Bronagh (13 page)

I headed into my kitchen that also doubled as my sitting room and flicked on the light. I tossed the envelope on the kitchen table and went to the counter drawers to look for my envelope cutter. I found it after only a second of looking, but had to put it down when I heard my phone ring from my bedroom. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

Who the hell would be calling me at twenty past three in the morning?

"Aideen," I said out loud and headed in the direction of my bedroom.

Aideen Collins was my best friend. She was the closest thing I had to a sister and I loved her dearly, but she had her moments when she royally pissed me off. Ringing me at twenty past three in the morning was one of those moments.

When I got to the phone in my bedroom and pressed answer, I said, "You'd better have a good reason for ringin' me at this hour Aideen Collins or I am goin' kick seven shades of shite outta you!"

I heard a deep, rumbling chuckle.

"She
does
have a good reason, so you don't need to kick any shade of shit out of her," a male voice replied, it made me jump with fright because I wasn't expecting it.

"Who are you? Where is Aideen? Why do you have her phone?" I asked then gasped and shouted, "If you have hurt me friend in any way I'm goin' to fuck you up!"

The stranger laughed this time and said, "Is that a promise, kitten?"

Ex-fucking-cuse me?

"Where is Aideen? You better tell me right now or I'm gonna-"

"Fuck me up? Yeah, I got that part," he chuckled again then before he could say anything else I heard a different male voice speak, "I asked you to ring the girl's friend, Alec. What the hell is taking so long?"

I mentally made a note of the name Alec in case I had to call the Garda.

"I'm talking to her friend, but I haven't been able to tell her the point of my call. She is too busy threatening to 'fuck me up' if I have hurt the girl," the lad who called me laughed.

I was mad and also scared as to where Aideen was and who these foreign guys were. I knew they weren't Irish or even English - their accents sounded too different - but I couldn't pinpoint where they were from because there was a lot of background noise. It sounded like music.

"Just tell her what I told you to say so she can get here already," the second lad said to the one who called me.

The lad who called me sighed and said, "Keela, I'm calling to let you know your friend Aiden was in a fight and we need you to come pick her up. She told me to call you."

"Her name is Aideen not Aiden, it's pronounced Ay-deen," I said then widened my eyes when I comprehended the rest of what he had just told me. I screamed, "Is she okay? What happened? Who hurt her?"

"Calm down, hellcat. She is fine, we just need you to come and collect her. I'll explain everything once you get here."

"Where is 'here'?" I snapped as I moved around my room pulling on my shoes. I grabbed my car keys from my bedside table as I held my phone to my ear with my shoulder.

"Playhouse, it's a nightclub right beside -"

"I know where it is, I'll be there in five minutes," I said and hung up on him.

I gripped my phone and car keys in my hand as I closed my bedroom window. I told Storm to stay put, but it fell on deaf ears because he didn't move an inch or even wake up. I ran down my hallway and unlocked the locks and the bolt on my door then flung it open and sprung into the corridor. I closed my front door, locked it, and then ran like a bat out of Hell down the hallway, down four flights of stairs and out into my apartment complex's car park. I sprinted towards my car and only realised I was in my nightdress when a cool breeze hit me and made me shiver.

"Fuck!" I snapped as I unlocked my car, got into it and started the engine.

I didn't think of changing my clothes, I just thought about getting my shoes on and then getting out to my car. I wasn't going back inside to change. I had to get to Aideen and make sure she was okay before changing clothes even became an option. It was okay though, I didn't show off any valuables. The nightdress was just a little short, it was black so I didn't have to worry that it was see through, at least I got lucky with that. The weather was good tonight as well, it was cool but not windy or raining. I would just have to hold the hem of my nightdress down when I got out of my car to keep it from rising up just in case I had to run anywhere.

I pulled out of the car park and straight onto the main road and headed towards the nightclub. I was wide awake now, but the stinging in my eyes didn't go amiss. I had only been asleep for four hours before Mr. Pervert woke me up. Before that I hadn't slept in twenty-seven hours. I worked in my local supermarket, Super Value. I was broke and I needed all the hours I could get, so yesterday I worked an eleven hour shift and instead of going straight to bed when I got home, I dove straight into writing and pulled an all-nighter.

I have always had a passion for bringing the stories in my head to life on paper - or on a laptop screen. I only ever dabbled in silly little things here and there, never a full-length novel. Luckily for me Aideen - literally - gave me the kick up the arse I needed and said I should just 'go for it' because I wouldn't know if my writing would be a success if I never put it out there. After my wake up call, which was three weeks ago, I knuckled down and started writing my very first book. Yesterday, even though I was shattered, I was completely in the zone and I just had to write. I had so much inside me for my story that if I didn't get it out of my head soon I was going to explode. So I wrote, wrote, and wrote some more. The lack of sleep and the stinging in my eyes from staring at my laptop was kicking my arse now though because I felt like death and I was pretty sure I looked the part too.

When I came to a red traffic light I pulled down my visor and looked in the little mirror and winced. Scratch that, saying I looked like death would have been kind. The sclera around my green eyes looked like a road map to Hell, that's how bloodshot they were. My fiery red hair was slightly greasy, and pulled up into a disastrous looking bun. I glanced down at my long bare white legs and shook my head.

Why did I have to be so tall?

If I were shorter, this nightdress would be longer and less exposing!

I angrily pushed my visor up when the traffic light changed to green and sped to the location of the nightclub Aideen was at with these men. I got there in less than five minutes because the green lights were with me, and there was little to no traffic on the roads thanks to the early hour. I turned into the nightclub car park entrance and looped around until I saw two huge males looking down at a small woman sitting down on the path a few meters away from the nightclub's entrance. It was Aideen. I parked my car across from them, jumped out, and slammed my door before I took off running towards Aideen.

When the sound of my feet hitting the pavement could be heard both men looked up at me, but didn't say anything as I reached them. Once I was next to them, I dropped down to my knees and pulled Aideen into a hug. I ignored the slight stinging in my knees from the concrete ground digging into my skin and held Aideen tightly.

"Are you okay? What happened?" I asked then pulled back from the hug so I could look at her.

Aideen looked back at me and I gasped at the sight that greeted me. She had a small cut over her eyebrow and her right jaw was swollen.

"Some bitch jumped on me," she grumbled.

"Who?" I snapped. "I'll fuckin' kill 'er!"

I was surprised that I sounded like I could actually follow through with my threat.

I was not a fighter.

I mean could stand up for myself when needed, but I wasn't exactly Mike Tyson.

I have been in one fight in my entire life, and that was only because my younger cousin Micah punched me in the face when we were kids to see if my blood was blue. She told everyone I was an alien from outer space with blue blood and the only way to prove I was a human was to punch me and make my nose bleed. I agreed because I didn't think it would hurt that much - I was wrong, very wrong, because it hurt like hell.

After Micah punched me and red blood streamed from my nose we confirmed I was in fact human. I jumped on her then because I was in so much pain and decided that she needed to be punished for hurting me. Instead of dishing out a hiding, I received a black eye and a chipped tooth. Micah kicked my arse and it was the first and only fight I have ever been in. Regardless of my inability to bring the pain, if anyone hurt Aideen or Storm, I would go Bruce Lee on those fuckers.

That was a cold hard fact.

Aideen smiled at me and pulled me in for another tight hug. "I know you would, but I just want to go home now. Can I stay with you?"

Was that a serious question?

I shook her. "Of course, you bloody eejit."

Aideen laughed and so did the males who stood over us. I don't know how, but I forgot they were next to us. I quickly stood up and pulled Aideen with me. She wasn't exactly drunk, just a little tipsy. I didn't have to balance her or anything, but I still kept a tight hold on her just in case.

"This is Alec," Aideen said and lazily pointed to the man on the right who was openly looking me up and down, "and Kane." I tightened my hold on Aideen when I looked at Kane, the man on the left. He was just as tall and as muscular as the arsehole that was looking at my body, but he was scary looking. He had a large scar that curved around the left side of his mouth and some claw like scars going from his right temple and down through his eyebrow leaving gaps in the hairs like they were styled that way.

"Hi," I said lowly and avoided direct eye contact.

"Kane came to my rescue when Alec's girlfriend hit me," Aideen said and smiled at Kane, who smiled right back at her.

"She was my lay from a week ago, not my girlfriend... and I apologised for her actions," Alec said with a sigh.

I ignored Alec, the eejit who just spoke and looked at Kane when he smiled and felt myself instantly become relaxed. He didn't look scary when he smiled like that. I frowned though when the rest of what Aideen said settled in my brain. Before I knew it I let go of Aideen and shoved Alec in the chest as hard as I could. He wasn't expecting it so when I shoved him he lost his balance and fell back onto his arse with a grunt.

"That is for your bird hurtin' me friend and if I find out who the slut is I'm goin' fuckin' kill 'er!" I bellowed.

Aideen pulled me back by the arm and begged me to stop while Alec looked up at me with wide eyes before he looked to Kane, who stared down at him also with wide eyes and his mouth agape. A few seconds passed until they both burst out laughing like what just happened was the funniest thing ever. I saw red and tried to go for Alec again, but Aideen moved herself in front of me and pushed me back by the shoulders.

"I told you bro, she is a fucking hellcat!" Alec cackled as he gripped onto Kane's outstretched hand and was helped to his feet.

Kane continued to laugh as he shook his head. "I wish the twins had seen that, Dominic would have helped her hit you while Damien recorded it."

I had no idea what or whom they were talking about, but I pointed my finger dangerously over Aideen's shoulder at Alec and snarled at him.

"Keep laughin' pretty boy and I'll scratch up that face of yours!" I warned.

Alec stepped forward, a grin tugged at his mouth. "I'm finding myself highly attracted to you right now. Would you like to come home with me since you're already dressed for bed?"

I dropped my jaw in shock, and so did Aideen who spun around and shoved him in the chest, but didn't manage to knock him to the ground. "Knock it off! I appreciate you both helpin' me, but I won't have you treatin' me friend like she is one of your clients, Alec. She is a good girl!"

Clients?

What the hell did that mean?

Alec grinned at Aideen before he flicked his eyes to me. "Oh, I'm bettin' there is a bad girl deep inside her somewhere. I'll just have to use my fingers, mouth, and cock to bring her out to play."

What. The. Fuck?

"Who the hell do you think you are?" I snapped.

He grinned and gave me a wink as he said, "Alec Slater, your next - or only - great fuck."

Was he for real?

"You're about to be Alec Slater - murder victim - if you don't shut that hole in your face!"

Kane cracked up with laughter as he reached for Aideen's arm and pulled her into him and away from me. "Please, don't interfere. I've never seen a female, besides Bronagh, backtalk him like this before," he said to Aideen then brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes. The action caused her to melt into a puddle by the way she sagged into him.

I rolled my eyes at her then looked at Alec who had inched closer to me, before I growled, "Try touchin' me, and you won't ever be able to have kids. I'm warnin' you."

Alec grinned and folded his arms across his board chest; it caused all his muscles that I could see to contract and tense. He settled on staying put, but openly raked his eyes over my body, mainly my legs, and it made me feel very uncomfortable.

"Stop lookin' at me you dirty bastard!" I growled.

Alec flicked his eyes up to me. "Why would you come outside dressed like
that
if you didn't want people to look at you?" he asked.

I clenched my hands into fists and took a step towards him. I had to tilt my head back a little bit because he was a lot taller than my five foot ten inches and when I realised that fact I felt intimidated, but I was not ready to back down.

"I came outside dressed in me nightdress because me friend needed me and gettin' dressed didn't cross me mind when you rang me, you eejit."

He flashed his teeth at me when he smiled. "You sound like my bro's girl, she calls me an eejit a lot too."

I looked him up and down, my lip curled in disgust. "She must be kind 'cause there are a lot of words that would suit you much better. Batty boy would be two of them," I snarled then turned in Aideen's direction and found her kissing Kane. Not just smooching, she was completely necking with him. I walked forward, grabbed her arm and tugged her not so gently next to me.