from her, and I looked forward to it because I hated the thought of scaring her after what had just been done to her.
“Tiny,” I whispered into the room. Her brows furrowed down. Gently, steering clear of her bruises, I ran my finger from the top of her hairline in the middle of her forehead to down between her eyes and then to the tip of her nose. Her posture relaxed, something I wasn’t going for, but it was also something I liked a fuckin’ lot because it meant she felt soothed from my touch. I tried again. Resting my chin on the bed, I whispered, “Tiny woman.”
Her eyes fluttered, and then she shifted back fast, her mouth opened wide as if to scream. I moved just as quickly and got on the bed over her, with my hand covering her mouth.
“It’s me. Calm the fuck down. It’s me.”
Shit, I hoped she knew.
She blinked a few more times, looking up at me. Her eyes cleared and became confused. Slowly, I removed my hand from her mouth.
“Tiny, I have a few questions you need to answer.”
Her head tilted to its side on the bed. I shifted back, sitting my arse on the mattress while she got to her elbows.
“Viking man?”
“Yeah, woman.” I smiled, only it faded quickly when she sat, winced, and then threw her fist towards my face. It would have collided with my nose if I hadn’t grabbed it. “The fuck?” I clipped low.
“What are you doing here in the middle of the night and scaring the crap out of me? You’re going to ruin everything.”
“I told you I’d claimed you and was coming after you. Ain’t my fuckin’ fault you didn’t listen.”
Her eyes widened, and she winced again. Her free hand reached up and touched her face. Her shoulders sagged and she ripped her hand free of mine and turned her face away. “You shouldn’t have come.”
“Bull-fuckin’-shit. Tell me what in the hell is going on.” Her head whipped around to face me with a fierce glare. I went on, “If you tell me you love the fucker who put that ring on your finger and did that shit to your face, I’ll leave. You tell me this is what you want, and I’ll walk out that door never to see you again.” When she didn’t say anything, I bit out, “Tell me.”
It was then her face crumpled and she buried it in her hands as she burst into tears.
Fuck me.
I didn’t know what to do with a crying woman.
It made me feel awkward.
But shit, she was the only woman I wouldn’t leave to cry it out alone.
And that right there said a lot. Because seeing her break like that, it did shit to me on the inside, and I couldn’t handle seeing her tears, hearing her gasping for breath as she sobbed. It fuckin’ hurt me to see it.
Sliding my hand under her arse and the other at her back, I picked her up and placed her in my lap. There I cupped the side of her face and led her to rest her head against my chest.
Hell, fuck the tears. Fuck the woman’s emotions. Fuck it all.
I’d put up with it because it was my tiny woman doing it all in my arms.
So when she wrapped her arms around my waist, I knew I was doing an okay job at comforting her. I also knew she wasn’t getting rid of me.