Page 34 of Beautifully Shattered (Secrets & Scars #3)

H e’s turned into a caveman! I slam my fists against his back as he carries me out into the chilly May air, his grip tight around my legs as his hand comes down hard on my backside.

A squeak bursts from me, and I stop punching him and hang on as I watch the gravel path blur beneath us before giving way to tangled twigs, trying to ignore how much I liked the sting he left behind.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask, and a moment later he stops, and the world rushes past me as it goes from upside down to the right way up.

Stumbling back, I shake my head to try and focus, only to be shoved against a tree.

“What’s your plan? How do you figure you’ll find anyone?” he snaps, the fury in his eyes igniting the guilt I had this morning about not talking with him about this sooner. “Every time we leave to go somewhere, we get attacked. The Rebels try to kidnap you. And someone gets fucking shot.”

And now the guilt hits like a sledgehammer.

Needing a second to breathe, I drag my eyes off him and glance around to find we’re by the pond, and he has me pinned to the same tree he had me against on our wedding day… when he’d put his head between my legs and… had me as an appetiser.

The moment I feel the blush creep up my neck, I shove against his chest, trying to put some space between us.

“You’re right. They’ll be expecting motorcycles. We should take a car.”

He rolls his eyes, stepping back just enough to let me breathe.

“You’re not thinking clearly, Angel.”

“Why are you trying to hold me back?” I snap, and confusion flashes over his expression.

“I’m not.”

“It feels like it,” I whisper, hating the hurt that flickers in his eyes.

“I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

“I know.” I nod, biting back the words I should have said sooner, but I just needed time to process everything that’s happened.

“I love how fiercely you love me, and want to keep me safe, but the thing is, I won’t be safe until those men are dead.

Until Darla and Nessy are safe. Until I have Tahli. ”

The burn of tears pricks my eyes, but I force them back.

I don’t want to cry anymore. Not unless I’m visiting Bobbi’s grave. For the rest of the time, I need to channel that pain into anger .

“Angel, you just buried your daughter last week.” His voice is soft as he cups my cheek, his thumb gently stroking over my skin lovingly.

“That’s right. I did. And now it’s time for justice. Aren’t you the one who said the MC gets to handle their own justice?”

He nods at my words, his eyes dancing between mine, concern blazing in their depths.

“So now, I need to get mine,” I say softly, leaning into his palm.

“I feel like you’ve been deliberately keeping me out of your plans. Just like with Wendy.” The truth of his words has guilt digging its claws in, but I don’t deny it, and he sighs. “Would you have left if I had still been asleep or if I begged you not to go?”

“No.” I shake my head, knowing this is the absolute truth. “I’m just so used to people deciding what happens to me. I got in my head about it, knowing you’d try to talk me out of it.”

“I’d already agreed to it at the lake house,” he reminds me, and my eyes drop with shame.

“I’m still learning how to trust.”

My admission has both of us falling silent. The only sounds around us are the chirping birds and some sort of lawn mower humming in the distance.

“I’m always gonna try to protect you, Angel. But I don’t want to stunt you. I want to see you thrive.”

“I can see that now… I’m sorry,” I admit, reaching up to fist his cut. “I just feel so out of the loop myself. I need to know everything, so I asked Jols because…”

“Because you didn’t think I’d tell you,” he finishes for me, and I shrug, staring up into his whiskey eyes, feeling like I might drown in them. “ I’m sorry, Angel. I guess I’ve been holding back information too.”

Offering him a small smile, I take his hand as he releases my cheek, linking our fingers.

“I know I’m acting crazy. I know this isn’t… me . But I have to do something . I can’t sit around and wait any longer.”

“Okay,” he nods, pulling me to his chest in a Ringo-scented hug. “Let me get a few things sorted, and we’ll take my Landy.”

“Landy?” I pull back, frowning up at him.

“Land Rover.” His lips kick up in a cheeky grin.

“You have a Land Rover? I thought you only had a motorcycle.”

“I also have a 1970s Ford Mustang locked away.” His grin stretches, almost looking smug as he talks about his cars, something else I didn’t know about him.

Before I can do anything else, Ringo’s lips are on mine, stealing my breath as I melt against him out here in the open.

Well, not completely open, but with so many security guys walking around, I feel super exposed.

It’s hard not to get carried away with each swipe of his tongue and the delicious heat of his body pressing me into the trunk of the tree.

I could easily forget there might be people watching and let him devour me again right here, but things haven’t settled down there yet, and well, if we can’t get lost in sex, we may as well go on a killing spree… right?

When we come up for air, he leads me back to the house, and with a sharp slap on my arse, he strides away to get everything ready .

We hit the road a few hours later. Ringo, me, JD and Jols piled into his Landy, as he likes to call it, and two Marx vehicles with us. One up ahead, and one tailing us.

We drive back to the Timber Valley district. The closer we get, the more anxious I am, my leg bouncing relentlessly until it must start to annoy Ringo, because he presses his hand down on it, his warmth instantly calming the jitter.

We’d discussed strategy on the trip, and even though they had already been to the places marked on the map, there were a couple I wanted to see for myself.

It’s just over an hour later when we’re driving through Fox Pines.

My hometown.

It’s weird being back here, my eyes taking in everything like I’ve been gone for years, when really it’s only been a few months.

Everything looks different now, though. Probably because I see the world differently now. Nothing is the same. Where I used to see vibrant colour, all I see is meek dullness. Like a painting left out in the weather too long, and the colour has washed away.

Ringo seems to know my hometown well, something else I didn’t know about him.

I’d never seen him before the night he stole me from my parents, so I’d just assumed he came to Fox Pines to get me, but I can see now he’s been around these streets enough times to know them by memory.

The closer we get to my house, the more my heart thrashes.

He’d said it had been deserted when they came looking after Ian Allen took me from Ringo’s home. That it looked like my family had left in a hurry. Yet still, the idea of walking back into that house has my stomach in knots.

Stay calm, Abbey. You need to do this. For Bobbi. For Tahli. For yourself.

The moment we turn onto my street, I stiffen, my hands clutching the seat as Ringo pulls up outside my neighbour’s house.

“You don’t have to go inside, Angel,” Ringo reminds me, but I know I need to. I need to see it all. So I ready myself, forcing the bravest smile I can muster, and open the car door.

Our Marx escorts drive a bit further up the road, getting out to do a sweep, but I focus on my house as it comes into view with each step closer, the brown brick single-story home looking just the way it did before everything happened.

Ringo moves quickly to my side, with JD and Jols following behind as one of the Marx men, Riggs I think, approaches us.

“We are gonna park just outside each end of the street. Unless we were tailed without knowing it, there’s no reason to expect a visit from the Rebels.”

Ringo nods at the big guy. “Thanks, man. I’ll text when we are coming out.”

With another round of nods, Riggs leaves us, and we head up my driveway, Ringo taking my trembling hand in his.

When we reach the porch, Ringo beats me to a hidden key, my brows shooting up at the fact that he knew where it was, only it’s not in its usual spot.

At seeing my confusion, he smirks and slides the key in the lock.

“Your little sister made sure to put it there after the first time your parents stopped keeping a key out. ”

“Huh.” I smile. “She’s a smart girl. When did she tell you about that?”

“She told Lexi.” The door clicks open, and he releases my hand, pressing his finger to his lips before tugging out his gun.

It throws me off for a moment. The thought that anyone inside might pose a threat hadn’t even crossed my mind, even after everything my parents put me through.

Have I been conditioned so much by them that I’d just walk straight into danger without thinking?

Jols takes my hand, holding me back as Ringo and JD slink inside, and we wait in tense silence, listening for a few minutes before the door swings wide suddenly, and JD flashes a grin past his scruffy beard.

“All clear, ladies.”

I let out a breathless giggle, my heart hammering in my chest like a war drum, and when JD steps aside, I step inside the house I grew up in for the first time in three months.

I’m still trembling, but curiosity pulls me forward as I glance into the living room off to the side. The space dark but lit enough from the daylight filtering through the drapes, showing me it’s spotless, just the way my mum likes it.

When I turn in the other direction, I spot Ringo leaning lazily against the wall by the hallway leading to the bedrooms, and a flash of the night he stole me leaps into my mind.

I’d been terrified of him. Of all of them.

Their black ski masks and hulking bodies made them seem like monsters.

But there was one moment that they didn’t seem so scary.

A moment I haven’t forgotten, and now, staring at my kidnapper from that night, I can see that moment for what it was.

A glimpse at the real man behind the mask.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks, and a small smile tugs at my lips despite the anxiety in my chest.