SCANNING THE BAR FOR TEAGAN, I saw red when I spotted her arguing with Liam. Fuck, even thinking his name made me want to break something. I would break something – his fucking jaw.

“Calm down,” Lucky ordered, blocking my way. “Noah, I mean it,” he added, pushing me back down on the seat when I stood up and tried to move around him. “You’re losing it and you need to get a fucking grip, man.”

I couldn’t focus on a word Lucky was saying to me, not when every fiber inside of my body demanded I go back there and pummel that bastard, firstly for touching her and then for bell ragging about it.

“Noah, you’re drunk,” Lucky told me. “And he’s a walking ticket back to prison.” Crouching down in front of me, he forced me to look at him. “Do you want that to happen?” he added. “Do you want to get slung back in a cell and leave her unprotected?”

“No,” I grumbled, feeling the fight fade out of me. “Shit, man, he knows she’s here,” I repeated for what had to be the fifth time in five minutes as I pulled at my hair and thrashed around like a deranged lunatic. “He sent her that goddamn rose, Lucky.” I knew what it meant. One single red rose in a box. That note. “He’s been following me, man,” I snarled. “Every fucking move I’ve made. Waiting for his chance. And coming here?” I shook my hand and hissed. “I sealed her fucking fate coming here.” Exhaling a pained groan, I added, “He knows where she lives, man. She’s not safe here.”

“I know,” he agreed. “So just shut the fuck up and let me figure this out.” Moving over to sit beside me, he kept one hand firmly clamped down on my shoulder as he spoke. “We are going to walk out of here without causing a scene or getting arrested,” he instructed calmly. “You are going to get your girl and take her back to the hotel with you. And in the morning, when you’ve slept off what will undoubtedly be the hangover from hell, you’re going to convince her to come back to the states with us while I make arrangements.”

“What arrangements?” I asked, as I searched the crowd for Thorn.

“It’s like you said,” Lucky growled. “JD knows where she lives so she can’t go back to her apartment. Now that he knows where she –”

“She’s gone,” I hissed. Stumbling to my feet, I scanned the room again. “She’s not fucking here, Lucky.”

“Okay,” he said with a sigh. “Now we can panic.”

 

 

“THANK YOU, JESUS,” I muttered when the sharp night air hit my face, cooling me down, and stomping out the claustrophobic feeling that had been building up inside of me.

Footsteps behind me startled me. I swung around and groaned loudly when I saw who was there.

“Oh for the love of god,” I muttered. “Go away, Ciarán.”

“Look at the Ice Queen,” he purred, prowling towards me. “All alone.”

Turning my back on him, I headed for the main street and as far away from Ciarán as I could. He was bad news, and I knew enough to not be in dark alleys with bad men.

“Don’t walk away from me, you little bitch,” he snarled as he grabbed the back of my dress and tried to pull me backwards, further into alley way.

I felt the fabric tear, the strap holding my dress giving away in his hand and he fisted my hair, pulling me roughly to a halt.

“You and I have some unfinished business.”

“Get your hands off me,” I screeched, reaching up to claw his hands out of my hair. “I mean it,” I growled, digging my fingernails into the flesh of his hands.

“Did you think I wouldn’t get you back for that little stunt at the gym?” he hissed, releasing my hair roughly before shoving me forward. Staggering forward, I couldn’t maintain my balance and landed hard on my knees. “The look suits you, Teagan,” he taunted as he towered over me. “On your knees at my feet.”

“You’re going to pay for that,” I warned him as I scrambled onto my feet and charged forward. Screw not causing a scene. No man was going to put his hands on me. Over my dead fucking body. Fury drove me on as I threw my hand back and slapped him in the face.

Ciarán’s head twisted sideways and he covered his cheek with his hand, momentarily stunned, but then he raised his arm back and punched me in the face. He hit me so hard and with such force that I was propelled backwards. My back hit the wall of the bar with a hard thud before I collapsed on the ground in a heap.

“Here’s a friendly warning,” Ciarán snarled as he stood over me, taunting me. “Don’t give it if you can’t take it.”

My back was aching. Every muscle in the upper half of my body was burning in protest. Every fiber inside of me was screaming don’t get up. Stay down. Let it go. But that fire inside of me, the one that had protected me my entire life, was burning a hole through me. That fire was niggling and tormenting me and ordering me to get back up. That fire was saying don’t you dare go down like this.

“You think you’re a big, tough man, don’t you?” I cried as I forced myself to get back up. “Hitting women?” Climbing unsteadily to my feet, I hacked up as much salvia as I could and spat in his face. “You’re a piece of crap, Ciarán.”

Clamping his hands on my shoulders, he slammed me against the wall. “You’re going to pay for that,” he hissed, eyes flaring with anger. “You’re gonna get it now, bitch.”

“Teagan!” I heard Noah’s voice calling out and relief flooded me. “Teagan!”

“Noah,” I screamed as I tried to make a break for it, but Ciarán grabbed my arm and dragged me back. “Noah, help me!”

 

 

BARRELING THROUGH THE CROWD, I shoved everyone out of my way as I took the staircase three steps at a time. “Teagan!” I roared, as I pushed my way through the bar, searching every face for hers and coming up empty. Fear was choking me, propelling me forward, commanding that I find her as I burst out of the front entrance of the bar roaring her name at the top of my lungs. “Teagan!”

“Noah!” I heard her scream out and I ran full speed in the direction of her voice. “Noah, help me!”

The minute I turned the corner of the back alley my blood ran cold.

One of the prick’s from earlier had Teagan shoved up against the wall, with his fists curled around her arms.

He had his hands on her arms.

His hands were on my Thorn.

“Noah!” Teagan cried out in relief as she scrambled away from the prick who was manhandling her.

Her dress was ripped.

That was all I could see.

Her ripped dress and her bloodstained knees.

Moving purely on instinct, I lunged forward, spearing the son of a bitch in the stomach. Taking him to the ground, I pummeled his face with my fists. Fuck the MFA. Fuck everything. I didn’t work as hard as I did for as long as I had to watch this piece of shit put his hands on my Thorn.

“Noah,” Teagan cried out, pulling on my shoulder. “Please stop,” she begged. “I’m okay, baby. I’m fine –”

“You’re not okay,” I roared. “He put his hands on you. He put his hands on what’s mine!”

“I didn’t touch her,” he spluttered, covering his face with his hands in his pathetic attempt at protecting himself from my fists. “Not the way you’re thinking... Teagan, tell him.”

“Don’t speak to her,” I roared, trembling with rage. “Don’t fucking look in her direction, you pathetic sack of shit.” Shoving off him, I dragged him to his feet.

“Hit me,” I ordered as pure fucking elicited rage rushed through my body. “Come on you piece of shit. You wanna hit someone, then hit me.”

The sound of police sirens filled the air, but I didn’t stop. I fucking couldn’t. I was going to kill him and I was going to enjoy every damn moment.

 

 

THE MOMENT NOAH STEPPED into my vision I felt my body sag in relief.

He looked like an avenging angel, dressed in black, dark, dangerous and poised to inflict pain.

I watched as his eyes drifted from my torn dress to Ciarán’s hand on my arm.

His eyes clouded over with pure unadulterated rage.

His expression turned murderous.

And then he attacked.

Noah moved so quickly I barely had a chance to jump of the way when he charged Ciarán, knocking him to the ground. Straddling him, Noah let loose, unleashing his fury, as he pummeled him.

“Noah,” I choked out, pulling on his shoulder, trying to stop him from doing something he couldn’t come back from. “It’s okay,” I coaxed, trying and failing to pull him off Ciarán. “I’m okay –”

“You’re not okay,” Noah seethed. “He put his hands on you. He put his hands on what’s mine!”

“I didn’t touch her,” Ciarán spluttered, covering his face with his hands, protecting himself from Noah. “Not the way you’re thinking... Teagan, tell him.”

“Don’t speak to her,” Noah roared. “Don’t fucking look in her direction, you pathetic sack of shit.”

The sound of police sirens filled the air, but Noah didn’t stop. I didn’t think he could stop.

Climbing off him, Noah stood up and dragged Ciarán to his feet. “Hit me,” he ordered, holding his hands up in the air. “Come on, you piece of shit. You wanna hit someone, then hit me.”

“Get the hell away from him!” Liam’s familiar voice trickled through my ears seconds before he barged past me with Eoin hot on his heels. I watched in horror as Eoin grabbed Noah from behind and held him up as Liam and Ciarán attacked him.

“Get off him, you bastards,” I screamed as I rushed over to where they were triple teaming Noah and pulled at the back of Eoin’s shirt, grunting in pain when his elbow connected with my stomach.

Noah broke out of Eoin’s hold but not before Liam’s fist connected with his jaw. Spitting a mouthful of blood, he smiled, his white teeth stained red. “Savor that,” he told him before lunging forward and head butting him. Noah’s forehead connected with Liam’s nose and when his blood sprayed I felt a little lightheaded.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see a crowd forming in the alley and panic clawed through me. “Noah, we need to go,” I called out shakily. “We need to go now.”

He couldn’t fight outside the cage.

It was against the rules and we were causing a scene.

He could lose everything he worked for because of this.

Because of me.

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I tried to force him away but it was like trying to move a mountain. “Please Noah,” I begged. “They’re not worth the shit on your shoes.”

“She wasn’t saying that when I had my cock buried inside her,” Liam called out.

Noah snarled and charged forward, taking me with him because there was no way I was letting him go.

When I noticed Lucky rushing down the alley towards us, I almost wept with relief.

“What the hell happened to the plan?” Lucky hissed as he wrapped his arm around Noah and helped me drag him backwards in the direction of the street.

“I changed it,” Noah growled, chest heaving, as he pushed against us, eyes locked on Liam and the guys.

“I gathered that,” he replied dryly. When we reached the street, Lucky steered us over to a waiting taxi before shoving Noah into the back seat.

Turning around, Lucky looked me straight in the eye and said, “get in there and do whatever you need to do to calm him down. The driver’s taking both of you back to the hotel. Do not leave him on his own tonight.” Looking back towards the alley and the crowd that was watching us, he sighed heavily. “I’ll go do some damage control.”

I didn’t wait to ask questions. Instead I nodded and scrambled into the backseat.

Wrapping my arms around Noah’s neck, I straddled him, clinging onto him for dear life as the driver pulled away.

Noah didn’t say a word to me the entire drive to the hotel. He didn’t touch me either. He just sat in the backseat with me on his lap and stared out the window as his chest rose and fell quickly.

And I got the instinct impression that trouble was brewing.