What possessed me to bring Shannon to Biddies, I would never fully understand, but she was here now, and looking more upset than when I'd found her throwing her guts up at school an hour ago.
So was I.
I was trying to mask my fury, but I swear to god I was close to killing someone.
Genuinely.
Truly.
Abso-fucking-lutely.
Shannon was petrified of these girls.
Her body was shaking.
Shaking.
Which was why she was currently tucked into my side with my arm wrapped tightly around her frail shoulders.
I knew I was stepping over serious lines here, but I refused to let her run from these fuckers.
I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?
How could I just leave her sitting there, looking so frightened and unsure?
I couldn’t.
To be honest, it was a good thing she was touching me because I was about two seconds away from blowing a head gasket and getting my ass thrown in the barracks.
This wasn’t me.
I wasn’t a reactor.
I thought shit through.
Not when it comes to this girl...
The blonde in the BCS uniform across the lounge caught my eye again and smiled.
I met her smile with a cold, hard glare and reveled in a sick sort of pleasure when her smile slipped away and fear filled her eyes.
Be fucking frightened, I thought to myself, you have no idea of who you're messing with.
I could ruin these people.
I wanted to.
Every cell in my brain was projecting nothing but rage and vengeance, demanding I take back what they took from Shannon.
Take their pride like they took hers.
Scare them like they scared her.
Inflict pain on them like they tortured her.
I could taste my anger.
It was fucking potent.
Dammit, I needed to get a handle on myself, but every time I tried, I just kept thinking about her file.
Were one of these bitches the ones that cut off her ponytail?
I had a bad feeling about the blonde.
Another issue I was having that was going to make me lose my fucking mind was the way these pricks were eyeing her up.
Longingly.
They needed to avert their bleeding eyes from this girl because I couldn’t handle it.
They didn’t need to be looking in her direction.
Ever.
I had my arm around her, for Christ's sake.
Take a bleeding hint.
No wonder the blonde was pissed, I thought to myself. The dark-haired gimp was clearly going out with her and yet he was staring at Shannon like she was dinner.
My dinner, prick, I wanted to roar.
"I'm ready to go now," Shannon said, dragging me from my thoughts and my stare-down with the dark-haired prick gawking at her from across the lounge.
She set her empty bottle on the table and looked up at me with those big, blue eyes. "If that's okay?"
Settle down, heart.
Settle the fuck down.
I forced a smile. "Yeah, Shannon, that's okay."
For obvious reasons, I kept my arm around her as we walked past the table of assholes from her old school. I didn’t miss the way her fingers knotted in my jumper, or how her whole body stiffened when one of the girls made some backhanded comment about whores chasing rich dick.
Keeping my head, I walked her out of the lounge and then pulled her to a stop at the bar. "Can you do me a favor?"
Shannon looked up at me with wide-eyes, nodding. "Yeah. Of course."
I pulled my wallet and keys out of my pocket and handed them to her. "Can you settle up with the barmaid and go wait in the car for me?"
Her face paled. "Why?"
"I need to talk to one of my friends," I lied, smiling down at her. "I'll be right out."
She eyed me warily for a long moment before blowing out a breath. "Sure," she finally said, sounding relieved. "I can do that."
"Thanks," I replied.
I waited until Shannon had moved to the bar before spinning on my heels and stalking back into the lounge, not stopping until I was standing in front of the table of assholes.
"Now," I sneered, glaring down at their faces. "Who wants to call my girlfriend a whore to my face?"
I threw in the girlfriend word for maximum effect to align with the maximum damage I was about to cause.
Several heads turned my way and I did not give one iota of a fuck.
Someone was going to pay for her pain.
"Well?" I demanded, glaring at the blonde. "You?" I asked before flicking my gaze to the redhead sitting beside her. "Or is it you?"
"Listen, I don’t know what she said to you," the blonde began to say, but I cut her off with a shake of my head.
"Is this your fella?" I asked, inclining my head to the dark-haired prick who was ogling Shannon less than five minutes ago, yet had turned conveniently quiet now. "Is he?"
The blonde's face reddened and she nodded.
"That's good to know," I mused, and then I reached over the table, fisted his school jumper, and slammed my fist into his face.
"What the fuck are you doing?" the lad snarled, doubling over.
"I'm playing by the rules, asshole," I spat as I dragged him out over the table and hit him again.
Both girls started screaming and flailing around.
One of his friends made to move towards me.
"I fucking dare ya," I snarled, as I continued to smack the shit out of his buddy.
He took a safe step back and held his hands up.
I rolled my eyes.
Fucking coward.
I'd lost count of the number of brawls Gibs had jumped into on my behalf down through the years, and vice versa.
This prick needed to get better friends.
"Stop!" the blonde cried when I continued to slam my fist into her boyfriend's face. "You're hurting him!"
"Oh, you realize that, do you?" I spat. "So you are capable of knowing right from wrong?"
"What's your problem?" she cried. "We didn’t do anything to you!"
"You sure as shit did something to her," I snarled. "And when you fuck with her, you fuck with me."
The blonde paled and I released her boyfriend.
He sank down on the floor, cupping his face and groaning like a pussy.
She moved straight to him.
"Did you like that?" I asked, glaring at the prick whose face I had just rearranged. "Was that nice?"
"Jesus, lad," the lad groaned, holding his nose to stem the blood. "I didn’t do anything to you."
"No," I seethed. "And my girl –" I pointed to the lounge door, "didn’t do anything to your girl but that didn’t stop her from terrorizing her." I glared at the blonde. "From cutting her hair and beating the shit out her!"
The blonde's face turned scarlet.
I knew it.
"For Christ's sakes, Ciara," the dark-haired guy groaned as he shook off the blonde's hand. "What did you do to her now?"
"Nothing," Ciara argued. "I haven't even seen her since Christmas, babe."
"Do you like being terrorized?" I asked him, taking a step closer, "How does it feel to have no power?"
"I get it, lad," the lad groaned, waving a hand in front of me. "Loud and clear."
"Make sure your girlfriend gets it," I hissed, glowering down at him. "Because if she doesn’t –" I paused to point at both the blonde and the redhead before continuing, "if she or any of her whore friends even look at my girlfriend again, I'm coming for you."
I stood there for a long ass minute, giving every one of those BCS scum a glare, and waiting for a response.
When I didn’t get one, like I knew I wouldn’t, I turned around and walked away, only to halt at the door.
Call it childish, but I couldn’t stop myself from stalking back to their table and tossing it on its side.
Feeling ridiculously satisfied when their drinks all spilled and smashed to the floor, I spun on my heels and stalked out.
"Johnny!" Liam, the owner, barked as he rounded the main bar. "What the fuck are you playing at, kid?"
For fuck's sake.
Inhaling a calming breath, I turned to face him. "I'm sorry for making trouble in your bar. It won't happen again."