Page 45 of Tripp

“No,” I repeated, choking on my fear.

“Then why did you leave?” His voice was low and deep. Menacing. I wasn’t sure which I preferred, him shouting or the calm tone he chose to use right then. Both warned me of what was to come.

He slammed his palm against the wall by the side of my head, his breaths coming out harsh and quick. “Why do you make me do this, baby? Why do you keep testin’ me? You know once I’m angry I can’t control myself.” I saw the devil in his eyes when his fingers wrapped around my throat. Images of Tripp flashed before me, and my heart ached at the thought that I’d never see him again. That pain was worse than anything Rick could ever inflict on me.

The tighter he squeezed the closer the darkness crept, bursts of light behind my lids warning me I was going to dive into unconsciousness very shortly. Just as my vision tunneled, someone banged on the door.

We hadn’t been in the room but for five minutes, although it felt like a lifetime. More banging, followed by a man yelling. “Reece,” he shouted. “Open the door.” More pounding against the locked door. Surprisingly Rick released me, and as soon as I drew in air I started coughing, rubbing at the tender affected area around my throat. Rick reached for the handle, flipping the lock before swinging open the door. I was too busy trying to breathe to bother to see who had thankfully interrupted us.

“What the fuck do you want?” Rick growled, shrouding the doorway so I couldn’t see who it was. Not until Mike, one of the bouncers I’d tried to signal earlier with my silent plea, shoved past him and approached me.

“Reece, are you okay?” He reached out to touch me but I shrank toward the wall, confused as to what was happening. My wits hadn’t fully returned yet, my body still in preservation mode, trying to take in as much air as my lungs would allow.

“She’s fine. Now get the fuck outta here,” Rick yelled, stepping in front of Mike, his back facing me.

Before Mike could forcefully remove Rick, Tripp appeared in the doorway, his eyes instantly finding me. He seemed frozen in place, taking in the entire scene in front of him, but it only lasted for a few seconds before he rushed inside and shoved both Rick and Mike away from me.

“What the hell is goin’ on here?” he asked, never taking his eyes off me. The vein in his neck bulged and I knew he was doing his best to control himself, his gaze pleading with me to fill him in on why I was in one of the private rooms with a man he didn’t know and one of the club’s security men.

Tripp’s eyes trailed over my face before falling to my throat. I hadn’t even realized my fingers were still rubbing at the area. When he gently removed my hand I swore I saw his eyes turn red with rage. “Who did this to you?”

“Don’t touch her!” Rick shouted, sidestepping Mike and shoving at Tripp’s shoulder. Rick was a tall guy, lean but certainly strong, although he was no match for the likes of Tripp—and he was about to find that out very soon.

Spinning around, Tripp lunged toward Rick and pounced on him, both men falling to the ground with a heavy thud. “You dare put your hands on her?” Tripp roared, his fist connecting with the side of Rick’s face. I didn’t feel sorry for the beating Rick was about to endure, but the last thing I wanted was for Tripp to be dragged into my mess.

“Tripp!” I shouted. “Stop. Please.” I took a step forward, but Mike moved in front of me.

“Not a good idea,” he warned, flicking his eyes back to the two men on the ground. Tripp was on top of Rick, expelling his rage onto the man who’d terrorized me for years.

A garbled sound erupted from the bastard’s mouth but was quickly silenced by another hit from Tripp. In a blur of movement to my left, Hawke and Ryder rushed into the room and ran toward Tripp, attempting to pull him off Rick. After the third try they were finally successful.

Tripp stumbled backward until he righted himself, but as soon as Rick tried to speak Tripp attempted to go after him again.

“What the fuck?” his brother shouted.

Leaving the scuffle, Ryder asked me, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied. I was anything but fine, but the last thing Tripp needed to see was just how scared and upset I was. It would only add to his fury.

Once Rick had finally risen to his feet, he stupidly tried to approach me. His eye was already starting to swell, his nose and mouth all bloody, but that didn’t stop him from boldly trying to shove past the man who’d just beaten him and try to get at me. It showed how crazy he was when it came to me.

“Don’t you fuckin’ touch her,” Tripp growled, his voice dipping low with unbridled rage.

“Don’tyoufuckin’ touch her,” Rick retorted, wiping the blood from his face and then running his palms down the front of his jeans.

“Are you insane?”

Little did Tripp know the answer to that question was a resounding yes.

With a crazy look in his eyes, Rick stood rigid, glared at Tripp, and then uttered the words I’d feared as soon as I saw Tripp enter the room. “Get away from my wife.”

Tripp

I must have heard him wrong.

Did he just say that Reece was his wife?

She’s married?

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