Page 77 of Bad Boy Next Door
He wiped his hands on his jeans. “I don’t know… I guess I usually just kick them out of the club. Twist an arm behind their back if they put up a fight.” He shook his head. “Fuck. Stan did not look happy tonight. I’m probably going to lose my job.”
“How about outside the club? How many men have you beaten to death?”
He tipped his head to the side. “Where is this coming from?”
“I’ve heard things…”
He looked up to the ceiling for a moment, then shook his head. “Rumors.”
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
“Listen. I’ve told you about my brothers, right?”
I nodded. This didn’t sound good. Frank was right.
“It helps my family’s business if… If I’ve got a certain reputation.”
“A reputation,” I repeated coldly.
“Yeah.” He pushed back his hair. “As a tough guy. Someone to be feared. If there are rumors that I’ve killed people, then my brothers planted those rumors. It’s nothing.”
Didn’t sound like nothing. “What kind of business are your brothers in, anyway?”
He drew a long breath. “Nothing that bad. Honest. No drugs or guns or anything like that, they just, you know, take things off some people’s hands and you know, sell them to other people.”
“Thieves.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
Disappointment permeated my body, landing inside me with so much weight it took me by surprise. This was what happened when you raised your expectations. I was totally blindsided by my reaction.
I hadn’t been looking for a long-term thing with Nick, or with anyone, but I’d let myself hope he was different.
Turned out Nick was a criminal, dashing the possibility of us ever being together, crushing my hope for something I didn’t know I wanted until the option was gone.
I couldn’t believe the wound the letdown had opened.
“Listen.” He leaned forward. “I’ve left all that stuff behind. Gone legit. That’s why I work at the club. I don’t work with my brothers anymore. I’m done with all that.”
“Really?” I wanted to believe him, so badly it hurt. “Then why do people say you’re a killer?”
“Like I said. Rumors.”
“What I saw tonight, that wasn’t a rumor. That shit was real. And fueled by anger. If you can’t control your temper, how do I know you won’t hurt me?”
His eyes widened and he gasped. “Jade. I’d never.”
“Bullshit.” I raised my chin. “I know men like you. You’re violent by nature, set off by anger. Sooner or later I’ll make you mad and you’ll hurt me. With you, I’d never be safe.”
His face went white and he looked like he might bring up his burgers. He hung his head, shaking it side to side. When he raised his gaze, his eyes were glassy. I’d never seen so much hurt in anyone’s eyes, ever.
“Jade. You’ve got to believe me. Tonight was… That wasn’t like me. And I’d never hit you. Never.”
I knew domestic abusers made claims like that all the time… Thing was, I believed Nick. Part of me thought I shouldn’t, but my gut told me that the words coming out of his mouth matched what I knew to be true in my heart. Nick was a gentle man encased in the body of a brute. A gentle giant.
What happened in the club wasn’t evidence of something he’d been hiding, it had been the exception. Melodie’s reaction had corroborated my gut.
I took another sip of beer. It helped clear both my throat and my thoughts. It didn’t matter if the killer stuff wasn’t true. I couldn’t be with a criminal, not after all I’d gone through with my dad.
