Page 89 of Mace

“You don’t understand,” Link sneers. “Ivy and I are dating. I love her.”

“What you’re doing ain’t even in the same ballpark as dating, and we both fucking know you don’t love her,” I growl. “You don’t do the shit you’ve done to her if you love someone. Do you like them young because they’re easier to control?” I demand. “A seventeen-year-old isn’t gonna fight back against you, is she?”

“Just give me Ivy and I’ll leave. You can’t keep me from the mother of my fucking child.”

“Oh, Jason, you’d be surprised what I can do. You’ve heard of the Untamed Sons, haven’t you?” He nods. “So, you know what I can do to you if you don’t leave that girl alone.”

I see he’s fighting against his desire to have Ivy and his fear of me.

“I love her,” he reiterates, keeping his voice low.

“From this moment, Ivy Fernsby is nothing to you. She’s not a thought in your head, do you understand? If you don’t stay away from her and from her family, I’ll fuckin’ kill you. And if you ever lay hands on Maylie again, you won’t have fucking hands to touch anyone.”

“That was a little too anticlimactic,” Nate says.

“I ain’t done,” I mutter.

Grabbing Link by the collar of his shirt, I drag him to his feet and then I beat the shit out of him. I hit him until blood trails from his nose and the side of his mouth. My fists lash out over and over, his face barely recognisable as I land hit after hit. He tries to fight back initially, but then he stops moving, and I step back, heaving in huge breaths.

Fuck him.

I spit on him as he curls into a ball, whimpering. He’s not dead, though he’ll wish he was in the morning.

“That was a breathtaking display of anger,” Nate says, sounding proud as he clasps my shoulder.

I spin to him, red filming my vision as he steps back. “Easy, brother. I’m not the person you’re pissed at.”

“You good?” Nicky asks, caution tempering his words.

Am I good?

My torn-up knuckles burn, and the beast is out of the cage. All that rage that has built for years inside me has found an outlet. I want to bleed him more. I want to hear his fuckin’ screams. I want to?—

“Mace.” Nicky grabs my face, forcing my gaze from Link. “Hey, pal, you with me?”

I shake my head, trying to clear it, and after a moment, I come out of the fog. “Fuck.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Get him out of here before I actually kill him.”

I head down the hallway to the bedrooms and find the room I’m certain is Maylie’s. I can smell her everywhere as I flop onto her bed, pulling a pillow over my face and breathing in her scent.Fuck.The anger pulsing through me starts to calm with each inhalation.

I wanted to kill him. I wanted to lose control, just as Ihave so many times in the past, but the way the club is fractured right now, it’s not a good idea to need favours from anyone other than the two men I know will be cleaning up my mess.

I don’t know how long I lie there, but the door opens eventually and Nicky peers around it. He doesn’t come inside, which is a good decision. I don’t want anyone in her space.

“We’re done here.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“You level?”

I sit up, placing the pillow back on the bed. “Yeah.”

I don’t apologise. There’s no need. He knows I’m sorry. “Okay. We’ll wait downstairs for you.”

I take my time getting moving, and it’s at least ten minutes before I lock up Maylie’s flat and head down to the bikes. Nicky and my brother are waiting for me, and I feel the weight of their stares as I climb onto my bike. “Whatever you want to say, get it off your chest now,” I say before I plot my helmet.

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