A Real Bad Boy(6)

"I don't know what you expect me to say. I thought the other night was a one-time thing."

"I did too, Willow. But can you really look into my eyes and tell me you  don't want to see where this is going?" he asked. It was a question I  wasn't prepared to answer. I didn't know why he'd taken a sudden  interest in me, but I wasn't sure I wanted it. Except I couldn't look at  him and tell him I didn't. He was so fucking hot, and so intense. A  part of me wanted to know him, wanted to know exactly what went on in  that mind of his.

Before I could answer, I heard a knock on the doorjamb. I let out a  silent prayer and turned to see Ruby standing there, staring at the both  of us with knowing eyes.

Fuck. I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep this from her for long. I fidgeted as she looked at both of us.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" she asked as she stepped into the room.  Her eyes were narrowed at Zach, and I knew he was going to be the target  of her wrath.

I let out a breath of relief.

"Hey, Cuz." He smiled at her. "Why don't you walk me out to my car."

"I think that's an excellent plan." Her voice was clipped, and I grinned. He was going to get it.





Zach



"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked as soon as we were out of earshot of Willow.

"Whatever the hell I want," I said as I looked at her. "Look, little Cuz, I don't know what you think-"

"No. You are going to listen to me. This isn't a game, Zach. She isn't  one of your scores. That woman has been through hell the past couple of  years and she is finally crawling out of it. You aren't going to get her  all dizzy and confused and pull one of your damn stunts. Do you hear  me?" She was really angry. I'd never seen Ruby talk to me this way  before.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I think we need to go someplace to talk," Ruby said. "I don't have  another class for two hours. There is a cafe off campus that might be  good."

I nodded and followed her out of the building and across campus to that little cafe.

"Willow has been through a lot, Zach. A lot you don't know about. I mean, it's one thing to flirt with her, but-"

"Just tell me, Ruby. I'm not going to know unless you explain." I was starting to get tired of her hemming and hawing.

"Are you interested in her? I mean actually. Not one of your flings or  whatever it is you do." She waved her hand away, dismissing all my past  conquests. Of course she had to know about some of them. I mean, word  got around in our town. I was every bit the bad boy people thought I  was, and my reputation was deserved.

But Willow was different.

I nodded. I wasn't ready to admit how interested, but I wanted more with  her. Her lips, those eyes. They were just as I remembered them and I  wasn't ready to give up yet. Not until I'd had my fill.

"I'm not the perfect guy, Ruby. But Willow is different. You know that.  She gets under my skin, she twists me up, and I can't just drop it. I  won't."

"Well, don't fucking hurt her, Zach. I'll beat you up."

I raised my eyebrow.

"Okay, I'll have you beat you up. But seriously. She isn't coming from a  good place. The last guy who was with her, her fiancé, he wasn't a good  guy. And I don't mean in the same way as you. He …  he beat the shit out  of her, Zach. He did things-"

I could feel my temper about to explode, boil over. I wanted to find  this man already and I wanted to put a bullet through his chest. It  wouldn't be that hard. It wouldn't be the first time I'd done it either.  I could kill with no remorse. It was one of my many talents. It was  what made me a good soldier.

"What things." It wasn't a fucking question. I didn't want to ask. I needed to know. I needed to know now.                       
       
           



       

"A lot of shit. Broke her collar bone, twice. She didn't tell me any of  it. Not until he cracked her rib the last time." She knew as soon as she  said the words it was a mistake. She held up her hands. "You don't know  him, you can't find him. Don't do anything stupid."

"Oh, finding that son of a bitch wouldn't be hard, not for me, and you  know it. I have the right connections." I could kill him. I could put  him out of his damn misery easy. I could probably even hire a crew to  clean it up and make it a mystery they would never be able to solve.

I wasn't a damn hitman, but I had worked with a few, and I knew exactly the way the world operated.

"You won't do it because if you did, you would lose any chance of anything with her. And you could lose more."

"You have a point." She did. Ruby and I had always been close. She knew  how I thought and she knew the exact words to calm me down.

But I also knew it wouldn't solve anything. She'd walked away from him.  Walked away from that world, and if she ever found out it was me …  well,  that would be it.

It would be over.

No, it wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth it. But it would be a lie to say I didn't want to.

"Just keep it cool."

I couldn't make that promise when it came to Willow, but I'd try.





Willow



"So, how many ears did you chew off him?" I asked as I looked up at her.  I was just about ready to head home for the day, and I could tell by  the look in her eyes that she wanted a word with me as well.

"I think he still has a piece of one left. Enough to hear out of, in any  rate." Ruby looked into my eyes. "He is a good man, Willow. But he's  not a good love interest. I tell you this for your own good. You should  stay away from him."

I had to admit, the forbidden aspect of him made me want to call him  right after I got out of the office. "I should." It was the truth. I  agreed.

But that didn't mean I would.

"Well, now that it's settled," Ruby said as she stared at me. She knew very well that it wasn't settled. She was just hoping.

I wanted to experience him at least one more time. That was all I could promise.





Chapter Five



Willow



I let out a sigh as I opened the door to my place and stumbled in. My  feet hurt, my brain hurt, and I just wanted to relax. I didn't want to  think about work or the students, or anything in my life.

Especially Zach Murdock.

I pulled my phone out and looked at the little voicemail alert blinking  at me. It didn't matter if I wanted to think about him or not. He was  thinking about me. I set the phone down and tried to ignore it, but I  wanted to know what he had to say.

I wanted to know what he wanted. Hell, I wanted to know what he was doing right that moment.

So I dialed my voicemail and waited to hear his voice.

"Hello, beautiful." The voice that greeted me instead brought chills  down my spine, and not the good ones. It was the one person in the world  that I didn't want to hear from. Elijah.

"It took me a little bit to get your new number, but I'm glad I caught  you. Before you ask yourself how, just remember, I have the kind of  contacts most people dream of. I've missed you, little lamb. Just  calling to say hello. I'll be in touch soon." He was calm, too calm. It  was the kind of calm that he got before he destroyed something or  someone.

My body might have been in my new apartment, safe and sound, but my mind  wasn't. I was there, in his penthouse, as he screamed at me.

"You should be fucking ashamed of yourself!" The maid didn't clean  right, and it was my job to give instructions. It was my job to make  sure that everything in the house ran smoothly while he was at work.

I knew better than to answer him or to speak back. I knew better than to try and reason with a man like Elijah Thompson.

His father's company wasn't going to run itself while he was in Washington. That was what he told me.

"I've warned you about such insolence, Willow. I've warned you what  happens to the lamb when it strays." He loosened his belt and started  pulling out the leather.

I didn't even have time to flinch as he came at me with it. Smack after  smack of that belt against my skin. It wasn't sensual; it wasn't light.  It was meant to hurt. It was his full force.

My body absorbed blow after blow, but I couldn't stand there and take it. I fell to the ground on all fours as he whipped me.

I found a spot on the rug, a little piece of filigree, and I let my mind  take me there as I clung to it. I cried out in pain, but after a while,  I didn't even hear myself anymore.

I was lost in the fabric, counting thread after thread of what I saw until darkness came for me.                       
       
           



       

That was the night I decided I had to leave. That was the night I  decided I had to get out of that penthouse, away from that city, and  back to safety.

My head snapped up, and I realized what was happening. I wasn't in that  penthouse. I was in my own house. I was holding my phone and sitting in  my chair.