I spun around to face her, just as horrified at her response. “Really? You want us to just stand here and watch as they try to kill each other?”
“You’re being dramatic, child. This is what men do. I don’t understand it either, but it seems to work for them. Maybe after they get it out of their systems, they’ll be able to move forward and leave each other alone.”
And so we stood and watched as they landed punch after punch on each other. I struggled to take it all in, and often had to turn away. By the time they were finished, they both lay on the front lawn battered and bloodied, and I wasn’t sure either could be called the victor.
24
Devil
I sat outside Bronze’s house on my bike early the next morning, contemplating exactly what I would say to him. I’d woken when
Hailee did for her meditation, and had gotten ready for the day, intent on getting to Bronze’s before he left for the day. Hailee had decided to skip her meditation and had asked me to drop her home on my way out. She knew where I was headed, and seemed concerned that we’d get into it again, but I assured her we wouldn’t.
We needed to fix this shit between us. Our fight the day before had been brutal. I’d been left with swollen eyes I had trouble seeing through, cuts and bruises. Bronze had fared about the same. We couldn’t keep doing this, and I suspected we would if we didn’t get our shit together soon. Either that, or he would make good on his threat to walk from the club. That was something I needed to stop from happening.
But what the fuck would he listen to? He hadn’t taken in anything I’d said up to this point, and I really wasn’t sure he would at all. Bronze was a stubborn asshole.
“Fuck,” I muttered to myself as I closed the distance between my bike and his front door.
I knocked on the door a few times, but he didn’t answer it. Figuring he could still be asleep, I pulled out my phone and called him. His phone rang, but it sounded like the noise came from just on the other side of the door.
“Bronze!” I called out, banging harder on his door this time.
My gut churned with concern when he still didn’t answer, so I headed around the back to see if he had any windows open. The unease I felt turned out to be justified when I discovered the back door kicked in. A few moments later, I found him tied up and gagged in his bedroom.
“Jesus fuck,” I said as I pulled the gag from his mouth. “What the fuck happened?”
“Three guys happened. They were all wearing balaclavas, though, so I don’t know who they were.” He grunted while I worked the rope off his hands and feet.
His face was a bloody mess where they’d beaten him, and when he moved from the chair, hunched over, I knew they’d taken to his body, too.
“Fucking assholes will pay for this when I find out who it was,” he said as he shuffled out of his room.
I followed him down the hallway into the kitchen where he pulled ice from his freezer. “You got some enemies at work who’d do this?” I asked.
Scowling at me, he wrapped the ice and held it to his face. “Clearly I do.”
“Don’t be a motherfucker. I’m trying to help you here.”
“Yeah, well I don’t want your fucking help, Devil.”
Ignoring that, I said, “I don’t get it. They came here and roughed you up, and that was it? Did they threaten you?”
He hissed as he repositioned the ice on his cheek. “All they said was that I’d screwed them over and I’d pay. They said they’d be back when it was done. Fucked if I know what that meant.”
Ice slid down my spine. “Fuck, Bronze.” I yanked my phone out of my jeans and dialed Hailee. “Do you think they would have gone after Hailee?”
His jaw clenched, but before he replied, Hailee picked up.
“Hey, you,” she said, and I could tell by her voice that she was smiling.
Relief coursed through me. Letting out a long breath, I said, “Thank fuck.”
“What’s wrong? You sound stressed.”
“Darlin’, I need you to do something for me, and I need you to do it as fast as possible, okay?”
“Devil, you’re scaring me.” Her fear bled through the phone, and I cursed silently that she had to go through this.