Page 62 of Centering Kaos

When he finally got to his feet, I took a swing at his left eye. “How does that feel? You like that shit? I saw the pictures, by the way. Saw what you did to her. I memorized every cut, every bruise, you gave her, and I’ve been waiting for this moment.” The moment I’d get to do the same to him. “After all, if you did it to her, it’s only fair that someone does it to you.”

Fear must have finally sunk in, because the piece of shit took off running.

He only made it about three steps before I caught his ass and dragged him back. Then I let him experience what an uppercut to the jaw felt like. His throat was next. Wrapping my hands around his neck, I squeezed until the motherfucker was gasping for air. Releasing him, I used his ribs as a punching bag. Next, I gave him a good old-fashioned dead leg before kicking him in the kidney and punching my way up and down both of his arms. The fucker didn’t just stand there and take it. No, he somehow managed to land two punches to my chest and a jab to my throat.

At some point during the fight, Rabbit appeared, leaning against the wall to watch. Matt begged him for help, but a vein started throbbing in my club brother’s forehead as he bared his teeth like some kind of feral cat. “Oh, I’m not here to help you, dumbass. I’m here to make sure nobody intervenes. Goddamn woman beater.” He spat. “You get tired, Kaos, you tag me in. I’d like a piece of this motherfucker, too.”

Not fucking likely. This asshole was all mine. Matt took a desperate swing at me, and I stepped inside and jabbed him in the gut for his trouble.

“What’s wrong, ass wipe?” Rabbit called out with a chuckle. “You never fight a man before?”

By the time the cops arrived, I felt like I’d delivered the type of justice an ass wipe like Matt could understand. Dropping to my knees, I put my hands behind my back and let them cuff me. I’d never been arrested before, but I knew enough not to incriminate myself.

Emily was waiting at the police station when we arrived. She took one look at the damage I’d done to Matt and shook her head.

But I caught the way her eyes smiled.

My official statement was that I saw a man take a shot at a child and I told the woman to call the cops while I attempted to make a citizen’s arrest. When the suspect resisted, I used force.

The booking officer stared at me, unblinking. “Don’t you think that force was a little excessive?”

I shrugged. “Oh, that’s not all from me. The son-of-a-bitch is clumsy. He must have fallen down a flight of stairs.”

“Sure did,” Rabbit chimed in from another officer’s desk, where he was giving his statement, vouching for me. “Saw the whole thing.”

18

Kaos

MY KNUCKLES WERE bruised and all cut to shit, but it was the most rewarding pain I’d ever felt in my life. Taking Matt’s twisted, fucked-up sense of power away from him was satisfying on a whole new level. Given the chance between winning the Stanley Cup and grinding that motherfucker’s face into the cement, there was no doubt in my mind which option I’d choose.

It was kind of wild how far my priorities had shifted.

Beating the shit out of Matt would have been worth jail time, but Emily worked her magic. Tina, Dylan, Rabbit, and Elenore all gave their statements, and I was released and told not to leave town. That wasn’t a problem, since everything I wanted was in Seattle.

Matt was being held without bail, and Tina and Dylan were finally safe to live their lives without him.

Since Tina had the Escalade, I hadn’t expected her and Dylan to stick around and wait for me to be released, but when I stepped into the waiting room, they were there. Dylan ran to me and threw his arms around my waist. Seeming to remember he was too cool for that touchy-feely bullshit, he released me and shook my hand instead.

“Do we get to go home now?” he asked.

The way he said it gave me pause. Was he talking about my place? I looked to Tina. She nodded, tears pooling in her eyes.

Mussing his hair, I nodded. “Yeah. Nothing would make me happier than to take you home. I’m starving. You hungry?”

He grinned up at me. “I’m a growing boy, Kaos. I’m always hungry.”

Chuckling, I headed for the door. Tina joined us along the way, her expression concerned.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “About earlier. We never should have left your house.”

“Home,” I corrected, holding my arm out to the side. She hesitated for only a moment before taking the invitation and tucking her body against mine. My arm felt good draped over her shoulders. It felt right. “You had some shit to work out,” I said. “What I don’t understand is how Matt got to you.”

“Matt said he installed a camera by the door, and he caught us going in on the feed. We were coming back out. I’d realized how stupid I was being and I…” She glanced at Dylan and corrected herself. “We wanted to come… home.”

Squeezing her against me, I kissed the top of her head. “You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that.”

I drove, and Tina called for a pizza. The delivery man arrived at the house just moments after we did. We stuffed our faces, and then dragged our asses into the family room to watchThe Goonies. Tina cleaned the cuts on my hands, and I filled a baggie with ice for her eye. We must have looked like quite the pair. By the time we got situated on the sofa, Dylan was out cold. I turned off the movie, scooped him up, and carried him to bed before leading Tina into my room. She gave me a little side-eye, but I pleaded the case that we were both tired, I wanted to talk—only talk—and after the day we’d had, I needed her close to me. Needed to keep reassuring myself she was safe.

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