Nina Levine - Fierce

The last I saw of Harlow was her fucking terrified for her life; I just hoped that Blade knew what he was doing.  If anything happened to Harlow, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill every last fucking man involved.

Harlow

My father.

That’s what I was thinking of as I was lying naked and tied to a bed, with a psycho on top of me and a knife to my neck.  My life flashed before my eyes and the only good thing I could think of was that I would get to see my father in heaven after this asshole murdered me.

When they dragged Scott away, I felt like my life truly was over.  They’d taken Nash at the same time so I was left with Blade.  I had no idea how he’d gotten mixed up in all of this.  All I knew about Blade was that he was Madison’s half brother and seemed okay whenever I’d made him coffee and chatted to him.  But whether he had it in him to save my life?  I had no clue.  And that scared the ever loving shit out of me.

Blade moved into the room, and his presence filled the room.  “You need to get the fuck off her, Bullet, if you want me to back off the coke.”  His voice was commanding and there was a tone there that screamed authority.  I made eye contact with him; his eyes were cold but when they hit mine, they softened and I saw the warmth there.  The fear and uncertainty swirling in my gut eased in that moment.

Bullet pulled the knife away from my neck and moved off me.  Facing Blade, he snarled, “And why the fuck would I believe anything you say?”

Blade shrugged.  He was so cold and calm, and I decided that I’d never want to get on his wrong side; I’d be more afraid of him than Bullet, and that was saying something.  “Scott’s my brother, and she’s his woman.  I don’t need the coke to survive; I think you’re aware of that fact.  So, if I have to choose between the two, I choose her life.”

Bullet thought about it and settled it in his mind.  “I’ll take that fucking deal but if you break your word, I’ll go on a killing rampage like you’ve never seen before, and you’ll be my first port of call.  Right after I fuck her and make sure her death is a long and painful one.”

I flinched at his threat.  Fear sliced through me and I prayed to God that Blade would keep his end of the bargain.

Blade nodded once.  “Good.  Now, get the fuck out of here,” he commanded in that deep, frightening voice he had.

I watched frantically while Bullet left the room.  When he’d finally exited and I could no longer see him, I let go of the control I’d employed throughout the ordeal.  I wanted to scream, kick and punch all in one go but I couldn’t.  Instead, I started shaking and sobbing, and struggled to catch my breath as my breathing became erratic.

Blade moved towards me and pulled a knife out.  He cut the ropes that had bound me to the bed and removed the gag from my mouth.  Then he took the sheet and covered my body.  His movements were all gentle and deliberate.  He was safe; I knew it in that instant.  He would never hurt me.

He sat on the bed beside me.  “You need to know that everything’s going to be okay.  The threats that Bullet made towards you will never eventuate because he will be taken care of.  He won’t be walking this earth long enough to carry those threats out.  Do you understand?”

Words failed me so I nodded.

“Good.”  He stood back up and moved to leave the room.  He turned at the door and said, “Scott will be in in a minute.”

And then he was gone.  I took a long deep breath and attempted to get my breathing and shaking under control.  Right now, I needed Scott more than I’d ever needed anything.

Scott

I found her huddled under the sheet, her tear stained face was all that was visible.  Thank fuck Blade had covered her up.  She slid her eyes to mine and what I saw there nearly fucking killed me.

A moment later, I sat on the bed next to her, and just after that she was in my arms; clinging to me and crying.  “He touch you?” I asked; I needed to know, because if he had, there was no way I was letting Blade be the only one to fuck him up.

She shook her head vigorously.  “No.”

“Thank fuck,” I muttered, although it was a small mercy considering everything else he’d put her through.

“Scott, Lisa’s outside waiting in the car.  You need to go and make sure she’s alright.”

Fuck.  This was why I was falling for Harlow; in a moment where most women would buckle from what they’d just been through, she was more concerned for someone else’s safety.

“No, she’s safe.  I’ve got someone with her.”

“Thank God,” she said, the concern washing off her face.

I reached up and gently wiped the tears from her eyes.  “I’m so sorry, baby.  This is all my fault.”

She nodded and then asked, “Remember when I said that I could handle your shit?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, if you feel the need to hurt those assholes, and when I say hurt, I mean so that they can never threaten another woman with that, you need to know that I can handle that shit, baby.”

Fuck me.  Blessed.  That’s what I was.

“Good to know.  Because I’ll be making damn sure that they’ll never hurt another person.  Now sweetheart, we need to get you cleaned up.”

She nodded in agreement, and I helped her into the shower.  The deep burning hatred I had for Bullet was consuming my thoughts, and I hoped to hell that Blade was making him suffer.

* * *

Six hours later, Harlow was asleep in my bed.  She hadn’t wanted to stay at her mum’s house that night so I’d brought her to mine.  I’d spent all afternoon and night with her; I hadn’t called J or Nash to find out what had happened.  This was the first time in my life that I’d put Storm second.  I never wanted to let Harlow out of my sight ever again.  Knowing her, though, that would never happen.

I stood in the doorway and watched her sleep.  She’d had trouble getting to sleep so I’d found a sleeping pill of mine to give her that had eventually done the trick.  My phone vibrated with a message.

Blade: You want in on this?

Me: Yes, but not tonight.  Tomorrow.

Blade: Call me when you’re ready.

I watched Harlow for a little while longer and then I went outside to call Dad.

“Scott, thought I would have heard from you by now,” he said, not even a hello to greet me.

I ignored him.  “You hear from Blade?”

“Yeah, he’s got the men he wanted.  They were the four at Harlow’s house.  The VP of Black Deeds stepped up and took over; he’s made sure there’s no blowback on Storm for this.  But those fuckers killed Stoney to get to Harlow.”

“Fuck!”  In my gut I’d known that; it was the only explanation for everything.  Stoney wouldn’t have gone down without a fight so they would have had to kill him.

“How’s Harlow?”

“She’s fine but I didn’t call to chat; I just needed to know that everything had been taken care of and it has, so I’ll talk to you later.”

I disconnected the call without waiting for him to say anything else.  My patience for my father was growing less and less every day.

* * *

I pulled the café door open and waited for Harlow to walk in before I followed her.  Cheryl was waiting for her, and enveloped her in a hug.  They embraced for a long time; her mother gently patting her hair.  She’d spent some time with Harlow last night but I imagined her distress as a mother would be unspeakable.

“Thank you, Scott,” Cheryl said as they pulled apart.

Fuck, I was the last person she should be thanking; if it wasn’t for me, Harlow would never have been put in that situation.  I shook my head.  “No, it’s my fault.  Don’t thank me.”

“No, it’s not.  Did you tell that man to do what he did?  Did you have any control over his actions?  No.  People do shitty things all the time; they’re responsible for their own actions.  Not anyone else.  So, don’t ever blame yourself for this.”

Christ, I saw where Harlow got her purity from.

“Thank you,” I murmured, still uneasy about it all.

Harlow turned to me, and the gentle look she gave me, softened my hard heart a little.  “She’s right.  This wasn’t your fault.  Okay?”

We hadn’t talked much this morning; both of us still contemplative.  So, I had no idea what was going through her mind about all of this.  I was giving her some time to process it; tonight we would talk.

I nodded.  “Babe, you gonna be alright if I leave now?”  I had to be at Blade’s within the next hour to take care of Bullet and that was one meeting I didn’t want to be late for.

“Yes.  You go and do your stuff.  I’ll be here all day.  Can I stay with you again tonight?”

As if she had to ask.  “I’ll be here to pick you up at five.  Yeah?”

“Five is good.  I’ll see you then,” she said, and leant forward to give me a quick kiss.

Five minutes later, I was on my way to take care of Harlow’s request to make sure that Bullet couldn’t fuck with any other women.

Scott

I couldn’t deny it; I was a twisted fuck sometimes.  The idea of fucking Bullet up made me one of the happiest men on the fucking earth that day.  And when I entered the room where Blade had him, I realised that my half brother and I shared more than a father; we shared a darkness inside us that only physical violence could sate.

The room was on the lower level of Blade’s warehouse and was a concrete room with clear plastic lining every surface; the roof, walls and floor were all lined with it.  And I was sure that once we’d finished here today, that plastic would be replaced with new plastic for the next occupant of this room.

Bullet was laid out naked on a table, his arms and legs restrained in the same fashion that Harlow had been.  I noted that Blade was wearing a black outfit of training pants, t-shirt, and runners.  He indicated to a table in the corner of the room that had an identical outfit laid out.  “Change room is through there,” he pointed to the corner where there was a door.

I grabbed the outfit and headed towards the corner.  The plastic was cut so that I could get through and I entered a large open shower.  I quickly changed and joined Blade again.  He had a determined look on his face as he asked me, “You ready?”

“More than fucking ready.”

Bullet was shifting his gaze between Blade and I, and I was pleased to see he had that wild look in his eyes that I’d seen in Harlow’s yesterday.

Yeah that’s right, motherfucker.  Your turn now.

I had no idea what Blade had planned here.  He obviously used this room for similar operations and had a very well thought out set up in place so I was just following his lead.  He picked up a knife and lightly ran it down Bullet’s body from his throat to his dick.  “You know why they call me Blade?” he asked.

Bullet shook his head, clearly shitting himself.

“It’s because a knife is my favourite killing weapon.  My first kill was when I was seventeen; I killed a man with my bare hands, finishing him off with a blade twisted into his throat.”

I watched him intently, taking this new information in.  All clues today were pointing to a cold blooded killer, and I had the thought again that I’d underestimated Blade.

He looked at me while he spoke.  “From what I’ve heard, Scott’s good with his fists, so I’m going to let him go first today.”  He took his knife and cut the ropes restraining Bullet, and shoved him off the table, towards me.  Bullet took the opportunity now that he was unrestrained, to try and get a punch in.  He was too slow for me though; I threw a punch so hard that it knocked him to the floor.  He landed flat on his stomach; there was a loud cracking noise as his face smashed onto the concrete floor.

He didn’t move, and Blade muttered, “Fuck, did you knock him out?”

We watched as he lay still, but were both fucking happy when he moved and tried to get up.  I let him take his time getting up; I was enjoying the anticipation.  He finally stood and then faced me.  I was pretty fucking ecstatic to see his face had been fucked up.  That had to hurt.  He stumbled towards me; the motherfucker was still trying to get one in.  I let him come at me but there was no way he had the upper hand here, and I easily punched him again.  He fell down again, and I walked to where he was and kicked him hard in the side.  He rolled and grunted but he didn’t have it in him to get back up.