Page 37 of Has-Been
“He wanted to. He was cutting my clothes off, and uh, and… and he put his hand down there, but he ran when he heard the bikes coming.”
Doc looked older and more tired, even as his eyes practically radiated compassion at me.
“I’m sorry you’re having to talk about this right now, but once I’m done, you don’t have to say any of it again. I can even be your voice with the others if you like. I see some cuts, where I’m guessing he caught you with that knife. Are you comfortable with me cleaning those up and dressing them?”
I nodded, my eyes straying to the corner where Has and my brother were both standing, studiously ignoring each other as they watched us.
“I… he groped me, but he didn’t uh… get inside. I’m still you know… what I was.”
Doc smiled at me. “It’s okay, love. I don’t need to know more, as long as you weren’t injured down there, I don’t have to go anywhere near that area. You’d prefer it if I didn’t, right?”
I nodded again, wincing as he cleaned one of the cuts with a wipe that must have been dipped in acid or something.
“Sorry. Just one more and we’re done. You’ll probably want to have a chat with Ice’s missus, she’s a therapist, so you can speak freely and she won’t say a word.”
I shuddered at the thought of telling another person. Weirdly, I felt like if I told anyone, it’d be Has-Been. He’d been closer to me than anyone ever, and he’d seen me. He’d treated me like I mattered, and he was hurting right along with me right now.
Twenty-Four
Stitchwaspracticallyfuckingvibrating with rage, and I knew another explosion was coming.
“Look, I get that you’re pissed at me, but don’t do this again in front of Elise, please. You wanna kick my ass later, fine, I know I deserve it. Just, she’s dealing with enough right now, please.”
My VP fixed me with the kind of glare people probably only saw moments before their mouths were stitched shut.Fuck.
“You think I don’t realise that? That I don’t recognise thatmyfucking sister has been through hell tonight? If you’d just stayed away from her, she wouldn’t be here right now, reeling from whatever that sick fuck did to her.”
Wasn’t that just the kind of agonising truth I was trying to hide from?
“I know. I’m always gonna hate myself for risking her safety. We just… look, it’s not just some kind of fucking fling or something. She’s it for me. She’s all I fucking want. I can’t go five minutes without thinking of her, and when I’m away from her, all I can think about is getting back to wherever she is. Think what you want of me, but I wouldn’t risk everything that matters to me, for someone who didn’t matter more.”
He didn’t look any less pissed off, which was a surprise, considering that I thought part of the problem was that he thought it was just some fucking dalliance or something.
“I mean it, man. This is real. I tried to fight it, but-”
“You’re weak, yeah I got that. Look, I’m not gonna beat the fuck out of you right now, because she comes first, and she doesn’t need to see that. This isn’t over though. You don’t just get to make a move on my fucking sister, and nearly get her raped and killed, and we just get past it. You’re not what I want for her. She’s meant for more than some biker asshole, who fucked half of this damn town, and moonlights as a fucking porn star. God no. There’s a fucking showdown coming, and I don’t know what that means for you, because I can’t see us both having a future here.”
Jesus. That stabbed feeling in my gut earlier on? He just punched that same spot, and it nearly stole my breath. He was really going to kick me from the club? For falling in love?
“Stitch…”
“The only reason you’re still here right now is because she was clinging to you for dear fucking life. I don’t know what kind of twisted spell you’ve got over her, but it ends and it ends now. I’ll tolerate you around her for as long as it takes to figure out how to remove you.”
Fuck. Stitch glanced at the cut I’d thrown back onto my bare chest after Elise finally let go of me.
“Hope it was worth it, getting your end away. You just lost everything.”
I fought the raging emotions inside me, and the desperation at the loss of everything I’d worked so hard for, because there was only one thing to say.
“She’s fucking worth it. She IS my everything.”
Elise
TheatmospherebetweenSethand Has-Been was almost unbearable when they returned to my side, and Doc quietly told them what I’d told him, because he was right, my voice couldn’t say those things twice. They both looked relieved that they’d interrupted the bastard before he raped me, but it didn’t become any less tense between them.
“I’d suggest that we let Elise go back to where she feels safest for the night, be that her room or wherever. I’m sure she wants to freshen up after what she’s been through. And yeah, I can see the fact that you two are ready to kill each other, but just hold that shit back at least for tonight, because Elise needs support and comfort right now. Not a fucking massacre.”
Seth wasn’t even looking at Has-Been, like he’d already dismissed him or written him off somehow, and I realised that my words earlier had probably been the ones that destroyed Has’ life. We could have pretended it was anything other than it was, but I’d made it real. I’d said words we hadn’t even said to each other, because we hadn’t even had more than a few hours together.
