Page 69 of Ruined (The Knights of Ruin)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Smoke

I WASSOangry I couldn’t see straight. People talk about a red rage and that was exactly what came down over my vision when I opened the front door to find fucking Justin tearing at Cat’s clothing and pulling her hair.

There’d only been one other time I’d lost control of my temper so completely, and that was when I found Dad kicking Mom, over and over.

I’d shot him then, fucking up my life completely. Just like I’d fucked it up now.

I could feel the inescapable truth of it coiling and twisting inside me, and rage burned like rocket fuel in my bloodstream.

I should never have touched Justin, should never have punched him, but all I’d seen was his hands on my kitten, hurting her the way he always hurt her, and all I’d been able to think was that he had to pay.

She held me now, her arms around my waist, the warmth of her body against my spine, and that was what pushed back the red haze.

Too late, though. Too fucking late.

Justin had me now. He’d press charges, and since Keep wouldn’t want his good relationship with the cops put at risk I’d have to take some jail time. Especially since I’d disobeyed Keep’s direct order and laid a hand on the police chief’s son.

That would leave Cat and Annie unprotected, since there was nothing Keep could do legally to stop Justin from claiming Annie. Illegally he could, but I was betting he wouldn’t want to deepen the shit with the cops that I’d already dumped him in.

Fuck.

I’d lost it for the club and I’d lost it for Cat, too.

I should have known that call from Keep was bullshit. As soon as I got back to the clubhouse he mentioned that the police chief had called through some complaint from a cop about me and he wanted me to explain. Easy enough. I hadn’t even been in the city at the time, and Keep knew that because he was the one who sent me out of it in the first place. I realised in that moment that someone was screwing with me and it could only be one person. Justin. He’d made his father put through that call to get me away from Cat.

I’d headed straight back to her place immediately, riding like a fucking maniac, only to find that asshole with his hands all over what was mine. So I’d hit him and hit him, and now I was completely fucked.

And what made everything worse was that I knew there was only one way to fix this. Only one way to give Cat any chance at all of keeping Annie. Because she wasn’t going to lose her—not because of me.

‘Smoke?’

Cat’s voice was soft, her fingers spreading out over my stomach, making my dick twitch.

‘Are you okay?’

Jesus fucking Christ. I’d ruined her life and all she wanted to know was whether I was okay.

Abruptly I couldn’t bear her touch—not when I knew what I had to do and how badly it would hurt her. So I pulled her arms from around me, making sure I was gentle and not the raging, violent animal I was inside, and stepped away.

‘Smoke?’

I didn’t want to look at her. All it would take for me to lose my nerve would be one glimpse of those big green eyes, so I kept my back to her and turned in the direction of the bedroom, moving towards it.

‘Smoke.’ She sounded sharper now. ‘What’s wrong?’

I stopped, but didn’t turn. ‘I screwed up.’ My voice sounded like I’d just come back from a three-day drunken orgy. ‘I screwed up totally. I’m sorry.’

‘You mean the assault charges? You were protecting me. I’m a witness. I’ll tell them that he was going to—’

‘It doesn’t matter what you say.’

I stared hard at the bedroom door, my knuckles throbbing from where I’d punched that cocksucker in the face.

‘It doesn’t matter what he did. No one’s going to give you custody of Annie while you have a violent biker for a boyfriend.’

My chest hurt—a deep ache, like I’d been stabbed with a rusty knife.

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