Page 6

Talon

When I get into the garage, all the rage has faded away and in its place is a raw and vulnerable feeling. She intentionally hit every goddamn button she could, trying to prove that I would hurt her. I knew what she was doing, but our trauma working against each other makes for a volatile situation.

I was so fucking angry that I nearly lost control. Walking away from her was painful, but I refuse to hit her. I refuse to be like Logan and Vince. I needed to calm down because I can’t help her if I don’t help me first. I know I am reaching a point where I need to open up. I need to talk about what happened because we can’t work against each other like this. We can’t have a screaming match in the fucking bedroom because she tried to help save me from making a simple situation so much worse. She pulled me out of there because I didn’t know how to walk away. I got angry at her for trying to help me. Maybe I am as heartless as she said I am. Does she really think that or was it just the rage? Why am I even questioning that when I am the one who calls myself heartless?

I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Viper because he is the only one other than Laney that I can trust with this.

“Hey, man,” Viper answers.

“I need to talk, and I just need you to listen. As my brother, okay?”

“Woah. Hey… yeah. Let me go outside,” he says. “Okay. What’s up. Are you okay?”

“No,” I choke out as tears roll down my face. “I almost hit her.”

“You didn’t though?” Viper asks.

“No. I hit the wall beside her,” I sniff. “I scared the fuck out of her. I could see it all over her face. She said to go ahead and be like every other man. She compared me to Vince and Logan.”

“How did things start?” he asks.

“I was mad at her for getting in the way at the club. She said I was losing everyone’s respect, and she was trying to save me, basically.”

“You are like my brother, you know that?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I sigh.

‘She’s right,” he says. “When you get like that, you push and push and push. You get violent and none of them like it to go that far. Many of them have questioned me about your competency leading, but tonight was different.”

“How?” I ask.

“Everyone saw how you defended her and when things got too intense and she stepped in, you melted for that woman instantly. That was the moment they realized that when I would tell them you would find your way out, I was telling the truth. None of them have seen you that gentle with someone that soon after being as angry as you were. Anyone else had done that, they could have eaten that concrete,” Viper says. “Now… Yesterday was the first time in years that you had seen Vince… You talk to Logan through text, but never in person. That triggered something and you are spiraling. You are about to drag her and really all of us down with you. I love you, man, but I need to know where this is coming from. I want to help you, but I can’t if I don’t understand.”

“He raped me,” I say. Viper says nothing in hopes of me not shutting down. “Every day. He raped me every single fucking day. Often times, it was in his bed next to my mother. She never even flinched. She never protected me. No matter what I did, he never stopped. If I fought, he’d tie me to the bed and… He taught Logan. From the time he moved in, he included Logan. When he was old enough to use his dick, he taught him how to fuck by having him rape me. I was beaten. Drugged. Choked out. There at the end, they took pleasure in humiliating me by forcing me to get off over and over and over again. It was like a fucking game and my mom just fucking sat there and let it happen. When I moved out at eighteen, I ended up homeless. That’s when I met you.”

“Talon, I am so fucking sorry,” Viper says with emotion nearly choking him.

“When I saw the way Vince looked at her… I just wanted to save her from what I went through. I think I knew right then that he was hurting her. That they both were. I tried to convince myself that she was just another greedy bitch like my mom, but she’s not. She is me. We are the same fucking traumatized person. I just want to save her and give her a better life, but I’m no better than them. I tried so hard to be different, but…”

“Talon, buddy,” Viper says. “She is fresh out of that life. She is so used to the abuse that she is trying to recreate it to prove that she deserved it. What she said had nothing to do with you and everything to do with how badly they hurt her.”

“You don’t know that,” I sniff, wiping my face.

“I do, Talon. She has your burner phone and is texting me,” he says.

“What? What did she say? Is she okay?” I ask, sitting up.

“She said she pushed you too far and you needed a friend. I told her I was talking to you on your main phone, and you were okay. She said she broke you and she doesn’t know if she can fix it.”

“She’s blaming herself? I am the one who got mad at her for trying to help me. I am the one who just put my fist through a wall,” I say.

“It takes two to tango, Talon,” he says. “She pushed and pushed until you broke. She has a fault there. You both do. But… Now she sees that you are not Logan. No matter how angry you get, you won’t ever put your hands on her. I’m not saying what either of you did was okay, but I think it needed to happen.”

“I’m afraid,” I admit.

“Of what?”

“Falling for her,” I say.

“Talon,” he laughs. “I hate to break the news, buddy, but you already fell. You two are the literal definition of love at first sight. When you saw her and the way Vince looked at her, you fell for her right there. You both are stubborn and traumatized. You are both used to violence and anger going hand in hand. You are learning and growing together. You gave her a fucking patch, Talon. You married the woman without a prenup.”

“I don’t know if I am capable of love,” I say with a defeated sigh.

“Imagine that instead of texting me… She left. How would you feel?”

“Sad,” I mutter.

“Right…” Viper says. “You two need to sit down and lay all of this out. She needs to be the one who gets the details. You were both broken by the same people. Just talk and heal together. In the meantime, we can make a plan on how to kill those three fuckers.”

I hear the garage door open and soft footsteps behind me before her hands rest gently on my shoulders. She is trembling, and it’s heartbreaking. “I’m gonna get off here. Thanks for listening, Jude.”

“You’re welcome, Talon. Take her riding tomorrow on your dad’s bike. She’s not seen that side of you yet,” he suggests, and an idea pops into my head.

“Yeah,” I say. “See ya.”