“Thanks for getting the estimate done so quickly,” the man said as he wobbled into the light.

“Anytime, man. Are you sure you hit a deer? It’s a lot of damage for such a small animal.”

“I hit something. I didn’t stick around to see what the hell it was.” He laughed. “I was fucked up and probably shouldn’t have been driving.”

Bear looked around, trying to find us in the dark. “That shit isn’t cool, dude.”

“Eh, fuck it. I lived,” the scumbag said.

I couldn’t take it anymore. The rage inside me had boiled over. My body hummed with fury. The coldhearted bastard didn’t care if he killed someone as long as he survived.

I stepped from the shadows with my hands already clenched into tight fists, coming to a stop in front of him.

He stepped back and snarled. “Watch it, fucker.”

I took a step forward and invaded his space. “I think you need to learn some manners, asshole.”

“Fuck you, man,” he said, waving his hand in my face.

I swatted his hand away. The guys stepped out of the darkness, standing behind me. The man looked around, and his eyes filled with terror. The same fear I felt when I saw his car coming straight for Georgia.

“What the fuck is this about?” he asked with wide eyes, stumbling back another step.

Reaching out, I grabbed his shirt, fisting it in my hands before pulling him closer. “You fuckin’ ran my woman off the road last night.”

He shook his head and swallowed hard. “It was a deer. I swear.” His hands clawed at my fist. “You have the wrong guy,” he pleaded, his entire body shaking in my grip.

I didn’t wait. I couldn’t listen to his lies. My right hand connected with his jaw, snapping his head back sharply as his bone cracked with the impact. When he grabbed his jaw, I dropped him to the ground.

“Get up!” I roared. My anger had grown since I’d stepped out of the SUV. It had morphed into something more…something bigger than I thought possible.

He rubbed his jaw and tried to push himself up but failed. “That was a cheap shot,” he complained, sounding like a little bitch.

“Get up and fight.” I kicked his feet, trying to get him off the ground quicker. “You want to hurt someone…try to hurt me, motherfucker.”

He pushed himself up and put his hands in front of his face, making fists. “You’re going to kick my ass over some bitch?”

I cracked my neck and soaked up the adrenaline that coursed through my system. It had been far too long since I’d felt the thrill of beating someone’s ass, and I would enjoy every fucking minute of it. “She isn’t some bitch. She’s mine. You fucked with the wrong people.”

His eyes were glued to mine as he spat, and a stream of blood landed next to my shoes. “Let’s see if you can do it when I’m waiting for you. You don’t look that tough. You even had to bring a gang.”

He bounced from foot to foot. “Come on. You hit like a pussy,” he said with a cackle.

The guys took a step forward, closing the circle around us. “I got him,” I told them and waved them off.

“Kick his ass,” James barked.

The anger inside me was raging and my fists flew, landing one punch after another until he swayed and finally fell to the ground.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Sam called out and moved toward the SUV.

Standing there, I looked down at the guy and felt nothing. I wasn’t sorry for what I’d done. He deserved every blow, and tomorrow he’d wake up in jail.

“Come on, man. He won’t forget that ass-beating for a long time,” Bear said, placing his hand on my shoulder.

I glanced at him, my breathing heavy and labored. “What if he does?” My chest heaved with the anger moving throughout my body more than from the exertion of knocking the guy’s lights out.

“He won’t, and when he wakes up tomorrow in jail, he’ll wish you would’ve killed him.”

Tank stood next to me with plastic zip ties in his hands. “Get out of here. Bear and I will load him in his car and deliver him to the police station.”

“Fuck, I wish I had a bow,” Bear joked.

Tank kneeled down next to the dirtbag. “Hit it. We got it from here.”

Slowly I walked toward the SUV, not caring who saw what had happened. The knot that had settled in my belly last night had vanished, and I knew I’d done the right thing when I saw Tank and Bear loading him into the back of his smashed-up car.

When I settled in my seat and closed the door, Morgan nudged me. “How are you going to explain your bloody knuckles to Georgia?”

She knew I’d left her tonight to take care of something. Since she was a smart one, I knew that she’d put two and two together. I just prayed that she’d understand why I did what I did and forgive me. Hopefully, knowing that I left the prick alive would be enough when combined with her feelings for me. We needed to ride out this storm and emerge stronger on the other side.

Take it or leave it, this was who I had always been. I classified myself as a nice guy, but I had a bunch of asshole hidden beneath the surface. When someone threatened or hurt someone I loved, I happily took him out.

Love.

I gasped.

“What?” James asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

“Nothing,” I said, feeling my pulse quicken to the same frantic pace it had kept when I had been fighting.

“Sure? You look a bit white.”

I clenched my hands in my lap. “I’m good.”

Did I love Georgia?

It had taken me months to say those words to Jeanine. They’d been wasted words, because her treachery showed that she didn’t feel the same.

But Georgia wasn’t Jeanine. They couldn’t be any more opposite. Even though they were yin and yang, could I honestly say I loved her?

The answer was simple.

I did.

Chapter 18

Make Amends

Thankfully, by the time I returned to her place, she’d passed out and was sleeping too deeply to wake up when I crawled into bed. I lay there, listening to her breathing and thinking about everything that had transpired since the day I’d met her.

Everything blurred together except for the moments I spent with her. I could play them over and over again in my head, reliving every second.

She was unlike any other woman I’d ever met.

Her kindness.

Her smartass mouth.

Her intelligence.

Her integrity.

Her beauty.

Our shared heartbreak.

The funniest part about it was that I couldn’t muster any reason why I’d loved Jeanine, but with Georgia in my arms, I couldn’t think of a reason why I didn’t love her. I just had to laugh.

“You’re home.” Georgia’s groggy voice made me still.

I pulled her closer, running my fingers through her dark hair. “I’m sorry I woke you, babe. Go back to sleep.”

She snuggled into my side, mumbling something that I couldn’t make out. Within moments, her breathing deepened.

“I love you, Georgia,” I whispered. “I’d do anything to protect you.” I drifted off to sleep reliving the moments I’d spent with her.

Every smile, kiss, and touch we’d exchanged in our short relationship. I couldn’t imagine a day without them now.

***

When the sunlight hit my face, I cracked open an eye and saw her form looming over me. She sat on the bed, the leg with her cast out straight and off to the side, with her other leg tucked in front of her. This wasn’t going to be good. Before I closed my eyes, I took notice of her posture. Her back was straight, her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and she wasn’t moving.