Wicked Man (5 page)

Brothers did, I would string them up by their balls. Real men don’t

hurt women or children.”

“That’s not a sentiment shared by some men,” she replied.

“The abuse escalated and I ran. I thought I was safe, but after I had

settled into a new life and a new job, Billy showed up. He threatened

not only me but my co-workers. So I ran again. And again. And again.

Until I realized he would never give up. He would always find me. I

had to stop doing legitimate work and find places that would pay

under the table. Cleaning bars. Walking dogs. Whatever I could find

that would give me enough money to put food in my belly and buy a

bus ticket when Billy showed up.”

“Fuck, Abbot.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s killing me

to know he hurt you. That he’s hurting you
now
even as you stand

here in front of me. How’d he always find you?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “He just does. And I know

eventually he’ll show up here, in Stevens. And that’s when I should

run again.”

“No,” he snarled. “Like you said, no more running. That

asshole shows up here I’ll put a bullet between his eyes.”

“You won’t even know he’s here,” she said sadly. “Until it’s

too late.”

“Don’t give me that shit. You’re safe here, with the Forgotten

Rebels. My Brothers will protect you.
I
will keep you safe.”

She didn’t have the heart to tell him all her secrets, to reveal

all the mistakes she’d made with Billy. If she did, he would look at

her differently, and she couldn’t bear to watch the love fade from his

eyes into disappointment. Or disgust. She’d rather be dead herself. So

she didn’t say a word as he pulled her back into his arms to hug her.

Abbott closed her eyes and leaned into his embrace, savoring the

moment as she wondered how she’d ever gotten so lucky to find

Chadwick again. People may not believe two teenagers could fall in

love, but that’s exactly what happened, and now, even after all these

years, she loved him still.

And because of that love for him, she was willing to stay for a

while. She had no other choice. She didn’t have the strength to walk

away before she’d made new memories, ones that would hold her for

the rest of her life. Because no matter what Chadwick said, or the

assurances he gave her, she was a marked woman. If Billy caught up

with her, she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. A life for a life.

He’d promised her atonement one day, and she knew he wouldn’t

hesitate to follow through with his promise.

But she wouldn’t take Chadwick down with her. She wouldn’t

be responsible for his death, or the death of the people he cared about.

They’d been talking online for a while, and she’d come to know how

much his club meant to him. She’d rather put a bullet in her own head

before bringing harm to them.

She really hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that.

It had been a long time since he’d been back in Stevens,

Missouri, but Billy would recognize the place anywhere. Nothing had

changed. Not the one streetlight in the entire town, not the burned-out

mechanics garage that had once belonged to the Forgotten Rebels, and

not the run-down desolation that seemed to cling to everything. It had

been too small twelve years ago, and it was even smaller now.

His skin itched and he needed a fix. He started his car and

headed out of town, turning west onto Country Road Z. Nothing but

farmland as far as the eye could see. It all pissed him off. He’d had

plans when he’d been younger, ideas to make a shit ton of money

using the only weapon he’d had … computers. For a while he’d had a

game plan and was actually seeing a profit, until that cunt Abbott had

destroyed his concentration. She’d taken away the only thing he’d

ever really cared about, and by damn he was going to make her pay.

Come hell or high water, he wouldn’t rest until she’d paid with her

own blood.

He pulled up to the old abandoned farmhouse, the one the kids

had used as party central back when he’d been in school. He cut the

engine and got out from behind the wheel. The building hadn’t

changed much. It was just as ugly and run down as when he’d last

seen it, but it would serve his purposes. He reached into the backseat

and slung three computer bags over his shoulders, careful not to jostle

them too much, and marched inside the dilapidated structure.

The interior wasn’t much better, although someone had added

a couch and coffee table at some point. Debris was everywhere, the

remnants of people drinking, fucking and shooting up. A glass bong

lay discarded in a corner. Broken needles littered another corner.

Used condoms and empty foil packets lay draped like badges of

conquests. He’d had several of his own conquests behind these walls,

mainly from girls who’d gotten too high or too drunk to put up much

of a fight. Now this was the castle he wanted to bring Abbott to, give

her the humiliation of being fucked over right before he made her beg

for death. By the time he was done with her, she’d know the true

meaning of suffering and loss.

He scraped off the dust and garbage that was on the coffee

table and set up his computers. He had to fix the electricity problem,

which would be a snap to hack into the local power plant. Once he

had it going again he’d be set to fuck up the motorcycle club Abbott

had run to for protection.

She had no idea just how good he was at screwing things up

for people.

****

pulling her forward. She stood like a prize mare on display while a

dozen eyes watched her. “She’s under club protection.
My
protection.

So no fuckery, got it?”

The men greeted her with appreciative smiles while the club

women sized her up as competition. She knew all of them by name

because of her long Internet conversations with Chadwick, but it was

still surreal to meet the people behind the names. Abbott didn’t even

mind the women’s lack of hospitality because she’d probably feel the

same way had the positions been reversed.

The clubhouse was bigger than she imagined it, more like a

large two-story farmhouse, although any type of homey feeling had

been obliterated with beer signs, Harley-Davidson memorabilia, and

posters of naked women. A pool table was in one corner and a bar in

the other. Chairs of all shapes and sizes were stuffed all over the place

and a black leather couch had been pushed against one wall.

“You hungry?” Wick asked. “Thirsty?”

A dozen plus eyes watched her, and she felt like they were

judging her. Did they know about her? About her past with

Chadwick? Or how she had a crazy stalker chasing her, determined to

administer his own brand of justice?

“Abbott?” Wick asked.

“Uh, yeah,” she muttered. Anything to get away from the

stares.

He took her hand and led her from the big party room, past the

bar, and into the back, where a kitchen was set up.

“Sit,” he ordered and pointed to a table. “I’ll make you a

sandwich. Beer okay? That’s about all we have.”

“Fine,” she said as she sat at the table.

She watched him work to make her a sandwich, putting the

layers together like they’d been doing this forever. It made her sad. If

things hadn’t happened like they had, perhaps they would have been

doing such a domesticated act for the past eleven years. The reality of

the situation struck her hard and all she could do as he laid the paper

plate filled with food in front of her, was stare at his face.

“What?” he asked.

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “What really

happened that night?”

“What night?”

“The night at the old farmhouse,” she said. “That last night we

were together. I remember very little but I recall being half naked.

And that you were between my thighs.”

He pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down heavily.

“Oh. That night.”

“Did I do something wrong?” It was the question that had

been burning in her mind and heart since the moment she found out

he was gone.

“What?” He shook his head emphatically. “No, Abbott, you

did nothing wrong. It was me. We were in that bedroom and you were

willing, and so God damned wet it about drove me out of my mind. I

wanted to make you mine so badly that night.”

“But we didn’t have sex.”

“No, we didn’t,” he said, and then grimaced. “Let’s just say I

was overly excited.”

She cocked her head, a little confused.

“I came, Abbott. All over my fucking hand before I even got

in your pretty pussy.”

She sat back, stunned. “Really? I don’t remember that.”

He ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Well, it was

embarrassing as hell. There I was, a nineteen-year-old man and I

acted like I was an untried kid. I didn’t want you to know.”

“So that’s why you told me to get dressed? Why you left me?”

“Hold up,” he said. “Now, I ended our date that night because

of that, but that’s not why I left. I joined the army.”

“Yes, I know that, but you never told me you were joining the

army, Chadwick. How long did you know you had to leave?”

“The president of the club called me that night,” he said. “If I

wanted the patch I had to enlist.”

“But … but a person doesn’t just sign up and
poof
! They’re

gone. It doesn’t happen that fast, does it?”

He nodded. “In my case yes. I enlisted as an ordinary infantry

soldier. I didn’t need a delayed entry program for what I signed up

for. I went in on Monday and shipped out to basic training that

Friday.”

Sadness slammed into her. “And you didn’t think to say good-

bye to me?”

Regret filled his face. “I couldn’t, Abbott, because there was

no way I could look in your eyes and ask you to wait for me. Yet, I

also couldn’t let you go.”

She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I never

thought you were a fucking coward, Chadwick.”

He winced. “I deserved that. What can I say? I was an

immature kid, Abbott. Listen, I needed the club. It was all I had once I

left my dad’s house. At the time, I couldn’t stomach his happy ever

after with a new wife and family, but I know now I was just being an

asshole. With him and with you. I’m sorry. Man, am I ever fucking

sorry for all of it. My dad went to his grave not knowing how much I

regretted the things I said. So please, I know I don’t deserve it, but

give me another chance.”

His explanation tied up all her lose ends in a very unflattering

picture. Yet how could she judge him for his immature actions when

she did the exact same thing? Hurt and abandoned, she hadn’t even

waited for him to come back and explain things, to do the mature

thing and confront him. No, she had grabbed onto the first person to

give her a kind word, running away from home and making her

parents suffer. Unfortunately, Billy’s kind words were nothing but

lies. At least Chadwick did something noble with his running away.

All she did was become a psycho’s punching bag.

She reached out and took hold of his hand. He gripped her

fingers tightly.

“I suppose we both did something stupid,” she said. “But … I

… care about you, Chadwick. Still.”

“Same here,” he whispered.

“Can we start over?”

“I would love that,” he said. “I know the past can never go

away, but I want us to grow from it. I’m not the same boy I was.”

“And I’m not the same girl.” She smiled at him. “For the time

I’m here, I want to be yours.”

“Oh, babe. You’ve always been mine,” he said.

He tugged on her hand, getting her to rise and sit in his lap.

Her heart began to pound with excitement at his nearness, turning her

on. Wick cupped the back of her head and guided her lips toward his.

The first touch of their lips was nothing but a slight brushing against

one another. An acquaintance from memories long ago. They’d had

cybersex through Snapchat, flirted and sent naughty pictures over the

past few months, but this was reality. He was big and hard beneath

her, a man now and not the boy from her youth.

Then he growled a little, deep in his chest, which rumbled

through her body, igniting a deep inferno which had lain dormant for

so long. All coherent thoughts fled as her lips parted and desperation

took over. She grabbed hold of him, needing to be closer, and he must

have sensed or felt the same urgency and longing because his fingers

tangled in her hair and the kiss shifted from tentative to scorching hot

instantly.

He sank his tongue into her mouth, all consuming, even as she

returned the intimate probe. The hand that gripped her waist pulled

her close to him, but still, it wasn’t close enough. So without breaking

the lip-lock, she shifted around until she was able to straddle him,

bringing her body into better contact with his. In this position, she

could feel his cock straining against the denim material, the hard shaft

pushing against her feminine core. The material separating them was