Rock Chick 05 Revenge (42 page)

I didn’t worry about looking like a lunatic. I took off out the door. By this time, the whole Rock Chick posse was on my heels.

I hit the parking lot and saw them. Luke had taken off his jacket and was in the act of tossing it on the hood of his Porsche when we got there. Ren was rolling up the sleeves of his jeans shirt.
 

“Lookin’ forward to this,” Ren said low as I stopped, the Rock Chick posse gathering around me.

“What’s goin’ on?” Daisy asked from beside me.

I ignored her. “This is crazy. Luke, let me –” I started but Luke’s eyes cut to me and I froze in mid-speak at his look.
 

Then his eyes sliced to Mace. “Keep her back,” Luke said.

Before I could react, I felt an iron arm clamp around my waist as Mace grabbed hold of me. I leaned into it with all my bodyweight and tried to push his arm away with my hands but I was held fast. I was beginning to wonder if Riley wasn’t leading me down the garden path with his so-called “workouts” and “strength training”.

“Shit, I don’t think this is good,” Jet whispered from somewhere close and I looked her way. She was pale and staring at Luke and Ren. I did a scan and noticed that all the Rock Chicks were pale.

“No, this is not good,” Roxie agreed.

“No, this is really,
really
not good,” Indy put in.

They were not wrong.

I decided to try another tactic and looked to Ren. “Ren, please, don’t do this. This is crazy. Someone’s going to get hurt. Just go, I’ll call you later.”

“Boys, listen to Ava, stand down,” Ally threw in.

Ren ignored Ally and me. “Ava told me about you,” Ren said to Luke.

Uh-oh.

I went still and stopped struggling against Mace’s arm so I could focus my attention on freaking about what was going to come out of Ren’s mouth next. I had told him about Luke under the influence of three glasses of wine and a major flip out. I hadn’t expected he’d ever have the opportunity to share and even if he did, I never expected him actually
to
share.

“Ren,” I said but it came out breathy and quiet and I knew he didn’t hear me.
 

I looked to Luke who was silent and watching, his body looking both relaxed and prepared at the same time.
 

“Ren, please. Don’t,” I went on, sounding louder but not loud enough because, to my horror, Ren went on.

“I get a good shot in maybe I’ll knock some fuckin’ sense into you. Then maybe you’ll be thinkin’ of Ava when you fuck her, not some other man’s piece you can’t have.”

The Rock Chicks collectively sucked in breath at Ren’s words and all their gazes swung in my direction.

Oh shit.

Luke’s eyes sliced to me and my breath left my lungs in a whoosh.

His eyes were cold, hard, furious and lastly and most frighteningly, disbelieving. Somehow his look made him seem like he’d already suffered a blow before a punch had been thrown and that blow had been delivered by me.

I wanted to say something, anything to take that look off his face but I didn’t have a chance. Luke looked back to Ren and it began.

At first I didn’t move, I watched in shocked, horrified fascination.
 

It was brutal, powerful and, in a weird way, beautiful and even awe-inspiring. Luke and Ren knew what they were doing, they were strong, fast, light on their feet and so angry neither of them was holding anything back.

Then the sound of flesh thudding against flesh, again and again and again, got through to me.

“Stop it!” I screamed, my voice not sounding like my own, it came out as a screech.

They kept going.

“Stop it!” I shrieked again, unable to think of something better to say.

Luke’s fist smashed into Ren’s mouth and Ren’s lip opened up, blood flying and Ally started to scream “stop” with me.

Then I saw Ren throw a punch that Luke didn’t dodge and I watched a cut open on Luke’s cheek.

At that I started struggling like a she-cat and screaming like a banshee, not using words just yelling. I pressed my back against Mace’s body, lifting my feet clean up in the air to power kick out of his arms. This didn’t work so I planted my feet and leaned forward, trying to take him with me or break the contact. Neither of these worked so I yelled at the top of my lungs. “
Godamnit, stop it!
”
 

Of course, they did not stop.

I used the move I used with Luke at Sissy and Dom’s and elbowed Mace in the side with all my might. I added an additional touch and at the same time I kicked him in the shin with the heavy heel of my cowboy boot. This worked. His arm loosened just enough for me to get away.

Even though both Daisy and Jules made a grab for me shouting at me at the same time to stay back, I evaded them and ran straight into the fight just as Luke reared back for a punch. I didn’t have a chance to dodge him, his elbow slammed into my forehead and stars exploded in my eyes. I went back two steps and then down, hard on my ass.

“Stop!” Daisy screamed, running forward. She got low next to me, holding her arm out to the boys as if to shield me from them. “Stop it, right now,” she snapped but they’d already stopped.
 

Luke was moving to me and I was shaking my head because I could swear I saw two of him.

“Sugar, you okay?” Daisy asked as the Rock Chicks lost patience with holding back and took their positions.

I put my hand to my forehead but didn’t answer.

“Ava, talk to me,” Daisy urged.

“Is she all right?” Jet got low beside me.

“Holy crap, Ava, say something, honey,” Indy got down next to Daisy.

“I’m fine, I think.” My other hand came up to my forehead and I touched it gently.
 

“You fucking guys!” Ally snapped from somewhere else. I couldn’t see her but then I couldn’t see much of anything because I was staring at my lap and blinking a lot. I looked up and saw she was in Ren’s face, blocking him from approaching me. “Why didn’t you have a pissing contest?” Ally went on, getting way close to Ren. “Look at Ava, she’s on her ass in a parking lot!”

“Well,” I whispered to Indy, Ally and Jet. “Now I have something to write to my Mom about.”

Jules materialized at my feet as the girls looked at each other not responding to my lame effort to make light of the moment. Jules wasn’t laughing either. She was looking at me in a funny way. For obvious reasons I couldn’t hold her eyes so I looked back at my lap just in time to hear Roxie throw down. My head came up again and I saw Roxie quickly approaching Luke in order to get in his face and I could hear her high-heeled boots hitting the pavement in an unmistakable pissed-off woman staccato.

“Seriously!” she snapped. “It’s okay if you make each other bleed but what did you think Ava would do? Just stand there and watch you beat each other to a pulp? Men! I don’t get it!” she shouted to the sky, throwing her hands out to her sides.

“I’m okay,” I said, pushing unsteadily to my feet with Jet and Daisy helping me.

Once I got to my feet, I watched as Luke set Roxie aside and he did this by picking her up by her upper arms and literally
setting her aside
. Then he was there, I could see his black t-shirt in front of my face.

“Look at me,” he said and he definitely used a tone that one would obey without question because, even though I didn’t want them to, my eyes lifted to his. He stared at me closely. I still felt a little funny, a bit woozy, but even so I noticed the cut on his cheekbone, blood streaming from it and it made my stomach churn.
 

“You okay?” he asked.

I nodded, staring at his cut and all the blood and wondering when I’d ever learn my lesson.
 

Repeat after me.

No men. No men.
No men
.

The second I nodded, before I could ask if Luke or Ren were okay or I could throw an insane, out-of-control hissy fit of my own, Luke took my hand and started toward the Porsche. I looked back at the Rock Chicks and they were watching me, all except Ally who was (kind of angrily) wiping blood with a tissue from Ren’s face all the while giving him lip, which he deserved. Next time I talked to him I was going to verbally
kick his ass
.

Without thinking (I really should have thought), I got in the passenger side of the Porsche, Luke holding the door open for me and then slamming it shut behind me. He nabbed his jacket off the hood, shrugged it on, slid behind the wheel and, with no further ado, we took off like a shot.
 

It was then that being dazed by a tough guy, macho man elbow to the forehead wore off and I remembered Luke was angry. I remembered this because he drove like he was angry. He drove like he wanted to take me straight to the gates of hell and he wanted me to get there yesterday.
 

I was angry too but not angry or stupid enough to go up against the heat of fury rolling off Luke.

“Luke, please slow down,” I said while I chanced a glance at him. I saw his jaw clench but felt the car slow.

I decided that was all I should say, for now. I didn’t want to start the conversation we were inevitably going to have in the Porsche with Angry Luke at the wheel. Instead, I planned my defense for whatever was going to come next

One thing that was sure and certain and the blood proved it, not to mention Luke told me straight how he felt on several occasions, Luke was
not
the kind of guy who liked to walk into a bar and see his woman in another man’s arms.

How I was going to get out of Luke finding out that I told Ren about how he felt about Jules, I didn’t know but I was going to have to come up with something.

He parked in the garage and wordlessly we went up to the loft. I still wasn’t thinking clearly, it was the first time two guys had fought over me both getting bloody in the process. I again found myself in a situation where I didn’t know what to do and I was beginning to get a little sick of feeling clueless.
 

Sure, one could say considering I was practically living with Luke, I shouldn’t have relaxed into Ren and let him hold me during one of the sweetest, saddest songs ever written.

But on the other hand, it was one of the sweetest, saddest songs ever written.

It was lame but I was going to use that as my defense.

Then there was the fact Luke had a thing for Jules. It wasn’t nice that Luke was with me when he felt strongly for another woman but I probably shouldn’t have told that to Ren. However, who would have ever thought in a million years Ren would have shared.

However, Ren shared.

I was going to give in on that point and would likely have to apologize (even though that would suck).
  

But I did have the whole fistfight thing to throw in his face. Being a tough guy, macho man was one thing, getting in fights in bar parking lots was something else. Who did that kind of thing? It was juvenile and took the whole tough guy thing a shade too far.

The doors to the elevator opened, we walked in and Luke flipped on the lights.

I turned to him to say something, I didn’t know what, when he calmly walked to the bed, picked up the lamp on the bedside table, yanked the cord out with one vicious tug and threw it with a savage side arm throw across the room.
 

I watched it sail then smash against the semi-circular bar, its pieces flying.

All righty then.

One thing I knew, I wasn’t going to bring up my Sweetest, Saddest Song Ever Written Defense.

He turned to me. I took one look at him and saw he was so beyond controlling-fury mode that it wasn’t funny.

“Luke,” I started in order to try to defuse the situation and I was going to do it by shifting the focus and seeing to his cut. Priorities first and blood was pretty much always a priority. “We need to clean that cut.”

“Pack,” he responded.

I blinked. “What?” I asked.

“Pack. Now.”

Then without another word, he shrugged off his jacket, tossed it on the bed, walked by me and into the bathroom. I turned in a half-circle, my eyes and body following him. I watched him turn on the bathroom light, nab a washcloth and then he started to clean his cut.

Something was happening to my throat, I couldn’t quite understand what it was but I was kind of thinking it was panic mingled with fear again, this time significantly magnified.

I went to the bathroom door. “Luke, I…” I started and then stopped because I didn’t know what to say. Further, he didn’t even glance at me.
 

It was then I realized there really wasn’t anything to say.
 

Bottom line, now he knew that I knew he was in love with Jules. The jig was up and obviously we were over.
 

I didn’t understand why he was so angry about it but I’d think about that later, when Dom was gone and Sissy was with me and we had lots and lots of tequila, which always helped women understand how men’s minds worked.

And this, I told myself, was a good thing (not the angry part, the jig being up part). I told myself this but I wasn’t very convincing.