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Hell yes.
He slapped my ass and said, “Hurry up and finish getting ready. We need to make a quick detour past my place on the way.”
I did as I was told, and fifteen minutes later he had me on the back of his bike and we were on our way to his house. As I hugged him, I couldn’t stop thinking about how good it was to have him back in my life. Thank goodness for second chances, and even third chances. I knew some people hated the idea of love the second time around because they felt it meant so much wasted time, and while I agreed, I truly believed that sometimes you just weren’t ready for each other the first time. Or in mine and Kick’s case, the second time.
We dropped by Kick’s place and he picked something up before we headed to my dentist. I was surprised when he made another detour on the way. We pulled up outside a rundown house and I wondered who lived here. I hopped off his bike and removed my helmet, waiting for him to tell me what we were doing here. However, he simply took his helmet off, dumped it on his bike, grabbed my hand and led me towards the front door.
After he knocked, I asked, “What are we doing here, Kick?”
He seemed so serious. “You’ll see.”
A guy dressed in what looked to be thrift shop clothing opened the door and ushered us in. He also seemed very serious, and I felt a little anxious, but at the same time, I knew Kick wouldn’t put me in harm’s way so this must be a safe place.
“Thanks for coming, man. She wasn’t supposed to be here until tomorrow, but her old man beat her up bad enough last night for her to leave earlier, and I just want to get her out of town as soon as possible,” the guy said to Kick.
“No worries, Brian, I’m just fuckin’ glad she’s finally decided enough’s enough. And King will be, too.”
Brian eyed me over his shoulder and then looked at Kick. “This your woman?”
“Yeah, eyes off,” Kick replied firmly, his message loud and clear.
Brian held his hands up. “Hey, no problem, I’ve got enough to worry about with my old lady. I got no clue how men handle more than one woman at a time.”
Kick chuckled, but all traces of humour were gone when we made it into a bedroom at the back of the house. Sitting on a bed was a woman who looked to be just under thirty. I sucked in a breath at the sight of her face. Her old man had done some serious damage; she could hardly see out of one eye and the rest of her face was heavily bruised, as was her neck and upper chest area. I shuddered to think what her clothes hid.
Kick knelt in front of her, his face a mask of anger. “Fuck, Jen . . .” His voice trailed off as he took in her bruises.
She winced as she tried to speak. “I’m here now, yeah?”
He nodded and swore under his breath again. “We’re getting you out of Sydney today, and I don’t want to ever see you back here again.”
She agreed, and Kick stood. He walked out of the room, and after Brian spoke to the woman for a couple of minutes, he followed Kick out.
“You’ve told King she’s here?” Kick asked as he pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Brian.
“Yeah, he’s going to swing by a little later today to see her before she leaves,” Brian answered, opening the envelope and flicking through the wads of cash inside.
I was stunned. There had to be thousands in that envelope.
Kick frowned. “It’s all there, as promised,” he muttered.
Brian shoved the envelope in his pocket. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“I’ll let you know when I have more,” Kick promised, and then grabbed my hand and led me out of the house.
I was glad to walk outside. Not only was that house rundown, it felt depressing inside, with old furniture and little decoration. Kick seemed on a mission to get back to his bike, but I tugged on his hand to slow him down. When he looked back at me with a questioning glance, I asked, “What was that about?”
He stopped walking and turned to face me. Jerking his chin towards the house, he said, “That’s a safe house for battered women, and we help them escape their motherfucker husbands and boyfriends and get them out of Sydney.”
“Who’s ‘we’?”
“King, Brian and me.”
“And where did you get all that money from?” I asked the question I figured he might not answer, but there was no harm in trying.
He sucked in a breath and avoided my eyes for a moment, but he surprised me when he looked back at me and said, “I got it off a druggie scum-of-the-earth asshole, and trust me babe, you don’t want to know what happened to him, but let’s just say the earth breathed a little easier that day.” He finished talking and then waited for my reply, his eyes wary. He had no need to worry, though, because I had no problems with the earth breathing a little easier.
I gave him a smile that I hoped told him how I felt. “So you were just redistributing the wealth, so to speak?”
