The Law of Motion (Law Series) (51 page)

“I don’t care arrest me later.” I spat still trying to get out of Dario and Adrian’s hold. Liam and Victor now coming in to figure out what was going on.

Adrian wiped his finger on my cheek, and I guessed there was a tear, not that I was calm enough to notice it. “What did he say to you, love?"

I shook my head, shaking from head to toe as Dario finally released me, but my glare at Myles didn't waver as he coughed and groaned. I noted with complete satisfaction that I'd split the skin of his lip.

"Tell me, Alyssa," he whispered in my ear, wrapping his arm around my torso and breaking him from my line of vision, "and he will be punished for it. I swear."

"He touched me...while I was knocked out. He said he fucking touched me!" I wheezed, shaking my head in denial.

Adrian’s entire demeanor instantly changed completely. He was rigid with his anger, his hands practically shaking claws that were digging into my skin.

Victor grunted, looking between me and Adrian, and then finally looking to Myles. "You just signed your death warrant, asshole," he stated, taking me from Adrian with surprisingly gentle hands and holding me as Adrian stepped away from us.

Adrian reached down to the top of his boot and pulled out a long knife with notches in it. He spun it in his hand once, his face dark, and determined. He looked like a dark knight, an avenging angel, and Death come knocking, all rolled into one extraordinary being, because he knew how I felt about being touched against my will. He knew what it would've done to me had I been awake for it. And he wasn't fucking having it.

Hunter escorted Doc out of the barn before signaling Jeff and Danny to shut the doors behind her. Hunter had his own mask of disdain as he walked back taking the knife from me, softly. With one quick movement, Hunter tossed it past Adrian with perfect accuracy, the blade imbedding itself into his upper thigh.
             

I swear you could hear his screams from the bottom of the mountain, though my goal was a little further right, it inflicted pain so I was happy.

“You think that’s it asshole?” Adrian hissed going towards him, about to cut him down when Liam stepped in.

"Adrian—" Liam started, but his son held up a quick hand to shut him up.

"Don't!" he protested, glaring at his father and shaking his head. "This asshole is 
mine
!"

Adrian dragged the knife lightly around Myles's face, across his neck, and down his torso, as his upper lip curled into a hateful sneer. When he reached the bottom of Myles's t-shirt, he slid the knife under it. With one smooth, slow slice, Myles's shirt lay open, revealing several homemade and professional tattoos.

Some were grim, some were kind of pretty, but most were a continuous amount of ink spreading over his pecs and shoulders. Adrian sliced again and again, and the shirt fell to the barn floor silently, just below Myles's dangling feet.

Taking the knife over handed, Adrian jabbed it swiftly into the wood right next to Myles's face, causing him to flinch. He took one step back and turned to me. "Open handed," he stated, raising an eyebrow at me, just before bringing his hand across the knife still in his leg at full speed and strength. Then again at Myles’s face.

The scream with the smacks that echoed in the barn made us all cringe, but Adrian didn't stop. More slaps popped against Myles's stomach, pecs, and once more across his face.

"Fuck!" Myles gasped, trying to catch his breath before another hit came. "Make him stop!"

"Where's Terry and Zoe?" Liam asked, looking resigned at the direction this interrogation was going now.

"I don't know!" he whimpered, bracing himself when another three hits slashed across his body.

"Where would they hide, Myles?" Hunter asked, taking a step closer, taking the knife out of his leg.

Myles's skin was now a bright red, with perfect handprints across his pale stomach and face. His breathing was ragged, as his eyes flickered to Hunter, and then back to Adrian’s raised hand.

"I swear, I don't know!" he said through gritted teeth, wincing when another hit came to his chest. “There’s another bomb, already in place, stop hurting me and I’ll tell you.

“Where?” Another slap blurred across his face, this time causing his split lip to bleed, but I spun away from him to look at Liam, Victor still not letting me go.

Liam placed a hand on his son's shoulder, halting his swinging arm. "Hold on, son," he said softly, turning back to me. "Get with Tink... have her check Neil Industries affiliations with C&K who was running the factory. Then, once we get back, we'll have a chat with Paul Neil."

Liam’s eyes were dark, almost unfeeling, even though he was directing his attention to me. And I knew
 
right then
, I was being sent from the barn on purpose. I was not to see what would happen next to Myles Thompson.

I glanced up at the grunting, groaning, wheezing man that was hanging like a piece of meat from a hook. I took a deep breath and let it out, finally looking up at my Adrian—but he wasn't...
my Adrian
. He was the pure essence of hatred and revenge at the moment. His eyes were black, his hands opening and closing over and over, and every muscle he owned seemed to be pumped up with the poison that was filling him as he glared at the man hanging in front of him. It made me wonder if that is how I looked to my crew when I was filled with fury.

If it were any other woman in that barn but me, they would have feared him, because they didn’t know how that dark place felt. In fact, looking at him, I wasn't even sure he could be reached.

"Okay," I finally said to Liam, my brow wrinkling as Dario pulled a battery from a tractor at the end of the barn.

He snatched the cables that went with it, slamming it all down onto the table next to Myles. Unrolling a piece of duct tape, he taped the black wire to the bare skin of Myles's chest, keeping the red one in his hand. Fuck, if they weren't about to use electric shock on the guy for more information. I shuddered, and if he wasn’t scum under my boot I would have felt sorry for him, because I knew how that felt.

Myles seemed to come back to himself briefly, looking down at his chest and following the wire that was attached to the battery. His eyes widened, but his attention flickered from Liam, to Hunter, to Victor, to Adrian and then finally to me. And damn, if he didn't have a death wish with the next words that popped out of his mouth.

"They're real, right?" he panted, a tired, in pain, but a cocky smirk playing on his beaten face.

I froze, afraid of where he was going with that question, but I had a pretty good idea.

"Your tits...they're real, right? They
 
felt
 real," he rasped a harsh laugh. I shuddered.

It took four men to stop Adrian as he lunged for the knife by Myles's head, and they still called for Macon, who happened to be walking in from outside.

"You 
stupid motherfucker
!" Adrian snarled, straining against his father, Hunter, Dario, and Jeff, but Macon was a force all on his own. He came around to Adrian's front, wrapping his giant arms around his middle to push him back. "I'm gonna kill you!" my Adrian yelled, pointing a finger over Macon's shoulder.

"Not
yet
," Hunter grunted, as Adrian continued to try and fight them all. "I still need him, man. There’s another bomb that could mean hundreds of lives."

"Adrian!" I snapped, grabbing his face and trying to force him in my direction. "Baby, look at me." I stood up on my toes to whisper in his ear. "I l
ove
you. Come back to me...for just a moment, Adrian."

I couldn't blame him, because I was completely disgusted that Myles could've possibly touched me, but if we needed more from Myles, then Adrian needed to get himself under control.

Adrian still strained against everyone, but his eyes flickered to mine. His breathing came out in heavy pants, as every cord in his neck was taut with tension. I tugged at his face again, and he finally relented slightly.

"Step away from him for just a moment, baby," I told him, using a calm voice. "If I wasn't awake, then it didn't count," I lied, but he didn't need to know that right then. I looked up at Macon who was just realizing what exactly Myles’s offense was.

Macon’s face said it before his mouth did. “Why in the hell am I holding this guy back?

I sighed, "Help me get him outside, Mack. Please."

Macon nodded, practically picking Adrian up as we forced him just outside the barn doors. He slammed him against the wall, holding his shoulders with all his strength.

             
"Adrian, look at me," I ordered again, popping up between him and Macon. I reached up, snatching off his baseball cap and dropping it to the grass. Threading my fingers into Adrian’s hair, I pulled his forehead to mine. "It's okay...
I'm
 okay, baby."

"Alyssa..." he rasped, squeezing his eyes closed tightly, before opening them back up to lock with mine. "He..."

"I 
know
," I whispered, nodding a bit against him. I continued to run my fingers through his hair. "They need more from him, Adrian," I told him.

"He fucking
 
touched
 you," he grunted through gritted teeth, but I could feel the fight against me and Macon leave him. His hands left the bracing hold he had on Mack, and he reached for me. He grabbed me almost roughly at the waist and pulled me to him, and Macon released us, taking a few steps back. "I fucking 
swore
 no one would ever touch you but me, baby..." Adrian's voice almost sounded like a sob, but it was probably anger, guilt and worry, all rolled into one overwhelming emotion.

"Not your fault, Adrian," I told him, kissing his jaw, and then his lips. "You weren't there...you couldn't know..."

"I should've been," he breathed, wrapping me up so tightly that his arms crossed over my back and gripped my shoulders, and I couldn't help but bury my face in his neck, letting the amazing smell of him waft over me. "I'm sorry..."

"We had to be apart for that," I consoled him, still keeping my fingers in his hair in a constant soothing motion. "You know I needed to get to Juan, baby."

He nodded, his head finally falling to my shoulder. "I'm so…s-sorry he did that…" he muttered against my neck. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, hearing Macon's footsteps as he walked away from us. I'm sure he was giving us our privacy now that Adrian had calmed down. Macon was never comfortable when it came to my experience with Garcia. The big brother that he was to me just couldn't handle it.

"I'm still yours, Adrian," I explained to him. "That won't change. You can...
claim
 me back later," I said with a slight forced laugh, trying to hide my frown. I didn’t like lying to him.

I genuinely grinned when I felt his lips lift into a smile against my neck.

"Alyssa...it isn't funny," he sighed, pulling back from me to cup my face. He shook his head. "It's...just... 
Fuc
k

just swear to me you're all right," he commanded, but the colors were returning to his beautiful gaze.

Refusing to lie, I kissed him on his face again. "I'm not okay that he touched me," I admitted, grimacing a bit and shaking my head. "But
 
I will be
," I urged, raising an eyebrow at him until he nodded in acknowledgment. "He's just a creepy guy, and I wasn't awake for it. Am I grossed out? Oh yeah," I huffed, rolling my eyes. "Am I traumatized? No. It's mild in...comparison."

Adrian exhaled roughly, his brow furrowing, and he looked down at his feet. "You...you promise me?" he repeated, finally looking into my eyes again, and I nodded slowly, because Adrian took his protection of me so seriously.

"I promise," I vowed. "Let them ask their questions, Adrian. Maybe you shouldn't touch him again, huh?"

He grimaced, letting out a long, slow, calming breath, but he eventually nodded. "Yeah, probably not..."

Jackson popped out the barn, eying us with a concerned look on his face. "Boss, you okay?"

Adrian nodded, running a hand through his hair, but the other hand stayed on my waist. "Um...yeah, J," he said, swallowing thickly.

"Chance?" Jackson verified, raising an eyebrow at me.

"We're okay," I sighed, practically singing the words to both him and Adrian, but my eyes didn't leave my boyfriend's face. "Right?"

Adrian smirked, and he suddenly looked weary. "Right, Honeyface."

"Good," I confirmed, kissing his cheek. "Now, can I trust you to please not kill him...at least until all the answers are heard?" I asked, grabbing his face and making him look at me again. "I have to talk to Tink."

Adrian gave me a tentative nod and a soft, "Yes, ma'am."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding in and kissed him again. "I can't watch any more, baby," I admitted, "especially if they're going to shock him. Too much like...you know….
 for my taste."

Adrian flinched, but nodded. "Okay, baby. I'll come find you in a bit."