Chapter 19

19

Acid

I drop the roller onto the tray and smile as I look at my handy work. The dark blue suits the place.

I’m so fucking proud of Perrie. She’s been redoing the gym all this time, starting with the apartment upstairs. I had a little look around before she got home from work yesterday, and everything upstairs has been rebuilt and replaced, making it a studio loft full of grays and dark greens, with black furniture.

I think the only room she hadn’t redone is her dad's office, but I did notice the dark red and cream paint tins.

I painted the back wall dark red, then painted the rest cream, before tidying up the room.

I haven’t fucking slept. Fuck, I feel like I haven’t slept since she told me about her rape. To know that she’s been through what I’ve been through….

“Harder, baby, move your hips harder, you can do it,” our social worker moans as Dad grips my hips, forcing me to do as I’m told….

I squeeze my eyes tight.

I hate that the memories won’t fucking leave me. They’re the reason why I won’t make Perrie mine, giving her my cut. Yes, she loves me, but I hurt her. I pushed her away instead of letting her in.

If I were a good man, I’d let her go completely, but I need her in my life somehow. I just don’t think I can be the one for her happily ever after when my past still haunts me. She deserves better than me and my filth.

“You finished painting?” her angelic voice says from behind me, and I hum.

“Yeah,” I admit, “also did your dad's office as well; painted the walls, and built the new desk chair for you.”

I turn to look at her. Her hair is up in a messy bun, her makeup is a little less than yesterday, and she’s in her waitress uniform.

She looks around the room and nods. “I guess it’s time to decide whether I want to sell now that the place is nearly done, huh,” she says, and I tilt my head at her.

“Why would you sell, Tinker?” I ask, knowing how much this place means to her.

Her teary eyes come my way, and she admits, “Because I don’t know if I can live up to Dad’s legacy. I didn’t finish college, Ollie.” My mouth drops open in shock, and she shrugs. “I dropped out after the first semester, my sole focus on this place. The fight money I gave Dad, he had some leftover in the safe, so I used it to do the apartment. Then I decided to keep fighting after Cass left, and used some money I had won for all this equipment and renovations. The rest, I had saved. After selling the house, I have enough to travel for a little while.”

I can feel the sweat beadinh at the bottom of my spine as true fucking fear hits me, and I remind her, “You hate flying….”

She gives me a sad smile and whispers, “But I hate being here without Dad…and without you…. I feel empty, Ollie. I feel lost.”

Fuck.

I walk toward her, but she shakes her head, stopping me as she says, “I’ve got to go, or I’ll be late….”

I nod, and she turns and leaves, taking my heart with her.

She can’t leave town! We’ll never hear from her again! I thought that once Cass came back, the old Perrie would as well, but she was raped, stealing what wasn’t theirs to take.

I think it’s time my Tinker remembered she has people here who love her. I may not be able to give her my cut, even though my heart wants to, but she has my friendship—she always has—and if I have to watch her fall for someone else, well, I guess I’ll have to, right?

Sniffing hard at the bile rising at the thought of her moving on, I walk to the reception desk and grab my phone. Ignoring the picture of Perrie and me from her sixteenth birthday party, I bring up the text thread between Steal and me, adding a new message.

Me: Meet me at The Fight near Brooklyn at eight tonight. Bring Piston.

I press send and drop my phone again, my pulse racing. I can’t lose her from my life; I’ll lose myself if she goes.

I walk into The Fight, Viking nodding from the bar, before I notice Steal and Piston. They both look my way with raised eyebrows.

“Seriously, I told you, fucker, that you weren’t allowed to fight here, I’d never fucking see you,” Steal says, and I chuckle.

“Don’t worry, it’s not me,” I reassure, and he nods. I ask, “Is it done?”

This time, Piston speaks up and confirms, “Both brothers are wrapped in trash bags, weighed down by bricks, and have been dropped into the ocean. Both pleading and begging until they went under.”

I nod.

After Perrie told me what had happened, I called Steal and told him the Aldos needed to die. He said Cass had barged into his office at the club and said the same thing. It was the first time Cassidy had stepped foot in the clubhouse since Brute was killed. She didn’t explain why she wanted them dead, but I did.

Sounds like they had the worst death someone could face, but they deserved worse, so much fucking worse.

“So why are we here, then?” Steal asks just before the announcer shouts, “And your reigning champ, Tinker!” into the mic. The crowd goes wild as I tense, watching Perrie walk up the steps to the ring, her hair braided down her back.

“No fucking way…” Piston snaps and steps forward, but I grip his arm, causing him to glare at me. I just shake my head at him and then watch as Perrie jumps up and down in place, her opponent, Cannonball, glaring at her.

I had a long fucking chat with Viking. It turns out every fucker here wants to take her on because she beats them all, and their egos can’t face it.

“Fucking explain, Acid!” Steal demands, his voice full of tension as the bell rings, and Cannonball runs toward her.

She dodges his fist and purposely trips him up, making the crowd laugh and the man’s face turn red.

“Our girl here has been fighting since she was fourteen, earning extra money for her dad,” I admit.

“Did he fucking know?” Piston growls, and I nod, replying, “I think so.”

Both men curse as we stand there, tense as fuck, watching Perrie fight the six-foot idiot, the right side of his face completely obscured by tattoos.

I flinch when he hits her jaw, causing her to stumble. Then he boots her in the back, causing her to fall into the ropes. I take a step forward, ready to jump in the ring, and as if she can feel me watching, she looks up, and our eyes connect.

My breathing picks up, seeing her lip bleeding, and my nostrils flare.

She gives me a subtle head shake, then smirks, and I grin, knowing the exact move she’s about to make. She did it to me just before John died, and nearly broke my fucking nose.

She waits until the fucker wraps his arms around her from behind. I notice her tense up, and I fucking hate knowing the reason why, before she slams her head back, connecting with his nose. He stumbles back as blood pours down his face, and instead of calling off the fight because his nose is clearly broken, the ref lets them continue.

“Fucking hell, she’s like a machine,” Steal says with awe, and I nod because, yeah, she is.

Perrie corners cannonball, punching his face and body, left, right continuously, the crowd cheering wildly. She doesn’t stop moving, hitting, causing his body to jolt until he drops, knocked out, and she steps back, breathing hard.

The ref pulls her into the middle of the ring, and I tense at the bruises already showing on her body.

Piston rasps, “She can’t handle her emotions, can she?” already picking up what I figured out.

I shake my head. “No, she can’t. At first, this was a way to help her dad, but now, it’s a way to run from her trauma, her dad’s death, Cass leaving, me, the rape….”

The announcer shouts Perrie as the winner, and the crowd chants and cheers before she jumps from the ring. Viking hands her a thick envelope as she passes and walks into the mouth of the hallway.

Steal gets his phone out. I raise an eyebrow, but he just shakes his head as he puts the phone to his ear, snapping, “Cass…. Don’t fucking hang up. Perrie fucking needs you.” She says something to him before he snarls, “She’s fucking injured, Cassidy!”

Steal tenses as he removes his phone from his ear, looking at the device with disbelief and growls, “She fucking hung up!”

“Seriously, Piston, you gave him my number?” someone snaps from beside us seconds later, and we all look in shock as Cass, wearing jeans and a checkered shirt, glares at my brother.

“What the fuck?” Steal stutters, and I just blink.

Cassidy sighs, placing her hands on her hips. She looks at Steal and asks, “Remember the three nights a week I said you couldn’t see me and you allowed your little fuck buddy to get in your ear?” He flinches then nods numbly, and she holds her arms out and states, “Here’s your answer. I fix up the fighters for extra cash, including Perrie.”

I wince as Steal takes a step forward and demands, “The past four years you’ve been gone?”

She shrugs. “I was still here doing what they pay me to do, though I never realized Perrie still fought. Viking knew I couldn’t be seen by her or anyone to do with the club.” She looks at me. “How did you know she’d be here tonight? It’s rare she fights more than twice a week unless she needs to clear her head.”

I sigh. “She opened up a little last night, and so did I….”

Cass nods. “She needed an outlet.”

I nod back as Steal demands, “Get your fucking coat; you’re leaving with me now!”

She snorts. “Sorry ex -lover, no can do; some of us have to pay bills, and being in my last year of residency doesn’t pay me as well.” She looks at me again. “Perrie’s wounds are superficial; I watched her fight like a hawk. She’ll be on her way back to the gym.”

I nod before she glares at Steal and turns on her heels, heading to the hallway where the fighters go. Steal growls and follows her, demanding that she listen, and I snort.

“Fucker is a goner for her,” Piston says, and I state, “He always was; he just let his insecurities get the best of him.”

My phone goes off, and I grab it, hoping maybe it’s Perrie. I snort when I see who it's from and show Piston.

Crazy Bitch: Hey baby, I just wanted to let you know the baby is healthy, and we’re having a little boy!!! Call me xx

Piston laughs. “I can’t wait to fucking knock her into place.”

I grin and pat his back. “You and me both. Come on, let's get going. I have a girl to shout at, and you have a pregnant wife wanting her chocolate milk.”

He laughs again, and I lift a hand to Viking, who nods back as Piston and I head out.

Half an hour later, I walk into Halliwell’s gym, and I smile slightly when I see Perrie gently painting inside the stencil.

She winces, and I tense, cursing. The fucker is dead…..

“Back again, huh,” she says, looking my way, and I smile.

“Where else would I be, Tinker?” I ask as I remove my cut, throwing it on the reception desk, and walk her way.

“You shouldn’t be here, Ollie,” she whispers, and I just smile at her, taking the paintbrush from her hand, and picking up the bag of peas on the floor, handing it to her.

She sighs, puts it on her ribs, and says, “I mean it, Ollie. You shouldn’t be here.”

“You know, I remember the first time you and I met,” I say as I gently paint around the H for Halliwell. “I was so fucking angry. I’d just kicked the shit outta my dad after walking into the house to see him booting Piston’s stomach over and over, and I needed an outlet. And then here comes this girl interrupting me, digging herself into my life, becoming my best friend….”

Perrie sniffles and I look her way. Tears are in her eyes, and I see right through her hard exterior.

“You didn’t just fight tonight because of our conversation, did you?” I confirm.

She shakes her head and whispers, “There was another note after work. They said they were going to put a bullet in your head. I’m petrified, Ollie….”

I drop the paintbrush and walk over to her, gently cupping her cheek. I use my thumb to wipe her fallen tears, and what I see shining back at me in her gorgeous light blue eyes, they suck me in.

She fucking loves me, but she’s running, just like I am….

“You’re not going to lose me, Tinker.” I pull her into me, and she wraps her arms around my waist, her face pressing into my chest. I hold her tight and promise, “It won’t happen. We’ll find this fucker, I promise.”

And it’s a promise I know I’ll keep. I may be fucked up, but this girl owns my heart.