Текст книги "Retribution"
Автор книги: Sienna Valentine
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Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 13 страниц)
~ SEVEN ~
Well, you wanted adventure, girly… now you’ve got it.
As Eva watched the conversation between her brother and Will unfold, she felt less and less like she was still inside her dull, melancholy life, and it both excited and frightened her. She hadn’t seen Charlie so rattled in a very long time; he hadn’t even noticed that he had spilled an entire shot of whiskey down the front of his crisp white t-shirt yet.
And she had never seen anyone like Will.
“Close the bar up for the day,” said Will. “We need to make some plans. Undistracted.”
“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this,” said Charlie, shaking his head. “I’ll make up some note for the door.” He lumbered off toward the small alcove in back that served as Owen’s makeshift office.
Will watched him go, then turned and looked straight at Eva. She held his gaze a moment, simply because she couldn’t help it. Then she turned away and finished the half-pint she had poured herself in three deep swallows.
Will walked up to the bar. “Mind pouring me one?” He lowered himself back into the seat he’d been in before.
Eva nodded and tried not to look at him. Maybe it was her frightened brain trying to find a distraction, but once she started looking at Will’s gorgeous face, she never wanted to tear her eyes away. She lifted a clean glass and pulled the draught handle, watching the beer intently until she placed it in front of the intense man sitting across from her.
He wrapped huge, scruff, scar-covered hands around the cold glass. His knuckles still trickled blood. I cannot believe this is the type of man who’s revving my engine… Eva thought as her gaze wandered up his muscled forearms and shoulders until it landed on his face. Will stared down into his beer glass, unaware she watched.
Not knowing what else to do with herself, Eva poured another beer in her own glass. She took two big drinks. “Thanks… for, uh, for helping with those men,” she said.
The way Will looked up at her so suddenly, Eva was sure she had interrupted some thought. “Didn’t have a choice, really. Some dogs need to be put down.”
The coldness in his voice gave Eva an honest shiver. “Does that mean you’re going to kill them when they come back?”
Will fell silent a moment, and Eva’s heart nearly stopped. Christ. What have we gotten ourselves into?
“Only if it comes to that,” said Will. But something in his eyes had a different answer when he looked up at her.
Eva swallowed hard, her throat tight. She licked her lips and saw Will’s gaze focus on her mouth as he watched. He stared at her lips and almost unconsciously ran a tongue over his own. How can I be so turned on and so terrified at the same time?
A distracting silence fell between them. Eva heard the office phone ring in the back room, and then stop ringing. She cleared her throat. “So, have you… I guess you do this a lot?” asked Eva gently.
“Do what? Save strangers from thugs? Yeah, I’m a regular Batman,” he said with a bitter laugh. He took a drink.
“Well, it doesn’t seem like the first fight you’ve been in, is all.”
“And it won’t be the last,” he said. His eyes went heavy when he said it, staring down at the bar.
Sure is a warm and fuzzy guy. “Are you from around here?”
Will looked up at her, right into her eyes with his own deep brown ones, which served to send a jolt of heat right from her neck all the way down to her thighs. “Eva, was it?”
“Yes.”
“Eva,” he said, holding her gaze, speaking deliberately. “I’m not the kind of fucking guy you chat up with small talk and try to wiggle inside by being friendly, okay?” His expression became some mockery of a smile, like sarcasm incarnate. “Ten minutes ago I was snapping a man’s arm a few feet from where you read a book without a care in the world. Do you try to pet dogs that have just gotten out of a fighting pit, too?”
Eva’s face flushed with embarrassed anger. She felt emotion rising up from deep in her chest, that same vengeful feeling she used to get when boys from outside the neighborhood would try to mess with her walking home from school. Her Pa used to tell her it was their Irish fire—and Eva felt it burning now. “Christ, aren’t you a real tough guy? Breaking a man’s arm isn’t enough, you’ve gotta be a bastard to a woman who hasn’t done a thing to you, too?”
Will gave her an eye roll and drank his beer. “A tough guy’s what you need, lady, not a cuddly teddy bear. So why don’t you just fuck off and let me do what you need me here to do in peace?”
Eva bit her lip as if it would hold back the tide of furious words building in her throat. Has there ever been a single man in all the world that has ever been a grown-up? she thought as she drained the rest of her glass in a huff. She slammed it empty back down on the counter hard enough that Will’s gaze flickered up to her.
“Some dogs need to be put down, all right,” she muttered, as she swiped her book from where she’d left it on the counter and walked away from Will. She nearly bumped into Charlie coming in from the back with a roll of tape and his makeshift handwritten sign.
Charlie made a surprised sound, and then frowned. “Where are you going?”
“I’m fucking off,” said Eva in a dark tone, trying to move around him. She could feel Will’s eyes on her back, and it made heat rise in her body—this time more of the angry type.
“What?” said Charlie, confused.
“I’m going to the house,” said Eva impatiently. “Just leave me alone.” She pushed past him.
“Keep your phone on you. I want to be able to check in!” Charlie called as she weaved out the back door and into the meadow.
Eva didn’t reply as she stalked through the forest meadow, completely ignoring the view in a way she hadn’t before. She stormed up the porch stairs, made a beeline for the kitchen and a bottle of iced tea, and then holed up in her borrowed master bedroom. After lying on the cool sheets for a few minutes, watching the curtains dance in the breeze, Eva felt her anger mostly dying. Every minute, Will’s hurtful words pulsed less and less loudly in her mind.
What the hell is that guy’s problem? I didn’t do a single thing to deserve being talked to like that. Why would he risk himself to help us in a lethal situation and then turn around and treat me like shit afterwards?
Eva was so tired of men. She felt like they were an alien species she couldn’t comprehend. Sure, she had grown up a little shy and socially isolated, but she was a smart woman, totally capable of overcoming those things to find friends, boyfriends, and eventually, a husband. The friends, she kept and kept well. But the men never seemed to follow the same rules. Laura always told her it was because men were intimidated by her, and the thought always made Eva howl with laughter. But Laura held the line, insisting it was Eva’s brains and fire that caused her trouble. Weak men are afraid of strong women, she would say.
But she never felt like Rick had been afraid of her. No, quite the opposite—in her mind, Rick loomed like a monster who had never been afraid of anything. She was the one who had been afraid. The man who proposed to her was strong, sweet, and supportive. The man he became when he was finally her husband was none of those things. Rick kept her tired and frightened, alienated her from her friends and family, and even made it hard for her to hold down a job with his incessant and jealous fits when she had to work late. When she lost that job, the net only drew in tighter, and Rick had kept her from finding employment, insisting she remain in the apartment as a housewife. Under his full control, Rick tormented Eva psychologically and emotionally until she couldn’t sleep or eat, until she felt like time had lost meaning and she had already died.
Laura was the only friend who refused to let Rick push her away. She never ignored a call or text from Eva, and frequently risked herself to try and intervene. Like many abused women, Eva resisted help for years, refusing to see the truth of her life and too afraid to fix it when she did. But after Rick cut off her ability to communicate with the outside world by destroying her phone and laptop, Eva finally realized the danger she was in. Laura and Charlie had worked together to establish an escape for her. Eva would never forget the looks on their faces when they saw her after months of no visits under Rick’s control: malnourished, exhausted, bruised, utterly spent. She had never seen Laura look so frightened before or since.
Eva hated that she understood what a trapped animal felt like, that she would never be able to fully shake off the darkness which Rick had shown her existed. For months after she left him, Eva couldn’t even stand to walk by pet stores, because the urge to compulsively rescue every single animal there would overwhelm her until she was crying in a puddle of fabric on the sidewalk.
She spent the last two and a half years with Charlie, trying to heal. And her misunderstanding of men was not confined to her romantic entanglements; Eva had never quite understood her big brother, either. Smart, sweet, attractive, and driven, Charlie had nonetheless never shown much interest in any of the sort of connections Eva enjoyed so much. A few girlfriends in his early twenties fizzled out unceremoniously, and then he just seemed to stop caring about it altogether. In a lot of ways, he reminded her of their pa and his deep work ethic, only taken to a greater extreme.
Living with Charlie was basically like living by herself, with an occasional man stopping by to leave empty milk cartons in the fridge and piles of dirty clothes on the bathroom floor. If he wasn’t at work, he was working on his own projects. Eva still felt a bit isolated, but never for long, and never like she felt before. It might have been lonely, but Charlie’s place was stable, quiet, and peaceful. He made enough money that he didn’t care when she went back to work. She lost herself in the pages of her books, still too tender to rejoin the world at full strength, but longing for connections regardless. Connecting with book characters had never been difficult for her.
And then Uncle Owen had called, and led to this: Eva, lying on some strange lumpy mattress, trying to figure out why she couldn’t stop thinking about the handsome, rude stranger who had just saved her life and then bit her head off. Remember when life felt monotonous, like, a week ago? she thought to herself with a sarcastic laugh.
Eva sighed and reached for her phone on the night table with the ugly doilies. She texted Laura to see what she was doing; she told her developments had unfolded. Eva’s phone started ringing not ten seconds after she sent the text.
“Developments!” said Laura as soon as Eva answered. “I figured something good must have happened when you had to hang up on me like that.”
“I’m not sure if ‘good’ is the word,” said Eva. “But it’s not boring.”
“Should I get popcorn?”
Eva laughed. “No, just shut up and listen. So, you’re not going to believe this, but our bar just got… like… hassled.”
“What, like, by some Fifties biker gang in leather jackets? Did you chase them away with a broom?” said Laura.
“Seriously, they were shoving customers out the door and threatening them.”
“Holy shit, Ev! Are you guys okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine. But there’s this guy… this other guy…”
She heard Laura’s laugh through the phone speaker. “Oh, I can already tell this guy is gonna be good.”
“He just kicked the shit out of them,” said Eva. “Remember that one time we were at Morningside Park with the Cicero brothers, and Tony kept prodding at that skinny nerd from Ms. Locusta’s class?”
Laura gasped, “Oh, and then that guy just came up swinging out of nowhere like he was Van Damme and made Tony look like a total bitch!”
“It was like that with this guy today. Just quiet, and then suddenly, pow,” said Eva. “He broke one of their arms and chased them off.”
“That’s incredible!” said Laura. “What the hell kind of storybook did you walk into?”
Eva laughed, “I knew you were going to say that.”
“Seriously, though, are you okay? Did anyone get hurt? I assume you called the cops.”
Eva froze, biting her lip. “We’re okay. But cops, well… things are apparently a little more complicated than that. This guy, Will… I don’t know who he is, but he says those assholes are going to come back, and he wants to stay and take care of them. He says he’s seen it before. The cops won’t help until it’s too late.”
Laura was silent on the other end for a good few seconds. “Wait, so let me get this straight. You’ve got like… some dude just hanging out in your bar on an epic quest for vengeance?”
“I guess that’s one way to put it,” said Eva.
“Charlie’s with you, right? You’re not in danger?”
“No, no,” said Eva, though she wondered why. Will was obviously a dangerous man—why was she so sure he wouldn’t hurt her? “I mean, Will’s a total asshole, but he protected us. He doesn’t want anything.”
“Will?” said Laura, dragging the name out. “First name basis already?” She paused for a second. “Oh shit, is he hot? Is that what’s happening?”
Eva felt her face flush. “I literally hate you.”
“Girl, oh my God, are you going to fuck some mysterious stranger who is beating up criminals in your bar? Wait, isn’t that basically the plot of Batman?” Laura gasped. “Are you going to fuck Batman?”
This time, Eva laughed loud, remembering that Will ironically called himself that earlier. “Christ, Laura, I just met the man today!”
Laura let out a big sigh. “Girl, I don’t know what to do with you. You’re more adventure than I can handle.”
Eva laughed. “Apparently.”
“Seriously though, I’m all for you getting a roll in the hay—God knows you need it—but just be careful, okay? Maybe the guy who’s kicking the shit out of people isn’t the best target for that.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” said Eva. “I would have to get over how terribly unattractive his attitude is to even consider that.”
“The eternal struggle of all womankind,” said Laura, and they shared a hearty laugh.
Eva chatted with Laura for another half hour, catching up on her life as a publicist for a small record label in the city, and Laura’s own man-centered shenanigans. Eva promised to call her later and keep her updated on the situation, after once again assuring her that she was and would remain safe. The conversation had Eva feeling lighter and more centered than she had before.
As she stood up from the bed to stretch a little, her eyes caught some movement in the wood near the bar through the window in her room. Across the meadow, Charlie and Will were stalking around the perimeter, inspecting, stooping, pointing. Making some sort of battle plan, no doubt, she thought.
Will moved through the trees like a graceful predator as she watched, hidden from his view. What was it that kept whispering in her head, telling her he was more than he seemed. He left no room for doubt during their earlier conversation about his own feelings toward her.
But then she remembered the look on his face when he knelt before her and picked up her book with gentle, concerned hands. The loving way he straightened all the crooked pages back to their proper spots. The soft way he had asked if she was okay.
Eva sighed as the sun lit up his rust-colored hair even as he moved between the trees. If only it would illuminate more of the man underneath.
~ EIGHT ~
Will chewed on the ugly words he had spit at Eva for the next few hours as he investigated the grounds around the bar. Charlie was giving him a tour of their borders and buildings. He was surprised to see that the bar’s owner, Owen, actually lived in a modest rambler only fifty yards or so from the bar itself, tucked up in the tree line. That made things easier—he didn’t have to worry about watching some second location where Eva and Charlie might be threatened, and he didn’t have to try and talk them into camping at the bar until this all blew over.
He didn’t understand why he felt guilty about the way he talked to Eva. When was the last time he ever felt guilty about anything, especially something involving a woman? He wasn’t a total piece of shit—he intentionally sought out women like him, who lived rough lives on the edge and weren’t looking for more than momentary physical comfort. He made his intentions clear from the beginning. He didn’t lead them on or abuse them or fuck with their emotions like many other so-called men in the world did regularly. Will always found it bitterly funny that these same men would look down on him for being an outlaw and not participating in some bullshit “respectable” corporate world, just to turn around and treat their wives worse than he would ever consider treating a woman. He wanted to fuck Eva, sure. But he didn’t fuck women like Eva.
But he still felt guilty about what he had said to her, and that guilt only made him angry. Eva had no idea what she was getting into. She didn’t seem to understand how much danger she and Charlie could be in.
That being said, Will was trying to bury his growing lust for her that very clearly did not want to be ignored. Lust was nothing new, and he usually had no problems serving it. But he served it with the right type of women. A different type of woman. Not one who was as soft and breakable as Eva. He didn’t need some moon-eyed out of town girl falling in love with the roughneck bad boy. Not here. Not now.
Will realized Charlie had been talking to him, and he hadn’t heard much of it. He tried to play it off otherwise as Charlie pointed out the two cheap security cameras stationed on corners of the roof on the bar. Then he turned and pointed into the woods. “There’s also one on the house, running to the same closed circuit feed.”
Will nodded. “Helpful.”
“What kind of a response are you expecting, exactly?” asked Charlie. He was probably close to Will’s age, maybe a few years younger; attractive kid with arms and a chest that told of manual, blue-collar labor. Something about his down-to-brass-tacks demeanor made him seem older, reminding Will of the old school World War II veterans that used to hang around visiting his grandfather. Charlie was an old soul with a lot of emotion.
“That depends,” said Will. He ran a hand through his hair as the wind tussled it, scanning the bar. “They’ll bring back a lot more men if they think we are going to do the same. If they think we’re still weak, well, then maybe only a few. It will be more than two, either way.”
“So you don’t know?” said Charlie. “I thought you knew what you were doing with this stuff?”
“Look, this isn’t like baking a cake where we follow a recipe. This is warfare. Do you have any idea the insane amount of variables that come into play planning a tactical response?”
Charlie blinked. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “No, I guess I don’t.”
“I have to guess what those fuckers are going to do next, based on the information I think they might have about us. What a general wouldn’t give for absolutes.” Will paced off a few feet into the green underbrush to get a better look at the house just up the incline. He imagined that’s where Eva had stormed off to.
“So, what do we do?” asked Charlie.
“Do you have any weapons?” said Will.
“I think there’s a shotgun inside, and I know I’ve seen more than one axe around the property.”
Ghost would never forgive me for battling with axes and not inviting him. “Unless you and your sister have had some medieval weapons training, I think we’ll just stick with firearms. I have a few.”
“You can’t really just shoot them, can you? You’ll be arrested for sure, that’s murder.”
“Self-defense,” said Will as he trudged around Charlie and wandered back into the bar. “And make no mistake, that’s exactly what it will be. They’re not going to come back peacefully. So don’t get your panties in a twist worrying about murder.”
“It’s still a sin,” said Charlie in a lower voice.
Will let out a harsh laugh and poured himself a glass of whiskey. He dug in his pockets and fished out a pack of smokes. “Then call yourself a priest when we’re done, Murdock, because I can’t fucking help you get right with God.” He blew out a puff of smoke. “But I just might keep you alive long enough to make it to confession.”
Charlie came close to him, and looked over his shoulder before he spoke. “I want you to leave my sister out of this,” he said. “Whatever plans you have to defend this place, don’t write her into them. It’s just me and you, understand?”
Will gave him a look as he exhaled smoke. “Are you saying she’s not a secret assassin, then?”
“Listen, asshole, I’m serious,” said Charlie, pointing a finger to Will’s chest. “Just stay away from her.”
“I would be pretty shitty at my job if I tried to put bookworms in sundresses on my front lines,” said Will. “You don’t need to worry about that.” Talking about Eva out loud only made an image of her pop into Will’s head, beautiful and distracting. With it, his guilt resurfaced.
“Good,” said Charlie. “My uncle called earlier to check in and I didn’t know what all to tell him, so I just got off the phone and said I’d call him back. I really want to tell him what’s going on with his bar.”
“Don’t,” said Will. “We don’t know who’s listening. And he could still be—“
“He is not involved with this,” insisted Charlie with gritted teeth. “And you want me to just lie about all this?”
“Don’t lie, just keep your fucking mouth shut. Tell him things are fine. He can’t do anything to help us, anyway.”
“Just like the cops, right?”
Will finished his whiskey and stood in front of Charlie with his shoulder squared. “If you don’t trust me, Murdock, that’s fine. I’ll go. But believe me when I tell you that you and that lovely sister of yours will pay the price if I do.” He paused. “I’ve seen it before.”
Charlie fell silent. His face betrayed his internal struggle with himself, trying to read a situation that was over his head. In the end he said nothing, only sighed. “All right, all right. Just… this is a lot to swallow, man, you know?”
Will didn’t have any urge to empathize with Charlie, so he didn’t. All he needed was for this city boy to listen to his very simple instructions so he didn’t get his bar blown to fucking bits with his family inside. “Just take it easy for today. Something tells me they won’t be back right away. They’ll give time for any cops we called to fart around the scene and do nothing about it before they hit again. Keep the bar closed for the day. Tomorrow, you and I will open up. We’ll keep your sister in the house, away from it.”
Charlie made an exasperated face and put his hands on his waist. “She is not gonna like hearing that.”
“I’ll talk to her,” said Will before he could stop himself. Oh you will, huh? And with no ulterior motive, I’m sure. “I want to check out the house, anyway. Make sure it’s secure.”
“Good luck. I’m going to go close down the till,” said Charlie. He split from Will and returned to the bar, and Will turned the opposite way, heading up the hill through the small grassy forest to the quiet rambler tucked against the foothills.
Will listened to the soft song of the wind through the trees as he waited on the porch for Eva to answer his knock. After a few moments, the door swung open. Her eyes were hard, her lips scrunched up, everything about her dark and shadowed from the screen door between them.
“Did you need something?” she asked.
“Can we talk?”
Eva shifted on her feet and looked down the hallway. “I got bit the last time I tried to pet a mean dog,” she said, meeting his eyes with a glare.
Will looked down at his boots and licked his lips as a sliver of shame ran through him again. He clenched his jaw. “I was out of line. I sometimes get like that after a fight, but I shouldn’t have been such a dick. Can I come in now?”
Eva huffed for a few silent moments, thinking, before she sighed and opened the screen door to him.
Will followed her into the living room as his gaze took in the surroundings. The place looked very much like it was owned by a man of Owen’s age. Even though he visited often, Will was not close with the bartender, never in a particularly chatty mood whenever he found himself at Swashbuckler’s. The man was nice and kept a clean, quiet establishment. From the looks of his house, he lived a comfortable but modest life running the bar, though his décor was stuck somewhere between the late 80s and early 90s in all the worst ways. Among all the earth-tone furniture and tacky kitsch accents, Eva in her delicate form looked like a rose bursting out of decaying forest undergrowth.
Arms folded, she eyed him warily. “So, what do you need to talk about?”
Will rubbed the leaves of some plastic flowers in a vase between his fingers, and then brushed off the dust from his fingertips. “Listen, we need you to stay up here for the time being, until this is all over.”
“What do you mean?” she said.
“Every person in that bar is a potential casualty when this shit goes down, and obviously we don’t want you among them,” said Will. He tried not to hold his gaze so long on her face, but he couldn’t help himself. “So it’s best if you just hole up here until it passes.”
“Oh, is that what you and my brother decided was best for me?” He could tell by the tone in her voice that he had struck a deep nerve. “Just keep me locked up like some princess in a tower until you heroes figure it out, is that it? No, thank you.”
Will scoffed. “I don’t remember mentioning you had a choice.”
Eva’s jaw dropped, and so did her arms. She walked up close to Will and stood in front of him, close enough that he could smell some wickedly divine scent of lilac and jasmine floating over her skin. The anger he saw in her eyes didn’t do a damn thing to change the lust that was rolling through his veins. If anything, it made it worse.
“Your apology sure didn’t last long. Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?” she said, locking eyes with him. “You saved us, thanks, and I’m fine with you doing it again, but you do not get to come in here and tell me what to do.”
Will took a step closer to her, narrowing the distance between them. Eva didn’t retreat. She let him stand mere inches in front of him, close enough that he could feel her crossed arms brushing against his chest. Eva began to breathe a little heavier.
“I think I get to tell you what to do if it’s going to save your life,” said Will.
“I’m not a child,” she said in a voice just above a whisper.
“No… you’re not,” he said, making it clear he approved as he ran his eyes over her body while she glared at him. He saw blood rush to her cheeks. She licked her lips impulsively, and some part of him knew he had her right where he wanted her.
This is not your best idea. This isn’t some stripper taking side jobs, hungry for cock and cash. This woman looks like she stepped right out of a 1950s public library. And that’s speaking nothing of her grumpy big brother…
“Are you done staring at me like that?” said Eva, breaking his train of thought. Her words said she was angry, but the glint in her eyes and the rise and fall of her chest told Will a different story.
For good measure, he gave her another once-over, fully aware that she was watching him do it. Still, she stood silent, her jaw clenched until he was done and took a few steps back. The heat between them slowly dissipated once there was more distance between them, like some supernatural force had left the room.
“Stay out of the bar, or I’ll drag you back up here myself,” he said to her. “Understand?”
“I understand you’re delusional, if you think you can tell me what to do,” said Eva. “I’ll speak with my brother before we decide any course of action, thanks.”
“Your brother has deferred all power to me,” said Will, and he couldn’t help but give a teasing half-grin when he said it. “So, if you please, stay out of the bar so I don’t have to bury your tight little body in the field out front.”
Eva went to reply, but seemed taken aback by the covert compliment and dropped silent. She blinked at Will a few times, then shook her head and walked around him for the hallway. “You’re a prick, you know that? You and my brother should date.” She didn’t wait for a response, but entered the bedroom at the end of the hall and slammed the door behind her.
Will watched her walk away, lust burning through his veins. He had the vague instinct that bedding Eva wouldn’t be what he imagined, and not just because she was different from his usual fare. Yet another reason to stay away.
He took another look around the living room, and at the uncomfortable-looking sitting couch that sat in front of a char-black fireplace. “I guess I’ll just sleep out here, then? Or should I crawl into Charlie’s bed?”
Eva didn’t respond, of course, but that didn’t stop Will from laughing about it anyway.
