Damaged and the Dragon (21 page)

“
You understand?” I said to
her, but she only frowned. “Look after Winnie. She needs you to
protect her. Be smart.”

“
I’m packing.”

“
Be smart,” I said again
and Bailey’s anger faded.

“
I want to kick his
ass.”

“
Not today. Not with so
many eyes on us. Think of the family. Don’t hurt them to get
revenge. Payback never tastes as good as you think it
will.”

I turned to my dad who only smiled.
“Nick.”

Glancing at his big middle aged friends, I
shrugged. “While you’ve never been much of a thinker, you were
smart enough to bring muscle.”

“
I didn’t come here to
fight you,” Dad said.

“
Too late for that now. You
terrorized Winnie and called my woman a slut. No backing down now,”
I told him, shoving my hands in my pockets. “You’d have liked
watching me fight in the Thunderdome. I was pretty good and know
how to hurt a man without causing serious injury. A lesson I won’t
need today.”

Unlike my dad, I never had any swagger. Life
taught me true badasses didn’t need it. I doubted the normally
silent Judd did much threatening before he broke a man.

Dad and his friends eyed Bailey standing
next to Winnie. I suspected they planned to use the girls to their
advantage. Bailey figured the same thing and flashed the gun in her
purse.

Shaking my head at her, I grinned at my dad.
“You came a long way to bleed, so let’s get on with it.”

“
You always were a drama
queen,” he said, tossing aside his cigarette. “Just like your
fucking mom.”

In my mind, I played out how his friends
would kick my ass. I’d never fought more than two guys at a time,
so I wasn’t beating all four of them. I couldn’t win the war, but I
planned to make sure my dad bled.

Like in the cage, I built up my rage. This
man came to my new home, insulted my woman, and threatened my
happiness. He frightened an already traumatized girl like he’d
harmed so many women before. He was foul, stinking of the trailer.
He brought with him the evil of my past. My father was the enemy
and only his pain would free me.

I threw the first punch, hitting him square
in the mouth. For whatever reason, the fucker looked shocked. His
life really was too easy if he thought today wouldn’t end badly for
him.

His friends moved on me, but I shifted to my
right and took my startled father with me. This move gave me a few
extra seconds to pound the asshole in the ribs. His bones
shattering under my punches, I didn’t hold back or worry about the
damage I might do to him. I needed him to suffer.

Even as his friends jumped me, I only had
eyes for my gasping father. I heard screaming nearby and figured
students were running around in panic. The police would arrive
soon. The Reapers too, but I didn’t care. With Bailey ready to use
her gun, my only concern was making this vile man beg.

Everything moved so quickly as one of the
guys wrapped his arm around my throat. Air cut off, I still kicked
at Dad, nailing him in the knee. He toppled to the ground as the
others ganged up on me.

“
Nick!” Bailey
cried.

Hearing the panic in her voice returned me
to a world outside my vengeance. I would pass out soon, leaving
only Bailey’s gun to protect her from these fucks. No doubt she
would use it, but I hated to think of the mess my past might create
for her future.

I heard a grunt from behind me then the
pressure around my throat ended. Turning quickly, I noticed Dylan
pounding on the guy who’d been throttling me. No time to thank him,
I shoved the nearest guy into his buddy. They landed hard under me
as I punched at any open spot. Kidney shots made them both howl
then someone yanked me off them.

“
I liked you better in the
closet,” Dad said, shoving a blade against my throat.

“
Fucker,” Bailey growled as
the muzzle of her gun smacked him in the temple. “I’ll kill you and
walk away from it. Back the fuck off.”

My dad stepped back, but I knew he was going
for the gun. It never occurred to a man like him to fear a woman.
Before he could grab her, I barreled into his midsection and
flipped him over my back. He came crashing onto the asphalt and the
knife skidded towards Winnie. Even freaked out, she grabbed the
blade and held it at the ready.

Sirens finally broke up the commotion and I
patted Dylan on the back. We stepped away from the bloodied men
while nursing our own wounds.

“
Thanks, man.”

“
We might be newbies to the
crew, but that don’t mean we can’t back each other up.”

Grinning, I hugged Bailey to me. “You’re so
sexy when you wave that gun around.”

“
Motherfucker,” was all she
could say.

“
It’s okay.”

We backed away from the scene as the police
arrived. Looking at the man who gave me life, I saw him for the
loser he was. I also saw too much of him in me. I knew the other
students saw the similarities too. This guy was poor white trash
and so was I.

Nearby, a cop attempted to coax the knife
from Winnie, but she ignored him. Dylan stepped closer and spoke
softly. Winnie never lifted her head or peeked out from behind her
hair, yet she handed him the knife.

Bailey left me and hugged Winnie. “Did the
fuckers hurt you?” she asked softly. “Did they touch you?”

Winnie shook her head and whispered
something. Dylan glanced at me and I sensed he wanted to pound on
the guys again. I did too, but the authorities were fully in
charge.

The deputy Bailey dated for like five
minutes over the summer came strolling towards me and Dylan. I knew
he was going to be an asshole. Bailey likely knew too because she
quickly returned to my side.

“
Dylan, can you take Winnie
home?” Bailey asked.

“
Sure.”

The deputy frowned. “He needs to stay and
give his statement.”

Bailey ignored Darling and gestured for
Dylan to go. Winnie followed him without looking up, still hiding
behind her curtain of dark hair.

“
You aren’t the law here,
Bailey,” Darling said.

“
Tell that to my dad,
dingus,” she grunted then turned to me. “You got banged up. Let’s
go while the cops take these fuckers to jail.”

“
What…?” Darling started to
say until his voice was drowned out by the roar of arriving
Harleys.

“
Whatever you have to say,
tell it to my brother,” Bailey told the cop as she tugged me to my
bike. She climbed on the back then waited for me. Watching my dad
hauled off the ground and walked to a cruiser, Bailey caressed my
cheek. “Tucker’s here. He’s got his guys too. It’ll be fine. Let’s
go.”

I looked at her and sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“
For having a shitty dad?
Last I checked, it wasn’t your choice who you ended up
with.”

Even nodding, I felt like the filth of my
past had officially tainted my new life and there was no washing it
off.

Before we even reached the apartment, I knew
Nick needed a shower. Still edgy, he kept his shoulders tight even
when I nuzzled his back.

“
Get cleaned up while I
check to make sure Winnie got home okay,” I said, climbing off the
Harley.

Nick just stared at the woods. Watching him
disappear into himself, I wanted to say the right words to make him
happy. Instead, I left him to clean up while I walked to the
house.

With Mom picking up Sawyer from school and
Pop fishing, the house sat empty. I rested on the couch and called
Winnie’s cell. When she didn’t answer, I called Dylan who said he
dropped her off a few minutes earlier. Finally, I got hold of
Harlow.

“
Is she okay?” I
asked.

“
No, but she wasn’t really
okay before those fuckers showed up. She hasn’t been okay since the
last fuckers came here.”

Hearing the anger in Harlow’s voice, I
imagined Winnie hiding in her room and disappearing from the world
like Nick.

“
I’m sorry this happened.
They only bothered her because she works for me.”

Harlow sighed. “No, they only bothered her
because they’re assholes.”

“
She said they didn’t hurt
her, but I think she might lie to me.”

“
She wouldn’t lie to me.
She said they made gross comments, but they were more interested in
finding Nick. I think the dad wanted to make money off his
fighting. That’s what I got from Winnie before she took her
shower.”

Thinking about Nick scrubbing himself, I
didn’t speak for a moment.

“
Is the shower thing
normal? I mean growing up bad like you did before the Todds and the
way Winnie did. Do you need to take showers after something bad
happens?”

“
It helps, yeah,” Harlow
muttered, sounding irritated, but I sensed she was mostly pissed
about anyone scaring her sister. Her voice softened when she asked,
“How is Nick?”

“
He’s
showering.”

“
We can’t pick our
families. Not the birth ones anyway.”

“
Will you tell Winnie I’m
really sorry?”

“
I will,” Harlow said then
added, “It’ll be okay. Winnie is stronger than she seems. I’ll take
care of her while you take care of Nick. We’ll meet for the weekly
bowling game on Saturday. Deal?”

“
Deal.”

Hanging up, I found a text from Mom saying
she heard about the smack down, knew I was okay, and would be home
after a quick trip to the store. I wished she was already back, so
I might get a hug. With no babying in sight, I returned to my
apartment.

Nick was still in the shower and I sensed
joining him was a very bad idea. He hadn’t really looked at me
since first catching sight of his dad.

After trying to watch TV, I walked outside
and played with the dogs. They were thrilled for the attention
since their beloved Cooper spent his time petting Farah’s bump
instead of them.

When I returned, Nick was scrubbing the
kitchen counter. Sometimes, his behavior seemed a little weird. It
wasn’t like his dad polluted the apartment.

“
Are you okay?” I asked
when he ignored me.

“
No.”

“
Do you want to
talk?”

Nick dropped the sponge and turned to look
at me. “This isn’t going to work.”

“
What? Me being nice? I’ll
get better at it.”

Nick didn’t even smile. He just stared with
his beautiful eyes that held no love for me.

“
I was fooling myself to
think I could be with you. All of it was a fucking lie I told
myself and I told you the lie too.”

“
What the hell are you
talking about?” I asked as panic rose up in my gut.

“
My name is still on the
apartment lease, so I’m going to move back into my
place.”

“
Wait, are you dumping me?”
I nearly screamed. “No fucking way are you dumping me! You tattooed
my name on your wrist. You said you would marry me one day. If you
dump me now, I’ll shoot you in the ass! I’m not kidding either,
Nick!”

Pacing around the apartment, I wanted to
slug him. He was mine and the fucker wanted to end things. My heart
felt so bad that only cussing and threatening would keep me from
puking in pain.

When I looked at Nick, he was staring hard
at the floor. His fists dug into his hips as he struggled to avoid
freaking out. With anyone else, I might have worried he was going
to hit me. Not Nick though.

Instead of lashing out, I really listened to
what Nick had said. I didn’t react to the words, but imagined what
he truly meant. He was on the verge of losing control and only I
could help him.

I thought about his father bringing trouble
to Ellsberg. How the fight might have gotten Nick arrested and
ruined his future as a teacher. He’d opened up to me over the last
month then his past showed up to shit on him again. Now, he wanted
to hide.

“
It’s okay,” I said softly,
taking a few steps closer.

Frowning at me, Nick stepped back. “Bailey,
don’t.”

“
You won’t hurt me. I know
you.”

“
I can’t be with
you.”

Moving quickly, I took his face in my hands
before he could retreat. “You need space and I’ll give it to you
because I know you’ll return to me. You belong with me, just like I
do with you. We’ll never be happy without each other. You know
that, but you’re scared. That’s okay. I’ll wait.”

“
Bailey,” he said in a
rough voice.

“
The fucker came here and
you think that changes things. You think he ruined what you’ve made
here, but you’re wrong. Soon, you’ll realize that, but you need
time and I’ll wait.”

“
Bailey, please don’t
cry.”

“
You can’t tell me what to
do,” I mumbled. “I’m helping you and I’m wise and shit.”

Nick pulled me against him. “Nothing ever
changes. I thought I could change, but I’m still the loser from the
trailer.”

“
No, you’re not,” I
soothed. “You were never a loser. You were a kid who lived with a
loser. He’s the same fuck you grew up with and you’re the same good
kid who deserved better. Now you can have it all, but you need
space. I’m being understanding about that.”

“
I love you.”

Gazing into his eyes, I saw exhaustion more
than steely certainty.