Malice's Possession(15)
He stared at her for a moment, and he was going to say that he planned to do just that, and that he would make sure that Malice’s face would be the last one Phillip saw. “Does it matter, Adrianna?” He liked saying her name, liked the way it soothed him in a sense, and the ease at which it rolled off his tongue. This whole situation was not something he was used to. He had helped plenty of women, given the life he led with the MC and the fact their main source of revenue was selling pussy. This, whole situation was not something he was accustomed to. For one thing the first moment he had seen her something in him had halted, and he was forced to take note. And now talking to her, hearing her story, and wanting to hold her close and make sure no one every messed with her again after just meeting her… He shook his head. This was fucked up in every possible way.
“Yeah, it does matter.”
Malice shifted back on the bed so he was facing the door now. His instincts told him to just go and fuck this guy up without even caring if he died in the end. A brutal and ruthless attitude to have, but that was the kind of man he was, and the kind of man he had to be in his position within the MC. Malice didn’t do anything half-assed, and especially not when he felt this passionate about something. “Why wouldn’t you want a man that beat you up to have his life ended?” He turned just his head and looked at her.
She stayed silent for a few seconds, stared at her fingers, and then finally looked back at him. “I might have already ended his life, and although he deserved it, the very idea that I could have killed someone makes me sick. If he is alive, I don’t want his blood on anyone’s hands, least of all yours.”
“If he did this to you, chances are he has done it before, and will continue to do it.” He knew his voice was hard and unyielding, and he didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable, but he had no softness when it came to shit like this.
“You’re right.” She licked her lips, glanced at the clock, and then looked back at him. “It’s late. Would it be okay if I stayed here until the morning?” He didn’t miss the fact she averted the conversation to something far more neutral. She looked at her feet that had bandages around the soles. “I just need to rest for a little bit. My feet and face are killing me.”
And just like that his anger faded to the back as his concern rose up. “I wouldn’t have had you stay anywhere else. The club is the safest place you could be right now. Lay back. I’ll get you something for the pain.” He stood and took a few steps toward the door, but stopped and glanced over his shoulder. She was on her back now and reaching for the blanket. “And Adrianna?”
She paused and looked at him.
“You’re no trouble. If it wasn’t okay for you to be here you wouldn’t.”
She slowly nodded. “Thank you, and please tell everyone else I said that.”
He gave a brisk nod, faced forward once more, and went to get her something to help her discomfort.
Chapter Five
The following day Adrianna sat at the scarred wooden table in the great room of what she had found out was The Brothers of Menace clubhouse in Fairview. She didn’t know much about the motorcycle lifestyle, but after listening to the bikers in this club talk, she had learned quite a bit in a very short amount of time. Some might have said she was living under a rock by not realizing where she had been right off the bat, but to be honest her life hadn’t given her much freedom to think about other things that didn’t involve staying alive, figuratively and literally speaking. Malice sat beside her, but he had his chair positioned so it was at an odd angle, with his body facing her. He rested an elbow on the stained and chipped wood, and stared at her. His position was a bit intimidating.
“You’re feeling better?”
She looked back at Marx, the president of this MC, and nodded in response to his question. “Yes, thank you. The pills Malice gave me last night helped me sleep.” She shifted on the chair and took note that the five guys that were currently seated at the table with her were big, scary looking, and had their attention solely on her. The doctor had also given her some medicine, and whatever they were had helped her feet feel a lot better. Of course there was still discomfort when she walked¸ but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been yesterday. Or maybe she had just needed a really good night’s sleep? She had certainly gotten that last night, too. “I should have thought before just running out of there, but I just reacted.”
What had happened wasn’t a secret. She had told Malice, and then when she had woken up over an hour ago and sat down in front of all of them she had repeated the same thing. She also hadn’t missed the way they looked at each other after she had told them everything Phillip had done to her. Well, most of what he had done. She hadn’t gone into detail about her relationship with him over the last several months. Some things were just better left in the past, and, besides, she’d only had one good month with him. Truthfully she was ashamed that she had been such an idiot to fall for his manipulation in the first place.