House Rules (27 page)

“A ‘thank you’ might have been nice. I fucking love you and wanted to do something nice.”

“Thank you? You really expect me to thank you?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Thank you for reminding that you will always be an asshole at heart. Doing things I asked you not to isn’t love. It’s a way for you to prove how much more money you have than me. Now get the fuck out of my apartment.” Tears threatened in her eyes. It was instinctive to reach for her, to try and take them all away. But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t understand where her anger was coming from. This was a good thing. She was always complaining about how tired she was, or how creepy some of the patrons were. I’d given her an out. An opportunity for a clean break. How, after all that, was I the bad guy?

For the first time I’d given a woman my heart, tried to make her happy and she’d thrown it back in my face.

“Fuck this.” I threw on my clothes, minus the shirt she still wore, and walked out the door, slamming it behind me. I’d done everything I could to help. After all the progress we’d made—me making an effort to try to build a relationship with her—she was intent on keeping me at arms length. She might have said she loved me, but in the moment I was having a hard time believing it. It pissed me off that I’d believed it so readily in the first place.

Jumping into my car, I peeled out of the neighborhood. I’d deal with Tess and her bullshit tomorrow, knowing that if I stayed any longer, I’d say something I’d regret.

CHAPTER 26

Theresa

I slammed the door harder than necessary. Damn Miller and his demands. Didn’t he understand anything of what I’d spent the last few months explaining? Or were my feelings not as important?

I’d had hours to calm down but that time had done nothing but give me the opportunity to wind myself up further. I thought heading into class would take my focus off Miller but I’d spent the entire lecture arguing with him in my head.

I went into the kitchen to grab a beer. I should leave them alone. I had so much homework to do and half of what the professor had explained this afternoon had floated straight over my head.

As I drank beer number one I thought about what an arrogant SOB Miller was. Halfway through beer number two I began to realize that I might have overreacted somewhat. By the time I’d drained the dregs of my third bottle I was reaching for the phone to call him, the dot over the phone symbol flashing an ugly number thirteen, reminding me of just how much of a bitch I’d been. I’d seen the calls flashing through while I was in class and had silenced them. That wasn’t unusual. But the calls I’d ignored afterward . . . that had been me acting in anger. And now I felt terrible.

In my heart, I knew Miller was only trying to help. He’d never hurt me the way my parents had. Miller wanted to give me the chance to pursue my dream without any more obstacles. Then there was still the part of me that was hurt that the only reason he wanted me to move in was for my own safety.

After months of getting to know Miller, I knew he wasn’t always the greatest at getting his point across when his feelings were in the way. I should have talked to him.

I swiped to unlock my screen, bringing Miller’s details up. As I went to touch his name I heard the click of my front door. A chill ran up my spine. “Miller,” I called. “Is that you?” I turned to place my bottle by the sink but as I spun back around I felt a pain radiate from the back of my head, knocking me to the floor, my phone slipping out of my hand.

The linoleum felt cold beneath my cheek and my hands shook as I tried to lift them to touch the back of my head, a gasp escaping my lips when I felt something warm and sticky coating my hair. Bringing my fingertips to my face, I saw the bright red liquid just as my body buckled with the blunt force against my ribs. I curled tighter, struggling for breath, my vision blurred as I tried to lift my head to see who or what was in my apartment.

A pair of black boots came into view, one lace untied. I twisted my head to look up but could only see an outline, the bright light coming from my kitchen lights making me wince, forcing me to close my eyes. My heart thundered in my chest and I opened my mouth to speak when I heard it.

“Evening, Tess.”

CHAPTER 27

Miller

Straight after our fight I wanted to settle things. I was a brooder typically, but for some reason I hated that there was this issue between us. I was so used to just picking up the phone and talking to Tess, or shooting her a text whenever I felt like it that to not be able to do that left me feeling . . . weird. But I knew we both needed time apart or we’d end up saying things we didn’t mean. Ashton had been right: each day I learned more about being in a relationship.

After I’d cooled down, I tried calling her.

No answer.

I tried again but she sent it straight to voicemail. I knew she had a class so I wasn’t too concerned. She often declined my calls if she was in a lecture.

But by the time I knew her class would have ended, she still wasn’t answering. She was avoiding me which only stirred the anger I’d tried to bury. The woman made me fucking crazy. I was starting to wonder why in the holy hell Ashton would want Elena to stand up to him. Life would be so much easier if Tess would just do what I told her to. If she moved in with me like I wanted then I wouldn’t have to worry about Ray finding her, and I wouldn’t have to wonder where she was when we fought. She’d be with me every moment. And seeing as the guys couldn’t find any trace of Ray, staying in her apartment wasn’t going to be an option much longer, whether she liked it or not.

Forcing the clutch down and shifting into fifth, I pushed the car harder than I had on any city street before. I usually saved these speeds for the highway.

The evening traffic meant that even with my speed, the journey took longer than I would have liked but, finally, I pulled up out the front of her apartment. I jumped from the car, slamming the door behind me. Of all of the things I hated, being ignored was up there with the best of them, so if Tess wanted a fight, that’s exactly what she was going to get.

The blood was pounding in my ears by the time I reached her place, and I had a very loose grip on my temper as I beat on the door with my fist.

“Tess, open this motherfuckin’ door right now before I kick it in. You and I are going to talk about this.”

Still nothing.

My hands shook as I held them at my side. I was abso-fucking-lutely done. Taking a step back, I ran at the door with my shoulder, pushing all my weight against it, stumbling into the room as the lock gave way and the door swung open. All the lights but the one coming from the kitchen were off.

Leaving the front door wide open, the evening breeze whistling through, making the air warm in the otherwise freezing cold apartment, I stalked through her living room, toward the light. But as soon as I crossed the threshold, I stopped dead in my tracks and my heart leapt into my throat.

There on the floor was Tess, a puddle of blood surrounding her limp body, cuts and bruises marring her perfect skin.

“Oh fuck.” I ran and dropped on my knees beside her, fumbling around in my jacket for my phone to call for an ambulance. I’d inflicted enough of my own damage over the years to know that this kind of a beating might have caused internal bleeding. This was more than I could take care of myself. She needed a hospital, and fast.

Afraid of causing any more damage by moving her but needing her to know I was there, I took one hand in mine and gently caressed her face with the other.

“Come on, Tess. You’re a fighter. Stay with me.”

Her chest rose and fell but the movements were shallow and choppy. Whatever motherfucker had laid a hand on her would deal with me, and the torture I’d inflict on them would be worse than they could ever imagine.

The sounds of sirens in the distance made me breathe a little easier.

“They’re almost here, baby. Just hang on a little longer.”

One of her eyes was almost completely swollen shut and her nose sat at an awkward angle. My stomach churned thinking how long she might have been lying here, all because I thought she needed time.

A knock sounded on the door.

“In here,” I called, refusing to leave her side until I had no choice.

The paramedics raced into the room, immediately moving in next to Tess to work on her.

“What’s her name?” one of them asked.

“Tess.” I moved aside to let them see to her but I wouldn’t be far away.

They took care of the injuries they could see before moving her to a back board and wheeling her out to the waiting ambulance. By that time, the police had arrived to investigate. Given my previous interactions with local law enforcement, I was all fired up for them to give me a hard time. I was genuinely surprised when they didn’t.

“How do you know the victim, Mr. Hawes?”

“She’s my girlfriend. We had a fight earlier and I came to talk to her about it when I finished work. She wouldn’t answer so I pushed the door in and found her lying on the floor.” I took a deep breath in through my nose, my stomach rolling as I thought about what might have happened had I not come over.

He nodded toward the paramedics, who were strapping Tess into the back of the ambulance. “Why don’t you go with her and we’ll meet you at the hospital when we’re done here.”

“Okay.” I was confused. Hawes boys were always assumed guilty until proven innocent. This was new territory for me but I wasn’t going to wait around for him to change his mind.

I turned and jogged over to the ambulance. Thankfully, they’d managed to stabilize her so I was able to ride in the back with her.

The sounds of the sirens wailing filled the air as we darted back through the evening traffic, my mind on the bastard who’d put his hands on her. Whoever it was was still out there. And I had no idea if they planned on coming back.

My gaze dropped to the woman on the gurney. She looked so vulnerable lying there; although, some color had returned to her cheeks and her breathing was more stable. The paramedic explained that the IV in her arm was delivering enough pain medication to keep her comfortable until the doctor could examine her.

Every time I looked at her I saw more clearly the damage that was done to her, the swelling around her eyes causing her face to appear distorted. I knew it was Tess, yet the woman whose hand I held tight in my own didn’t look anything like the Tess I knew. Fear and rage warred within me.

By the time we arrived at the hospital, the desire to kill someone was in full swing. The doors opened behind me and there was a flurry of activity as Tess was wheeled out of the ambulance and flanked by people in scrubs.

“Sir, I’m afraid you’ll have to leave the room,” a nurse said when I tried to follow Tess back into one of the trauma areas. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her to fuck off, but I was aware that any time I wasted being an asshole was time that the nurse was not spending taking care of Tess. Swallowing the words on my lips, I nodded and followed another nurse out to the waiting room.

The mood around me was oppressive; the air thick with uncertainty and apprehension. A television on the wall played the local news but I couldn’t bring myself to focus on anything. People sat waiting to be called, their faces betraying the worry they felt.

Do I look like them?

Pulling out my phone, I walked through the ambulance doors and down around the side of the building. The waiting room was not the place for the conversation I needed to have. Too many ears. Far enough from the entrance, somewhere between the dumpsters and the generator, I dialed the first of my numbers.

“What happened?” Dad didn’t pull any punches, especially when the call he was taking was on the line reserved strictly for emergencies only.

“Motherfucker is dead when I find him.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Dad snapped.

I ran a hand through my hair and continued to pace along the side of the building, my eyes scanning the area for any signs of someone listening in. “Someone beat the shit out of Tess.”

“The girl from the supermarket? The same one you won in the poker game?

“Yeah. I found her lying in a puddle of her own blood at her place.”

“Jesus Christ, Miller. What the fuck were you doing at her place? I thought you were done with that shit?” The phone practically vibrated in my hand as I did my best to control the desire to slam my fist into the wall behind me at his ignorance, and I had to remind myself that his ignorance was my own doing. Plus, landing myself in the hospital would not help Tess. I’d save it for the man who put her here in the first place.

“Did you not hear a goddamn thing I said? Someone broke into her apartment and knocked her around.”

“That shit happens all the fuckin’ time. Call the police and let them deal with it. She’s some piece of pussy, what’s it got to do with you?”

“What’s it got to do with me?” I snapped. “How about the fact I’ve been dating her for the last several months. That work for you?”

There was a brief pause where all I could hear was the sound of my own rapid breathing. This was the make or break moment. The moment where I found out just how royally I’d screwed up by not coming clean about my relationship with Tess sooner.

“I’ll send your brother down and put cleanup on standby. When Ashton shows up, come to the house. We’ll deal with this.”

And there it was.

Dad didn’t pull any punches. Someone hurt a member of his family—even if he hadn’t known that she was part of it until now—he wasn’t having it. The line went dead.

I had my instructions. Now to follow them.

I jogged back to the waiting room to wait for news about Tess, lamenting the fact that I wasn’t a smoker because at least then I’d have something to do with my trembling hands instead of keeping them trapped inside my jacket pockets like some weak little bitch.

The cold plastic of the cheap chairs bit into my legs as I sat closest to the doors leading to the treatment rooms. The smell of disinfectant permeated the air. I watched on as new patients came in and existing ones came out. Still there was no news on Tess.