“Get it, Bo! Come on, bring it back, you damn gremlin.”
Sighing, I watched as Haribo picked up the tennis ball I’d thrown for him, running in circles as he tried to keep it away from Jojo. The concept of “fetch” had never gotten through to him. Traipsing across the yard, I picked up the slimy ball when he dropped it and tossed it back toward the house.
“You’re getting more exercise than he is,” Manson said, laughing as he watched me from the garage. Jason was working with them today, helping to recalibrate the software on the car they were fixing. Bo grabbed the ball, but instead of bringing it back, he ran toward Jason instead.
“Wrong person, Bo,” he said as the little dog sat snorting and panting at his feet. “There’s not much going on in that little head of yours, is there?”
Lucas had his earbuds in, bent over with a welder in his hands as Cherry sat perched on his shoulder. That little kitten had settled in quickly. Most of her aggression had melted away, at least with Lucas. She barely left his side, and would mewl pitifully if he was out of her sight for too long.
We were trying to kill time before we went to meet with our realtor. We were finally getting the house listed for sale, and our appraisal had gone better than expected. Manson was still only cautiously optimistic, but I wanted to celebrate before the damn place was even on the market.
“Is that Jess?” Manson said suddenly, looking toward the gate. An old red convertible had pulled up, having kicked up a cloud of dust as it barreled down our street.
“She’s hiking with Julia today,” Jason said, getting out of the driver’s seat so he could see.
“That’s Julia’s car,” I said. Before the doors even opened, a strange feeling of trepidation made my stomach go cold. Something was off, but I didn’t know what until Julia opened the passenger door and had to help Jess stand up out of her seat. “What the fuck…”
Sprinting across the yard, I reached the gate first. The dogs thought this was an exciting new game, and I had to shoo them back so I could get the gate open. Jess had her arm around Julia’s shoulders as she limped into the yard, her face tight with pain.
“What the hell happened?” I picked Jess up right away, getting her weight off her leg. Manson, Jason, and Lucas had reached us, and they were all talking at once, nearly drowning out Julia as she tried to explain.
“We were hiking,” she said, obviously trying to sound calm. “Nate and Alex —”
“What the fuck did they do to her?” Lucas’s voice shook with the effort to control his volume. He had Cherry clutched in one hand; with the other, he reached for Jess, grasping her hand and holding it tight.
“Everyone except for Jess and Julia need to shut the hell up!” I said, and silence fell instantly. It was rare that I raised my voice, but I couldn’t think with them all talking over each other in a panic. Jess had squeezed her eyes shut tight. She was in pain, and it made me so livid that I saw red. “Tell us what happened, Jess.”
“Nate and Alex followed us,” she said, her teeth clenched as she sucked in another breath. “They stopped us on the trail. They…shit…” She hissed in pain, and her next shuddering breath sounded dangerously close to a sob.
“I’m going to kill them,” Lucas said. “I’m going to fucking kill them.”
“Killing them would be a mercy,” Jason said. “They need to suffer.”
“Get her inside,” Manson said. “We need to call a doctor.”
“It’s not broken,” Jess insisted as I carried her across the yard and into the house. She pressed her forehead against my chest, and she was sweating despite the cool temperature. “It’s twisted, it’s happened before. I need…it just needs…”
“Ice and elevation,” I said, looking at Jason pointedly as I carried Jess into the living room and laid her on the couch. He got my meaning, and within a minute, he returned with a small bag of ice wrapped in a dish towel. Julia piled pillows beneath Jess’s ankle, and I carefully peeled up her leggings so I could get a better look at it.
Manson swore loudly when he saw the bruises and swelling. Jason held the ice against her, wincing when she whimpered in pain. “I’m sorry, Jess. Fuck…”
“Alex grabbed me,” Jess finally said, forcing out the rest of the story. She sounded far too calm considering what had happened, but at least one of us was. “I got them with pepper spray, but he pushed me. That’s how I twisted it. He said that since we broke something of his, he was going to break something of yours.”
The impact those words had on me was far deeper than mere anger. One look at the others and I could see the same emotion on their faces too.
Rage. Pure blinding rage.
“That’s it then,” Manson said. “We need to find them. Tonight. Now.”
“Manson, I don’t want any of you to get hurt,” Jess said. “Alex wants a reaction. He wants you to come after him.”
I shook my head. “No. Alex wants a reaction but he doesn’t think we’ll come after him. He’s too goddamn proud to think he’s vulnerable. If he thought we’d come for him, then he never would have dared to do this.”
“We’ll prove him wrong,” Jason said fiercely. “No one fucking touches our girl.”
Jess’s voice was desperate as she said, “You don’t have to do anything. This could fuck up everything you’ve worked for. What if you get in trouble? What if you’re arrested? What if —”
“What if I fucking stand here and do nothing?” Lucas said. He’d stepped back, leaning against the wall with his hands clasped behind his back. It was a position of self-control as he struggled to keep it all contained, but anger was leaking out of him. It was the first trickle of a flood before the dam broke. “What if I let that asshole hurt someone I care about and do fuck all about it?” His jaw tightened, vehemently shaking his head. “He’s not getting away with this. No way in hell. Apparently, I didn’t hit him hard enough last time, but we’re fixing that this time around.”
It didn’t matter what the consequences would be. I wasn’t used to feeling like this; I was generally a calm dude. Most shit would just roll off my shoulders, the vast majority of circumstances weren’t worth getting violent over.
But there were no rules once someone I loved was hurt; there were no limits, there was no caution. This wasn’t just payback; it wasn’t petty revenge.
This was punishment. This needed to happen to ensure that Jess was never, ever put in danger again. The thought of what could have happened if she’d been alone, if she hadn’t had pepper spray, if she hadn’t gotten away…
Holy shit, I could hardly stand to even think of it.
Lucas paced up and down the living room, too worked up to sit still. “Where was this? I need fucking directions.”
“They won’t hang around the trail,” Manson said. He was seated on the couch right behind Jason, having not taken his eyes off Jess for even a second. “Call Billy’s Bar. You still know one of the bartenders, don’t you? Call him and ask if they’re there.”
Lucas stalked out of the room, and within a few seconds, I heard him talking to someone on his cell.
“I can take you to Urgent Care,” I said, gently brushing Jess’s hair back from her face. But she shook her head.
“It’s okay. I’m okay. The ice is helping.” She squeezed my hand as I held it, giving me a small smile. “I’m okay, Vince. Really.”
“Except you fucking aren’t,” I said. Christ, I felt like I might shatter into pieces. I was sick with anger, with worry. I should have been with her. I should have been there. We all knew what Alex and Nate were capable of, we knew there was danger. How could I have been so foolish to think she would be safe?
“Do you want me to stay, girl?” Julia said, wringing her hands as she stood nearby. “I’ll call out of work tonight. I’ll tell them there was an emergency.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Jess smiled tightly, her breath hitching with pain. “I’ll text you later, don’t worry about me. I’m safe here.”
As Julia departed, Lucas returned.
“They’re not at Billy’s,” he said. “At least not yet. But he’s going to call me if they show up.”
“We need to find them,” Manson said. “I don’t care what it fucking takes.”
“Please don’t go anywhere,” Jess said, her eyes widening as she tried to sit up. I pressed her back down.
“Relax, baby, just relax. Let me give you something for the pain, okay?” I practically had a pharmacy upstairs, but I didn’t want to leave her side. I looked at Jason again, pleadingly. “Can you get my box from the attic? Under the bed.”
Manson took over with the bag of ice as Jason got up. He didn’t say a word, but his expression said plenty. Fury was etched into his face; it was knotted in his shoulders and clenched tightly in his jaw.
Starting fights and trashing the cars — I could find it in me to forgive that. But when they went after Manson and Lucas at the sideshow, I knew we had to get them back. Now that they’d gone after Jess…
They were going to wish they were dead men.
“I’m sorry, Jess,” Manson said. He was holding the ice against her ankle, and every time he moved his hands, they shook. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said. Her breathing had finally steadied as Jason returned with my box of pharmaceuticals. As I rummaged through it, she said, “Give me the good shit, please.”
“One of us should have been with you,” Lucas said. “I should have —” His cell vibrated with an incoming call, and after one quick glance at the screen, he picked up and said, “Are they there?”
I could only barely hear the man talking to him, but I heard a desperate plea. “Just don’t start shit, okay? I’m seriously on my last warning here. If you show up because you have a problem with these guys, then —”
Lucas hung up. “Nate and Alex just pulled up at Billy’s. Who’s coming with me?”
“I am,” Jason answered right away, then looked at me. “Will you stay with her?”
“I’m not leaving her,” I said. “You’d better be careful.”
“We will be.” Manson got to his feet, leaving the ice resting on Jess’s swollen ankle. It was difficult to guess what was going through his head, his expression was so carefully controlled. But when he looked at me, his voice was grim as he said softly, “Where is it?”
As much as I hated to carry the damn thing, I’d gotten a gun for a reason. We needed to defend ourselves, and I wasn’t about to let the three walk out of here without better protection than merely their fists.
“In the safe,” I said. “You know the code.”
He nodded, leaving the room. His steps pounded up the stairs as Jess looked between us with increasing distress.
“Don’t leave,” she said. “Please don’t go after them.” Lucas sat beside her, framing her face in his hands. She leaned into him, wrapping her arm around him. “Don’t go. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said. “Jason and Manson will both be fine. We’re not scared of them.”
“They’re not getting away with this,” Jason said. He was standing in the doorway, hands shoved in his pockets. Eager to go but hating to leave, especially when Jess turned her pleading gaze on him.
“I’d rather you be safe,” she said, and all the effort she’d put into sounding calm was suddenly gone. “You don’t need to go after them.”
“Yes, we do need to, angel.” Manson returned, pulling on his leather jacket. I glimpsed the pistol tucked into his jeans right before it was hidden again. “They’re not allowed to touch you. You’re off limits and they couldn’t respect that. They’re going to pay for it.”
Lucas left Jess with a kiss, disentangling himself from her arms and stalking out of the house with Jason right behind him. Watching him walk out the door made me wish I could tear myself in two. I couldn’t protect him and Jess, and it terrified me to let him go.
Manson clasped my hand before he left, and I said, “Don’t you fucking dare get hurt. Don’t…” I lowered my voice, because Jess was already scared and I didn’t want to make it worse. “Don’t let him get hurt, Manson.”
“You know I won’t,” he said. “Take care of our girl. We’ll be back soon.”
