he twists his lips into a snarl. “Who will protect you? I’ll go wherever the hell you both end up. You won’t be able to take a shit without tiptoeing around my fist.”
Disgust roils in my stomach. He’s goading me, and what’s worse is that it’s fucking working. My knuckles are itching to smash into his gloating face.
“That’s not going to stop me from breaking your nose right now.”
I palm his chest, throwing him backward into a tree trunk. A vicious satisfaction zips up my spine as pain crosses his features.
Until a feminine voice reaches my ears. “Gage!” She grabs my arms from behind, trying to pull me back, but I end up dragging her forward. Then she releases me, stepping between Mark and me. She’s actually defending him.
“Gage! He’s just going to use this against you. What’s the point?”
“It’ll make me feel better.”
He turns his oily gaze to her. “He’s a savage, Olivia. I told you time and time again that people like him resolve things through violence. Look at him! He’s ready to beat me up because he lost.”
Olivia’s fingers dig into my shoulders as she pushes me back. “If you need to destroy a town to make a girl to touch you, odds are the problem is you.”
“She belongs to me,” he bellows, pushing Olivia aside. “You stole my fiancée! You fucking defiled her!”
That makes me laugh. “You bet your ass, I did.”
She calls out into the forest. “Jack! Help!”
“That’s my baby!” he screams, pointing to her stomach.
I have eyes only for him. “She got pregnant the moment she came into town. Without you. It shouldn’t be that hard to put two and two together. Only one man here got the job done, and it wasn’t you.”
Enraged, Mark reaches out and hurls Olivia to the side. I watch her body fling to the ground as though in slow motion. She catches herself, her black hair sliding over her face to reveal a deep frown. “You fucking jerk!” she screams at Mark.
I grab his throat, my digits sinking into his flesh, and then I slam the back of his head into the tree. He looks dazed with the first blow, his body making a loud thump as I cut off his air. Then again and again for everything he’s done. For shutting down my business. For threatening my wife and throwing her to the side.
“Stop!”
I hear her voice dimly, as though it’s coming from a can. Then a thick, hairy arm slides around my neck, and two more yank my arms back. Mark sinks to the ground, leaves and dirt marring his hair. It takes three bikers to hold me while he gets stands, shaking.
He points at me. “I’ll fucking kill you!” They laugh as he tries to scream, but it comes out in a hoarse whisper.
I’m still blinded with rage when he lunges at me, but another biker bats him aside like a fly and he slams into the trunk.
“Both of you, stop!”
Mark directs his rage onto her. “The moment that child is born, I’m taking it away from you. I don’t give a fuck if it isn’t mine. I’ll use every influence I have to make sure your brat is dumped in the foster system!”
All of us make furious movements, but Olivia gets there first—SMACK! Mark’s head rips back from the blow, still smiling as redness blooms on his cheeks.
“All right. That’s enough.”
Chris shoulders through the crowd gathered around us and shoves my chest. “You’re fucking lucky they didn’t see anything.” His tone becomes acidic as he addresses Mark. “Come here before you get yourself killed.”
He stumbles through the forest toward the road with Chris in tow. I breathe a sigh of relief. The cops couldn’t care less about Mark’s state. They take one glance at him and turn their attentions into their chili bowls. The rest of the bikers amble back to their positions at the line.
My blood gallops forward in my veins, my legs tense enough to spring. Olivia is crouched in the dirt, looking at the hand that struck Mark’s face as though she can’t believe what she did. Sickness attacks my gut when she looks at me, eyes full of tears.
“He’ll never leave us alone. Why is he doing this?”
I stoop next to her, gathering her body in my arms. “Because you said no. That’s all it takes for a guy like him. He’s probably never heard the word said to him.”
Tears squeeze out of her eyes. “I can’t handle this, Gage.