Dark Destiny (Dark Brothers Book #4) (7 page)

“Fuckin’ move, Angel.”

“No, you’re not going to take this out on her, boss.”

“You all fuckin’ drugged me and brought me to a house I hate, and you think I’m just going to sit here calmly?”

I step around Angel, and Jagger glares so hard at me I’m sure he’s about to shoot daggers.

“You left me,” I whisper, forcing the tears threatening to come to my eyes, away. “You told me you can’t feel. I had to do something.”

“You give up, Willow. That’s what you do!”

“No,” I say, finding my voice. “I don’t give up. That wasn’t part of the deal, Jagger. I won’t let you do this to yourself or to your family. We are doing what we have to do!”

“What the fuck do you hope to achieve by locking me in this house?”

“I want you to…feel.”

His voice is throaty and raw with anger when he snarls, “I feel, I feel so fuckin’ angry I want to rip someone’s head off.”

“That’s good,” I say carefully. “Any feeling is better than none.”

“This won’t change things for me, fuck, what is wrong with you lot? I am capable of makin’ my own fuckin’ choices.”

“No, boss, you’re not. You don’t see it, but you’re sinkin’. We wouldn’t be part of a brotherhood if we let that happen,” Angel says, his voice carefully controlled.

Jagger spins on him, gripping his shirt and slamming him against a nearby wall.

“I will hurt you, Angel. Don’t put it past me.”

“If it helps, go ahead.”

Jagger stares at him, shocked, then he drives his fist into the wall beside Angel’s head. Plaster shatters around them, and falls to the floor in little pieces. I hear the sound of Cody’s laugh coming up the stairs and I watch Jagger stiffen.

“You brought my kid?” he hisses, turning to me.

I nod, meeting his gaze dead on. “I did.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I’m doing what I have to, Jagger, yell at me all you want.”

“You’ll get nothin’ from me,” he yells, to the room in general. “Nothin’. So whatever you think you’re going to achieve from all this, you’re wrong. I won’t give you nothin’!”

Then he storms past us all and into his room, slamming the door so loudly it splits. I look at everyone and let out a deep sigh.

“It’s a start,” Angel says, patting my shoulder.

“He hates us.”

“He will get over it. Give him time.”

I stare at the door, and then back to the boys. I hope we’ve made the right choice here.

~*~*~*~*~

JAGGER

Fucking cunts. That’s all they are. Cunts. How dare they fuckin’ lock me up in this house. Who the fuck do they think they are? Any emotion I had towards
them, is now fuckin’ gone. I don’t want to be here, they know I don’t want to be here. They think if they break me, I’ll feel again. They’ve got no fuckin’ idea how much I’ve sunk, they have no idea that all they’re doing, is wasting their time and mine. They should have let me go. Willow had to fuckin’ stick her nose in and now I’m stuck in this fuckin’ house.

I dig through my jeans, and pull out a semi squashed packet of smokes. Fuck them, they want to play with me, I’ll play right back. They won’t fuckin’ win this one, hell to the fuckin’ no. I won’t let them get to me. All they’re doing is making me want to run further. Why couldn’t they just fuckin’ accept my decision? Always the fuckin’ heroes. I’m done with this bullshit. I take a deep drag of my cigarette and blow the air out in front of me. I’m not a smoker usually, but it helps, and besides, Willow fuckin’ hates it. Let’s see how she reacts to this one.

~*~*~*~*

WILLOW

Leila’s crying stirs me from my afternoon sleep. I went to lay down with her after the emotional morning we had. I flutter my eyes open and stare at the ceiling fan spinning around and around. Leila cries again, and I turn my head to the side. She’s sitting up in her crib, peering at me through the bars. Smiling, I sit up and stretch. I slip out of bed and walk over, lifting her from the crib. She gurgles and whines a little more. I peer down at the time, it’s after four pm. I guess we slept a few hours. Ace and Angel said they would watch Jagger, so I assume everything is still going well. He hadn’t left his room when I came to lay down.

When I change Leila and carry her out into the kitchen, everyone is standing around the counter whispering softly. They stop what they’re doing when they notice me, and all turn to stare. “What’s going on?” I ask, and the nod towards Jagger’s door where I can hear the sound of blaring music.

“He’s had that going for two hours now. None of us are game to go in.”

I roll my eyes and hand Leila over to Jenny. “Where’s Cody?”

“Sleeping still.”

“Fine, I’ll go in.”

I turn and walk towards Jagger’s door. When I turn the handle and fling it open, my ears are blessed with the pounding sound of music. Magic. I peer into the room, and Jagger is sitting on his bed, smoking a cigarette and watching something on television. Jagger doesn’t smoke. What kind of bullshit game is he playing?  When he notices me, and he turns his head to look at me, his face is completely emotionless as he lifts one side of his mouth up in a cocky smile, and it’s not a nice smile, it’s a mean smile. He knows I don’t like him smoking. He knows it and he’s doing it anyway. I know what he’s doing, he’s trying to show me nothing is going to bother him. That my little plan won’t work. That he’ll break me before I break him.

“What if it was Cody that came in here?” I say, walking over and pulling the cigarette from his mouth. I crush it in the beer bottle beside the bed.

He doesn’t move his eyes from my face. He’s watching me, just watching. He’s testing me. Trying to piss me off. It won’t work. 

“He can’t reach the door handle,” he says simply.

“What are you doing, Jagger?” I say, feeling my frustration building inside.

He raises a brow and slides off the bed, removing his shirt. I swallow, feeling my eyes widen at the site of his delectable body. It takes everything inside me to keep my face empty.

“Are you high?” I finally say, crossing my arms.

He grins at me, but it’s not his usual gorgeous grin, it’s so cold and empty. “I wish.”

“I know what you’re doing, and it’s not going to work. If you want to sit in here and smoke yourself stupid, you go right ahead.”

I turn to walk out.

“You can join me, baby…maybe we can find other things to do.”

The way he said that, it makes me want to slap him. It’s so cold. So…not the Jagger I love. God, was this a bad idea? Did I make a mistake bringing him here and trying to bring him out of his shell? Maybe I did. Maybe this was all a mistake. I hate how he makes me second guess myself and my choices.

I turn and meet his blue eyes. “No thanks, if I want heartless sex I can go up to a bar and get it all on my own, thanks.”

“But you wouldn’t.”

I look him dead in the eye when I say the next words. “Wouldn’t I?”

Then, I step out and slam the door. I didn’t see his reaction, and I don’t honestly care. I’m angry at him, for the way he just looked at me. He’s trying to hurt me, trying to break me, so I’ll just tell him to get out and never look back. I know exactly what game he’s playing, but what he fails to understand is that I can play harder. He knows what he is doing is wrong. He fucking knows it.

When I get back into the kitchen, everyone turns to me, eyes wide, waiting for my reaction. “He’s just being a jerk, it’s fine,” I say to the room in general.

Ace looks sad for me but it’s Bull that walks over and touches my shoulder.

“We’ll find a way, in fact, we’ve been talking about something that just might work.”

“Oh?” I ask, walking into the kitchen and turning on the coffee machine.

“Well, you remember that Jagger was quite a jealous person.”

I snort. “You think?”

Bull chuckles, but it’s not a sound full of humor.

“Well, we were thinking…what if he got…I don’t know…jealous?”

I raise my brows, and pull the warm mug of coffee into my hands. “I don’t think he would care right now, I really don’t. He’s completely blocked himself off. I don’t even think he knows who he is or what he wants right now, I don’t think it will matter what I do.”

“Look, I think it’s worth a shot. He was insanely protective of you before, if he thinks him pushing you away might cause you to look elsewhere…”

“He knows I wouldn’t,” I say, giving him a weak smile. “He knows I love him.”

“Maybe, but you don’t have to be looking as such, just confiding,” Ava says.

“You think this is a good idea?” I say, shocked.

“I think anything is worth a shot, Willow.”

I sigh. “All right, if you all think it will work.”

“It might not work,” Ace says. “But it might make him think, or at least feel some sort of emotion. That’s got to be a start. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s so…vacant.”

“I know,” I murmur, wrapping my arms around myself and shuddering. “He worries me.”

We hear Jagger’s door open, and all of us turn. Jagger steps out, still without a shirt. He looks at us all, then walks into the kitchen without greeting any of us. He stops and kisses Leila on the head, but aside from that, he doesn’t show anything major.

“We’re having a few people over tonight, boss.” Rusty says.

I give him a look, what’s he up to?

“Do whatever you want, I don’t give a fuck. Where’s the whiskey?”

I meet Ace’s eyes, it’s him who answers Jagger’s question.

“We don’t have any.”

Jagger walks right up to him until they’re nearly nose to nose, then he leans down, reaches around him and grips his keys. Ace’s hand snaps out quickly, stopping him. Jagger looks down at Ace’s hand, then back up to his face.

“Get your fuckin’ hand off me, Ace.”

“No, you’re not leaving. That’s the point of this.”

“Then you leave and go and get me what I need.”

“No,” I answer for Ace, in the strongest voice I can muster. “You’re not drinking. Your kids are here and they don’t need to see that.”

Jagger turns to me, and goes to argue but quickly closes his mouth.

“Fine, I’ll find somethin’ else to do. You lot ought to give up on this little charade, I spent months out here alone, I can do it again. You’re makin’ a mistake thinkin’ you’ll break me. Did you even stop to think that maybe I don’t want to fuckin’ change?”

Then he turns and walks back into the room, slamming the door. I sigh and put my head in my hands. This could be a long…long few weeks, or months.

God I hope it’s only weeks.

CHAPTER 5

WILLOW

“Willow, this is Liam.”

I smile at the tall, handsome man Ace is introducing me to. He said Liam is an old friend, and is happy to play along for a little while, in hopes of getting some sort of reaction from Jagger. I honestly don’t think it will work, and I find it a little childish, but it’s worth a try. Anything right now is worth a try. I’m losing him. He’s been in and out of his room all afternoon, ignoring everyone. He’s a strong willed man, and I am wondering if it’s going to take a whole lot more than this to break him. I feel like we could be making a mistake trying this, but I honestly don’t know what else to do.

“Hi Liam, it’s nice to meet you.”

Liam is tall, with dark hair, blue eyes and a nice smile. He’s a nice looking man, in all ways. Clean skin, nice hair style…he’s…well…what every mother hopes her child will bring home.

“Thanks for the invite.”

“You’re very welcome.”

I give him my best welcoming smile, and lead him into the kitchen. I hear Cody running around downstairs where Rusty is cooking some food. Everyone is sitting down there, but Jagger is still in his room. I don’t even know if we’ll get him out.

“Do you need some help?”

I smile over at Liam, then I hand him a knife. “Sure, if you’re any good at chopping tomatoes.”

“I go all right, as long as you’re ok with a few fingers in there?”

I giggle. “I think we can manage without chopping all your fingers off.”

He chuckles. “I think so too. So tell me, Willow, how do you know the guys?”

“She’s my wife.”

I almost smile to myself when I hear Jagger’s voice coming from his door. He walks out, wearing an old pair of faded jeans, a black shirt and no shoes. His hair is messy and he looks fucking gorgeous. I give him a quick glance, then turn back to Liam.

“Well, we’re on a break. I met them through Jagger here, as I’m sure you’ve guessed. What about you, Liam?”

I completely brush Jagger off, and I don’t dare to turn to him and see his expression. Part of me is terrified about what I might see, the other part is extremely curious to see if he’s taken some sort of reaction, at all.

“I know Ace, we met when he was younger. So what do you do for a living?” Liam says, completely ignoring Jagger too.

I feel Jagger brush past me, open the fridge and pull out a beer. I still don’t turn to him. I just continue slicing the lettuce and peppers.