Christian (The Mitchell/Healy Family #3)(42)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“Your word is shit.” He spit his blood at my feet. “Get the fuck away from me.”

I don’t know why he didn’t notice my fist coming around again. This time I got a good portion of his head near the ear. He went down again, this time covering his whole head from fear of another blow. “I’m not done.”

This second attack had been provoked. I knew I wanted to beat him to a pulp, and with each punch I felt a little better about my actions. He’d destroyed my friend, leaving her with a lifetime of fear. He deserved so much worse.

Seth finally followed my directions without a fight. He insisted we walk there instead of driving, and since it was only a couple blocks I didn’t protest.

Halfway there he started talking about Christian. “I should have known she was trouble when I met her. It was obvious she didn’t belong in that club. For what it’s worth she didn’t tell me she had a boyfriend.”

As much as I liked hearing someone call me that, I knew I couldn’t correct him. “Shut up.”

“No, you need to hear that it wasn’t all me. She invited me into her room. She knew what was going to happen. We talked about it first. I gave her time to back out.”

When we were both standing in front of the condemned house I knew I could have taken him inside and killed him. I was that angry. A part of me wanted to keep busting him up. Just as I was about to move inside, I froze. This could cost me Christian forever. If I took this guy inside and inflicted more pain on him, there was a good chance I’d go to jail. I’d be no different than this loser and his lies.

It was difficult to do, but I turned around and shocked the hell out of him. “We’re done here.”

“What? You believe me?”

“No! I won’t stoop to your level. If we go in that house one of us ain’t comin’ back out. I hate you that much. I know what you did to her in that room, on that dirty mattress. She told me every single detail. She begged you to stop.”

“I was drunk, man. If she said that I don’t recall it. We had a great day together. You saw what happened at the movies. I liked her.” He honestly triggered more anger. Finally he was coming clean, but it was too late.

“You need to leave now. If you ever lay a hand on another girl I’ll make sure you end up in a house like this one. Do you understand?”

I waited until I was a block away to call the police and report a possible rape. After giving them the description of what Seth was wearing and his full name, it would be easy for officials to pick him up. Even though they wouldn’t find any sign of an attack, I knew for a fact that he was always wanted for Christian’s assault. I was just pushing it along faster. This time they didn’t need a warrant for arrest. While that was being created and signed by a judge, I was getting that prick off the street. It was very satisfying.

I waited nearly twenty minutes before deciding to pull out of the parking lot to head back to my place. About halfway there I noticed three police cars pulled over and one wasn’t campus security. Handcuffed and being pushed into the back of a sedan was Seth. I recognized him immediately, and grew a smile while continuing on. It wasn’t until I’d passed my apartment that I realized where I was going. Nothing could stop me, not even the hospital guidelines. She needed to know she was safe, and I had to see her face when I told her.

When I reached the emergency room entrance I made a beeline for the security guard, quickly putting on a concerned face so he’d give me his attention. “Help me, please. My wife was brought in earlier with contractions. Can you tell me how to get to maternity?”

He handed me a visitor’s badge and pointed toward the elevator, announcing the floor number I’d need to get to.

Little did he know that I had no intentions of going to that floor, because I didn’t even know anyone who was pregnant. The directory was located at the main entrance, so once I’d gotten out of his view, I headed there first.

Once I’d located the floor she’d be on, I made it to the stairs, taking them instead of alerting the nurses on duty when the elevator doors opened. I stood and waited patiently for someone to walk through the double doors so that I could sneak into the restricted area. They’d dimmed the lights, making it difficult for me to see the room numbers; but luckily I knew where the room number was located and also the last digits of the phone number she’d called me from earlier.

I sneaked inside, closing the door behind me so they wouldn’t hear us talking. Then I saw her lying there on the bed. When she turned to see me standing there I watched her frown turn into a welcoming smile. “What are you doin’ here?” She whispered.

I rushed over to the bed, wanting to break the distance between us. “I had to sneak here to tell you somethin.”

“Why are your fists bloody?” She asked.

I stuck my hand in my pocket and smiled. “Let’s just say that I showed Seth how us cowboys handle someone hurtin’ our women.”

She raised her brow. “You didn’t?”

“I did, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat for you. Don’t you get it, Christian? Can’t you feel it?”

She shook her head. “What? Feel what?”

“That I’ve been lyin’ to you for a long damn time.”

She let out an air-filled laugh. “Yeah right. I’m on too many drugs to find your jokes remotely entertaining.”

I straightened my face and grabbed her hand. “It’s true, and it’s time I came clean about everything.”

Chapter 27

Christian

“Came clean?” I was so lost. Had it not been for the valium I’d been given through an IV perhaps I would have been able to follow him better. All I was sure of was that I needed to know every detail of what happened with Seth. “First tell me about your hand. What did you do?”

“We met. We talked. I shoved him around a bit. Then I called the police and told them where they could find him. All in a day’s work, babe.”

Since I felt so woozy it was difficult for me to react the way I should have. Normally I would have freaked out, but because of the meds I was able to simply smile and feel proud that Ethan had done something so brave in my honor. “Thank you.”

“Like I said, I’d do anything for you. Now, are you goin’ to let me finish what I came here to tell you?”

“I don’t know what you lied about, Ethan. Right now I don’t even care. All that matters is that you’re here, which means you forgive me for what I did on that video, at least enough to be here with me. I was so afraid that I lost you. I swore our friendship was over.”