Fighting Back (Mercy's Angels) (23 page)

Charlie

Glancing through the filthy windows of the decrepit old shack, my heart hammered as I took in the empty room. I moved along the house until I reached the next window and found a dark room which, as far as I could tell, was also empty. Patience was clearly not my forte and I struggled to keep my composure and remain calm. Edging around the side of the shack, I found what I assumed was once the kitchen, and in it stood William, looking out the windows into the forest beyond. He was on his phone, his attention distracted as I stayed down low for fear of being caught.

“
Tell him I’ll have the cash within the week, I already have a buyer and my lawyer left less than an hour ago to prepare the paperwork.
” His voice, though somewhat muffled through the closed windows, was confident and smug. Rebecca was here, and if I didn’t find her alive, this fucker was going to die in the most painful way possible. I heard William’s footsteps retreat from the window at the same time that Braiden appeared out of nowhere beside me. Dude was a damn ninja, I swear.

“Third guy just entered through the front door. Second has been taken out and I think that’s all. We do this now. Dillon will be here any minute but I don’t want to wait.” Braiden chanced a glance through the kitchen window then kneeled back down beside me. “They are in the back room, only room with the windows covered. We go through the front. First priority, take out Big Guy, then Levier. And we do it with no harm to the girls, agreed?”

I nodded, because I really couldn’t find fault in his plan. How exactly we would execute it was a little out of my grasp though. I followed Braiden back around to the front of the building where we glanced through a grimy window to see if anyone occupied the room beyond the door. Empty. Braiden turned the handle on the door and pushed it open. My body tensed, expecting a loud and obnoxious creak on such old hinges, but there was nothing. Braiden glanced my way and indicated he would go first. Expertly, and with far too much stealth and badass-ness than any average Joe should possess, Braiden moved forward into the building, his gun raised and ready to fire. Trying to mimic his movement, I followed. I could hear a female’s voice at the back of the house, but it wasn’t Rebecca. We followed, clearing the rooms we passed, looking for any sign of Big Guy. As we rounded a corner in the small dilapidated shack, we found Big Guy, who was, in fact, fucking huge, just like Rebecca said. He filled the doorway, just standing there, hands on his hips. Braiden didn’t hesitate, his gun held steady and high, he fired. Big Guy went down hard and we moved quickly down the hall.

“
Noooooo!
” screamed a woman’s voice, still not Rebecca’s. Braiden entered the room first, and I followed behind. The room was large, lit with a bright lantern sitting on a small wooden bedside table. There was a twin bed slumped to one side. Following Braiden’s gaze, I was struck fair in the chest with fear. William Levier stood in the center of the room, Rebecca held firmly to his chest, a gun shoved under her chin. Hanging behind them, looking barely conscious was Emily, her naked body limp like a rag doll. My eyes sought out Rebecca’s, and she watched me, panic and fear consuming her blue depths.

“Weapons down or I decorate the ceiling with her pretty little head,” growled William. “And drop the fucking stick, Ms. Donovan.” A metal bar fell from Rebecca’s hand and hit the ground with a resounding twang.

My finger sat on the trigger of my weapon, trained on William and Rebecca. I glanced over to Braiden looking for clues as to what the ninja had up his sleeve next. Without hesitation, he raised one hand off his gun and withdrew his finger from the trigger, and threw it to the floor.
Fuck, not what I had in mind, Braiden
. I didn’t drop my weapon, I simply couldn’t. William’s gaze zeroed in on me and he pushed the gun a little harder into the skin under Rebecca’s chin, making her whimper. Closing my eyes briefly and conceding defeat, for now, I lowered my weapon and threw it on the ground. I raised my hands and linked them behind my head in a sign of submission.

William smirked. “Wise choice, Cole.” He began to pull Rebecca to the doorway.

I took a few hesitant steps backwards trying to block his only exit, praying I didn’t spook the fucker, causing him to accidentally blow Rebecca’s head off. He seemed a little frantic and twitchy. His plans had obviously been thrown into chaos. He was also a man with a small heroin problem, most likely needing another fix. As he edged around me, his back to the doorway, a shadow in the background caught my eye. Dillon, thank fuck! Never have I ever kissed a man, nor have I ever wanted to, but in that split second, I would’ve laid a wet one on the former GI Joe or perhaps offered him my first born child. I lowered my hands and took a bold step towards William and Rebecca.

“The only way you’re leaving here with her is if you shoot me, so you had better fucking do it now.” Rebecca’s eyes widened and William paused as if considering his options.

“I’m not an idiot, Cole, I take the gun off her to shoot you, and he’ll shoot me.” He nodded to Braiden.

“Kick your weapon under the bed, Braiden, and do the same with your backup.” Braiden did so, pulling the second gun from the back of his cargos, making sure they both slid under the bed. “Now, you mother fucker, you got the balls to shoot me, or do you leave the hard stuff for your daddy to handle?” I heard Emily snicker from behind me and was pleased to hear she was alive. I saw the fire in William’s eyes as his gun shifted and he extended his arm. He was already a good six inches taller than Rebecca, add that to the fact that he now had his body turned slightly to take me out, Dillon had a clear shot—his gun was only a matter of feet from the back of William’s head, he wouldn’t miss.  The loud bang that cracked through the stiff, quiet standoff seemed almost surreal. William immediately slumped to the ground, taking Rebecca with him, his brains splattering all over the room. Rebecca screamed as Braiden lunged forward to pull her free from her tormentor. Seeing her body flail so helplessly broke my heart. I mean, seriously broke it, painfully. Too much pain and not really in my heart, more in my shoulder. I glanced down to see a small red stain quickly bleed out into my shirt. Holy shit, he fucking shot me! Rebecca flew across the room, screaming and sobbing as my knees went weak. I wasn’t dying. Well, I didn’t feel like I was dying,
but the thought that I’d been shot was making me feel a little woozy. Damn I was a pussy. The room quickly filled with Dillon, Frank, and Jax.

“Lay down, brother,” Jax commanded and I obeyed without protest. Like I said—pussy.

“You fucking asshole! You let him shoot you. How could you do that to me?” Rebecca demanded a little hysterically.

I laughed. “Sorry, Betty Boop, promise I won’t let it happen again.” I winced as Jax pressed something hard against my shoulder and rolled me slightly to check the other side.

“Clean exit,” he said, to whom exactly I have no idea. I glanced up to see Braiden carefully cutting Emily down.

“Baby, I’m good. Go check on your sister.” Rebecca’s eyes left mine for a moment as she too watched Braiden tenderly wrap Emily in a blanket. He carried her tiny body closer and knelt down beside us, his movements slow and cautious as if he were carrying a wild animal. Emily was watching Braiden, her eyes big and scared. “He won’t hurt you,” I whispered. She somehow dragged her eyes away from him and looked me over.

“He shot you,” she breathed, her face beaten in a way that reminded me too much of the night Rebecca was attacked.

“Just a scratch,” I replied, and at that moment Jax pressed down a little harder on my shoulder. I sucked in a breath. “Fuck me, quit doing that would you!” Jax laughed and I nearly decked him right there and then.

“Suck it up, princess.” He smirked.

“I’m sorry.” The room went quiet at Emily’s soft apology. Rebecca scrambled to reach across me and take her sister’s limp hand.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, this is on him, not you!” She said it in that stubborn tone of hers that broke no argument. Emily watched her through tired, weary eyes.

“This is all on me, B. The moment I walked out of Claymont with a far too big chip on my shoulder, I created this mess. You will never know just how truly ashamed of myself I am for doing that, for bringing this down on you.” Rebecca sucked in a surprised breath. Emily stared back with solemn guilt and shame etched into her features. I knew this wasn’t something that could be erased from Emily’s heart with a few words. This girl had seen evil, she had lived it, tasted it, and inadvertently brought it to her sister’s doorstep.

“You did everything you could to protect me, that’s why you stopped writing, stopped calling, right?” Rebecca insisted. Emily’s eyes were downcast and she seemed to melt further into Braiden’s embrace, which pretty much amazed me. “You insulted William just now in an attempt to get him to leave me alone. You put yourself in danger to protect me, and he hurt you. This isn’t on you, Em.” Emily’s body seemed to become limp, which freaked Rebecca out more.

Braiden carefully checked her pulse. “She’s just passed out, Rebecca, which is probably for the best, she’s in a lot of pain.” The look of inconsolable grief on Rebecca’s face was pissing me off. I wanted to hold her, comfort her. Without thought, I reached for her with the arm that just had a bullet put through its shoulder. I groaned when the pain shot through my body.

“Keep still, you dumb shit,” Jax murmured. Rebecca wacked him on the arm and I gave her my best happy face.

“Thanks, babe.”

“Ambulance is five minutes out. Be nice if you boys would stop getting yourselves into these shit-storms,” Frank said quite bluntly from above us.

“Last shit-storm was all on Jax, Frank. I had nothing to do with that one,” I said with a little too much grouchiness in my voice.

“And I didn’t get here on time to partake in that one. I did try my best though. Nothing like a good shit-storm to spike up adrenaline levels,” Braiden said thoughtfully.

“Did he just try and crack a joke?” Jax asked.

“Not sure. He’s been doing that shit a lot lately and I don’t get it. Maybe he doesn’t have the whole humor thing down yet,” I admitted. Braiden gave us the royal finger before standing with Emily in his arms and walking out of the room. “She’ll be fine, Braiden’s got her.” Rebecca’s worried gaze returned to mine, and one of what I assumed would be many tears escaped.

“I want to go home,” she admitted.

Her request melted my heart. Her last step to moving past all of this was her going home.

“Then let’s get me patched up so I can take you there.”

Rebecca

The last two days moved by like a full blown hurricane. Police interviews, media reports, doctors, nurses—I was bombarded left, right, and center. To top it off I had to spend more time in a hospital than I ever cared to, my eyes wide open, seeing it all. It made me queasy and anxious, but for the two people I loved most in this world, I would do anything. I still needed a time out though, badly! For the last two hours, Ella has been stoically by my side getting on anyone who dared approach me like a rabid dog. I couldn’t help but grin and turned to pat her head as she sat with her nose buried in a comic book. She looked like she was twelve damn years old.

She looked up and smiled at me. “Why are you patting my head?” she asked.

I shrugged. “You’re a good guard dog, the best.” She snickered as her eyes dropped back to the book. Charlie finally exited the bathroom, dressed in a sexy pair of low rise jeans and a black long sleeved t-shirt. His arm was in a sling, much to his distress. Jax told him only pussies needed a sling, but Dillon assured him that anyone with a gunshot wound to their shoulder needed one.  The moment I had seen him go down in Morris’s shack, my world tilted. A world without Charlie Cole in it, was a world I didn’t want to live in. It would have destroyed me if I had to bury someone else I love. When he had laid there, joking with Jax, and trying to soothe me with blood gushing out of his shoulder, I had broken down. My capacity to deal with what Frank called a shit-storm had reached its toll. I couldn’t go with Charlie in the ambulance because they needed to transport both Emily and Charlie together. Instead I rode with Jax, who explained to me how he had to follow Ella’s ambulance from Frank’s squad car when she had been attacked by her stepfather twelve months ago. He admitted how crazy it had made him and he hadn’t known whether to cry or punch something. He told me it was okay to do either, and I opted for crying. He placed his giant of a hand over mind to offer what support he could.  Two days, later the circus that surrounded our ordeal with William Levier and his subsequent death was in full swing. While the media had pounced on the news, Dillon, Braiden, Jax and Charlie all sat on the razor’s edge, concerned about retaliation by the business mogul, Jonas Levier. No one had heard a peep from him; he hadn’t even made a statement to the media. He was more than tight-lipped, it was as if he had vanished and it was making everyone nervous.

Emily was healing slowly. She had required more than eighty stitches to cuts spread at different intervals over her entire body. She had three broken ribs and I had a slight measure of understanding about that sort of pain—bruises were excruciating, broken would be intolerable. Her shoulder was dislocated from hanging for so long from that fucking rope and her wrists were bloodied and bruised. A fractured cheek bone and concussion rounded out her list of injuries. What broke my heart: she didn’t complain once. She didn’t even look to be in the slightest amount of discomfort, and since she has become lucid, she refuses any pain medication. The doctors confirmed Braiden’s story by bringing to our attention the scars on her back. She had been whipped to the point of bloodshed and her entire back was laced with permanent scars. The concern the doctors have at this point though were the scars on her soul. They ran deep and were the sort of scars that never fully healed. I tried to talk to her, but she refused to acknowledge me, her eyes set on the ceiling of her hospital room, her mind quite possibly a million miles from the safe haven of Claymont. I told her I loved her, that I didn’t hold any of this against her, and however horrifying the circumstances of the last month were, they brought her back to me, which I was grateful for. She said nothing. Now as I watched Charlie pack his overnight bag that Jax delivered this morning, I was ready to blow this joint.

“So, you’ve advanced from first grade picture books to comic books? Good work, squirt,” Charlie teased Ella.

She raised her middle finger without looking up from her book. “Eli gave it to me for Christmas, what did he give you?”

Charlie snorted. “
The Dark Knight Rises
, on Blu-ray.”

Ella’s eyes snapped up to meet Charlie’s smug grin. “What the hell did you do to get that? You bribed him, didn’t you?” she accused him playfully.

“Nope, he just likes me better.” Charlie grinned and reached for my hand. When he went to lead us from the room, Ella pushed in front and Charlie smirked. “Really, pocket rocket, you’re going to protect us from the hordes of media?”

“As if she needs protecting,” Ella signaled my way, “she beat the shit out of Levier junior with a steel bed post. She’s a fucking hero.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “It was more along the lines of: tapped him repeatedly, causing little to no effect,” I amended her impression of what happened.

“You fought the fucker because that’s what you do,” Charlie said, kissing my head. “You fight back because you are Rebecca Donovan,” he declared proudly. “My baby has the courage of a lioness. She’s gonna make one awesome momma to our babies one day,” he purred in my ear. His words stopped me in my tracks. “Yep, you heard right. Babies, as in more than one. I’m thinking three of four.” My lips quirked into an unbreakable grin. At that moment, Jax sauntered down the hospital corridor looking big and bad. Behind him Braiden and Dillon followed, dressed completely in black and looking equally as badass as Jax. Ella gave us a cheeky grin and leaped into Jax’s arms, laying one damn hot kiss on his lips.

“My calendar boys, looking sharp,” I murmured.

Charlie simply grunted and the men flanked us as we left the hospital.

* * *

I lay on my bed, my bed, in my room, in my house. I had been rather stiff and uncomfortable to begin with, my mind playing over the events of the last time I was in here. Charlie was beside me
though, his hand following an impromptu path across the exposed skin he could reach. Not yet ready to be naked in the bed, I was in flannel pajama bottoms and a thin white tank top, so there was still a fair amount of skin accessible, and his caressing hands were soothing my fears. I spoke to Braiden only an hour ago, and he assured me that Emily was fine, she was sleeping. I relaxed a little more knowing Emily had someone watching over her. In fact, we all had someone watching over us at the moment. Between Dillon and Braiden, they had pulled together a team who were quietly keeping on our tails while Jonas Levier was AWOL.  The lack of privacy and the feeling of being smothered should have angered me, but instead I felt a little more at ease. This ship was locked down tight. No Levier was getting through my laundry room window tonight, or ever. Charlie pulled me closer and nuzzled my neck.

“You smell so darn good,” he murmured.

I pushed him away as he continued to tickle me, sparking to life a yearning inside me that couldn’t come out to play. He was injured after all. “Stop that,” I ordered weakly.

“Hell no,” he growled.

I turned to look at him, suddenly feeling more than noticing the tension coiled in his strong body. I had been too embroiled in my own turmoil to notice Charlie battling his own demons. “You okay?” I asked, pushing a stray lock of dark blonde hair off his forehead.

“No,” he said truthfully. “Not nearly. Two days ago I stood in a room while some asshole held a gun to you.” His fingers delicately smoothed the skin under my chin where William had held his weapon. “I thought I was going to watch you die, and that has me really not okay.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yet you were the one who got shot and when I got all upset over it, you told me I was being silly.” It was awkward to be close to him like this. His injured shoulder was closest to me, his other arm reaching across his body to touch me. I wanted to melt into his warmth, but I didn’t want to hurt him either.

“Come here.” He pulled me and I moved to straddle him, only just barely avoiding his arm in his haste to have me closer. Once positioned above him he smiled, a real honest to God smile, and some of the tension left his body. “Just like this, every damn day,” he murmured.

“Have your meds made you loopy?” I asked, clearly not understanding what he was talking about.

“Every day, for the rest of our lives, I want to go to sleep with you here, with me, just like this.” My heart melted a little at his declaration. “Nothing between us, just you and me, skin to skin.” He lifted the hem of my top and I helped him lift it off. He seemed to sigh at the sight of my breasts and immediately took his one free hand and cupped the weight gently. “You okay with this?” he asked, suddenly a little nervous that I might not yet be ready.

“Oh yeah,” I moaned. “But you’re hurt, so we can’t do this yet.” He chuckled as he teased my nipple and it felt too damn good.

“My shoulder is hurt, not my dick, Betty Boop.” The aforementioned appendage was hard under my ass and I rocked a little, creating a delicious friction between our bodies. “Fuck, baby, get these off and then help me get mine off.” He tugged at my pajama bottoms. I obeyed quickly, and, in too much of a hurry to remove the sling and his shirt, we left it on and I climbed back up to straddle his waist. My greedy hands roamed over Charlie’s beautiful body. It was a masculine beauty, hard and unyielding, yet warm and safe. Finally I settled over his waist and dropped ever so slowly onto his hard length. We both groaned with satisfaction as he wedged deep inside me. “Ride me,” he ordered and I did so gladly. Moving in a slow pace that would normally be almost torturous for us both, was now more than soothing. This was healing. Reminding us that we were alive, allowing us to feel each other both physically and emotionally.

“Just like this, every damn day,” I whispered as I began to pick up our pace, our climax building steadily. Charlie’s eyes latched onto mine as I gave him back the words he gave me. “Without the gunshot wound and sling though,” I added. He grinned and it was wicked and sexy, and I would have come right then if he hadn’t stilled me with his one free hand.

“I’m not gonna let you go, Betty Boop, you should know that right now. You’re mine and I promise to give you everything, this and more, forever.”

I grabbed the hand he was using to still me and brought it to my lips, kissing his palm gently. “Good, because I have no intention of letting you go. And I’d hate to go all stalker girl on your ass.” I moved his hand to my breast and lifted myself slowly, slamming back down hard.

“Fuck,” Charlie bit out as I rode him hard and fast until we both screamed out in ecstasy. I flopped forward, and at the last minute remembered his injured shoulder. My head nestled into the crook of his neck. As he softened inside me, I made no attempt to move, content to lay here like this for all of eternity.

“You think Dillon and Braiden would let us stay with them for a while?” I found myself asking. In a fit of worry, Charlie rolled me to the side, his eyes wide and unsure.

“Did I push you too hard? You weren’t ready were you? Fuck. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable in your own home, baby, this is your family’s place. You need this. We can sleep in the spare room, we’ll just put a mattress down on the floor or something.” I put my finger over his lips to silence his rambling.

“Stop having a hissy fit, I’m fine.” He arched a brow. “It’s just, this place is kind of small. I thought I’d talk to the bank and see what I could do in terms of refinancing and maybe, I dunno, expand.” I searched his eyes, hoping what I said next didn’t freak him the fuck out. “It’s not really big enough for three.”

“Three?” he asked, my finger still over his lips.

“You, me and Em, if she wants to move in. I haven’t talked to her about it yet, but I’m hoping she will. And I’m probably being a little ambitious assuming you would want to move in, too, but your apartment burned down, and I thought you might need somewhere to stay.” Now I was rambling.

Charlie grinned. “You don’t need to refinance, if I’m moving in I’ll pay for the renovations. Fuck knows I can afford it and besides,” he winked, “I know a guy who owns a construction company, I’m sure we can get a good deal.”

My body relaxed as I took a deep breath and exhaled. It felt like all the pain and sorrow that filled my heart over the years—starting with the death of my parents—vanished. In its place, a new love existed: Charlie Freakin’ Cole. 

“I love you,” I whispered.

Charlie’s hand clutched the back of my neck, pulling me to him. “Not as much as I love you,” he whispered. I would have argued, but I was too tired.

My mind drifted over my short life thus far. If it were to be penned on paper, it would be quite the tale. Born to parents who were snatched too early from the lives of two innocent little girls; two little girls who were molded under the watchful eye of an old-fashioned, yet adoring grandmother; one sister’s devastation over the little sister who left her because her dreams were more important than family, only to find out that the little sister never even came close to her dreams, instead she was thrown to the wolves, her life consumed by pain and degradation. Somewhere in this story of heartache and pain, the lead heroine, I, Rebecca Donovan, found friendship with people who care for me just the way I am—there’s no need for me to pretend to be someone else or to conform into someone I’m not—I am simply accepted. I found a man who looks at me like I am the only person in the world who matters. It’s fitting that he looks at me that way, because I feel exactly the same way about him. Time and time again I’ve been knocked on my ass, but each time I’ve stood back up, dusted myself off and have become a little stronger. I knew I was strong enough to stand on my own two feet, I always have been, but the crazy thing is, I no longer have to. I have people to lean on, depend on. That used to scare me, but now I feel only humble gratitude and happiness at the thought.