Choosing Rena (26 page)

Jackson had heard about enough - it
was time to put the man in his place - regardless of the
information he could provide them. He’d just have to find another
way to get a look at those guard logs. “Now wait a damn minute,
Johnson! There’s nothing wrong with what goes on between Rena and
I. It’s consensual…”

Rather than acknowledge Jackson, Eddie
continued to berate Rena. “Do you know what kind of trouble I’d be
in if the cops ever found out what I did to protect you?” He
reached across the table to grab Rena, but she was quick to
withdraw her hand away from his reach.

Smart girl,
Jackson thought. “I think it’s time we leave,
baby.” He stood, offering her his hand. “You don’t have to sit here
and listen to this nasty shit.”

“Like hell she doesn’t!” Eddie stood
too, his eyes wild with fury. “The little slut could’ve cost me
everything – for such depravities are unnatural against God and
husband alike. Do you realize I could’ve lost my job if my bosses
knew I broke into a client’s home, or that I paid a group of gang
members to commit vandalism?”

Jackson froze, shock racing through
him. He’d have never thought it was Eddie. But now after the man
admitted to breaking into a client’s home, all the pieces of the
puzzle fell into place. With his management job at Star, he could
easily stop by the condo building doing a random check, lift the
key from the desk, and use it to let himself into Olivia’s. Why
he’d paid gang members to destroy Olivia’s car was still a mystery,
but he’d find out soon enough – or the cops would.

“It was you who threatened me? You’re
the one who broke into Jude’s and Olivia’s condo and vandalized
their car? Why would you do that?”

“No shit, Sherlock. Took you long
enough to figure it out.” Eddie snarled. “Everything I did, you and
your partner had coming. I’m still going to ruin Larson Securities.
You corrupted my innocent sister-in-law and made her crave your
type of debauchery. You need to pay and the loss of your business
will merely be the start. I’ll cure Rena of this depravity and
you’ll never see her or have her again.”

Stalking around the table, he caught
Rena’s arm. “As the head of your family here in Chicago, I forbid
you to see this man again, Rena MacAllister. Your father would be
appalled if he knew how far you’d strayed from the path. I’ll get
you help – I’m sure there’s a class or something at my church which
will cure you of your lustful ways.”

“Eddie, let go of me! Right now! I
can’t believe you’re doing this.” The horrified, almost terrified
look on her face said it all. “That you’d attack Jude or Jackson on
my behalf. I never asked you to do this…” She cried out as he
twisted her arm cruelly. She jerked away from him. “I don’t care
what the hell you’re thinking, but the day I listen to your edicts
will be the day Hell freezes over.”

“You bitch, I should just let you go,
but I’m not going to…” Without any warning Eddie backhanded her.
“And I’ll be damned if you talk to me that way again. I don’t take
that shit from Keisha, and I’ll be damned if I take it from
you.”

Stumbling back against the table, she
held her cheek. “You hit my pregnant sister?” Rena’s eyes flashed
red. Around them, chaos erupted. People screamed. Chairs were
knocked over as the persons at the surrounding tables tried to get
out of the way from the fight quickly brewing.

But Jackson didn’t give
Rena a chance to attack Eddie. At six foot four and nearly three
hundred pounds, the man could easily hurt his little
peekôn.
Tackling the man
across the table, they landed on the floor with a bone-jarring
thud. He laid into the other man with his fists. Trying to strike a
blow anywhere he could, he punched the large man’s body. He winced
as Eddie scrambled into a superior position and landed a direct
blow on his nose. The sudden spray of blood and pain did little to
deter Jackson though. Wiping the blood away with the back of his
hand, he ignored the metallic taste on his tongue. Bucking up, he
used leverage to unbalance Eddie. Scrambling to his knees, he
followed after him.

Catching the back of Eddie’s legs, he
sprawled on top of the man. He groaned as Eddie threw his head back
and hit him in the face. Bringing down his elbow sharply on Eddie’s
shoulder, Jackson growled as the other man gasped in pain. The next
move was a classic one out of the military handbook, as Eddie
carried both of them over in the body roll which the military
taught to all their men. Jackson hissed in frustration. The man was
damn near equal to him in strength, but if he was lucky the long
armed bastard wasn’t as fast as a former Ranger. Otherwise he was
going to get his ass handed to him.

Jackson grunted as he ended
back on the bottom once more. Hooking his legs up high on Eddie’s
body, he tried to roll the other man again, but instead took a
brutal fist to the face. Landing at the corner of his eye, the
punch sent shards of agony into Jackson’s orbital lobe and he
hissed as it began to swell.
The damn man
hits like a prizefighter
. Breathing through
the pain, Jackson used the
adrenaline
racing through him to lever
Eddie off of him once more. As they rolled again, they came to a
stop against the legs of one of the remaining tables still
standing, with Jackson on top. Grabbing at Eddie’s flying fists, he
blocked several blows before finally managing to pin Eddie’s arms
with his knees. “Dammit, that’s e-fucking-nough!”

“Rotten whore-son. You’ll burn in hell
for what you’ve done!” Eddie spat at him. Disgust rolled through
Jackson as the warm substance trickled down the side of his
face.

“I should knock your ass out right
here and now for that.” Rubbing the side of his face against his
shoulder, he tried to wipe away the drool. “Disgusting mother
fucker.”

“As if you could! Where’s your Ranger
training now, Levough?” Using his legs, Eddie wrapped them around
Jackson’s torso. Jackson gasped as he suddenly couldn’t breathe due
to the pinning hold the other man had on his ribs. A quick flick of
Eddie’s legs sent Jackson sprawling backwards and into an over
turned chair. But before he could untangle himself from the chair
to show him exactly where his Ranger training was, the ass cheated.
Grabbing another nearby chair, he swung at Jackson with it. Even
though Jackson tried to roll away free from the chair holding him,
new agony flared as the second chair’s frame made brutal contact
with his ribs.

Clutching his side, Jackson
tried the best he could to protect them, but Eddie was like a man
possessed, not content to just hit his ribs with the chair, the
fucker struck one blow after another around Jackson’s ribs, his
head, and basically anywhere he could get a shot in. Finally in
desperation, Jackson ignored the sizzling agony moving caused and
rolled under one of the tables.
Anywhere
out of the reach of the damned chair he’s using as a
weapon
.

“Stop it!” Rena’s scream
penetrated the fog of agony around his mind. His heart leapt as he
watched from his viewpoint on the floor as Eddie struck Rena across
the face once more. He groaned, rolling to his knees, ignoring the
searing pain coming from his ribs. The fucker had obviously broken
one, if not more, of them.
But I don’t
care. I have to help her.
The sound of
flesh smacking flesh as Rena and Eddie returned blows had him
staggering to his feet. A few feet from him, Eddie leaned away from
a punch Rena threw, then using her momentum to bring her close
enough he grabbed her in a choke hold.

Terror filled him as Eddie
placed her in a sleeper’s hold. Jackson saw red as the shouts of
the security guards rang through the cafeteria. He didn’t even
glance over his shoulder to see where they were. He knew they were
too far away to save Rena.
The Calvary has
arrived but not in time, her face is turning blue – he’s going to
fucking choke her out
. He had to stop Eddie
from killing her. Ignoring his throbbing ribs, he stumbled forward,
grabbing Eddie’s shoulder, nearly falling on his face. Digging his
fingers into the taunt muscles of the man’s shoulders, he attempted
to pinch the nerve on Eddie’s neck, hopping the pinch would loosen
the sleeper hold Eddie had on Rena. Clinging like a drunken monkey
as Eddie tried to fight the pinch, Jackson sighed in relief as the
man stumbled, his arms loosening enough that Rena slid to the
floor. Not taking any chances, he hit Eddie in the back of the
head, knocking the man out. Stumbling, he sank to his knees next to
Rena.

“Baby?” He felt for a pulse, and
sighed in relief as he felt one. Pushing her hair away from her
face, he leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. Her eyelids
flickered open.

“Sir?” He didn’t need to be a mind
reader to know she needed reassurance.

“Shh, we’re fine. It’s just you and
me, Slugger.”

“You need to come with me, Sir, so we
can have your injuries looked at, and straighten this mess out.”
The guard’s voice had him looking up. The uniformed man’s stance
assured him the man meant business.

He nodded, allowing the man to help
him up, hissing when it pulled on his ribs. His last view of Rena
was of her being attended to by one of the nurses who’d been in the
cafeteria when the fight had broken out.

Epilogue

Following Jackson as he led
her towards
Olivia’s
, Rena couldn’t control the quiver of anticipation building in
her stomach. It had been over two months since the attack at the
hospital.
And Lord how my life has
changed!
She was now running the security
for Elizebetta’s newest gallery since the court had ruled in her
favor and given her control of her trust. Her son had gone sulking
back to New York after paying a hefty fine for his crimes. The
judge had suspended his thirty days in lockup if he enrolled in an
anger management class at home. Personally she thought he’d
deserved more than thirty days in the lockup, but she wasn’t the
judge. She would’ve thrown his ass in jail with Eddie. Maybe her
brother-in-law could take his hatred of BDSM out on her former Dom.
It wasn’t like he’d be getting out anytime soon. Eddie was looking
at several years in a federal penitentiary for the bomb planted
inside Jackson’s office.

While a good deal of the
acts Eddie had committed directly evolved from his military
training, Keisha had been devastated when she’d realized Eddie had
used her to plan the attacks. In the end, Keisha had moved back to
New York to be with their parents, and while Rena was going to miss
little Aamori, she knew her sister needed the support and stability
their parents could provide. The last time she’d spoken with her
sister, Keisha had confirmed Eddie’s recent instability had been
building since she’d gotten pregnant.
It’s
too bad she won’t file for divorce, but I can’t live my sister’s
life.
I can only live the one I
have.

As she focused her stare on the taut
backside in front of her, she knew without a doubt she loved the
man in front of her – and not only for the pleasures and
satisfaction he’d offered. As he opened the door and guided her
into the foyer, she couldn’t stop her pussy from moistening. Other
than a few hand-jobs and some spectacular oral sex, they hadn’t
been intimate since the attack. Her Master had been healing from
several bruised ribs along with three broken ones. So the rough sex
they’d both craved had been put off to allow him time to
heal.

“Good Evening, Master Jackson.”
Carlos, the ever-present bouncer, stood next to his desk and
greeted them.

“Evening, Carlos. Has Master Edward
and his submissive arrived yet?” Jackson tossed his keys into the
small tray along with his watch. He motioned for Rena to do the
same, since they’d met in the parking lot.

“Not yet.” Carlos picked up their
belongings and walked to the other side of the metal detector.
Motioning them to walk through, Rena sighed as it pinged. Knowing
the drill she held out her arms.

“Want to wand me?”

Carlos arched a brow but got the wand
out. As she held her arms out, he’d waved it up and down her arms.
Moving onto her torso it pinged loudly, and Rena met her Master’s
eyes. It was going to ruin her surprise for Jackson if Carlos got
too chatty.

“Underwire?”

She nodded. It wasn’t as if she was
lying. The bra she wore indeed had an underwire. He quickly ran the
wand down her legs.

“Okay you’re good.”

“Thanks, Carlos.” Jackson stepped
closer to her to retrieve their items. “Please send Master Edward
to my private room when he arrives.”

“You got it.”

Rena sighed in relief as they stepped
across the threshold into the main room. A sense of homecoming
enveloped her. This wasn’t like the last club in New York where
Louis had taken her. No, this was much better. It was warm and
inviting with all its polished woodwork and leather. Allowing
Jackson to guide her down the hall towards his private room, she
waited patiently two steps behind him as he spoke with several
members.

By the time they finally arrived at
his room, Rena felt like she was going to jump out of her skin or
at least her clothing. Stepping across the threshold, she looked
around as Jackson closed the door behind her. While it was similar
to Olivia’s play room, Jackson’s had a more masculine touch to it
and the items on the toy wall were higher up – more than likely to
accommodate Jackson’s taller frame. Adorning the wall were several
paddles which had her breath catching. She idly wondered which one
he’d be using on her tonight during his class with Master
Edward.