Page 72 of A Ryan Recollection

He grabs my wrist, his fingers pressing into the soft skin of my forearm as he holds me a little too tight. His eyes are glassy but they are fixed on my face.

“Jessie,” he says and there is something in his tone that I can’t work out. “Are you okay?”

“Well, not right now, I’m not,” I snap. “Get your damn hands off me.”

He releases his grip at the same time as the pounding starts on the door behind him. Startled by the noise, Jason stumbles forward and onto me. He smells of alcohol and cigars and I wrinkle my nose at the offensive stench.

“Jessie! Open this fucking door!” Shane shouts while the banging continues.

I look behind Jason. “You need to open that door, right now,” I say, aware of the tremor in my voice.

“Jessie. You’re shaking,” he reaches for me, brushing his fingertips over my cheek and making me flinch.

“Open this fucking door or I will tear your fucking head off!” Shane yells behind him.

Jason glances back quickly. “I can help you get away from him, Jessie. I know people.”

I blink at him. “I don’t want to get away from him. It’s not my head he’s about to tear off. What the hell are you talking about?”

The banging grows louder and the door rattles as though is about to come off its hinges.

“The way he talked about you,” he says with a sneer. “Youbelongto him?”

“Jason. Listen to me. If you do not open that door right now and he has to break it down, he is going to kill you.”

“I can protect us, baby,” he whispers as he reaches for me again.

I dodge past him, elbowing him in the stomach as I run for the door and wrench it open, coming face to face with the wall of rage that is an incredibly pissed off Shane Ryan.

He pulls me straight into his arms, wrapping them tight around me and kissing my head. He walks into the room, kicking the door closed behind him and only then does he release me from his embrace. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” I say with a nod.

His eyes burn with anger again as he looks past me and at Jason. “What the fuck?” he snarls, his teeth bared.

“I-I,” Jason stammers.

Meanwhile Shane’s eyes drift back to me and his gaze lingers on the red fingerprints on my arm. “Did he fucking touch you?” he rages.

“He just grabbed me. I’m fine,” I say, subconsciously rubbing at the skin.

“I was protecting her. She’s fucking scared of you.”

Jason may have well just poured gasoline over an open flame as Shane’s anger rips through him like an inferno. In one swift move, he has Jason by the throat. Spinning him around, he presses him against the door.

“What did you just fucking say to me?”

“She’s fucking scared of you,” Jason snarls. “She was shaking when I came in here.”

I close my eyes and pray for Jason to pass out or something because I cannot believe how one person can be so utterly stupid.

“Because you just locked her in a fucking room, you stupid cunt!” Shane squeezes Jason’s throat tighter, making his face turn purple.

“She’s not your property, man,” Jason croaks. “You don’t get to treat her like that.”

Instead of tearing his throat out like I expected, Shane lets him go. And then he starts to laugh, and I can’t imagine any scenario where this is a good thing.

“Come here, sweetheart,” Shane says to me as Jason rubs at the raw skin on his throat.

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