Chapter 16

16

Perrie

I give the elderly man a small smile as I carefully place his eggs on toast in front of him. Then, I turn to grab the next batch of food in the window, bypassing Coby sitting at the middle of the counter, his eyes following me.

I swallow hard, trying to hide the shiver that runs through me. The note on my car window is still haunting me.

My dearest Perrie,

You get prettier every day, and I count my lucky stars that I get to have you.

And I will have you!

I see you hanging around with that club, and I’m telling you now that it has to stop.

You are mine, and if I have to, I’ll kill that fucker.

Stay away from him, beautiful….

Yours always.

X

I haven’t been able to get it out of my head, and even though I can fight, it scared me. I’ve been subdued before, despite my abilities, and there are only three people that I know who could have done it.

One is currently in this diner—he is always in this diner when I’m working.

After I broke off our arrangement, I hadn’t heard from Coby until about five months ago, when he started showing up each time I was on shift. Quite honestly, he’s dangerously shifting into stalker mode.

I was polite the first few times he came in, believing he just wanted breakfast or dinner, but then I understood his true nature when he gripped my arm, wanting a minute of my time on his fourth visit.

He was hoping I’d changed my mind about being in a relationship, but I hadn’t, and I told him so, but now he won’t leave me alone.

The other two are the Aldo brothers, my rapists.

If Acid hadn’t been threatened, I would have tried to sort this crap on my own, but he was, so I went to Nat before she was discharged from the hospital, and asked for her help. Piston managed to find the person who put the note on my car three days ago, but they were just a hooker believing they were doing a good deed.

“A whole month. That’s a long vacation,” Coby says when I walk past him, and I internally groan.

Why can’t the man just give up?

Clearing my throat, I say, “Yep, I think I deserved it.”

He opens his mouth to speak, but instead, his head shoots to the door as, “Perrie, office now!” is snapped loudly. I turn to see Acid storming into the diner, anger etching off him. Ah crap. I sigh, knowing he knows.

Fricking Piston!

I give Coby a tight smile before reluctantly following Acid, giving Savanah, the new waitress, the coffee pot. She gives me a sympathetic smile, and I sigh again. I head down the hallway and into his office before the door is slammed behind me, making me jump.

I turn and look at Acid wide eyed, but he ignores my reaction and gets in my face, and I raise a brow, not even a little intimidated, until he demands, “Why in the fuck did you tell Piston and not me about that fucking note, huh? Why did I have to find out in church yesterday!”

I roll my eyes and spit back, “Because I didn’t want you involved! It has nothing to do with you!”

His nostrils flare, and he opens his mouth, most likely to tear me a new one, but instead, he growls when his phone rings.

Giving me a pointed look to keep standing there, he grabs his phone while I cross my arms over my chest.

Acid frowns as he looks at his phone and answers, “Bill?” I hear a faint man’s voice before Acid's face hardens, and he demands, “What do you mean you can’t get a hold of Aurora? I was with her not long ago; Piston was going to go help her with her math!”

My mouth parts in shock, and I rasp, “Aurora’s missing?”

Acid looks at me as tears burn my eyes, and he cups my cheek.

“I’ll go find her. I’ll call you back, Bill,” he says before hanging up.

A few tears fall, and he wipes them away with his thumb and promises, “I’ll find her, Tinker, but know this, our conversation is not fucking over, and as for it having nothing to do with me?” His eyes peer into mine. “It has everything to do with me because you are mine , Perrie, you always have been.”

I swallow hard, trying to dislodge the lump that’s formed in my throat as he kisses my head, then turns and leaves, all while my head is all over the place with worry.

It was only yesterday she was telling me Acid loved me, and to claim him. She was so happy when I told her I would, just so I didn’t hurt her feelings.

God, I hope Aurora is alright….

The next day, I’m working—at least I’m trying to.

“Any news?” Savannah asks, and I look at her and smile sadly before shaking my head.

She sighs and heads to the back table, her dark blonde hair swishing.

I called Aurora all night, and it rang each time until five this morning, when it said the phone was switched off.

Ignoring the eyes on me yet again, I head to the coffee pot, needing a cup myself. The diner door opens, I see Acid and Piston walking in, both looking as tired as I feel.

When they get near the counter, I rush over to them expectantly. Ignoring Acid, I ask Piston, “Any news?”

He shakes his head, and my eyes tear up. Acid takes a step toward me, but I turn and head back to the coffee pot.

Where is she? Has she been taken or gotten lost?

Trying to swallow my emotions, I ignore Coby’s eyes and grab two cups, filling them, knowing I can’t hand the brothers off to someone else because they sat in my section. Taking a deep breath, I pick the cups up and walk to the brothers, just hearing Piston say, “He has that look…” as I place their cups down.

Piston smiles and says, “Thank you, sweetheart.”

I give him a small smile and go to leave, but Acid grabs my hand, and I tense at the sparks hitting my skin.

“Can we talk, Tinker?” he asks, and I scoff, glaring at him as I pull my hand back. I snap, “No, why don’t you go talk to your baby momma instead?”

He flinches, and I sneer at him before storming off to the counter. Screw him, the jackass….

“What was that, Pezza?” Coby asks when I walk past him. I glower at him, but his eyes are on Acid, his hands fisted.

The man has just put himself at the top of my list of suspects.

Ignoring his question, I grab the coffee pot and do refills around the diner, and just as I make it to the back table, the door to the diner opens again, the bell chiming, but Cooper’s excited, “Piston!” drowns it out. I smile as I watch Natalie’s little brother run over to his brother-in-law.

Nat didn’t have a relationship with Cooper growing up; her stepmother refused, and her father, the bastard that he is, went along with it. They never wanted her, and neither did her birth momma, leaving her on her father’s doorstep, not even a day old. Yet Natalie has come out strong. She’s a fighter, and I’m proud to call her my friend.

I just wish I had her strength.

I notice Natalie in a blue maxi dress, finally wearing her cut, as she comes inside. She waves, and I pull a funny face, making her giggle before she joins the boys.

My eyes automatically go to Acid, and I melt a little, seeing him interact with Cooper. It makes me wish for things I have no business wishing for.

I wish he could see me, like really see me, and want the person I am.

I wish I never got raped, becoming tainted.

I wish he never touched Andrea….

I feel my heart crack, and I clear my throat, trying to ignore the pain and continue with my job, knowing if my thoughts spiral, I’ll want to cut, though my wishing never stops….

“Hey Perrie, can I get a refill, baby?” Coby says loudly, and I swallow my growl, hoping I don’t hit him.

I give him a tight smile and walk behind the counter, making him scowl, but I ignore it. The last time I poured his coffee from beside him, he wrapped his arm around my waist and tried to pull me onto his flipping lap.

“When are you going to give us another shot, Pezza?” he asks as I pour the coffee and sigh.

“Coby….” He smiles at me, but it drops when I remind him, “Not one but two men raped me. You and I can never happen. What we had was a way for me to try and forget my trauma, to overcome it, and it didn’t work. Move on, please; I know I have.”

His eyes blaze, and I sigh again, about to head to see what Natalie wants to drink, when I hear Cooper shout for me.

I frown, looking down the hallway, before he shouts again. My eyes widen, realizing he’s shouting from the storage room. Without thinking, I put the pot down and rush over.

Jiggling the door handle a few times, I manage to open it before I stumble in, nearly tripping, just catching myself on the shelf before the door slams shut, making me jump, and I turn in shock only to narrow my eyes as I realize I’ve been set up!

Anger hits me as Acid smirks and locks the door before leaning against it, stating, “It’s time you and I talked, Tinker. Now, about that note….”

He leans against the door showing he won’t be moving anytime soon, and I sneer, “Open the door!” He grins, crossing his arms over his chest, lifting his left leg, pressing his foot flat against the door, and I shout, “I mean it, Acid, open that damn door, or I swear the baby that whore is carrying will be your only one!”

He shrugs. “Not until we talk.”

I scoff and demand, “About what?”

“Us!” he snaps back, “The note, Andrea, fucking everything, Perrie!”

I point at him and spit, “There is no us, Acid; you made sure of that. The note has nothing to do with you; it’s my business, and I don’t want to speak about her!”

He curls his lip, pushes off the door, gets in my face, and snaps, “How can you stand there and say there isn’t a you and I, huh? Eleven years, Perrie, that’s how long you’ve been in my fucking life. You are my best friend.”

My eyes burn, and I growl, “You stopped being my best friend years ago, Acid, and you know it.”

He shakes his head and cups my cheek. I try to move out of his hold, but he wraps his arm around my waist, and my stomach flutters with how close he is to me, his woodsy scent taking over my senses. I shove against his chest, but his hold tightens, his eyes holding mine prisoner.

“I never meant to hurt you,” he whispers.

I laugh darkly. “Well, guess what? You did. You screwed me only to screw my so-called friend a week later, a friend who has claimed to be pregnant with your child, showing off a small bump every chance she gets!”

He swallows, his grip tightening again as he admits with a growl so deep, I can feel it vibrate through my body, “She’s not fucking pregnant with my child, Tinker. She lied to get my patch.” I scoff, trying to get out of his hold again but gasp when he spins us, pressing my back against the shelves as he snaps, “It’s the fucking truth! Piston found evidence that she’s on the waiting list for donor insemination. She’s on fucking hormone enhancers already. That’s how desperate she is!”

My nostrils flare, not surprised one bit with the lengths she’d go to, but that information doesn’t change anything.

I snap, “It doesn’t matter, you still screwed her, Acid, you still walked away, leaving me alone and vulnerable, feeling dirty on the counter. Now move.”

I shove him, but instead of stumbling back, he presses his body against mine and growls, “Your bratty attitude is starting to fucking piss me off, Perrie.”

The little…. My back digs into the shelves, sending a pinch up my spine, but I ignore it and smirk, “Is that so?” I look at his hands hold me, and I ask, “How does it feel to know your holding me where I bent over for Coby for years, while he fucked me from behind?” His cheeks redden, and I confirm, “Bratty enough for you?”

His breathing accelerates, his anger radiating from him, before he growls, “You’re fucking mine!” His lips crash into mine in a hard, bruising kiss, his hand moving from my cheek to my hair, gripping it.

I gasp in shock, not at the kiss but more that no fear rushes through me, only safety, giving him the opportunity to push his tongue into my mouth and, like the hussy I am where this man is concerned, instead of hitting him, I melt and moan into his mouth, tangling my tongue with his, my hands fisting in his shirt to keep him close to me.

Acid groans and lifts me, my dress riding up as I wrap my legs around his waist. He rests me against the shelves as our kiss heats up, and he moves his hand from my ass to my inner thighs. My stomach flutters with anticipation, all reality disappearing, my lust and love for this man consuming me.

My dad, Andrea, Mom, and the rape all vanish for one whole minute…before his hand freezes. I come back to reality as he breaks the kiss, his eyes hard, and the feeling of his finger tracing each scar slices through me.

I force the bile down as he demands, “What the fuck are these, Perrie?”

My heart pounds and I shove him, causing him to stumble back, my legs dropping.

“Answer the fucking question, Perrie!” he demands again as I push my dress back down.

I shake my head at him and rush to the door, but he grabs my arm, and I swing around. He blocks my hit and tries to sweep his leg out, hoping to knock me on the floor, but I jump like he did when I was thirteen.

He stumbles but quickly grabs my arm, twisting it, and I turn, elbowing him in the gut, making him grunt before I kick his shin hard, making him stumble.

He comes at me again, and this time, I do the girl thing and lift my knee, getting him where it hurts most.

He groans, kneeling a little, and I smirk before turning, unlocking the door, and running out, causing it to slam against the wall with force.

As I reach the mouth of the hallway, I take a deep breath and walk out, grabbing my notepad and pen out of my apron. Coby watches me, his brows scrunched before his eyes go to the hallway.

Dammit, Acid….

I swear, if Coby hurts him, I’m going nuclear.

Taking a deep breath, I walk over to Piston’s table. Cooper looks at me wide-eyed. I give the boy a sweet smile, knowing he was probably coerced into helping Acid, and ask him, “Pancakes?”

Cooper nods slowly, and Nat asks warily, “Uh, Pez, you good?”

I give her a big grin and say, “Peachy. I think Acid forgot who trained me.”

Piston furrows his brows just as Acid hobbles over to the table, holding between his legs, looking a mess. Natalie covers her mouth, trying not to let her laughter out, while Piston’s escapes, and I grin, looking over my handy work.

His shirt is a mess, his lip is bleeding, and he’s stumbling.

Slowly, he takes a seat next to Cooper, wincing as he side-eyes me, but I ignore him and look at Piston, who clears his throat, looking a little scared, and says, “The usual, please, Perrie. Two large breakfasts and pancakes with fruit.”

I nod, turn, and leave, feeling their eyes on my back.

I pin up their order, grab the coffee pot, and go to the side tables for refills.

My lips tingle, between my legs is wet, and my heart is still pounding as realization hits me hard….

I’m never going to get over him, am I?