He starts toward her, and as he reaches out a hand to grab her, Hawk intercepts, grabbing him by the neck of his shirt and hauling him back into the center of the circle. “Don’t fucking touch her either. Emilia’s one of us. She’s not going to fall for your pathetic act.” Standing over a head taller than Michael, he sneers down at him, “You know what you did, why you’re here. Accept your punishment like a fucking man.”
Without any further delay, he swings his arm back and drives it into Michael’s face. I hear the sweet sound of a bone snapping, quickly followed by a howl of pain. Fucking music to my ears.
I let Hawk get in another few blows before I step forward, needing to sate my own anger before the fucker becomes unconscious. Seeing me, Hawk steps aside, and with a shit-eating grin on my face, I take up where he left off. I plow my fist into his nose, snapping the cartilage, and blood rushes over his face. My next hit is aimed at his stomach, following with several more to his ribs. By the time Beck moves to take over, I’m certain he’s got a few broken ribs to match his broken nose.
Blood is splattered over my top and dusts my knuckles, and as I stare down at my hands, I feel more satisfied than I ever remember feeling after a fight. There’s something about fighting for vengeance that makes it all the more gratifying, and correcting any wrongdoing against Hadley makes it sweeter still.
Cam takes his turn after Beck, followed by West. He might not have the same power behind his punches as the rest of us, but he more than makes up for it with the palpable rage pouring off of him.
By the time it’s Wilder’s turn, Michael is a curled-up ball on the ground. Normally, I’m not one to beat on a man when he’s down, but in this case, that fuckface deserves every second of pain he’s experiencing. He deserves to feel every moment of suffering Hadley had to endure over the last two weeks. We haven’t gotten any details out of her yet, but the new scars marking her body are telling enough of what she’s had to survive.
Wilder starts kicking Michael, and just as he appears to be getting into the swing of it, Hadley shouts, “That’s enough!”
Surprised, I glance over at her. There’s a pained expression on her face, and she’s squeezing Emilia’s hand tightly, but I don’t think her reaction has anything to do with Michael.
“But—”
“Hadley’s right,” Hawk snaps, talking over the top of Wilder. “He’s had enough.”
Stomping over to Michael’s bleeding, curled up body, I crouch down in front of him. “Hey!”
He groans but doesn’t open his eyes. “Hey! Don’t pass out on us yet,” I snap more harshly, slapping him on the cheek. The surprise sting spikes his adrenaline and his eyes jump open. He blinks several times, struggling to focus on me, but I don’t need him to see me; I just need him to hear what I have to say. I lean down, getting as close to his ear as possible. “If you tell anyone, or show your face back here again, we’ll tear your entire fucking life apart.”
I take his responding groan as agreement that he’ll heed my warning. “Glad we understand each other.” I give his cheek a condescending pat and stand up.
“Uh, what now?” Emilia asks, frowning at Michael’s unmoving body.
We all look at one another, expecting someone else to have an answer to her question.
“Ugh, fuck me,” Wilder groans, tilting his head back and rolling his eyes like the dramatic weirdo he is. “Put him in my backseat. I’ll drop him off at the hospital and say I found him like that in town.”
We all share a look and I shrug my shoulders. “Sounds like as good a plan as any. I’ll help him get Michael to the car, then we can meet you back at the dorm.”
Between the two of us, Wilder and I haul Michael off the ground, none too carefully, and drag him back through the forest. Parting ways with the others just before the forest meets the campus pathways, Wilder and I remain hidden in the trees until we’re near the parking lot.
Once we reach his Mustang, he fishes his keys out of his pocket and unlocks the back passenger door so we can maneuver the passed-out shithead into the back seat.
I accidentally knock his head against the top of the door as I shove him into the car. “Oops, my bad.”
Wilder chortles ridiculously. “Don’t get any blood over my seats, asshole.”
“Dude, he’s unconscious.”
Wilder quirks a brow at me. “So? That’s no excuse. Do you know how difficult it is to get blood out of that upholstery?”
I gape at him for a second before shaking my head. “I don’t want to know.”
He laughs and slams the back door shut.
“You good here?”
“Yeah, man. You go back to Sunshine, I’ll make sure he doesn’t die.”
“Thanks, man.” I tap my finger against the hood of his car as I pass and make my way back through campus to the dorms. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I knew I never liked that fucking dweeb. The way he’d look at Hadley always got my hackles up, but Jesus, I never thought Lawrence would get his claws into him. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t know what Lawrence is capable of, he had to have known what he was doing wasn’t right. There’s no excusing what he did. With him and Lawrence gone, hopefully this campus should be a safe place for Hadley. Now we just need to sort out the rest of our fucked up families then we might actually have a shot at a free life for all of us.
Walking back into the dorm, I find Hadley, Beck, and Cam on the sofa, with West sitting in a nearby chair. The four of them are chatting away, like it’s any other night, and a smile brightens my face as I stand and watch them. This is what I want to come home to every night—my best friends and the woman I love. I’ve never been able to picture a future for myself other than the unwanted one my parents set out for me, but everything’s changing, and now that we’ve found Hadley and Beck has joined our ranks, I’m starting to see a different future, one that I actually want.
“Hey, man,” Cam greets when the door closes behind me. “There’s beer in the fridge.”
Grabbing a bottle, I join them in the living room. “Where’s Hawk?”
“He walked Emilia back to her dorm.”
I quirk an eyebrow at West, who just shrugs. That’s strangely thoughtful of him.
“Well, now that the violence part of the evening is over, what’s the plans for the rest of the night?” Beck whacks Cam around the back of the head, and the idiot just laughs.
“I think we’re long overdue a chilled night on the sofa with popcorn and a movie,” Beck responds instead.
“Mmm, that sounds good,” Hadley agrees.
Lifting Hadley’s legs off him, Cam gets up to sort out the popcorn and West flicks through the films. I take advantage of the open seat beside Hadley and slip into it, draping my arm over the back of the couch cushions.
Hadley watches me. “Can I try some of that?” she asks, pointing at my beer.
“Uh, you sure?”
“Yeah. I’m curious. I had a sip of champagne once with Emilia and—” She pauses, unwilling to say his name before changing direction. “Well, it was nice, so now I’m wondering what beer tastes like. Besides, I think I deserve a drink after the last few weeks.” She laughs, but there’s no humor behind it, and it quickly falls flat.
“What about the pain meds you got at the hospital?” I question, knowing it’s not wise to mix the two.