Ten(21)

“Do you want to put a shirt on?” Jimmy asks, looking down at my naked torso.

“No,” I answer with a hard tone.

Jimmy is not a pushover when it comes to the law. He’s a clean cop, and having him in my place makes me nervous. I won’t show him that, though.

“I’m not Murphy, kid. I won’t look the other way while Moores think they can run this town. I know what happened to you was a really shitty thing. But Alexandria is an innocent girl and I won’t stand by while your family intimidate and assault her no matter who they are.”

Six moves a few steps towards him and I hold my hand up to tell him it’s okay. I don’t want him getting worked up and doing something stupid.

“What are you talking about?” I’m genuinely confused. Is he talking about the Jude thing?

“You cousin and uncle pulled her over earlier.”

“And?” I growl, already feeling my hackles rise.

“Let’s just say they got handsy, and I wouldn’t have liked to have arrived any later.”

I hear a crunch from beside me. Six has crushed a glass in his hand, which is now bleeding.

“Who’s he?” Jimmy asks, nodding at Six.

“No one you need to know. Don’t worry about Alex. See yourself out.”

I grab Alex’s clothes that either Jude or Six has folded and put on a table then run up the stairs two at a time. My uncle needs to learn a lesson. My insides run cold when I think of his hands anywhere near her. Alex is still sound asleep; she hasn’t even changed positions. I throw my clothes on and place hers on the bed.

Six is waiting for me when I get back downstairs. I know sexual assault is a trigger for him and don’t even have to tell him he can come with me to confront my uncle.

“Jude, stay down here. If Alex comes down, tell her to wait for me.” He nods. “Jude!” I shout, gaining his full attention. “You treat her like you would me, do you understand?”

“Yeah.”




I didn’t quite believe it when I got out to find one of us is a police officer. Tim was twenty when I went down, and most of the time he was away at college. I thought he had got out. It gave me hope that I could, so I was disappointed to find him in the thick of the Moore legacy.

I pull into the truck yard and my hands tighten on the wheel as I maneuver it around to the offices at the back.

Six jumps out before me and I worry about him keeping his cool in here. There is always a lot of crew hanging around here and they carry loaded weapons, and have no qualms about using them.

I push the door open and walk straight into my uncle’s office. He’s sitting behind his desk with a girl between his legs. She looks young - too fucking young. She pops her head up, slurping her mouth over his cock as she does, and I know I have the same repulsed look on my face Six has.

“Get out!” I snap at her.

These girls make the choice to be here, I learned that years ago. She isn’t a prisoner, nor was she forced into the sex trade. They barge their way in for easy money, and sucking old men’s cocks makes them feel like they have some supremacy over powerful men. They’re wrong, and they eventually learn that the hard way, but she isn’t why I’m here.

Six grabs her arm as she walks past, making her gasp and then mold into him. “You see something you like, big boy? I don’t come free.” She reaches up on her tiptoes and licks his chin.

He forces her away from him. “How old are you?”

“How old do you want me to be? I can be as young as fifteen if that’s your flavor.” She winks.

“She’s legal,” my uncle says. “Just.” He chuckles.

“Put your fucking dick away,” I tell him then turn to the girl. “And you, fuck off.”

He must sense by my tone this isn’t a social visit. He puts his dick back in his pants and rests his arms on the desk.

“Who’s he, your guard dog?” He smirks at Six.

“Do you think I’d need one?”

We both look at Six when he barks, not changing the passive look on his face. It’s a warning of just how brutal he can be without thinking or caring about the aftermath. He comes across indifferent but he’s anything but.

“What’s this about, Dalton? I have shit to do.”

“Like what? Going out with Tim to feel up women he pulls over?”

His grin makes me want to stab him in the fucking eye. “Oh, so this is about that piece of skirt.”

“I warned you that she and Jonah are mine.”

He stands up, pointing at me. “You also gave me the go ahead to get Jonah here.”

“What the fuck has that got to do with Alex?”

“Everything! He’s her next of kin. If we arrest her or she’s injured, the doctor or station will call him.”

“So why not just call him and lie?”

“Because he could call her cell and find out it’s a lie.” He throws himself back into his chair.

Why is Jonah her next of kin if she hasn’t seen or spoken to him in years?

“Wait, so what was your plan? To arrest and injure her?” I’m ready to beat the shit out of him.

“Arrest her, but when Jimmy fucking Harvey came to her rescue we had to rework things.”

“What does that mean?” He grins, and I fly across the office and grab him by his collar, lifting him from the seat. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“We went with injured.” He smirks.

Six walks around the desk and grabs Keith’s arm, pinning his hand to the table. He doesn’t hesitate before picking up a paperweight and slamming it down on his hand.

“You motherfucker!” Keith shouts.

“What the fuck did you do?” I demand.

“Fuck you, Dalton! Your Dad will hear about this.” He growls and I don’t know if he expects me to cower at the threat of my father. I’m not a fucking kid.

Six slams the weight down again and I hear the crunch of Keith’s bones. Blood stains the glass ball and sprays on to Six’s shirt. The look on Six’s face is unsettling. He likes this, inflicting pain, seeing the blood.

“I’m going to kill you, you cunt!” he shouts at Six, but Six just grins at him.

“You can try.”

“What did you do?”

“We cut her brakes. It will get him here, Dalton, and that’s what you wanted.”

I drop him back into his chair and hurry to the door.

“You’re fucking dead, you hear me?” he says to Six, clinging to his damaged hand. “You fucking hear me?”

Six stops in his tracks. “You want to write that down for me or something?” He looks at the hand Keith is cradling. “Oh, maybe you need some help.” He grabs a pen and scribbles something down on a piece of paper before picking up a stapler, and without flinching, staples it to his own chest. “There. I look forward to it.”

“You’re dead. I’m going to come for you.”

“Good luck with that.” Six grins.

My uncle stares at him but I don’t have time to stick around. I leave the room and see a couple of my uncle’s henchmen waiting outside. I look them in the eye, showing them I’m their boss. They chin lift their acknowledgment then part so Six and I can get past.

I throw the keys to Six and get my phone out. I call the bar and get no answer. What the hell?

“Step on it, Six,” I tell him, and sit in my seat, tense as fuck. I’m so glad Alex is at my place and not out in her car. They could have killed her. Cutting her brakes! What realm of insanity are those fuckers living in? This isn’t over but I need to get back to see her safe in my bed.

I jump from the car before it comes to a full stop. I race through the door and see Jude isn’t there. I sprint up the stairs and barge into my room. My heart shatters when I find it empty, and her clothes gone. I pull my cell from my pocket and dial her number. She doesn’t know I checked her LinkedIn profile to see where she lives, and on there she lists her address and phone numbers. I need to warn her about that shit, too.

The phone just rings and rings, and eats at my nerves with every chime.

I bolt down the stairs and out the door, shouting to Six to wait here, and if she comes, to keep her here.

Jumping in my truck, I dial her again and almost swerve into traffic when she answers. “Fuck, Alex. Where are you?”

“How did you get this number?”

“It doesn’t matter. Why did you leave?”

She laughs but it’s emotionless. “You left, not me. I’m so tired, Dalton. You took me apart to see inside, and marked everything so I wasn’t me anymore. I couldn’t function without you. Do you know what it’s like to sleepwalk through your life? To not feel like you belong anywhere, because all I ever wanted was to be where you were? I’m lost in my own life, my own skin. I don’t live. I barely exist. If it wasn’t for DJ, I would have faded into obscurity.”

Who the fuck is DJ?

“I didn’t leave you. I came back.”

“Why can’t you let me love you? Why do you have to hate me?”

“I don’t hate you, Alex. I tried, and only ended up hating that I couldn’t hate you. That’s not how things are now.”

“You shut me out. You punished me.”

“I was broken, Alex. I couldn’t be fixed. You can’t fix me. I was so lost. I’m still lost. Do you want to save me? Because I don’t think you can.”