It makes my jaw clench to hear it. But again, that’s why we connect. We’ve both got damage in our past. For me, it’s the abusive father whose only gift to me was teaching me how to defend myself and fight back, and trust me, he wasn’t trying to teach me that. Then there’s my mom, who chose drugs over her own ten-year-old son. And later in life, René and Toby.
…Like I said, we’ve both got demons and damages from our past. I think that’s what makes us click so fast, and what draws us crashing into each other.
“You really know how to make a first-day impression, don’t you?”
I chuckle as she giggles in my arms.
“I mean, is this how you got your job with the moving company?”
“Cute,” I growl. “And no. My friend Kane started it up, and gave me a shot when I got out.”
“Of jail,” she says quietly. I can still see the fear there. Not that she’s scared of me, exactly. But, yeah, I get it. I’m a huge tattooed guy sitting alone with her who’s done time, and she doesn’t even know what for yet. Hell, she hasn’t even asked, and honestly, that means a lot. It says a lot about her, too.
I could dodge the subject again, right here. But, no. Not with her. With Alyssa, I want it all in the open. And so, I tell her.
I tell her everything.
René, Toby, David — all of it. I tell her about the stacked trial, the judge who was in David’s pocket the whole fucking time, and about how the only silver lining to the whole thing was hearing a few months into my sentence that René and Toby were out of David’s clutches and living their own life somewhere else. And by the time I’m done, she’s kissing me softly, a tear trickling down her face as she holds me tight.
“God, I’m so sorry,” she whispers, her voice shaky.
“Don’t be,” I growl, my arms circling her as I pull her into me. “Because whatever hell I had to go through…” I shrug. “It brought me here. It brought me right here to you, today. And fuck, angel, I’d do it all over again if I had to if I knew you’re waiting on the other end.”
She moans, kissing me fiercely as she practically climbs my body into my arms.
“No one’s ever said something like that to me.”
I grin. “Fuck, I hope not. I’d have to question how many ex-cons you’d dated.”
She giggles, kissing me as she laughs before the kisses turn deeper, and slower. I growl as she squirms against me, her pierced nipples dragging over my bare chest through her thin t-shirt. Her hot little cunt grinds against my cock through my boxers, making me harden instantly.
Suddenly, a buzzer goes off, jolting me away from her. I whirl towards the security system controls on the wall, my eyes narrowing at the indicator for the front gate.
“You expecting someone?”
Alyssa shakes her head. “No?”
I set her down, instincts kicking in as I move to the controls and turn on the screen. My jaw tightens.
Some little shit is standing right outside the gates to her driveway, punching the call button repeatedly. He’s yelling too, but the volume is off. The kid kicks at the gate, screaming and shaking them before suddenly, he just starts to climb.
Yeah, fuck that.
“Stay here—”
“Oh my God, it’s Chad.”
I frown. “Friend of yours?”
Alyssa’s face darkens as her nose wrinkles and her brow scowls. “My ex-boyfriend.”
Something fierce burns through me as I watch her eyes flick to mine.
“You really don’t read the tabloids, do you?”
“No. Should I?”
“Probably not. Chad Love, he’s this singer guy that’s kind of famous? We dated briefly.” She makes a face. “Not my proudest moment.”
The name makes me pause before suddenly, I remember some piece of an interview I caught on a bar TV or something.
“Wait, the little teenybopper kid?”
“Yeah, that’s him. Fake smile? Punchable face?”
I chuckle. “I think I’ve seen him. Real goody-two-shoes church kid, right?”
Her scowl deepens as she shakes her head, and suddenly, I’m on edge.
“What is it, princess?”
“Not such a nice guy, actually,” she mutters. “Not when the cameras aren’t around.”
She doesn’t have to say it. I already know from the way she shivers.
…This piece of shit hurt her. Not hurt her like “broke her heart” or some shit, I mean hurt her. And suddenly, the fire roars inside of me as I turn and storm out the back door.
He hurt her, and I’m going to very much hurt him.
By the time I get to the gate at the end of the driveway, the little shit is trying to scramble to his feet on her property side of it. He blinks, gasping sharply as he stands to see me storming shirtless and furious towards him. He backs up, holding his hands out as he backs into the fence.