After that first beating, Pig had pretty much steered clear of Suzie when Stunner was around. But sometimes, especially after he’d been drinking, the man lost his Goddamned mind.
Instead of acknowledging his wife, Cain turned to Arkham, pointing a finger at the other man. “I don’t fuckin’ care if he’s related to you. Get him gone or the next time he does or says anything remotely disparaging to or about Suzie, I’ll fuckin’ kill the little cunt where he stands.”
No one was watching Pig or paying attention to Stunner. Everyone had turned to Cain and Arkham, waiting for instructions. Because there would be instructions. Probably from Arkham, telling them where to dump Pig. Stunner used that time to advance on Pig and grab him by his collar, intending to drag him off into the woods and finish the job.
“Stop!” That was Cain. Man didn’t miss much. Stunner kept hold of Pig but looked back over his shoulder at the Bones president, not saying a word. “You ain’t killin’ him this time, Stunner.”
Every muscle in Stunner’s body tensed. He wanted to bare his teeth and growl. He’d already been denied a kill once, and he had no desire to be denied a second time.
“Stunner,” Angel said, pulling away from Cain and going to Stunner. “Please do what Cain says.” She looked so filled with anguish Cain couldn’t possibly deny her. He wanted to, but just couldn’t.
“He’s not a good person, ma’am,” he murmured. “Suzie doesn’t deserve to have him talking about her like he does. He doesn’t do it where you or Cain can hear. Most of the time he doesn’t do it where I can hear. But Suzie hears. Ain’t havin’ him be mean to her.”
“I know, Stunner. And I appreciate you protecting her like this. You have no idea how much. She loves you like a brother. Probably more than she loves me and Cain or Cliff and Daniel. I don’t want you killing. Not like this. I know you can take care of yourself, but it still worries me. And Suzie? If you get rid of Pig and Cain’s people can’t cover up the killing, you’ll be put away, and Suzie would be devastated. I won’t have that for her. She tries to be strong and in many ways, she is. But inside her heart, she’s fragile. I’m not certain she’d survive it if you left her to go to prison.”
Just like that, Stunner’s heart plummeted. Not only because he couldn’t kill Pig, but because he was destined to cause Suzie pain no matter what he did now or in the future. If the only way he could be worthy for Suzie to be his was to kill her tormentor, then he was royally fucked. Because now he couldn’t kill Pig any more than he could outrun his past. His past would catch up to him one day, and he’d hurt her no matter what role he played in her life, for two reasons. One, he’d already killed. So fucking many times. He’d killed until he’d thought he was dead inside. Two, if Cain knew the extent of his past and who it was linked to and why he’d come to Bones to begin with, Cain would kill him. And Stunner wouldn’t lift a finger to stop him.
No. Better he let Suzie be. She was starting a new life for herself at one of the best universities in the country. The best thing he could do was to stay away from her.
Giving Angel a sharp nod, he dropped Pig and strode to his bike. He kept his shoulders back and his head up. He didn’t look at anyone and did his best to keep his expression neutral. Inside, though, he was raging. His heart was breaking into tiny pieces at what he’d lost before he’d even known he wanted her. With a quick kick of the starter, Stunner put his Harley in gear and took off, racing into the setting sun. If he was lucky, maybe he could hurl the nightmares into the fiery ball before they could take hold of him once again.
Chapter Two
Suzie lay on the small couch in her apartment staring at the computer chat screen. She’d debated whether or not to call her parents all afternoon. Everyone in the building was gone. She was the only holdout. She’d thought most of the grad students would want to take advantage of the lab space and vacant library to work, but she’d been wrong. Maybe they were just trying to get away from her. More than one of them had referred to her as “Little Miss Goodie Two Shoes” on more than one occasion. Also among the insults were brown noser, suck up, kiss ass, and several other things she just ignored. It wasn’t her fault she’d rather work than hang out with people she didn’t know in bars that weren’t nearly as safe as the Boneyard. Maybe she was a wimp.
Finally, unable to take the isolation a moment longer, she pulled up her mother’s name from the contact selection. It took several seconds but Angel answered the call, Cain right beside her.
“Hi, sweetheart!” Angel’s eyes were bright and excited and so full of love Suzie had to blink several times to keep the tears at bay.
“Hi, Mom. I miss you guys!”
“We miss you too, honey,” Cain said, his smile warm and engaging. When Suzie had first met the man, she hadn’t thought him capable of such a look. He was so hard and rough, but he was a protector through and through. That meant he protected her physically as well as emotionally. Which meant he’d learned to genuinely smile on occasion. For her and Angel. “How’s school?”
She tried to keep the uncertainty out of her expression and her voice. “It’s OK. Taking some getting used to. It might be MIT, but people are mostly interested in partying.”
Angel gave her a puzzled look. “And you’re not?”
“Not really. I’ve got
