“Yes.” Tirone pulled me into his body, my back to his front, his nose skimming over my neck. “Fuck, I missed you, Jo. I missed you so fucking much.”
I almost passed out from the heart attack he was about to give me, but his words flared under my skin like raging pins, keeping me alert. He missed me?! He fucking missed me?! “How did you get in here?”
“You forgot I have a key?”
How did he get past Fort and Laius? He must have gotten in after I’d left this morning and before we returned from Rosewood. Huffing, I yanked myself away from him and twisted. I tossed my sunglasses on the bed so he could see my fury when I looked at him.
He looked exactly the same. A shiny high school alpha hole. Clean jersey and jeans. His body didn’t lose any muscle weight, if something he added more to it. Perfect hair. Clean shaved. Perfect skin, no black circles under his eyes, not even a fucking pimple. No signs of sadness or sorrow. No injuries. Not a scratch. Well, except for that hole in his nose where a stupid nose ring was in place. Piercings are more useful in cocks, asshole.
He was standing here in my apartment, which he obviously didn’t forget where it was located or lost the key to it, in my own bedroom, like he owned the place without a shred of remorse. Now. Of all the days and nights he could have returned, he chose now to show up. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I missed you, Jo. You’re my girl.”
A bitter snort ripped out of my throat. “Fuck you, Ty.”
“I know you’re mad at me, and you have every right—”
“Mad at you? Mad at you, Ty? Oh my God. Mad is when you have a fight or get stood up or even catch someone cheating. You disappeared on me without a word. For two fucking months. And now you had the audacity to come back just like that saying you missed me, calling me your girl?
“Do you have any idea how many times I called and left you messages begging you to tell me if you were okay? Do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought something happened to you, Tirone. I was going out of my mind, trying to find you. I searched for you at hospitals and police stations. I even risked everything and went to your house. Do you have any clue how horrible and stupid I felt when I found out you were here all this time, safe and sound?”
“Jo, please, listen to me.”
“No.” I drew a hand over my eyes before any tears slipped away. “You can’t just come and go whenever you like. You can’t ghost when you want and talk when you like and demand I listen.”
He stepped toward me, his hands reaching for my face.
I raised a finger between us. “Don’t even think about touching me. You know what? Just…just get out.”
“You have to listen to me. You have to let me explain.”
“I don’t have to do anything with you or for you. There was a time when I’d have given anything to see you again, to have you here and let you explain why the fuck you did that to me, but now…” I chuckled without humor. “I don’t care anymore. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. Get out, Tirone.”
He just stared at me, hurt in his eyes. Like he had any right to be the wounded one here. I stepped out of the room, gesturing at the front door so he’d take a hint.
“I lied to you,” he said. “About my father. He’s not dead.”
What? I stopped in my tracks, but then I shook my head in disbelief, reprimanding myself for allowing any kind of feelings toward whatever he had to say or do. How could I even believe anything he’d say? He could be lying through his teeth for all I knew. There was no chance I could trust him again. “I told you I didn’t want to hear it. Whatever it is. It’s over, Tirone. You and I are over.”
“Don’t say that.” His voice came from a dark place, not pain or regret or fear.
How he thought he still had any power over me or control over our relationship, how he still felt possessive of me that he could just come back and expect me to resume things where he left off like my feelings didn’t have any right to change, how he thought he could intimidate me with his dark side to manipulate me into coming back to him infuriated me even more. “Oh, I will. You know why? The second you decided to walk out on me without even a goodbye, you gave up every right to be standing here now, telling me what or what not to do. You gave up everything related to us. So I’m telling you again, us doesn’t exist anymore, Ty. You and I are over.”
I walked toward the door, but I was dragged backwards by his strong grip. “No!” My heels dug in the carpet as my arms reached for anything I could use to stop him. He lifted me in the air before I grabbed anything and hurled me on the bed. Then he pinned me down with his weight.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” I shouted.
He held my wrists above my head despite my struggle. “Reminding you who owned you.”
“Get the fuck off of me, Ty. Now.”
He unbuttoned his jeans. “Not before I get back what’s mine or have you forgotten, Jo? You made a promise to me. You belong to me. But it’s okay. I’ll make you remember.”
“You’re insane. Get off of me. I don’t belong to you. Not anymore. Get off of me, you asshole!”
“There’s no such a thing. You’re my little faerie. Always will be.” He lowered his jeans enough to free his cock. Then he tried to take off mine. I writhed hard, my legs flailing behind him as I slid my body back so that my knee would reach his balls.
“Why are you fighting me, Jo? I know you’re angry, but I’m back, and I’ll make it up to you.” His mouth approached mine, but I jerked my head away. He still kissed my cheek. “You’re my girl, and I love you.”
“I said I’m not yours anymore,” I seethed.
His eyes darkened with familiar rage. Then he inhaled me. “What’s that smell you reek of?”
Tirone’s darkness was dangerous, yet I knew how to handle it. Fuck, at some point, I even craved it. That was why I was beneath him against my will, but I wasn’t truly afraid. Somehow I knew I could fight him off one way or another. But when he smelled Laius on me, that was when real horror crept up my body.
“That’s none of your business. Now, get the hell out of my apartment and never show me your face again.”
He wiped his mouth and stared at me for a second. The next he tore my pants down, exposing my pussy. I screamed at him, but he choked me. “Where the fuck are your panties, Jo?”
My eyes teared up, but I kept my mouth shut. Just like I wouldn’t tell Laius about Ty to protect them both, I would never tell Ty about Laius.
His face contorted as if he was about to cry, but I wouldn’t be fooled by it. I used the tiny opportunity of his loosening up his grip and pushed myself back. Then my knee smacked his balls. As he bent, groaning, I hit him in the ribs, and then crawled and tripped out of the bed.
I pulled my pants up to run out of the apartment, but he barreled down on me, bringing me back to the floor. His ironclad arms fully immobilized me. “Do you not remember what happened the last time some fuck tried to touch you?”
I did. At a bar we went to on one of our trips out of town, one guy tried to grope me, thinking I was alone. Ty beat the shit out of him, took his wallet, threatened to tell his wife and register him as a sex offender in ten different states. Then Ty broke the guy’s hand.
I thought it was one of the nicest things someone did for me.
Click.
My heart thrashed at the sound. The memory of the night I’d lost my mother flashed behind my eyes because I’d heard a similar sound back then. That click belonged to a gun. Was that my gun?
“I’m sorry, Jo. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I should’ve been here to protect you, to stop that piece of shit before he took something that didn’t belong to him. But it’s okay, baby. I’m here now. I’ll fix it. It won’t be just his hand I’ll break. I’ll kill the son of a bitch.”
“The fuck, Ty? Are you crazy?” I inclined my neck toward him, and I glimpsed the gun barrel poking from his hand, knowing beyond doubt it was real. It was mine. “Put the gun down.”
“You have to tell me who it is so I can make things right.”
“No, Tirone. You can’t do this. Oh God.” I began to sob. How had I ever been in love with someone as dark and dangerous and psycho as Tirone? How had I been pretending he wasn’t deeply disturbed and in dire need of professional help? Obviously, I needed the same for loving him and his darkness.
How did I get myself and Laius in this situation?
I had two choices. Try to fight, just like I did with the club whore, using everything Michele had taught me to defend myself since that night he saved me from the men of my father’s wife. Or give up my life for the man I loved. Option one—if I didn’t get myself shot dead—would buy me some freedom, but then what? Tirone wouldn’t just let me go. He’d come after me, and that would lead him to Laius. Then one of them would be dead and the other would be in prison for life. Same thing if I asked Michele for help. Blood. Tirone would be dead. Perhaps Laius, too.
I couldn’t live with myself if Tirone died because of me. I cared about him still, as my former student and as a man I used to love. He was young, and with the right help, he had his whole life ahead of him. I couldn’t let Laius get hurt because of me either. I loved him, and he had a son to live for.
I, on the other hand, was unwanted from the day I was born. I brought nothing but trouble to the people who loved me. “Listen, Ty. The other guy at the bar tried to touch me against my will, and you made him pay for it. This time, it’s different. I wanted it. I fell in love with another man and gave him myself. It was all my fault. If you have to kill someone, then kill me.”
He flipped me on my back, scowling at me. “How could you say that?”
“It’s the truth. You left me. Still, I waited for you. I thought you loved me like I loved you. I thought you meant it when you said I was yours. Until I saw you that night at Belle View and realized how much of an idiot I was. So I fell in love with someone else.”
“Shut up.”
“No, I won’t. I don’t love you anymore, and I love him, you know why? Because you’re just a boy, and he’s a real man. He knows how to take care of a woman.”
“I said shut up.”
“Shoot me, Ty. Do it. I betrayed you. I let another man fuck my pussy, your pussy, and I fucking loved it. If you’re a man, shoot me. Now.”
He shook his head, growling. “No. No!” He pressed the gun to my temple. “How could you say that?” He slid it along my cheekbone and then down to my neck. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, knowing it was my last. A shiver took over me that I could barely control. Fear, self-preservation, or just desperation, I didn’t know or care. My life meant nothing. It was a trivial price to pay to save the person I loved.
As tears spilled down my face, I said goodbye to Laius in my head.
“How could you say that?” The cold barrel left my skin. “You know I can never hurt you, Jo. No matter what you do, I’ll never hurt you, baby. You’re my little faerie.”
His breath fell on my lips. My eyes snapped open as he took my lips between his. “No.” I pushed him off my face. “I’m telling you I’m in love with someone else. You kill me now or you fucking leave me be.”
“You’re smart enough to know that’s never gonna happen. I can’t live without you, Jo.” The back of his hand brushed against my face. “I forgive you, baby. Always. That twat you call a man, though,” he smiled darkly, “will still be dead.”
“No, Ty, no,” I sobbed.
“Hush.” He pulled down my pants again. “Now, where were we?”
“If you touch me, I swear to God I’ll kill you myself.”
He pressed the gun on my mound, and my heart dipped. “You just fucked another man. You think I’ll just dive in after him?” He sighed, shaking his head. “I have to clean you up.”
“I’m not dirty, Tirone. If I ever was, it was because of you. You treated me like a dirty whore and dumped my ass, leaving me to rot in fucking shame and guilt and hate. I’m proud of being his girl now, and I’ll hold his cum inside me as long as I can.”
His jaw twisted while he gave a low snarl. Then he put the barrel inside my pussy. My eyes widened at him, and I forgot how to breathe. “What the fuck?”
“Since when do you swear like a biker, Jo?”
My heart forgot how to beat, too. Holy shit, did he know?
“Did you really think I just left you?” He pushed the gun barrel inside me and then out, fucking me with it, stopping my heart with every terrifying, humiliating thrust. “Here’s the thing, baby. I disappeared because my piece of shit father isn’t dead like I told you. Mom left him years ago because he abused her. She was afraid he was going to abuse me, too. But the day I disappeared, he came to our house, drunk, and attacked my mother. He almost killed her. I stood up to him, and he attacked me, too. She called the cops in time. Who knew what would have happened if they hadn’t caught him?”
He watched me gasp as he entered me with a weapon, and then his eyes sparked with arousal as he watched the barrel glisten with my juices and what remained of Laius’s cum. “He threatened me that day, Jo. He threatened to hurt me because I helped my mother. The only way he could hurt me was through the people I loved. Mom and you. I had to stay with her all the time to protect her, at least, until I knew he was behind bars. At the same time, I was afraid he was gonna find out about us and hurt you, baby. He’s a criminal with ties to the mob. What if he found out who you really was?” He pushed the gun deeper, violating me. “I had to pretend I didn’t know you, Jo. I had to pretend I didn’t care about you only to protect you, baby. But I was never gonna leave you. How could you think I would?”
I didn’t know what to say or even feel, so I just cried. Maybe if I hadn’t met Laius, maybe if I hadn’t had a literal gun in my vagina, there would have been a chance I believed him and even forgiven him. I’d have seen what he’d done as a noble sacrifice and loved him even more.
But why did he not just tell me the truth back then? We had a burner phone he could have answered once to explain. That was all it would have taken to keep me from the heartache and worry. Instead, I was being forced to listen to his story, which was supposed to make me forgive him, that could be nothing but lies, while being fucked with a gun. He was cleaning me up, scraping my pussy out of another man’s cum with a fucking loaded gun.
“I’ll never leave you, little faerie. You’re the love of my life. You understand me. You love me. So do I. Even when I had to go away, I kept my eye on you when I could. At first, I had to stay away completely, but when he was sentenced to a couple of years behind bars, I checked in on you. I knew you got that job at the Arena. I knew you were still at the school. I even saw you at Belle View, but I couldn’t talk to you. I couldn’t be seen with you without risking your life. Can you imagine how hard that was for me? To be this close to you and never be able to even say hi?” His whole face darkened. “Then I saw you this morning in Rosewood…”
“Ty…please stop.”
“Stop what?” He pointed at the gun. “This?”
“Yes. Please.”
“Not until you come, Miss Meneceo.”
“What?” How could I fucking come with a loaded gun scratching inside my vagina about to blow my insides up any second?
“Remember when I called you Miss Meneceo in bed? I thought that was our thing. But you just had to fall for another student. In fucking prison.”
Tears flooded out of me. Tirone knew about Laius, and I didn’t know what to do to protect the man I loved from my psychotic ex. “How did you know all those things? And what were you doing in Rosewood?”
“Well, the part where my father is Night Skulls is real. They were having a party, which I’m sure you knew about, and I was invited because I’m kind of legacy. It’s a club thing. I’m sure your new boyfriend told you.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Oh, Jo. He made you become a liar, too?” He pushed the gun even deeper that it felt as if lodged in my throat. “You know when I didn’t see you last night I was so happy. I thought my doubts were nothing but that, doubts. I thought you were still waiting for me, and I was counting the seconds until I came back and told you everything, knowing you’d understand because you had a shitty father, too, and then you’d forgive me and everything would be just the same. But…” He sighed a moan. Then he dipped his fist inside my now loose wig and fisted the back of my hair, staring at me angrily. “Come like you came for him this morning.” He pushed the gun in and out of me faster, hurting me, punishing me, fucking me. “Come.”
“I can’t,” I whimpered.
“Then how about I use my cock instead? That will do the trick. Always did.”
“No.”
“You don’t seem to understand me, baby. You will break up with Furore, and you will give me back my pussy if you want him to stay alive. Otherwise, you’ll leave me no choice but to wipe that motherfucker off the face of earth and fuck you on top of his fucking corpse, in front of his whole gang if I had to.”
My eyes squeezed. A few months ago, I’d have thought that was hot. I liked it when he made those jealous threats. I loved it when he was possessive of me. Listening to them now, knowing they could become more than empty threats, knowing it was Laius he was going to hurt, curdled the blood in my veins. “Do you think if you kill him I can be with you again?”
“Maybe not at first, but you’ll come around. You know why? Because nothing matters but you. You’re everything, and I’ll do anything to make you mine. I don’t care if you hate me as long as you’re with me, and with time, my beautiful little faerie, you’ll learn to love me again.” He bent over me, and his forehead rested on top of mine. “What’s it gonna be, Jo? You’ll come back to me, and no one needs to get hurt? Or I’ll be using this gun on something far uglier than your sweet pussy?”
