They can’t hurt us anymore.
I pushed some short, sharp breaths out, trying desperately to get my shit under control.
My skin was on fucking fire.
I covered my ears, trying to dull the roar there and dropped to my knees, unable to hold myself up any longer.
And then the first kick came.
My uncle’s right-hand man, William, kicked me repeatedly, like he had done so many times. My whole body blazed with pain as his boot connected with my gut, my legs, my arms and my head.
When he decided I’d had enough of his boot, he yanked me up and punched me. The force of his punch landed me on my ass, and I took a blow to my head when the back of it hit the edge of the coffee table. Something in that punch woke my fighter side, though. I’d never stood up to William when I was younger, but fuck if I wouldn’t now.
Shutting down my conditioned response to him, I pushed my way up off the floor. Raising my fists and roaring out my anger, I lunged at him. He blocked my punch, but I didn’t give up. I would never give up again.
I fought like the soldier they’d trained me to be. I landed punch after punch on him, but he also got some in. My body didn’t feel the pain, though. I was running on pure adrenalin and rage. There was no time for feeling anything.
I didn’t stop until he lay sprawled on the carpet in front of me. Unconscious. Staring up at Joseph, I fought for my breaths, but I managed to spit out, “Fuck you.”
He stepped over William and came to me, our faces close. “That will be the last time you speak to me that way.”
His declaration was like an ominous message. One that meant nothing to me because I’d already made the decision to kill him. However, as I raised my hands to choke the life out of him, a loud knock on the door sounded.
“Ah, that will be my guests,” he said and moved around me to let them in.
My mind failed in its efforts to keep up, and I missed my chance to end his life when five men entered the room. I could take on Joseph, but I couldn’t take on that many at once.
I met Joseph’s gaze. “This isn’t done,” I said and then exited the room before he could reply.
I managed to make it out of the hotel. My bloody appearance drew a lot of attention, but no one bothered me. The only thing that bothered me were my memories of William and Joseph and what they’d put me through all those years ago.
William may have hurt my body and drew blood, but those fucking memories hacked at me, ripping open old wounds I thought had healed. Wounds I was beginning to think may never heal.
38
Tatum
“Dust to Dust” by The Civil Wars
I’d just put silverside on to cook when Nitro turned up at my place, bloody and beaten. I’d seen him like that before, but I flinched as he stood on my doorstep looking at me through eyes full of pain. It wasn’t the wounds or the blood that caused my reaction; it was the torment radiating from him.
Pulling the door wide open, I let him in and watched as he walked to the kitchen. While he held himself like the warrior I knew him to be, there was something completely off about him.
Facing me, he said, “Are you good?”
It was such a simple question, but those three words were all Nitro ever wanted to know. He always wanted to make sure I was okay. They may have been plain words, but they held depth. And I knew they were words he reserved only for those he cared about.
I nodded, cupping his face. He was asking if Joseph had shaken me up. When I’d called to tell him what had happened, he’d been furious. But he’d also been concerned about Joseph scaring Renee and me. “Yeah, but you’re not. Let me clean you up.” Memories of the last time I cleaned him up surfaced. It wasn’t that long ago, but everything had changed since then.
After I’d gathered what I needed, I sat him down at my kitchen table and stood in between his legs while I gently began the task of carefully cleaning blood from his face. Darkness had fallen outside and the only sound I could hear in the quiet of the night was Nitro’s laboured breathing. I didn’t initiate conversation, figuring he’d talk if he wanted. But I also figured he probably wouldn’t.
He surprised me when he did speak. His words came out so quietly that I almost didn’t hear them. “Ever had anyone in your life who scared the absolute fuck out of you, Vegas?” His hand gripped the back of my thigh. I not only heard his agony, but I also felt it in the way his hand clung to me.
“Yes.” It was almost a whisper. I didn’t want to remember this. But I knew that for Nitro, I would if he needed me to.
His fingers dug in to my leg harder. “Who?”
My eyes closed for a moment and I swallowed hard as my heart threatened to crash through my chest. “We used to have these neighbours when I was thirteen who had a son a couple of years older than me. He liked me, but I wasn’t interested in him. For two years, he tried to get me to go out with him. At first he was harmless, but then he turned nasty. He started stalking me, always turning up where I was and letting me know he was watching. My parents were too distracted with their marriage that they didn’t notice what was going on. And I didn’t want to burden them by telling them.”