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Chapter One
ASHER
I couldn’t stop the smile from pulling at my lips, no matter how hard I tried. We’d had an amazing day, and even though I knew everyone would like Elodie, I’d never have thought she’d fit in the way she did. She was an outsider coming in, but not once had any of my family treated her as that. They accepted her, just like I’d hoped they would.
But now I was driving away to help Jax deal with Al, when all I wanted was to wrap my arms around her and stare into her gorgeous navy-blue eyes. I wanted to get lost in them—lost in her. My leg bounced up and down the closer I got to the clubhouse. Jax wouldn’t have called me unless it was dire, but I wouldn’t be here long. I needed to get back to Elodie and exist in the bubble we’d created.
The guard waved me through the open gates, and I pulled through and halted in front of the main doors to the clubhouse. But as I was about to turn my engine off, my cell vibrated on a constant rhythm along with a tone I’d never heard before. What the fuck? I yanked it out of the front pocket of my jeans and unlocked the screen, then clicked on the alert symbol.
“What the…” I stared at the words and read them over and over again, frowning as I tried to make sense of it. Someone had tripped the security system in the shop. Elodie knew not to go down into the main section when no one was there, and if she did, she had the security code and knew where the box to input it was concealed. So why was I getting this alert?
I clicked on the footage button on my screen to view a live feed of the shop, but it took a second to load. I flicked my gaze up and spotted Jax standing in the doorway with a frown on his face, and I was sure my expression mirrored his. My cell pinged again, and I glanced back down at it now that the camera angles had finally loaded. I started with the camera on the back door but there was nothing there. The one above the side door showed that door was open, so Elodie must have gone down into the store.
I held my finger up at Jax, telling him I’d be one minute. I just needed to check the other two camera angles from inside the shop and the front door, then I could click the “false alarm” button so that the police didn’t automatically come out. The entire security system had cost a huge amount of money, but the Marine in me wanted everything to be as safe as it could be. I had the same system in my house too.
The first camera in the main part of the store was clear, as was the second one. I was just reaching for my keys to switch the ignition off when the camera on the front door filled my cell screen. My heart hammered in my chest, and I jerked my cell closer to my face, sure I wasn’t seeing what I was. But no, it was there, the front door wide open.
Elodie wouldn’t open that door. She wouldn’t.
I jabbed at my screen and clicked on Elodie’s name to call her, but after several attempts and no answer, I glanced back up at Jax, shook my head, then threw my cell onto the passenger seat. My stomach bottomed out, my gut telling me this wasn’t a false alarm. Someone had broken into my shop and—fuck, the side door was open, so that meant they’d gone up to the apartment—up to Elodie.
My wheels spun as I sped out of the gate and back toward my shop. The entire ride was a blur of streetlights and taking corners way too fast, but I had to get there as quickly as I possibly could. I had to figure out what was going on. I had to make sure Elodie was safe.
I slammed my foot on the brake pedal as I pulled up in front of my shop, causing the tires to squeal and burning rubber to assault my nostrils. I didn’t care one bit about being parked at an angle as I flung the door open, then darted to the front door of my store. The lock had been drilled and the glass had a crack in it from where someone had tried to smash it. Jesus. What the fuck was going on?
My pulse spiked as I rushed through the store and to the side door, and as soon as I got to the bottom of the stairs, I heard grunting. Deep grunting. Male grunting. My head spun, my vision tunneled, and I sprinted up the stairs to the half-open apartment door. And…
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
My gaze bounced across the room, and it felt like it took hours to really soak in what was right in front of me, but in reality, it only took a second.
Elodie’s blank face.
Her body on the floor.
Her fight gone as the man on top of her took what he wanted.
I swayed to the right as my gaze connected with the jeans pulled down to her knees. I wanted to erase it from my mind that instant. I wanted to turn back time and never leave her here on her own. I needed to stop it.
I had to stop it.
A roar so loud and guttural vibrated from my chest. I lunged for him. My body flew in the air as my arms wrapped around his shoulders and I yanked him back, twisting at the same time so he wouldn’t be touching her any longer.
He was off her now.
He was—fuck. It was her ex-boyfriend.
“You’re gonna die, fucker,” I warned, and I meant it. He’d come here and taken what wasn’t his. He’d ripped her choices away, just like he had when he’d laid his hands on her the first time. And now I regretted not teaching him a lesson the first time I’d witnessed him hurting her. I should have never let him go that day. I should have taught him what happened to guys who t
hought they could treat anyone the way he had. But I hadn’t. I’d been too consumed making sure Elodie was okay. I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. I wouldn’t let him live another second without knowing what would happen when you took what wasn’t fuckin’ yours to take.
His laugh echoed around the apartment, so dark and sinister that it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “She feels even better when she doesn’t want it.” His tongue swiped over his lips as they lifted into a smirk. “She had a sweet-ass pussy before but now—”
I pummeled my fist into his face and rained punch after punch, wanting—needing him to shut the fuck up. Over and over again, I slammed my knuckles into his flesh, promising him he’d never be able to show another person that smirk again. He’d always been on the other end, but now I was going to show him what it meant to meet your match. And I was more than his match. I’d trained professionally to do maximum damage, and I wouldn’t be holding back, not with him, not after what he’d done.
Blood covered my hands. His laughter turned into screams and grunts of pain, but still I didn’t stop. He’d never know the pain he’d caused, but I’d make sure he came damn close. His skin was slippery, several cuts on his eyes and cheeks spurting blood, but the red rage had taken me over, and I couldn’t stop. My brain was working on automatic, and the more noises he made, the harder I hit. My knuckles ripped open, but still I didn’t stop. I’d never stop.
The only sound in the room was flesh hitting flesh, not one peep from Elodie, and in the back of my mind I knew I should have checked on her, but I was in a daze. My anger was fueling every part of my body, and it didn’t matter that my arms ached from each punch I threw down on him. It didn’t matter how much pain my knuckles were in, because it would never amount to the agony he’d caused. The torment he’d wanted to inflict.
“Stop,” he gurgled, and more blood dribbled out of his mouth. But I didn’t. He hadn’t stopped. He hadn’t fuckin’ stopped when he’d laid his hands on her. He hadn’t fuckin’ stopped when he raped Elodie
“You fuckin’ didn’t!” I roared, slamming another punch down onto his face and catching his temple. His eyes rolled back in his head, a signal I should pause the punishment I was dealing out, but I didn’t. I kept going, wanting to make sure he knew exactly what happened when he touched Elodie. Exactly what happened when you crossed an Easton. Exactly what happened when you fucked with a Marine.
His body was limp, completely spent, but I continued on, causing the maximum amount of damage I could until arms wrapped around me from behind, but I yanked out of their grip. I was zoned in, intent on not pausing until he couldn’t take another breath. Shouts rang out, arms grappled at me again, then another set, and finally they managed to stop my momentum, but that didn’t mean I would give up. I’d never give up when it came to protecting Elodie.
“Get the fuck off of me!” I shouted, pulling at them, but they were yanking so hard that I fell backward onto one of them. The red mist wasn’t lifting anytime soon, so I kept fighting. I jerked my right arm, gritting my teeth, but whoever had ahold of it was determined to not let go.
“Stop!” a male voice shouted, a voice I’d never heard before. I blinked, then blinked again, slowly coming around. My breaths were hard and heavy, sweat dripping down my brow. I tried to focus my gaze on any one thing, but I was too frantic, too caught up on the image from when I’d walked in. I stared down at my shaky hands, concentrating on the blood dripping over my knuckles, and I knew right then it wasn’t only his blood, but mine too. My ears whooshed as everything slowed down and the telltale sign of police radios became clearer and clearer. How the hell did they get here so fast—
“You’re under arrest,” another voice said, and my heaving breaths became heavier. But still I didn’t look away from the body I’d decimated. His face was swollen and covered in blood, yet I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to continue my punishment, but the arms holding me weren’t letting up.
More people ran into the apartment as I was flipped over onto my front. A knee jammed into the center of my back to keep me in place, and any other time I would have winced in pain, but I was so consumed by everything that had just happened, I didn’t feel a thing. Cool metal cuffs clicked around my wrists, biting into my skin. There were at least eight people in here now, and two of them were paramedics. Paramedics who were tending to the fucker who came into my goddamn property and raped my—
“He doesn’t deserve fuckin’ treatment,” I ground out.
