Fury (New Adult Romance) - #1.5 Fierce Series (6 page)

I don’t want that anymore. As much as I love the attention … and a
good fuck for that matter … I want more than just that. I want someone to stay
with me because they like me, not because of the sex. And each time I fuck a
girl I realize more and more how unlikely it is that will ever happen.

I look up into the window I pass, seeing the girl with the leaves
sitting there in class, talking with her friend. The sight of her makes my
heart go crazy and my cock throb. She’s the epitome of everything I’m not. A
shy, geeky girl who can’t handle a little tension. So why am I gravitating
toward her so much?

Suddenly my phone rings, and I fish it out of my pocket. Unknown
number. Great.

I pick it up.

“Hello?” I say.

“Hunter?”

It’s my brother, but his brittle voice puts me on edge.

“What’s wrong?” I say.

“They caught me. I’m toast.”

“What do you mean?” I snap.

“It all went wrong,” he says with a croaky voice. “I needed more
money to pay for your college loans, and I failed.”

“Why? I thought we had enough? What did you do?” I’m pacing up and
down the hallway, getting all worked up. My heart is racing in my throat.
Something is so fucking wrong, I can hear it from his voice.

“I tried to take more. It was the only way. They forced me to fight,
but I couldn’t take any more hits. They said they wouldn’t give me more money
until I did what they wanted. So when they weren’t looking I took more money
than I was supposed to take.”

My mouth is open, but I don’t know what to say. I’m at a loss for
words, hearing this. Every sentence is too much. This isn’t good.

“What happened?” I yell.

“The boys found out. Now they’re after my head. I escaped, barely. I
broke into a car to get away from them.”

“Shit, no!” I yell.

“I got caught with drugs in my pocket. Someone shoved them in
there.”

“What?” I say, frowning. My breathing is ragged, uneven. I don’t
want to hear what comes next, but I
have
to know. I need to know what
happened to him.

“The cops got me, Hunter. I’m in jail.”

The moment I hear that word my world shatters. My fingers are
shaking. I can barely hold onto the phone. My brother is in jail for stealing a
car and possessing drugs. He won’t get out of this. There’s no way he can worm
himself out of this one.

This is a nightmare.

“I’m coming,” I say gruffly, and then I snap the phone shut.

Blood seeps into my mouth as I bite my lip. Anger is raging inside
me, storming through my head like an uncontrollable tornado. I’m furious.

The only family member I have left is now in jail, and I won’t get
him back.

FUCK!

I slam the phone into the ground, fracturing it into tiny little
pieces of shit. Everything is shit. My entire life is shit. The one person who
took care of me is now gone, and I’m left to pick up the pieces of our fucked-up
life.

My rage takes control of my body, and I start kicking the wall to
let it all out. I’m screaming, my toes feeling broken from the enraged kicks.
It’s not helping. Nothing is. I can’t get this fury to settle down.

I stop, because the pain is becoming too much. Staring at my fists,
I blow out a huge breath. I can’t even remember what I was supposed to be doing
before I got this phone call. All I know is that there’s a huge windowpane
right beside me, and that there are people behind it staring at me.

Looking up, I stare right at her. Leafy. Her round, watery eyes are
piercing my soul, and I can’t help but glare right back at her. I want her to
see me. To see the misery inside my heart, my head. My anger. My pain. I want
her to see it all.

I want her to fear it.

She should fear me. She should be so afraid that she never wants to
see or be near me again. It’s not what I want, but what I need, even if I’d
rather see it differently. She mustn’t like me, so that I won’t like her
either. Because from now on, there won’t be anything distracting me from my
goal: saving my brother.

♥♥♥

The next day …

It takes me a day to get to the out-of-state police station and see
my brother in custody. I’m sitting at a creaking table on a wobbly chair,
looking straight at my brother. I’ve been swallowing back tears for the last
couple of minutes. It’s never been this hard to stop myself from lunging
forward. All I want is to get up, grab him, and bolt out of here as fast as we
can. Of course that’s impossible. There are guards and locked doors. But I
can’t bear to see him in here.

Dangerous criminals are locked up in the cell directly adjacent to
my brother. Most of them have racist tattoos or ones that show how many people
they’ve killed. I’ve never been more afraid in my life. Not because of what
they could do, but what I know my brother will face once he goes to prison.
They’ll rough him up, for sure, although he already looks beaten to the bone.

His face is swollen, his upper lip is cracked, and he has two black
eyes. His blond beard is still smudged with blood. This must be from the
fighting he was forced to do. He calls it ‘The Arena’—the place where they
force newbie dealers to fight each other until one of them passes out. Just for
fun. Or money, I don’t know. It’s just sick.

He won’t be going there, though. Not anymore. Where he’ll be going
now is way, way worse.

When I look at him, all I feel is guilt. His jeans are ripped, and
his faded, dirty shirt makes him look like a homeless guy. His gray eyes have
gotten less bright since the last time I saw him. He looks like shit, and it’s
because he had to fight to earn enough money so I could stay in college. He had
to steal, fight, and betray to take care of me. He’s in here, going to jail,
because of me.

“I still can’t believe it,” I say, staring at the table.

“I know … and it’s fucked up as hell. They tricked me, Hunter.”

I slam the table with my hand, and one of the guards anxiously
reaches for his stick.

“Don’t,” Jessie says, nudging his head to make me aware of the
guard. “They’ll shortcut this, and I wanna talk to you for as long as I can.”

“Yeah, sorry. Me too. I just get so fucking pissed off knowing
you’re in here. They betrayed you.”

“No, I betrayed them.”

“How can you say that?” I yell. “They’re squeezing you, forcing you
to fight, and you still think you betrayed them? They’re fucking monsters!”

“They gave me enough money to send you to college.”

For a second it’s quiet. I know he’s right.

I swallow, slumping down in my chair. “It’s my fault then.”

“No, I don’t want you to think like that.”

“Hell, I don’t need to be in college. I can find a job. I told you
that a million times.”

“But I do. I want
you
to succeed.” He smiles, but it’s a
petty smile, full of hurt, and it makes me want to hug him tight, but I know
the guards would disapprove.

I sigh. “What can I do to get you out of here as fast as possible?
There has to be a way.”

“I don’t think there is.”

I scowl. “I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer. You can’t stay in here.
You can’t go to … prison.”

“There’s no choice.”

“Dammit!” I slam my own hand with my fist, trying not to make a
sound to alert the guards. “You shouldn’t be in here. It’s all a big mistake. If
we can explain it to the cops then—”

“I was dealing drugs, Hunter,” my brother snaps. “I was beating up
kids, hustling people, making people’s lives miserable. Nothing can be said
that I haven’t already told them. They won’t let me out.”

“But you don’t deserve this! You only did that for me. There’s
nothing wrong with doing something for your family.”

“I’m sorry, Hunter,” he says.

I can hear the defeat in his voice. I don’t want to hear it. It
means that everything we could do to get him out would be in vain.

“But you’re my brother … I … I need you,” I stammer.

I can barely get the words out of my throat. I don’t want to cry in
front of him. I won’t. He doesn’t need this too. It’s already tough as shit on
him, and I’m here making it even harder. Fuck.

“I’m sorry, little brother,” Jessie says, reaching for my hand. “I
never meant for it to end this way.”

He grabs my hand and squeezes it hard, making me remember what a
fucking messed-up world this is. My brother is in there, and I’ve never felt
more guilt in my life.

“Time’s up,” the guard says as he comes closer to our table.

“What?” I say, frowning.

“Your thirty minutes are up,” the guard says to Jessie, and he helps
him get up from the seat. When they put the shackles back on his hands, my
stomach twists into knots.

“No, I’m not done yet,” I say, and my chair makes a screeching noise
as I stand up.

“You are done,” the guard snaps. “Let’s go.”

My brother’s eyes are gloomy, the corners of his lips sagging.
Dammit. They’re taking him away from me. I can’t let this happen.

“I’m going to get you out of here, I promise,” I say. My heart is
pounding in my chest. I clench the table tight. My body is ready to make a
sprint to save him, but I force myself to stay put.

“Just accept it, Hunter,” Jessie says, trying to calm me down.

“No! I will get you out of here. I don’t fucking care what I have to
do!”

Jessie’s eyes widen, and his face contorts. “Don’t. Whatever you’re
thinking, don’t do it.”

“I’ve already made up my mind. I’m going to do whatever it takes.”

“No!” he yells, but the guards are dragging him away. “Wait, let me
talk to him,” he says, looking at them.

“You’ve talked enough.”

He tries to jerk loose from their grip, but they only make it harder
for him. Tears form in my eyes, knowing they’re taking him away and there’s
nothing I can do right now to stop it. But I know I won’t stop searching for a
solution.

“Hunter, do
not
go to Alpha Psi! Do you hear me? Do
not
get involved with them!”

My fingers are hurting from the amount of pressure I’m putting on
this table so I don’t move. I don’t answer. Our eyes are locked as he’s dragged
out the door, struggling heavily. I won’t avert my eyes as they take him away.
I know he can see it in my eyes that I’m going to do everything in my power to
get him out. I’ve already made up my mind. I won’t regret not listening to him.
My safety is not as important as his. Not to me.

I feel responsible for him being in here, so I have to help him. If
I have to go through the gang to make it happen, I will. This is my burden.
I’ll fight with every last drop of my blood.

Chapter
5

Deal with the Devil

I’m angry. So angry, I just want to knock out everyone in my path. I
kick the door on my way out of the visitation room, determined to achieve my
goal. The next time I come here, I will take my brother with me.

“Hunter Bane?” someone says.

I turn my head and notice a police officer standing behind a desk. I
didn’t even realize there was someone in this room. I’ve been oblivious to my
surroundings since the moment I walked out the door.

“What do you want?” I snap.

“I was hoping we could talk.”

I freeze. My jaw muscles tense. I smash my lips together, trying to
keep the screams from bursting out.

“Unless you’re gonna tell me you’ll keep my brother out of that
hellhole, I’m not interested.”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to talk about,” he says.

Squinting, I stare him straight in the eye, my fingers curling up
into a fist. He’d better not be kidding right now, because I’m like a ticking
time-bomb ready to go off.

“Come with me, please,” he says, signaling me. He walks away from
the desk and goes into a room, pointing inside. I walk up to him and look down
at him. I can see him swallow. He holds out his hand, and says, “Agent
Williams.”

I just gaze at him, frowning.

“All right.” Clearing his throat, he lowers his hand again. As we
walk inside, he shuts the door behind us.

There’s just a chair and a table in the room, and the man sits down
with a cup of coffee. I stay put, leaning against the wall, eyeing him from a
distance.

“Please, sit down,” he says, giving me a little smile as if that’s
going to make me want to sit down.

Whatever.

I grab the chair, scoot it back, and flop down, almost breaking it.

“As I said, I’d like to talk to you about your brother.”

“So?”

Taking his time to respond, he takes a sip from his coffee. Dammit,
I don’t want to sit here all day.