Absolution (The Protectors 1)

“I do give a shit about him,” Ronan said, his voice so low I struggled to hear him over the noisy machines surrounding us. It took me a moment to realize Ronan was talking about my accusation that he hadn’t cared about Mace and that he’d used and exploited his vulnerabilities to get Mace to work for him.

“Ronan, I was upset…”

Ronan shook his head. “I didn’t offer him the job to take advantage of him. I could have found dozens of guys willing to do what he did for the right amount of money. I knew he wasn’t going to forgive himself for what happened to his son so I gave him another outlet for his hate. It worked for me so I figured it would work for him.”

Ronan’s statement was telling. He’d clearly suffered some unimaginable loss just like Mace had. “Did it work for you?” I asked.

But Ronan didn’t answer me so I turned my attention back to Cole. “I’m going to take a few sips of that latte,” I said as the exhaustion began to settle over me again. “Would you stay here with him?” I asked Ronan.

Ronan nodded.

I started to pass Ronan but then stopped and did something I knew he wouldn’t like but that I felt compelled to do. I leaned down and wrapped my arms around Ronan and hugged him. “Thank you for saving both of them.”

Ronan felt as stiff as a board in my hold so I quickly released him and left the room without looking back. I found the latte at the nurse’s station and took a few sips but as I was putting it down, the top popped off and some of the warm liquid splashed all over my hand. I grabbed some tissues from the end of the counter and cleaned up the mess I’d made but I knew the stickiness on the back of my hand would bother me until I cleaned it off so I looked around for my bodyguard to let him know I was going to the bathroom. Only one of the men had stayed with me after the shooting. The other one had presumably stayed behind to work with the police to deal with the shooter who’d started shouting almost immediately that she’d done it because Eduardo had threatened to kill her if she didn’t.

I finally spotted the big man talking on his cell phone at the far end of the hallway. I waited for him to turn around but figured it would take just as long to get his attention as it would take for me to go and wash my hands so I walked down the opposite hall until I reached the men’s room. There was only one other man in there when I entered and he nodded at me as he walked out. I washed my hands and then leaned my face over the sink so I could scrub my face. The cold water worked wonders to soothe my tired, pained eyes.

I was in the process of wiping my face with a paper towel when I noticed someone approach me from behind. The man, presumably a nurse or orderly based on the scrubs, didn’t move to one of the other sinks, and before I could move out of his way, my head was slammed forward against the mirror. Pain exploded behind my eyes at the contact and then a hand wrapped around my throat, and I was dragged back several feet until my back hit the wall at the far end of the bathroom. Blood dripped over one of my eyes but I was still able to make out Eduardo’s face with the other.

The man didn’t look any different than he had nine years ago when he’d held me down and told me to be a good boy for him and it wouldn’t hurt as much. His long, greasy black hair was slicked straight back and his pockmarked face made his beady eyes look too small for his face. His putrid breath washed over me even before he started speaking.

“I knew from the first time I saw you that you were going to cause me all sorts of problems, you little shit,” Eduardo sneered as his fingers dug into my throat, cutting off my air supply.

Tears stung my eyes as my body began to yearn for air and I tried kicking out at Eduardo. All I managed to get was his shin and he punched me in the stomach with his free hand, stealing what little air I had left in my system.

“Such a shame,” Eduardo murmured as he pressed his mouth against my ear. “You were my favorite fuck. A little bit of tears, a little bit of fight. I still get hard every time I watch our movies together…the way you kept begging me not to hurt you.”