Page 38 of Crow
The bitterness in me was wondering if there was any fucking point to this wedding, what with everything going on between us and the Freeways. The more optimistic part of me thought that what was happening with the Freeways was exactly why the wedding was so important. Even if I wasn’t going to enjoy it much, the others deserved some happiness to balance out the shit storm. It was something I wouldn’t have understood before Jade. I had wanted to be on task all the time, always moving so that my memories never had a chance to catch up with me. Jade showed me that it was okay to slow down, to smile. It made the hard times not seem so bad.
Then again, I hadn’t heard from Jade in almost two days after she promised to be back before I knew it, so why the fuck was I pretending anything I had learned from her had any truth to it?
I growled as I fumbled the tie for the third fucking time. I never could get it right. It would always be lopsided somehow, and Jeannie had to fix it for me every morning. I huffed, tugging at it in the hopes that it would fix itself but it only became worse. Frustration built up, and I was about to tear the whole bloody thing off when I heard the familiar rumble of bike engines getting closer. I tensed, straining my ears as if I could tell whether the bikes were friendly or not just from the sound of them. I was listening so hard that the loud banging on my front door made me jump.
“Jesus,” I muttered to myself, wiping a hand down my face. My heart was drumming against my rib cage, almost as hard as whoever was pounding at my front door. I took one last look in the mirror before heading downstairs and wrenching the door open. “The fuck do you want?”
“To know if you recognize this crazy bitch,” Vegas said.
“Yeah, ’cause she keeps asking for you… we think,” Maverick added.
“She just ran into the road,” Vegas whined. “Almost ended up eating asphalt trying to avoid her.”
“Is your name really Michael?” Maverick spoke over him. The two quickly devolved into bickering, but I wasn’t listening to them. I was too busy staring at the girl they were supporting between them.
Jade.
She looked like shit. Her usually sleek black hair was tangled in knots, she was wearing the same clothes she had been in when she left a couple of days ago, and her face was pale and drawn. I could see bruises on her neck and wrists that hadn’t been there before, and I had the gut feeling that I would find more if I looked under her clothes. My hands clenched into fists at my sides, and any anger and resentment I had been feeling for her was quickly redirected onto Ray and the rest of the Freeway Fucks. While Maverick was still asking stupid questions, I stepped forward and took Jade from where she was balanced between him and Vegas. She flinched back, and I had to take a deep breath to steady my anger. Then her glassy eyes seemed to register who I was.
“Michael,” she breathed, shoulders relaxing as she slumped into me. I carefully picked her up and carried her into the sitting room. I heard the rustle of fabric that meant Vegas and Maverick were following.
“One of you morons shut the door,” I snapped over my shoulder as I lay her down on the couch.
“Sure thing,Michael,” Vegas said, sounding far too gleeful. I gave him a dark look, and he paled.
“Do not call me that,” I warned in a low voice.
“Sorry, Crow,” he mumbled quickly and went to shut the front door while I turned my attention back to Jade. I had no fucking clue what those Freeway assholes had done to her these last couple days, but I was I sure that I was pissed about it. The only thing stopping me from storming into their house right now was the knowledge that I needed to keep her safe.
Fear and worry curdled in my stomach as I took in the shadows under her eyes, the bruises peeking out from under her clothes. Still, I couldn’t help but feel warm inside when I thought of her wanting me.
“Jade?” I asked cautiously, leaning toward her. “Look at me, darlin’, can you tell me what happened?”
“I—” she croaked then dissolved into a coughing fit. Her voice was hoarse, like sandpaper in her throat, nothing like how she had sounded the last time I saw her. I patted her back gently, turning to the two behind me.
“Water,” I growled. Maverick immediately moved toward the kitchen, but Vegas frowned and crossed his arms.
“Does someone want to fill me in on what the fuck is happening right now?” he asked. “Crow, we got a goddamn wedding to go to, man.”
“This is important,” I insisted. Maverick returned and held out the glass of water, and I took it to offer to Jade as her coughing faded away.
“Give ’em a break, Vegas. Crow’ll tell us in a minute, won’t ya, Crow?” Maverick placated his friend. I shrugged, helping Jade hold the glass of water to her lips. From their silence, I assumed they were going to be patient.
“There’s a sweater in the hamper at the top of the stairs. Go get it,” I told Vegas. I couldn’t tell if Jade was shaking or shivering, but either way, a change of clothes couldn’t hurt. He grumbled quietly but did as I asked. I helped pull the sweater over Jade’s head then pulled her into my lap. I could feel her relax as her head settled against my chest. She looked slightly more alert now, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I could feel Vegas and Maverick’s eyes boring holes into the side of my face even if they were being quiet.
“There’s beer in the fridge,” I told them. “Help yourselves.” As they headed into the kitchen, I pressed a couple of gentle kisses to the top of Jade’s head. “What were you doing trusting those two to get you here safe?” I asked her. “I actually know them, and I wouldn’t trust them to find their way out of a fucking paper bag.”
“They weren’t Freeways,” she said softly, as if that explained everything. I guess it did.
“We heard that, y’know,” Maverick said as he dropped into the chair across the room.
“Fucking rude, man,” Vegas added, sitting on the coffee table. “I’d be more upset if there weren’t obviously something serious going on. Speaking of…” He looked at me pointedly. Maverick elbowed him in the ribs, hissing something about patience, but it was obvious that he was interested too. I looked down at Jade.
“You want to fill us in, darlin’?”
“Ray, he… he knew… about us. He’s known for a while and—” She sniffled, looking up at me with watery green eyes. “He knows about the wedding, he’s gonna use it as an opportunity to attack you when you’re all together.”
I could see Vegas and Maverick exchanging furious looks from the corner of my eye as I stared down at Jade, my mind racing. Her tears spilled over.
