Steel Love: Alpha BBW Motorcycle Romance (19 page)

Jack didn’t respond. He just grunted into the phone before disconnecting the call. Ash made his calls to Spaz and Joe Coyote then turned to the bartender and ordered a cup of coffee while he waited.

Chapter 21

MAGGIE

Prentice parked the bike in the driveway and cut the engine as Maggie climbed off the bike. She waited for Prentice to step off before inviting him into the house.

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay on the porch all night again. I mean you’re welcome to crash on the couch. I have some leftovers in the fridge you can have if you’re hungry…” Maggie’s words trailed off as they reached the front door and she pulled her keys out.

Prentice flopped down on the porch swing and watched as Maggie unlocked the door. “I’m good” was his only response as he hooked his hands behind his head and leaned back on the swing. Maggie watched as he unfolded his massive legs and stretched them out to hook his ankles over the porch railing.

Maggie bit her lip and furrowed her brow. She wasn’t sure what to do. She wanted to be polite, but she also didn’t want to be a nag. “Ok… well… I’ll just leave the front door unlocked and um… you can help yourself to whatever.”

Prentice nodded his head at her in acknowledgment before Maggie went inside and closed the door. It was an effort for her not to lock it. She had been so used to taking all these insane precautions. It was kind of nice to let her guard down a bit knowing she had Prentice outside, and that Ash would be home later.

Ash would be home later. She loved the sound of that. Home. Their home. Was it too early to be thinking like that? Maggie made her way upstairs. When she reached the top step she made a pit stop at the bathroom where she brushed her teeth and washed the small amount of makeup she wore off her face. Then she went into the bedroom and stripped down to her bra and underwear. She grabbed one of her dad’s old t-shirts out of her dresser and pulled it over her head. It was a bit baggy and came down to her knees, but she loved wearing it. It didn’t smell like dad anymore, but it felt nice to remember him anyway.

Maggie heard what sounded like a car backfiring out front. She moved to the window and peeked out, but didn’t see a car on the street. Maggie shrugged to herself thinking it must have been going be pretty fast. She didn’t remember hearing the engine besides the backfire.

Maggie moved over to the bed and sank down to push her face into the pillow Ash had used the night before. It still smelled like him. Maggie was so deliriously happy. She was shocked by how happy she felt in this moment. The knowledge of how much Ash cared for her. This feeling of being safe for the first time in months, years even, with all these badass bikers looking out for her. Maggie laughed and cuddled the pillow to her chest.

When she heard his voice Maggie screamed and shot up to sit on the edge of the bed.

“How fucking dare you laugh. You have fucking ruined my life you stupid bitch, and you sit there laughing at me? I should kill you right now.”

Maggie’s breath stuck in her throat. Her heart raced as she looked at Reef standing in her doorway staring at her. His face was a mess from the fight with Ash. He wore a black t-shirt and jeans, his hair shaggy and wild, and in his right hand he held a gun in a loose grip by his side. More than the gun it was the look in his eyes that terrified Maggie. She knew Reef was unbalanced. Anyone who could systematically tear down, both physically and mentally, the person they claimed to love over a period of years could not possibly be completely sane, but Maggie had never seen this look of pure insanity in his eyes.

“Reef. Please. Don’t do anything stupid. There’s a man downstairs. He’s here to look after me. He probably heard me scream just now. If he isn’t already on his way up here with a gun he’s at least called the police.”

Maggie watched Reef’s face split in a grin as she spoke.

“So fucking stupid Maggie. You have always been so fucking stupid. I can see things haven’t changed. You think I didn’t take care of that punk before I came up here? I was hiding in the bushes at the side of the house when you pulled up. I waited till I knew you were upstairs and that fuck-wad closed his eyes. Then I shot the idiot in the head.”

Maggie moved her hands to her mouth and screamed. Tears instantly filled her eyes. “Oh my God. Reef. What are you doing? You can’t be this gone. There’s got to be some part of you that understands what you’re doing is wrong. I mean… You were good once. Please try to think about what you’re doing!”

“Shut the fuck up Maggie. YOU’RE the one that’s fucking up! You’re the one that’s ruining your life AND MINE! I’m not going to let you get away with this Maggie. You’re my God-damn wife and I won’t put up with this willful insolence.” Ash moved toward Maggie as he spoke, and on the last sentence he brought his gun down smashing the butt into Maggie’s temple before she could raise her arms enough to block it.

Maggie slid to the floor of her bedroom. She did her best to stay conscious but she’d taken a pretty good blow to the head the night before as well. She felt herself going in and out, the blackness creeping in and fading out in a pulsing horror show of images.

Reef standing over her snarling.

The black hole.

The ceiling of her room as Reef dragged her across the floor by her arms.

The black hole.

Bouncing against the stairs of her front porch she just barely turned her head enough to see Prentice lying on the porch. She couldn’t see his head clearly, but his arm was covered in blood.

The black hole.

The backseat of a car with Reef behind the wheel.

The black hole.

The next time Maggie was fully conscious she lay on her side in what appeared to be a living room. There was a couch against one wall with a large mirror above it. A TV sat on a table across from the couch. There was no other artwork or furniture in the room. Maggie couldn’t help but smirk at the fact that the only piece of decoration Reef chose to adorn his walls with was a mirror. Only Reef would prefer looking at himself rather than a painting.

“Oh good. You’re awake. I didn’t really want to kill you while you were knocked out, you know? I want you to know that you are being punished. You can’t get away from me that easily Maggie, you know? I mean, so many years we’ve been together. I thought after the last time you’d learned your lesson. I thought you understood your place in the world.”

Reef paced back and forth in front of her. The gun was gripped lightly in his hand as he swung his arms. It almost felt like he was trying to talk himself around to killing her. Maggie started to wonder if maybe she could still make it out of this. If she could just keep him talking maybe she could buy herself enough time to figure out how to get out of here. Her gut clenched when she thought of Prentice dead on her front porch. If she made it out of here she would find his family and tell them he died protecting her.

Maggie pushed herself up slowly. She still felt super dizzy. Last night she’d had the back of her head smashed against the brick wall. Tonight Reef had hit her in the temple with his gun. She wasn’t sure how much more her brain could take. When she finally made it to a sitting position Reef stopped and looked down at her.

“Do you understand, Maggie? Do you get why I have to do this? You just took it too far. I can’t abide by a cheating wife. I have to uphold my life to my father’s standards. He would have NEVER let my mother get away with what you have. He would have killed you weeks ago. But Maggie…” Reef stopped and choked a bit. Maggie could tell he was warring with something inside him. The ghost of his father, maybe. He hadn’t talked about his parents much during their relationship. Both had passed when Reef was twenty in a car accident. It was one of the things that had drawn Maggie to Reef. Their shared grief over loss.

“Maggie I love you so much. I wanted to give you time to figure it out. I wanted you to see how much you need me. And then I knew you’d come back. I figured you know, maybe I would need to punish you a bit. Make sure you understood why you couldn’t do that again, but I figured you still loved me too. You always looked for me. Anytime you walked outside you would scan the streets looking for me. I thought you missed me. You knew I was there, you had to. I thought maybe if I gave you a little time that when I was ready to accept you back you would understand why you were better off with me then without me. But then you met that biker that was stalking you. Did you know he was stalking you Maggie? He followed you EVERY DAY! Every day he was there watching you Maggie. I watched out for you though. I kept an eye on things sweetie. I wouldn’t let him hurt you. But then Maggie… THEN YOU FUCKED HIM!!!”

At the last sentence Reef screamed and launched himself across the room at Maggie. She cowered, covering her head with her arms as Reef slammed his fists into the wall on either side of her head. He still had the gun gripped in his left hand.

Everything went quiet for a moment. Reef crouched over her, panting. She could feel his hot breath on the top of her head. Then he spoke. His voice was soft and she felt his right hand reach out to stroke her hair gently.

“Why did you do it Maggie? Why did you let him do that? Did you fuck the blond, too? I just need to know Maggie, how bad is it? I mean… Maybe we can fix it you know? Maybe I don’t have to kill you Maggie. If you promise me you won’t ever do it again?”

Reef continued to stroke her hair, his hand moving softly over her head and down to her shoulders then back up again. Maggie pulled her hands away from her face. She moved slowly, trying not to startle Reef. When her hands were away from her face she turned her head to look at him. She kept her face blank and her eyes wide. She did everything in her power to keep her voice soft, keep the anger out of her eyes, keep the fear stamped down in her gut.

“Reef…” Maggie stopped, choking on her words. This was the hardest thing she would ever have to do in her life. “I’m sorry Reef. I know I was bad. Please let me make it up to you. Please?”

Maggie watched Reef’s eyes as they shifted. She saw the insanity there. She saw the evil that waited inside him wanting to take over. She half expected that grin from her dream to break across his face. The terribly smile that split his face from ear to ear.

Reef stood slowly. His eyes never left hers as he took a step back and considered her. Maggie waited. She didn’t know what he was thinking, but she knew he was making the decision that would either save her life or end it. She couldn’t do anything right now. Not while he stood over her with the gun.

She saw the moment he made his decision. She saw the shift in his eyes. He realized if he killed her he really would lose her forever. He needed to keep her alive so he could continue to torture her. Reef reached out then, palm up, as if to help her stand.

Maggie shifted off her knees and moved to her feet. She sat on her haunches; her hands on her knees, trying her hardest to look like a frightened deer. Eyes wide and innocent. She thought back to the self-defense course she’d taken at Jessi’s dojo. She couldn’t think of any particular moves that would help her in this instance. Her eyes shifted to his gun, noting Reef’s loose grip. There was nothing behind him. There was nothing around them that she could use as a weapon. Really her best bet was to just get away from him.

Maggie took a deep breath then lifted her hand as if she were reaching for his hand; this allowed her to shift her feet, planting one behind her, heel against the wall for something to push off of. When her fingers were an inch from Reef’s Maggie pushed against the wall and launched herself at Reef. She screamed as loudly as she could as she flew through the air toward him. She tucked her head into her shoulders and put as much weight into the tackle as she could.

She didn’t look at Reef when she did this. All she could think of was knocking him to the ground. Maybe it would buy her enough time to run out the door and find help. They toppled to the floor together. Maggie landed on top of Reef causing and explosion of breathe from them both. The gun went flying across the room and slid under the couch. What Maggie didn’t anticipate was still being so dizzy from the hit to her temple she’d taken earlier. Yes she knocked Reef to the ground, but it took her a minute to stand, and when she finally did she ended up stumbling.

Reef was not suffering from a concussion like Maggie. And unfortunately he’d spent the majority of his time since she left working out when he wasn’t stalking her. So he moved a lot faster than she had anticipated.

As soon as Maggie righted herself Reef was upright and moving. She braced for a hit, but instead he scooped his arms under her legs and lifted Maggie throwing her across the couch and into the mirror that hung above it. Maggie cried out when her back hit the glass. She felt it shatter around her before she fell to the sofa cushions below. Luckily she didn’t land on any glass. Most of it landed on top of the couch or fell behind it. Before Maggie could even blink Reef was on top of her. Straddling her hips with his hands wrapped around her throat.

“You stupid fucking bitch! You Goddamn cunt! You fat piece of shit whore! I’m going to kill you with my bare hands!” Ash spit his vile words down at Maggie as she wrapped her hands around his wrists and kicked her legs. No matter how hard she pulled at his arms, or how hard she kicked and bucked she couldn’t dislodge him.

Maggie felt the dark closing in. She felt the pressure building behind her eyes, her lungs throbbing in her chest trying desperately to breathe. Maggie couldn’t grip his wrists anymore she didn’t have the strength. She let go of his wrists and flailed her arms out, trying desperately to find something, anything. Her left hand slid up the back of the couch. Her fingers grazed something there and then she remembered the glass shards.

Maggie did her best to stretch her arm up as the black at the corners of her vision began creeping in. Her fingers wrapped around what felt like a very large shard. Numbly she felt the glass slicing into her skin. The darkness had closed around her until the only thing she could see were Reef’s eyes staring into her own. Reef’s deranged eyes, filled with bile and rage. She would not die with his eyes as the last thing she saw. She refused.