Twisted Complications by Nikita Parmenter

Chapter Nineteen

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“What happened, Sunshine?” Riot asks quietly.

“I meant to tell you, but I’ve been distracted and so much has happened that I keep forgetting.” I take a breath, “Pretty rich boys can trigger me if they do certain things. That fucker knew exactly what to do to trigger me.”

“I don’t know what you classify as pretty Sugar, but that fucker definitely wasn’t, he had scars all over his face.” Peter announces.

Jensen’s eyes fill with darkness, where he was bouncing before anger evident in his movements he suddenly goes still as he makes the connection.

“Hang the fuck on, is he the one you told us about before? The one that gave you the PTSD in the first place?” He growls his voice scarily calm, a complete contrast to the utter rage boiling within the darkness of his eyes.

The guys who were watching him warily, now switch their attention to me their jaws clenched tightly as their eyes flash.

I nod once.

Jensen’s darkness completely consumes him as his face blanks completely, I have never been scared of Jensen. But looking at him now, completely still and expressionless I can see why he strikes terror into the people he goes after. Of course, I find it hot as fuck.

“Don’t leave her. Cash and Rage with me.” Jensen orders, in a way unlike him.

My eyes move to Cash, and I’m shocked by his expression. He always keeps to the lighter side of everything, but eyes are cold, and his grin is biting. I’m finally starting to see how deep the darkness in my guys runs and I fucking love it.

“I’m not letting him get away with hurting her.” Atlas starts to protest, Jensen interrupts him with a look and it’s like Atty’s seen him like this before and knows better than to argue.

“Protect Ever, I want this to last.” Jensen growls menacingly, his jaw clenching.

It shocks the shit out of me and Peter, judging from his dropped jaw when he nods once, backing down as he sits next to me and threads his fingers through mine tightly.

Cash, Rage, and Jensen all disappear through the crowd. Giving off such an acute aura of danger that the crowd automatically moves away from them. Watching them warily.

“Wow.” Peter breathes next to me.

“Right.” I agree and we share a smirk.

“Are you okay now?” Luc asks calmly, as if the others going to hunt down not so pretty anymore, is no big deal.

And maybe it’s not, I know that they’ll always protect me, and they’ve said several times that some of my abusers in the past are lucky I’ve dealt with them or in my fathers’ case, that he’s dead. I did deal with not so pretty anymore, those scars covering his face are from me. I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I nearly did. He clearly has a grudge against me, I mean I did slice his face up but that was fully deserving. I am completely useless against him thanks to my panic attacks and it’s nice to have people willing to deal with it for me. I have never had that before.

“I’m better now.” I say, my smile still a bit wobbly, but surrounded by the guys, I feel infinitely safer.

“We’ll get out of here as soon as the guys are back, Peter you’re welcome at mine any time. You helped find her and stayed with her whilst Trick and Rage beat the shit out of the guy.” Atlas says, his voice still has an edge to it, he’s clearly trying to control himself right now.

I reach my hand out for him and he weaves his fingers through mine again holding tightly. He brings my hand up to his lips and gently kisses the back of it.

“I, wow. Thanks, I might take you up on that, even though you all scare the shit out of me.” He smiles wearily, “I have to admit that it’s nice to hang out with people that aren’t judging.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, happy for the distraction.

“Well, you guys don’t give a shit that I’m gay, dress uniquely. You’re not waiting for me to fail or not making the connection I need just because I’m gay. I don’t have to tone me down.”

“That really sucks,” I say sympathetically, the guys nodding their agreement. “I can promise you can always be your authentic self around us.”

“We just ask that you keep things private.” Luc adds.

“That, I am more than happy to do.” He grins easily agreeing before his smile fades. “I’m sorry I left you.”

“Don’t worry about it. If he was any other guy, he would be missing at least a couple of fingers by now.” I grin viciously.

“Sugar, I think you might’ve just become my new best friend. Gotta love someone who’s ruthless.” He replies not missing a beat.

“Deal.” I grin, feeling a thousand times better.

“Are you really, Charles Carmicheal’s son?” He asks Luc.

“Yeah, why?”

“My father is about to sign a deal with him.” He replies, his eyes troubled.

“I wouldn’t let him do that if I were you.” Luc warns him, his eyes turning cold as he thinks of his father.

“Why not?”

“Just trust me, I’ll explain at some point but just don’t let your father invest with mine.”

“Okay, I’ll call him in the morning. He tends to listen to me, because contrary to popular belief from the fuckwits at our school I’m actually good at business. Really fucking good actually. I’ll tell him I found some discrepancies in his numbers or some shit.”

“I’m impressed.” I praise, making him beam. “All of this shit is confusing the crap out of me. Cash gets most of it.”

“I can help if you want?”

“Yes please, or this school is going to fucking drown me.” I grimace.

“No problem . . .” He starts before trailing off. “What the hell?”

Streams of kids are suddenly hurrying their way over to the tree line where a crowd has formed. Jensen, Cash and Rage appear at the table, splattered in blood and almost feral glee radiating off of all three of them.

“Fucking hell.” Peter exclaims as he takes them in.

“Looks like you guys caught up to the fucker.” Trick grins, his smile dark.

“Do you want to go and see what they’ve done?” Riot asks me.

“Fuck yes.” I say firmly standing up.

“It’s not going to be pretty, Dragonfly. He hurt you, Jensen is a vindictive fucker and Cash is downright fucking terrifying when he wants to be.” Rafe warns me and the boys in question both nod.

They’re done hiding their darkness from me and I’m so fucking glad.

“Rage can stand toe to toe with the both of us.” Jensen adds, still smiling.

My eyes move to Rage as I grin and his widen in shock.

“She think’s its hot we’re violent and in a protective mood.” Jensen stage whispers and I shrug  as Rage’s eyes widen, I’m not denying it.

Peter’s eyes widen as he watches the exchange, but he doesn’t back away, which I wouldn’t blame him for.

“Good. I wouldn’t expect anything less.” I reply, I mean it too. God knows who else he tried that with and actually got away with it. He deserves what he gets.

We move through the silent crowd easily, the guys surrounding me until we get to the front. Jensen stands one side, Cash the other and Rage takes up position behind me. Not so pretty is tied spread eagle and butt naked to a tree.

He’s completely covered in mottled bruises already forming, blood dripping down his face from various cuts as well as slices down his chest and legs. One of his wrists is bent at the wrong angle and several fingers too. Stapled all over him are what look like confessions. The sheer number of them makes bile rise in my throat, there has to be at least a dozen, a dozen women he’s forced himself on.

The crowd starts to get nervous, it’s clear that whoever did this is brutal as fuck. Before full crowd panic can ensue, not so pretty starts to stir, groaning in pain. He suddenly snaps his head up, scanning the crowd with his one good eye and looking panicked. It doesn’t look like he’s panicking because of the crowd of kids seeing him butt naked, with confessions all over him but like he’s searching for something.

His eyes lock onto whatever he’s searching for, he pales, his eyes becoming so wide with fear that he looks like he’s going to pass out as his breaths start coming out in short gasps. I turn, following his gaze and expecting it to land on Jensen but no, his terror filled gaze is firmly locked on Cash. The crowd all takes a step away from us. Cash’s grin is full of violence, showing far too many teeth and making him look manic. The effect is disconcerting, even on me, but the effect it has on not so pretty is truly telling as he lets out a gurgled scream and passes out.

“No one is to touch him until morning.” Atlas orders. “Anyone caught helping him before then, will get the same treatment.”

“We have ways of making you confess.” Cash adds, still grinning too wide.

The kids all nod rapidly each one of them watching us terrified. The crowd quickly disperses, all making their way to their cars and getting the fuck out of here. I grin as I wrap my arm around Cash’s waist, making our way back to our own cars. It’s only a couple of hours until dawn, so he’s not going to die and from what I can tell, none of his wounds were serious enough to need medical attention right away.

“I am so fucking glad you guys seem to like me.” Peter mutters, looking a wary.

“Don’t worry dude, you have to do something to deserve that treatment.” Riot reassures him.

“Thanks, I think.” He chuckles. He looks around at the last few cars left in the lot and sighs. “I don’t suppose you guys would mind taking me home? It appears my date has abandoned me in the panic.”

“Not worth your time if he runs at the first sign of trouble.” I point out as we walk to the cars.

“Ain’t that the truth. He’s got a big dick though, so I’ll keep him around for fun for now.” He grins and I burst out laughing.

“We can take you back.” Rage chuckles.

“Thanks man, I appreciate it.”

The guy’s head off to Rage’s car.

“Rage wait! Thank you.” I say softly, my gaze switching between, Cash, Jensen, and Rage.

“Anytime Angel, you know that.” Jensen replies, kissing my softly.

Rage just gives me a nod and walks towards his car as Cash drops a kiss onto the top of my head.

We get into separate cars again and I’m more than ready to get home and wash this whole night off of me. There’re only a few hours until we have to wake up for school and I’m already dreading it.

“Do we need to worry about any of those kids telling someone what happened tonight?” I ask, as we drive back home. “Also, can we stop off and get burgers on the way home, I’m starving.”

“They wouldn’t dare. They all know who me and Rage are. They know what we’re capable of and now they know what the rest of them are capable of too.” Atlas reassures me. “I’ll send one of my guys to cut him down in the morning and send him on his way. I doubt any of his so-called friends will be coming back for him.”

“Good idea.” I reply, my worry eased.

“I’m starving too.” Jensen starts to whine, “Call the guys and tell them that we’re stopping off to pick up food, we can take it back to the house.”

“Why can’t you call them?” Trick asks.

“Oh, I didn’t think of that.” He answers, pulling out his phone and dialling the guys and putting it on speaker.

“We’re stopping at the drive thru burger place on the way home.” Jensen tells them excitedly.

“Oh, thank fuck, I literally thought I was going to die of starvation.” Peter says dramatically and Jensen grins.

“I know dude, me too.” He says sympathetically, as the rest of us laugh.

I probably order enough food at the drive thru for at least two people, but I’m fucking starving, so I have no regrets. The guys get just as much as I do anyway. When we pull in our drive, Rage’s car zips past. Presumably to take Peter home, we’re only going to get a couple of hours sleep at this rate anyway.

“Let’s eat in the living room and watch a couple of episodes of big bang.” I suggest.

“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Jensen grins, slinging his arm over my shoulder and pulling me in close as we walk into the house.

Rage and the guys aren’t far behind us.

“Hey, did your guy get you the names of the women?” Jensen asks, stuffing a handful of fries in his mouth.

“Yeah, I’ll send the list to your phone.” Atty replies.

“Thanks man, I’ll work on it tomorrow after school. Hopefully, I can set it up fairly quickly.” He turns to Luc. “We can work on a plan for your father as well tomorrow if you’d like?”

“Yeah, thanks man.” Luc replies running a hand through his hair, “I just wish I knew more. They must’ve kicked her out when she was nine. Where did she go? Did she go into care or what?”

“I know, Luci.” I reply. “We aren’t going to have the answers to those questions until its safe enough for us to go and see them though. So, for now, maybe just focus on making your father pay and stopping him from hurting other people. You said he was dealing in some dodgy shit?”

“Yeah he is.” Luc says, determination filling his eyes.

“Well, it seems to me like this is the sort of thing we do now. We protect those that can’t protect themselves. We’ll set this up as another job.” Trick says firmly.

“Thanks guys I appreciate it.” Luc says.

We finish our food pretty quickly and while the guys clear up and get ready for bed, I make my way upstairs to shower. The hot spray loosens the last of my clenched muscles and I think back over everything. I’m not really sure how we’re going to progress with the Phoenix stuff. We’ve kind of hit a dead end. I’m hoping that Atlas’s contact can find something else out. I feel like we’ve gotten further than anyone else has before and that’s in thanks to the guy in the mask and the clues he’s left. It would be nice if he gave us another one. As for what happened tonight, when I think about not so pretty, I realise that it doesn’t come with the same freezing fear that it used too. Thanks to the guys, I know that he truly is no longer a threat to me. I would probably still freeze if he came anywhere near me, but I don’t think it would be as bad and I’d be able to strike out at least, which is reassuring.

The other good thing that came out of this evening is Peter, I said at the very start that he needed proper friends and I’m glad that I can be that for him. Plus, between him and Cash, I at least have a slim chance of passing my lessons this year.

I get out of the shower drying quickly and pulling on some underwear and a tank. Grabbing my discarded cell off the bathroom counter. When I make my way back into my room it’s to see Jensen and Cash both passed out on their stomachs a gap left between them for me. I grin, happiness almost overwhelming me. I really do love these men. I put my phone on charge next to Cash’s and slowly crawl up the bed and settle myself between them. They immediately move towards me in their sleep, wrapping themselves around me.

I had thought that I might have nightmares tonight thanks to my encounter with not so pretty, but with them holding me close, my eyes drift closed, and I fall into a peaceful sleep.

*******

What the hell is that noise? And why isn’t anyone doing anything to shut it the fuck up! It takes me a moment to realise that it’s a cell phone ringing and I frown, deciding to ignore it. When it just carries on ringing and I’ve lost all hope of actually getting back to sleep I sit up and reach over to Cash’s side. I am so going to give him shit for his phone freaking waking me up.

Except it’s not Cash’s phone that’s ringing. It’s mine, which is weird in itself because no one but the guys have my number and as far as I’m aware they’re all here. I snatch my phone up when it occurs to me that something may be wrong with one them.

The caller ID is a number that I don’t recognise though, so I nudge Cash and Jensen.

“I don’t wanna get up.” Jensen grumbles stiltedly.

“What he said.” Cash adds.

“Someone’s ringing my cell and I don’t know who it is.” I say.

They both groan as they push themselves up to sitting positions and lean against the headboard.

“Answer it and put it on speaker.” Cash says sleepily rubbing his hands over his face in a bid to wake himself up more.

“It’s probably just Peter.” Jensen adds.

I do as they ask and answer the call.