Page 25 of Need (Men of Inked Sinners #3)

OLIVER

The buildings pass by in a blur as I race toward the location of Lulu’s cell phone. I’ve had to break fifty traffic laws on the drive, but nothing can stop me from getting to her as quickly as possible, especially a speeding ticket.

My phone rings, and Zoey’s name flashes on my dash. I answer the call, keeping my eyes trained on the road. “Hey.”

“Where are you?”

“Heading toward her.”

“How far out?”

“Five miles.”

“My dad and uncles are on the way too. I gave them the address. Do you think she’s okay?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” I tell her, and the truth of those words guts me .

“Maybe she’s just too busy with the client to check her phone.”

“Yeah, maybe.” But I know that’s not the case. She would never go hours and hours without checking her phone. She uses it for everything. She told me the calculator is one of her most-used apps.

“I hate her job,” Zoey says, surprising me.

“Me too, Zoey. When I get her back safe and sound, we’re going to have a real conversation about it.”

“That’ll go over big,” she says. “Oliver?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really scared,” she whispers.

“Me too, Zoey. Me too,” I tell her, squeezing the steering wheel tighter as the fear grips my insides.

I roll through a stop sign, the final turn before getting to my destination, and I see Lulu’s car parked in a driveway. “I’m here. I’ll be in touch soon.”

“Go get our girl, Oliver.”

“On it,” I tell her as I throw the truck into park. “Got to go.”

“Bye,” she says with a voice so tight she squeaks out the word.

I haul ass, running faster than I ever did in basic training, and head toward the front door. I can’t plow inside, although every fiber in my body wants me to use my shoulder to pop the door open.

I stare up, listening to every sound around me. No footfalls are audible from the other side. No voices coming from within. If everything were on the up-and-up, someone would’ve at least shouted that they were coming to the door.

I knock again in case they didn’t hear me the first time and press the button next to the door three times. There’s no way anyone couldn’t hear me unless they are purposely ignoring my presence. I count to ten, giving the person inside plenty of time to get to me.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

I take a deep breath, readying myself.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

My body tightens, and I turn my shoulder toward the door.

Nine.

Ten.

I push forward with all my might, slamming my shoulder into the thick wood, and it pops open.

Flimsy construction is normally a bad thing, but today, I’m thankful their builder didn’t use better materials.

“Lulu!” I shout as I stand in the foyer, my gaze moving around the expansive space.

I hear a scream in the distance, and my head snaps in that direction. It’s Lulu, and my heart sinks, making my heart pick up its pace.

My feet move on their own, my body propelled by the knowledge that she’s alive and is, in fact, in danger.

I fucking knew it.

I take the steps two at a time, and as soon as my boots touch the top landing, a man steps out of one of the bedrooms. Not just any man either.

Mark.

My insides instantly turn to stone.

His face still hasn’t completely healed and is a mess, but I am about to add to his pain.

The sunshine glints off something in his hand, and I realize he isn’t going to fight with his fists. The man has a knife, but that doesn’t scare me.

“You fucking piece of shit,” I say as I barrel forward, ready to stop him from breathing.

He comes at me with the knife raised high above his head. Amateur. The man clearly doesn’t know how to fight and has taken all his knowledge from movies.

I raise my arm, easily stopping his downward motion with the knife, and use my knee to pop him in the stomach. He lurches forward, sucking in air as my knee lodges in his insides.

I work quickly, slamming my fist down on his arm, causing his grip on the knife to loosen enough to send it sliding across the hardwood floor .

But the guy doesn’t give up. He comes at me again, thinking he can inflict damage with his hands. We’ve done this dance before. He lost then, and he’ll lose now.

I crouch down, popping up with all my might when he’s close to me. My hands find his middle, and I thrust him into the air, tossing him to the side. Our location does the work for me, sending Mark over the railing of the top floor.

When he lands, the sound of bone cracking against the tile below makes me recoil. Not because I feel bad that his body is a mangled mess, but the crunch is something I’ve never heard before and I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

“Oliver!” Lulu screams from down the hall.

I stare at Mark for a moment, but he isn’t moving.

There’s not a sound coming from him. He could be dead, but at this point, it doesn’t matter to me.

I hope he is. If I go to jail for saving Lulu’s life, so be it.

At least she’ll be safe, and Mark will be out of their lives forever.

I could sleep easy at night even if I were behind bars.

“Lulu!” I yell back as I hustle down the hallway.

“Oliver!” she yells again, but louder this time.

My hands shake as I turn the knob, not sure of how I’m going to find her inside. When the door opens, my boots stick to the floor as my mind comprehends what I see.

“Fuck,” I groan, willing my body to move .

Tears stream down her swollen face as the rest of her body trembles.

I rush to her side, untying her hands before pulling her into my arms. “I’ve got you,” I tell her, cradling her against my chest. “I’ve got you, sweetheart. You’re safe now.”

Lulu collapses against me, gripping my shirt in her small hands as her entire body shakes. “I thought he was going to kill me.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, rocking back and forth with her in my arms. If he isn’t already dead, he is going to be.

I want to check her out, make sure there aren’t any wounds that I can’t easily see. But she is too attached to me. It is too soon for me to pull away.

“You’re safe,” I reassure her as she cries in my arms. “He’ll never hurt you again.”

She tips her head back, and I peer down at her as her swollen red eyes meet mine. “He didn’t…”

She doesn’t need to finish the statement for me to know what she was going to say.

“He didn’t rape me,” she continues. “I fought him off the best I could.”

By the looks of her face, I’d say she put up one hell of a fight and Mark wasn’t gentle with her either. “You did good, baby. Real good.”

“Lulu.” Her father’s voice fills the space.

She stiffens in my arms.

“It’s okay, Lulu. Zoey called them. ”

“Fuck,” she bites out. “He’s going to lose his mind.”

“He’ll be in good company,” I tell her, pressing my lips to her forehead.

A moment later, her father is in the doorway of the room we’re sitting in.

“Jesus,” he mutters as his eyes scan Lulu’s face.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, Dad,” she tells him, somehow trying to console him at a time when we need to be comforting her.

He’s on his knees in front of us a second later, reaching up to cup her face. “Lemme see, baby.”

She pulls away from me only far enough for him to get a good look.

He winces as he sees both sides, a matching pair of swollen, discolored eyes, puffy cheeks, and a fat lip.

“I will kill him,” Lucio seethes.

“I think I already did that,” I tell him.

He peers up at me only for a moment before he looks back over his daughter’s face. “He’s still breathing, but not for long.”

“No,” Lulu snaps. “I want him to go to prison. Don’t kill him.”

Never in my life have I thought I’d be in this position. I never thought someone would be begging me to save another man’s life, especially someone who deserved not to draw another breath.

“Lulu,” her father whispers as he brushes the underside of her cheek with his thumb. “Do you want to go through a trial?”

“Dad, are we really talking about him disappearing?”

“Your grandpa is here,” her dad says.

“No. He needs to be alive,” she replies. “Don’t let them handle him. Please, Daddy.”

“Fuck,” her dad says, pushing himself up and hauling his ass back into the hallway. “Let him live.”

“Why the fuck would we do that?” a man asks, and I’m not sure which one because I haven’t spent enough time with them to know their voices.

“Lulu wants him to go to prison. Call the cops,” Lucio tells them.

“Fucking bullshit,” another man mutters.

“Just fucking do it,” Lucio barks down at them.

“What a mess,” she says as she curls her face back into my chest, and she tightens her fingers in the soft cotton material of my shirt. “I’m an idiot.”

“No. You’re not,” I tell her, holding her as tightly as I can without hurting her. “You believe in the good in people, where I only see the bad.”

“But you were right.”

“I didn’t want to be, sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry.”

I pull back, lifting her chin with my fingers. “Look at me, Lulu,” I say when she doesn’t open her eyes right away .

“What?” she says, her eyes barely visible through the swelling.

“This isn’t your fault.”

“It is.”

“It’s not. I love that you see good in everything and everyone. Not everyone is like Mark.”

“I can never trust anyone again.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” she breathes as tears start streaming down her cheeks again.

“I love you, Lulu.” It’s the first time I’ve said those words to her. And I mean every single one too.

I’d never been so panicked in my entire life as I was today when I knew something had happened to her.

“I love you too, Oliver.”

I lean forward, pressing my lips as gently as possible to her mouth.

This isn’t how I wanted to say that to her.

I wanted it to be some grand romantic gesture by candlelight or some other fairy-tale bullshit. But this moment is too important not to tell her how I feel.

“I will always protect you,” I promise her as soon as the kiss ends. “Always.”

She curls back into me, melting against my chest. I know her wounds will heal, but the memories of this day will never fade.

All I can do is help her move beyond the fear that piece of shit has now instilled in her and hope that I haven’t lost the funny, carefree woman I fell for the moment I laid eyes on her.