She stopped him. “He has no right when it comes to me. He’s not my anything. I knew this was a mistake. I’ll find someone else to be my security.” She turned to head back toward the entrance of the airport. I raced up behind her and grabbed her, lifting her feet off the ground. She screamed and tried to kick me.
As I carried her toward the car, Rebel got the front passenger door open. I put her inside and as I held her hands to keep her from beating me, I snapped her seatbelt. When she was fastened, I quickly put her wrists in the handcuffs I’d installed around the handle on the console. It had been just in case and it looked like I had been right to do it. She fought to get loose.
“Baby, stop before you hurt yourself. Calm down and I’ll let you loose, but first we need to talk.” She glared at me and then turned her face away from me. I sighed as I closed her door. I looked at my brothers.
“That is going to be one helluva uncomfortable drive home. Are you sure you want to do it this way?” Rebel asked with a frown.
“No, it’s not how I want to do it, but you saw her. She’s not going to listen any other way. Hell, knowing her, she’d try and jump out of the fucking car while it was moving. I can’t risk it. I have to find a way to show her I don’t want anyone else and that I never touched Melody, even though I made it look like I was. Thanks for this, brothers. I won’t forget.”
“You know we’d do it for any of us. Once you find your woman, nothing will ever be too much to keep her,” Bull reassured me. They all clapped me on the back and got on their bikes. I took a moment to take a deep breath before getting in the car. I glanced over at Jessica. She had her face turned away from me and her eyes closed. I started the car. I waited until we were out of the airport and on the road home before I said anything.
“Jessica, I need you to look at me, baby. Please. You totally misunderstood what happened that night three months ago when your stepsister showed up at the compound. Shit, I’ve been looking for you for the last three months and losing my mind. Why didn’t you stay and talk to me?” She didn’t say anything. She didn’t look at me or open her eyes.
“We’re not going to get past this if you don’t talk to me. Come on, baby,” I pleaded. She finally opened her eyes and looked toward me. The dead look in her eyes scared me.
“There is no getting past this, Ajax. Not now, not ever. As soon as we get to the clubhouse or wherever we’re headed, I’ll call for a cab. I’ll need a couple of days to figure out who I can contact to help me. In the meantime, I don’t want to see you or anyone from the club. Sorry this was a waste of everyone’s time.”
“Bullshit! We will get past this. You’re not going anywhere. Why don’t we start with why your family took you? Dolly didn’t give a lot of details.”
“Why don’t you ask your girlfriend, Melody? She can tell you. I’m surprised you don’t already know. I knew it was a risk to reach out to the Warriors considering your relationship with her, but I’d hoped she’d moved on already.”
“Melody isn’t my girlfriend now or ever!” I growled.
“I’m sorry, I used the wrong word. Why don’t you ask your fuck buddy?”
“I never touched her, Jessica! I know what you saw was damning, but I was acting that way to get her to talk. I wanted to find out what she was up to and what her past treatment of you was like. She showed her colors really quick.”
“Sure, you didn’t. I saw your face as well as every other guy in there. You were all bowled over by her beauty. It’s a wonder the floor wasn’t covered in drool. You let her rub up against you and touch you. You didn’t waste any time getting her alone somewhere. Sorry I was in your room so you couldn’t take her there to fuck her,” she hissed.
I could feel my anger rising. She was bound and determined to believe what she wanted. She was doing everything in her power to push me away and for us not to work. I wasn’t going to let it happen. Not after I’d been dead for the last three months without her.
“I repeat, I didn’t touch her. Yes, she rubbed up against me. I let her do it to make her think I was going to be a conquest, but I didn’t touch her. Not long after taking her to Bull’s office, I had her ass thrown out and told her to stay away from you. Imagine my surprise when I went to find you, that you were gone. You ran like a coward, Jess. You were waiting for something to happen that you could blame as a reason to leave me,” I accused her hotly.
“I didn’t need to look for one. You’re like every other guy I’ve ever met. Once they meet her or my stepmom, I cease to exist. I was stupid enough to think I’d found someone different. You just proved what I always knew to be right.”
“And what’s that?”
“Maybe I’m not meant to have someone. Or maybe I just need to make sure I go far enough away that I never run into them again. Then I can let myself find a man I can spend the rest of my life with.”
I gripped the steering wheel hard. “The only man you’re going to be with is me, Nymph. I promise you that. Stop closing me out. Listen. My brothers saw me throw her out. They’ve been helping me to try and find you since you left. I love you, Jessica. You know I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
She closed her eyes, and a tear slipped down her cheek. I reached over and wiped it away. She jerked away from my touch. For the remainder of the drive, no matter what I said, she refused to speak or look at me. By the time we pulled into the compound, I was about to lose my mind all over again. I stormed out of the car and paced around. My brothers got off their bikes and came over to me.
“Went that well, huh?” Rebel asked with a grimace.
“Yeah, she stopped talking or looking at me. Told me she’s not mine and she’s going to go far enough away she can find a man who won’t ever meet her stepfamily and will only want her. She thinks we were all drooling over Melody and would have been unable to resist fucking her. I don’t know what to do. She’s determined she’s leaving and finding someone else to help her. I don’t even know why she needs protection from them. What happened to her?”
“Bring her into church. We’ll all talk to her. I wouldn’t normally gang up on someone, but we need to know what the hell she’s gotten herself into, and we need to know fast. My gut is telling me it’s not pretty,” Bull said. Nodding my head, I went to get her out of the car. She kept her head turned as I unlocked her wrists. I helped her out of the car. Even though she tried to pull away from me, I refused to let her go. Then I marched her into the common room. The old ladies all cried out to see her and started toward us. Bull stopped them.
“Sorry, the welcome will have to wait. We need to talk to Jessica alone. Come with us, Jess.” She gave him a wide-eyed look. The old ladies looked upset and startled. I had to half drag her to the room we used for church. I sat her down in a chair right next to mine. The others filed in and went to their seats. She sat there watching it all with her eyes wide and an almost panicked expression in them. I didn’t want to scare her, but I did want to find out what she was hiding and to find a way to win back my woman.