The next morning, Presley wandered into Scott’s parents’ kitchen, the smell of coffee and bacon wafting in the air. Scott and Tori were already seated at the table, each sipping a cup of coffee. Tori was still in her pajamas but Scott was dressed.
“You two are up early.” Presley eyed the food along the counter. “I take it Judith made this spread?” She grabbed a piece of bacon from the plate next to the stove and crunched it in her mouth till the burnt aftertaste stung her tongue. Presley dropped it back on the plate and grimaced.
“Actually, Tori did.” Scott nodded at her and repressed a chuckle.
“Yeah. It took some groping through the cabinets, but I figured it out. Scott said I had never cooked breakfast, so I had to prove him wrong.” Tori smirked behind her mug, leaning her elbows on the table. “The bacon is probably burned to shit, but I tried.” Tori shrugged. “You stayed here last night, Presley?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to drive after drinking and they don’t have Uber. What the hell is up with that?” Presley let out a breath.
“Ride Austin. Drivers are fingerprinted and fully checked out.” Scott took another sip of coffee.
“Ooh, Bacon!” Blaze came wandering into the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of underwear. He picked up a piece and crunched on it. “Crispy.” He made a sour face as he gulped it down.
Presley and Scott exchanged a silent chuckle at his expense.
“Shey is a total bed hog by the way.”
“Speak for yourself, mister,” Presley snapped. “You took all the covers!”
“You two shared a bed?” A bemused smirk passed across Tori’s face.
“Sure did, didn’t I, gorgeous?” Blaze put his arms around Presley and kissed her neck.
“Bleh!” Presley shoved him off and contorted her face in disgust. “Please; if I was going to go straight for anyone it sure as shit wouldn’t be you. When is the last time you showered, you dirty hippie?”
“That’s my manly musk.” Blaze laughed as he popped a grape into his mouth, walked over to the fridge and pulled out the juice, drinking it straight from the carton. Presley and Scott grimaced.
“For the love of god, can you please put some damn clothes on?” Scott growled. “The last thing my mom needs is to wander out here and catch you in your underwear.”
“That’s not fair to tease Blondie when she can’t see what she’s missing.” Blaze gave Scott a wink and popped another grape into his mouth.
Tori snarled. “Thank God I can’t see that.”
Blaze bent over the chair, threw his arm around Tori and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Whatever. I’m telling you, Blondie, all I have to do is pull this hair back in a douchey man bun, put on a tailored suit, and the girls are all over it.”
“The last guy I was with before Scott had one of those.” Tori giggled behind her mug.
Scott snapped his head up at her and scowled.
Presley’s brow went into a high arch.
What kind of game are you playing Tori?
Was this her way to get even for Brandi?
“My point is,” Tori continued, “He smelled good. Like patchouli mixed with leather.”
Presley glanced at at Scott who looked like he was going to throw up in his mouth. He rolled his eyes, shook his head, and turned back to his phone.
“If you plan on picking up a decent woman, Presley’s right. You need a shower. You smell like a hobo.” Tori grimaced. “Not at all like the Blaze I know.”
“Oh, and what would that be?” A bemused grin passed over Blaze’s face.
“Normally, you smell good—like hemp and coconut. Just like when you swept me up on the curb. That smell will always be Blaze to me.”
“Well damn, now I can’t ever change my sunscreen because you won’t recognize me.”
Tori giggled adorably.
Was she flirting with Blaze? Right in front of Scott? Presley raised a brow. Scott didn’t even seem to bite at her bait.
“I’m better looking than Scott, ya know.” Blaze grinned at Scott who flipped him the finger.
Blaze was right, though, cleaned up he was good looking for a dude. When his long hair wasn’t greasy, it was a nice sun-kissed shade of blonde that complimented his green eyes, tanned skin and muscular physique. The girls usually tripped and toppled over their drunken feet trying to run toward him in the bar. Better than Scott though? Presley wasn’t sure of that one.
“Are you now?” Tori said mischievously.
“We can’t have you falling for me now. Harris is my boy,” Blaze teased. “You better stop flirting with me, Blondie.”
“Don’t get cocky now. I said you smell good. Scott smells great. Like sex on a lazy Sunday morning.” Tori kicked her feet up into Scott’s lap and rubbed them between his legs.
A wide grin crept across Scott’s face as he ran his hand over her smooth, tan, leg.
Presley’s eyes lingered there for a minute. Damn she had nice legs.
God, I really need to get laid.
“Is that what you plan to wear to church this Sunday?” Judith asked, giving Blaze the once over, as she walked through the kitchen.
Tori flushed and she sat up quickly, yanking her feet out of Scott’s lap.
Judith glanced over at Tori and Scott and gave them a bemused smirk. Scott had inherited that expression from his mom, that crooked, mischievous grin of his. Everything else resembled his father.
Judith held her age well. Presley knew she’d been a beauty in her younger days from the older photos that hung on the walls. She had a small, curvy frame that had filled out slightly over the years, but she wasn’t overweight by any means.
Presley chuckled. Yeah, Judith had overheard Tori’s little description of how Scott smelled.
“Morning, Mamma Harris,” Blaze said as he flopped down in the chair on the other side of Tori.
“Boy, you need to put some clothes on. You’re poking out of those boxers. That turtle needs to tuck back into his shell.” Judith’s brow went up into an even higher arch as she grabbed a mug out of the cabinet.
Presley covered her mouth and snorted, her coffee spewing into her fingertips.
Judith Harris was something else. Funny how people say that men tend to find women similar to their mothers. Judith was a strong, fiery woman with no filter on her mouth. Kinda like Tori.
“I will as soon as I get some juice in me.” Blaze lifted his mug full off coffee.
“Scott, did you make breakfast?” Judith asked.
“No, Tori did,” Scott said. “I’d steer clear of the bacon though.” His eyes widened as he snickered, earning him a slap on the arm from Tori.
“Unless you like burnt bacon…” Blaze added.
“You two try cooking bacon with your eyes closed and let’s see how good you do,” Tori growled.
“I told you boys to leave her alone!” Judith poured her coffee. She admired Tori lovingly, batting her green eyes. “Thank you for making breakfast, Victoria. That was kind of you.”
Judith seemed enamored with Tori, even after the bomb dropped on them last night about the Donaghue scandal. Blaze had texted Scott while they were out to let them know that had inadvertently come out. Presley had expected they’d return to a shit-show. By the time her and Scott got back, though, the house was quiet and Tori had retreated to the bedroom.
“Victoria what are your plans for today?” Judith asked.
“She’s coming with us,” Scott spouted.
“What?” Tori snapped her head in Scott’s direction.
Presley had the same reaction. Tori had no business being at the training facility when Scott had a job to do.
“I rearranged some things on the schedule. We’re doing hand-to-hand combat today. I want you to learn some self-defense.” Scott shot a fevered glare to Presley not to protest.
Presley watched Tori’s frown morph into a nasty smirk. “And the guys you train are ok with me doing this?” Tori questioned. “Seems like you should train them, not me.”
Presley couldn’t agree more. It was like Scott hadn’t listened to a damn word she said in the car at Chad’s shop yesterday.
“I have a permit.” Scott shrugged.
“A permit?” Tori’s brow went up.
“An I-can-do-whatever-I-want permit,” Scott said with arrogance.
Isn’t that the damn truth?
Harris did what he wanted and nobody was ever allowed to bat an eye. They all were just expected to fall in line. Except Tori it seemed. Harris’ girl seemed to march to the beat of her own drum.
Presley waited for her to put up a fight.
“Oh, do you now?” Tori’s mouth broke into a nasty grin. “All right then, I guess since you have a permit and all, I don’t really have a choice. I’ll go put on my sparring gear.”
They first drove to Western Union, so Tori could wire the money from her bank to pay off his brother’s debt.
“I want you to stay away from Chad’s shop,” Scott said as they climbed back in the vehicle. “I don’t want those guys to come sniffing around for you again.”
“You realize I now have a claim in the bike shop?” She folded her arms over her chest. “Just think of this as a roundabout way for me paying you back for the ambulance chaser you got for me.”
Scott gritted his teeth. Yes; he’d sent the lawyer to her. It hadn’t been a sleazy ambulance chaser though. It was a lawyer from his company’s legal team that he’d paid all expenses for. He had wanted to make sure she was always taken care of after she lost her vision from that faulty airbag.
“Just stay away from the shop,” he barked.
He knew damn well that she had a mind of her own and would go anyway once she was out of his sight, so he’d come up with the plan to bring her in to try and keep her safe.
First thing that he did was rearrange some of the training days. “We’re doing hand-to-hand combat today with the officers instead,” he explained. “As I said back at the house, I think it would be wise for you to learn some self-defense.”
Tori, of course, wasn’t stupid. She knew exactly what he was doing, and he got an earful from her the entire drive. “How can you defend me from your overprotective mother only to treat me the same way?”
“What about me not wanting you to get raped makes me such an asshole? Have you completely forgotten the things Jett said to you?” They bickered the entire drive to the training facility as Blaze and Presley had to awkwardly listen to their argument in the back seat.
Tori then proceeded to rattle off a laundry list of ideas that she had for the shop to help raise revenue, other ideas for metal art. “It’s such a waste of my day and talents to be stuck with you at the boring training facility,” she finished her rant.
He tried not to be offended that she’d rather be spending the day with his brother instead of him. It was almost like Tori was trying to pick a fight with him on purpose. “Listen,” he sighed. “I thought you learning some combat would be fun for you. Something new for you to try. Also, I’d enjoy being able to spend some time with you.” He reached over and squeezed her thigh.
He wasn’t sure what had gotten into his girl this past week. Normally, Tori was bold, secure and could give a shit what others thought. That was one of the things he loved most about her. He still couldn’t get over how jealous she was over Brandi. She’d even asked him this morning when they woke up if he’d been dreaming about Brandi last night. He honestly couldn’t recall the dream and Tori didn’t like that answer.
Apparently whenever your girl asks if you’ve been dreaming about another woman the proper answer is always no.
He wanted to talk about Brandi about as much as he cared to hear about the other men she’d slept with. He knew damn well the mention of the man bun, patchouli wearing, hipster this morning was her way of striking back.
Apparently if you took Tori out of her element she no longer acted like his cool, confident girl. She became jealous, aggressive and bat-shit insane.
When they arrived, the men had already rolled out the wrestling mats across the floor of the warehouse, and the other men from his team had paired the officers up.
Scott motioned Blaze over. “Blaze, you’re with Tori.”
“Why me? Shouldn’t you pair her up with Presley?” Blaze protested.
“You afraid of getting your ass kicked by a blind girl?” Tori teased, crossing her arms across her chest in defiance.
“No; I just don’t want to be bored when all your swings miss me,” Blaze shot back.
Tori’s eyes narrowed like she was about to tear into him. “You really have no idea what I’m capable of.”
A memory of her swinging and writhing in his grasp as he pulled her off her assailant in Amsterdam flashed through Scott’s mind. She was a force to be reckoned with back then. Still, he had no clue if she could defend herself without sight. It was possible that she’d learned self-defense at her rehab. It was also possible she was bluffing. He was about to find out.
“Is that how you got those shiners? Do you have some kind of fight club in your basement that I don’t know about?” Blaze teased.
Scott glanced at Tori, the black eyes were nearly gone now, especially with her makeup on top. Blaze was just giving her a hard time.
Tori shrugged. “The first rule of Fight Club is nobody talks about Fight Club.” Tori folded her cane and held it out to Scott. “Here, hold my cane.”
“Is that the blind girl equivalent of hold my earrings?” Blaze poked her again.
“Very funny, Blaze.” Tori dug her heels into the mat.
“I thought Daredevil used the cane, ya know, as part of the weaponry.” Blaze snickered.
Scott scanned the room. He probably should be helping the guys out, but the other men seemed to have everything under control. He wanted to see how this played out. Scott caught Blaze’s eye, placed a finger over his lips to indicate be quiet, and nodded toward Tori—giving him the go.
Blaze quietly began to circle her.
Tori lifted her chin, listening. She moved her head in time with his movements, doing an excellent job of tracking him, but Blaze was smart. He waited until he heard one of the other men shout and fall to the ground, then pounced when she was distracted from the noise. Blaze grabbed her by the waist and tackled her swiftly to the ground.
“You got this, babe. Try again,” Scott encouraged her.
This happened a few more times. Blaze pulled her from the shoulders and even kicked her feet out from under her, each time taking her down with ease.
“You have to listen, babe.” Scott winced as she got up and dusted herself off. Blaze wasn’t going to go easy on her, he appreciated that, but it was still difficult to watch. “Three out of four blind people are the victims of some type of assault because of their disability.”
“Where did you pull that from—Google?” she snarled. “Any more statistics that you want to spew at me?”
“Listen, you’re the one who wants to run around being a reckless, blind, badass chick.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You damn well better learn the skills it takes to survive.”
Her jaw clenched, and her nostrils flared. “Wow, you sure have massive insight into how to survive being blind,” she bit as she caught her breath. Yeah, she was pissed, and he was prodding her on purpose. He wanted her angry.
Scott poked her further. “People won’t expect you to fight back because you’re blind. They’ll think you’re weak and defenseless. You lucked out yesterday that those men backed down.”
Her face and ears flushed red, and her fists balled tight, seething hot with rage. He had her right where he wanted her.
There’s my fiery girl.
“Kinda like you think I am?”
Scott groaned and rubbed his face in frustration.
And here we go.
He was so exhausted of having the same fight, but he’d picked it.
“Asshole,” she grumbled and flipped him the middle finger.
Scott came up behind her, wrapping his large arm around her neck with enough pressure to make it uncomfortable. Tori firmly planted her feet in the ground and pushed back on Scott with all her weight. She elbowed him in his stomach, knocking a little bit of wind out of him, but not near enough to take him down, nor loosen his grip on her. Tori hurled her left leg back, right into the knee above his prosthetic blade, knocking him off balance and loosening his grip on her neck slightly as he tried to regain footing. This was just enough wiggle room for her to move her head downward, clench her jaw and sink her teeth into him.
“Fuck! You bit me?” He clutched his arm, drawing a few stares from the men grappling nearby.
“You told me to fight back.” Tori crossed her arms and shrugged
“Apparently, Blondie plays by kindergarten playground rules.” Blaze rolled on the mat, clutching his belly in uncontrollable laughter.
Moisture trickled through his fingertips.
She drew blood?
Scott didn’t know what to say, his jaw hung open like a damn goldfish. Part of him wondered if she was going easy on Blaze, biding her time, so she could take her aggression out on him. The last twenty-four hours had not been the smoothest between the two of them. He wanted her to fight back, but she was playing dirty.
“Do you have your rabies shot, Blondie?” Blaze wouldn’t let up. “You have quite a bit of Harris’ blood on your lips. You better not start foaming at the mouth or else we may have to put you down.”
Tori lifted her shirt at the bottom, wiping Scott’s blood from her mouth as she let out a satisfied sigh.
“Shut your dick holster, man,” Scott cursed as blood rushed to his ears. The smug, unapologetic look on Tori’s face made him that much angrier. “Training’s over.” Scott turned tail and went to the bathroom to wash off his wound.
“Blondie is gonna kill you if she catches you smoking that thing,” Blaze said as he walked up next to Scott as he took a drag off the cigarette he’d bummed from Presley.
“I don’t give a shit what she thinks.” He really didn’t. It’s not like he was completely stupid to the fact that her and Blaze went out and smoked weed last night behind the barn. He’d smelled it all over her when he walked into the bedroom. He hadn’t said anything because he didn’t want to pick a fight.
“Are you mad because you got bit by a girl?” Blaze snickered.
“It’s not just that. She’s been pushing my buttons all damn week. I guarantee you that whole charade she just pulled in there was on purpose.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that one bit. I gave her several opportunities to take me down.” Blaze laughed. “Blondie is a spitfire, and devious to the core.” Blaze’s emerald eyes bore into his skull. “That’s why you love her.”
Scott took another long drag from the cigarette and gave him an acknowledging glance.
“How’s your arm?” Blaze nodded to the taped-up gauze pad on his arm and a smile tugged at his lips.
“Hurts like a son of a bitch. She bit into me like I was a fucking hamburger.” Scott smirked then started laughing and just shook his head. “Damn her.”
“I think you need to hire outside help.” Blaze shook his head. “Blondie is nuts.”
“Like a shrink?” Scott furrowed his brow.
“That’s not what I mean, but yeah, she may need that too. Then again, I’m not the best to speak on mental health.” Blaze patted him on the shoulder. “I’m just saying you need to hire her a trainer and separate yourself from the situation. Pitting yourself against her in a fistfight is a really dumb idea. She’s far too likely to take out her aggression on you. Save that shit for the bedroom. Just don’t piss her off when she’s got her lips around your cock.”
Ain’t that the truth.
Scott laughed. Blaze had a point. Back in the academy one of the guy’s dads was a Captain and an instructor. He was a damn good leader but when it came to training his son, it was an absolute disaster. The kid showed no respect to his father, took out all his aggression on his dad, and the Captain just let him get away with it. All the men hated him.
“Bringing Tori here was a bad idea,” Scott admitted as Presley came up behind them.
His ability to be in control kept him and others around him safe. It was his creed that he’d lived his life by and prided himself on. Leave a situation to the device of others and they’d fail the mission, or wind up dead. Just like the day of his explosion. He’d known that the CO’s plan was shit. He was right. If he’d been in control he wouldn’t be walking on a peg and Jones wouldn’t be six feet under.
The thought of something happening to Tori made him sick to his stomach. Hearing what that man said to her yesterday made his blood boil. It took every ounce of self-control to not hunt Jett down and beat his ass. Jett knew exactly where to find her, so his plan was to keep Tori protected, and she was hell-bent on making that task impossible.
“You’re here to lead them, not her. She’s not one of your soldiers that you can mold into submission,” Blaze said, giving him basically the same advice Presley had the day before.
“Um, is this a bad time to tell you that Tori left?” Presley ran her fingers through her short, dark hair.
“Fuck.” Scott put his cigarette out in the ash tray. “You let her?”
“By the time I caught sight of her, she was climbing in a cab and it was too late.”
Scott turned to head toward the front entrance.
Presley ran up behind him. “Probably for the best if you ask me.” Presley pulled on his shoulder. “She’s throwing you off, Scott. Your head isn’t in the job.”
Scott stopped and rubbed his temples. She was right. Blaze was right. He was better than this. He needed to put Tori out of his mind, for now. It was that or risk losing his job.
“Scott, let her go; she’ll be ok. We have work to do.” Presley’s blue eyes bore into him.
Scott nodded and went back into the building.
Wayne glanced up from the TV as his son slammed the front door and marched into the house. With that and the way his son had just peeled into the front driveway, he suspected that a storm was brewing.
Wayne stood, placing his hand on Scott’s chest. “Whoa, where’s the fire?”
“Tell me she’s here.” Fury flashed through Scott’s eyes as he scowled over his dad’s shoulder. “She hasn’t answered my texts or calls all day.”
Blaze and Presley filed in the house behind him, both giving Wayne a fevered side-eye then escaped to the kitchen.
Wayne looked back to his son who looked like an angry bull about to charge. “She is.” Wayne pushed him back, keeping his voice calm and collected. Tori had come home hours ago and retreated to the bedroom, and not made an appearance. “She’s napping. You need to let her be.” Wayne wasn’t certain if that was the case, but his boy didn’t need to go barreling into that room until he calmed his boiling temper.
Scott opened his mouth to protest, and Wayne raised a hand to stop him. “Let’s go have a beer. I suspect she could use the rest and you could use some cooling off.” He pushed Scott’s shoulder and nodded toward the kitchen.
Scott gave a reluctant nod and followed him out to the porch.
Wayne dug into the fridge and grabbed two beers as his son slumped down onto the swing, arms crossed, stewing like an angry bear who just had his honey stolen.
He swaggered over to Scott and offered him the beer with a chuckle. “What happened there?” he nodded to the taped-up gauze pad on his son’s forearm.
Scott rolled his eyes and told Wayne all that transpired in the past two days. “I don’t get how I’m the asshole in the situation here,” he said as he finished recapping the story. “These fuckers that Chad owes money to threatened to rape her, Dad. I’ve got to watch out for her. She’s not looking out for herself.”
Wayne chuckled. “For a smart guy, you’re pretty damn stupid when it comes to women.”
Scott frowned. “All I’m trying to do is keep her safe.” He drank deeply from the beer. “For years I let Tori define the rules in our relationship. I’ve given her all the power, all the control.” Scott snorted. “If I’d been a man and stepped up, told her how I felt, she would’ve never been in that man’s car that night.” His son poured his heart out to him and his voice cracked, and his eyes welled up. “I almost lost her dad, and that about killed me. I can’t lose her again.”
“Grief masks itself as anger. Anger is quick, immediate and easy to deal with. Anger will always make you feel in control, and sometimes it has its place, but not this time.” Wayne patted him on the thigh. “Listen, son. Your heart is in the right spot, but you’re going about it all wrong. You can’t keep her safe. You can’t lock her into a padded room and keep her from getting hurt again. By doing things this way, you’re only making her feel like she’s in a cage. You need to build her up, give her the strength to do it on her own, and hold her hand when things don’t work out as planned.”
“That’s why I took her today. I wanted her to feel strong—because she is.”
“No, what you were trying to do today was prove a point.” He gave his son a fevered glare. “And she bit back. Literally.” Wayne snorted and took a sip.
Scott bobbed his head side to side. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” He took a pull from the beer. “I never want her to feel trapped. Ever. I love how free spirited and wild she is, but I hate it at the same time.” Scott scratched his brow. “I’ve been in some dicey situations. Bullets have flown by my head. I’ve been blown up. I’ve seen my brothers die in front of me, but nothing terrifies me more than the thought of something happening to my girl.”
“I suspect she fears being out of control and loss as much as you do.”
“Oh, I’m certain she does.” His eyes widened.
“Funny thing, isn’t it? How we somehow manage to end up with the one that forces us to look in the mirror—reflecting all our faults and fears.” Wayne let that hang in the air for a moment. “Makes us have to work on our shit. We have to become better men.”
His son seemed to chew on that for a bit.
“I can’t control Tori, and it was wrong of me to try to.” Scott nodded and gave his dad a pat on the back. “Thanks for setting me straight, Pops.”
Wane gave him a wink. “Always have, always will, son.”
Scott stood, tossed the beer in the trash and went inside.