“He hit you?”
One nod. Her bottom lip trembles. More tears fall.
I grip her knee, my knuckles turning white. I’ll kill that little prick.
“He do anything else?”
Turning away from me she cries harder.
I grab her by the chin with more force than I mean to and jerk her face to mine. “He rape you?”
Alexa stares at me for seems like forever, and I wait for her to give me the words.
“What will you do if I say yes?”
“I think you know what the fuck I’m gonna do. Don’t fucking protect that piece of shit. You let me worry about it.”
Another nod.
“Need you to be honest with me. This isn’t something to fuck around about.”
Alexa stands up. I don’t know what she’s doing, but I sense she needs me to stay put so I don’t make any sudden movements. With her back to me she lets those braids out and lifts the cheer top over her head.
“Lex...” I start but she turns to face me as she arranges her wavy blonde locks over her breasts.
Fucking scrapes, bruises, and bite marks stain her skin like a painting. My veins burn, and I taste the rage bubbling within on my tongue. When she drops her skirt, I have to look away. Fingerprints bruise her inner thighs.
My face is the last thing he’ll see before he leaves this world.
I stand up and wrap my arms around her, pulling her into me. I kiss the top of her forehead. “He’ll pay. I swear to you I’ll send him straight to hell.”
Alexa swallows hard. “Make it painful.”
“Promise you, pretty girl.”
I’ll make this right for her. Letting Alexa go, I place my cut on the bed and remove my tee then hand it over to her. “Put this on.”
Alexa doesn’t move so I shrug the shirt over her head and push her arms through the sleeves. Flashes of her bruises and scars paint my mind red. I’m going to drain that fucker. I’m gonna watch him bleed out in a slow and painful death.
“You need to get some sleep.”
I’ve got a body to collect.
My cell phone vibrates, and I grab my cut off the bed.
Fuck. It’s the ball and chain.
Ruthie’s gonna pitch a bitch fit if she finds out I spent the night with Alexa. You’d think she’d be used to this shit by now—club business but it never fails. Woman nags over anything and everything.
Ruthie: I’m home and what a surprise you aren’t. Don’t bother to come home.
I can’t catch a motherfuckin’ break.
James: Don’t start your shit.
I shove my phone in my back pocket. “Was he the only one?”
Alexa hugs her arms to her stomach and shakes her head.