Wet Leather: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC Page 3

  Returning to the kitchen afterwards, he picked up the empty bottles from the table and went to throw them away. The flip top of the trash can opened to show that it was almost full, and he grimaced at the smell as he dropped what he was holding in it.

  “This place is a shit house,” he grumbled and decided to tidy it up.

  He held his breath when he yanked the black bag out of the trash can and tied it up. The thought of going down to throw it away didn’t exactly fill him with joy, but in the end he couldn’t cope with the smell and decided to just do it. He looked under the sink to find another black bag and went around the small apartment tidying up. It wasn’t a job he relished, but he just sucked it up and got on with it. When the bag was full, he tied it up and went to the kitchen to get the other one.

  Walking to the door of his apartment, he opened it and stepped out to the hallway. He glanced inside to where his leather jacket was hanging up and considered going to get the weapon. It was quiet in the darkness, though, and he eventually just moved towards the stairs without bothering to take the gun with him.When he got to the ground floor, he walked to the exit that led to the alley at the rear of the property. He glanced either way when he got outside and saw that there was no one around, so he hefted the top of the dumpster up and threw the bags in. The top dropped down when he let go and he was about to walk inside when he caught a glimpse of a pair of heels.

  “Fucking drunks,” he let out.

  He shook his head as he stepped past the dumpster to take a look, but his brow furrowed when he saw the bruised face of the pretty girl lying motionless on the ground.

  “Hey,” Patch said and nudged her foot with his own. “You can’t sleep off your drinking there.”

  It got him no response and his concerns were raised when he saw the boxes lying beside the girl. He bent down to pick one up and realized straight away that she wasn’t drunk or sleeping.

  “Fucking hell,” he cursed in an irked voice as he knelt down to grab her wrist and press his fingers on it.

  There was barely a pulse beating and the girl was close to getting what she wanted by swallowing so many pills. Patch knew the smart thing was to walk away and not get involved… but his training and compassion kicked in and he knew he couldn’t just leave her lying there.

  He let out a long sigh then cursed as he worked his hands under the girl’s neck and knees to lift her up. She barely stirred when he hurried inside the building to return to his apartment.

  Chapter 3

  Matt slammed the empty bottle of beer down on the table and was aware of the glances towards him from other customers in the bar. His lips tightened together as the annoyance swelled in his mind and it was impossible to contain it.

  “What?” he snarled loudly as he raised his head and caught the gaze of someone sitting at the adjacent table.

  The man looked away quickly to avoid a confrontation, but Matt continued to glare for a few more seconds before eventually returning his attention to the empty bottle on the table. He considered getting up to buy another, but a glance at his watch showed it was now a couple of hours since his bust up with Tori and he decided to go home. The anger that engulfed him during the beating he gave her was gone, but the irritation of her behavior still pricked on his nerves. She was his and she needed to learn that. If that meant teaching her with his fists, then she would just have to take it as far as he was concerned. The chair screeched as he virtually launched himself to his feet, but no one glanced in his direction now.

  “Fucking maggots,” he grumbled as he cast his gaze around.

  He slid a hand behind his back and reached under his jacket to the gun tucked in his belt. His fingers touched on the butt and the urge to pull the weapon out and end the life of everyone in the bar was strong. He sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes as he imaged the scenario playing out, but eventually dropped his hand from the gun and opened his eyes.

  “Lucky pricks,” he said in a louder voice and moved away from the table to walk towards the door of the bar.

  A glance over his shoulder when he got there showed that no one was looking in his direction and it brought a smile to his face. None of the worms living out their sad existences were worthy of looking at him. He was a king and deserved the respect they were showing him. At least that’s what went through Matt’s head when he opened the door to walk out of the bar. The delusions of grandeur that flooded his mind weren’t that to him. They were the truth of his life that he was superior to the people around him and the smile on his face grew wider.

  The black of the night surrounded him as he set off along the sidewalk and the hike to the apartment lasted around fifteen minutes. As he approached the building, he glanced up towards the window of his home. There was no light shining in it and his lips tightened together as the irritation played on his mind.

  “That bitch better fucking be there,” he muttered and his fists clenched without him even realizing that he was doing it.

  His knuckles went white as he moved towards the steps at the front of the building and climbed them to walk through the door. The silence was deafening to him and a scowl spread across his face as his mood became darker. He grew ever more agitated as he walked up to the apartment, and the fidgeting of his hand made him miss the keyhole a couple of times when he tried to insert the key.

  “Fuck,” he snarled as his mood snapped and he crashed his balled fist on the frame of the door.

  The flare of pain made him howl and he shook his hand furiously as he tried to cope with it. He opened and closed his fingers as the sharp agony dulled to an ache then let out a harsh curse as he began trying to open the door again. When he eventually managed it, he glared inside at the quiet gloom that greeted him. It only worsened his foul state of mind and his teeth clenched together tightly as he stepped inside.

  “TORI!” he shouted after closing the door.

  Only silence came to him and his anger bubbled to the surface. He continued yelling his girlfriend’s name in a louder voice as he searched the apartment until he was finally sure that she wasn’t there. The irritation of her walking out on him for the second time in a day was impossible to hold down and his breath rasped out in ragged gasps.

  “Fucking bitch,” he snarled as he walked to the second bedroom in the apartment.

  Matt’s angry frustrations came out in a hefty kick at the door and it crashed against the wall when it swung open. The red mist descended as he walked in the room and strode across to the only furniture piece in it. He opened the bottom drawer in the cabinet to get one of the boxes hidden right at the back. Opening it up, he brought out a small paper package and unwrapped it to get the two pills nestling inside. The first one went down easily, but the second stuck in his throat and he gulped to try and swallow it. The pill wouldn’t budge and he cursed as he stormed out of the room to go to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and the lubrication as he drank finally dislodged the blockage in his throat.

  “Fucking bitch,” he repeated in a furious voice as he focused on the fact that his girlfriend wasn’t there. “She’ll be fucking sorry when she comes home.”

  He returned to the bedroom and looked around the pieces of fitness equipment. The drugs he just swallowed began to flood through his veins to bathe him in a familiar feeling of invincibility. It was making his heartbeat race as he walked across to a set of dumbbells and picked them up to begin pumping the weights. As usual, he gave up after only two or three reps and almost threw what he was holding to the floor. He ignored the loud sound it made as he paced incessantly from wall to wall across the room.

  The euphoric high of the stimulants in his system did nothing to stop the building fury at what he saw as the disrespectful behavior of his girlfriend, and it came out in the aggressive punch that he aimed at a wall. There was no pain now to make him howl, and he felt superhuman as he smashed his clenched fist at the plaster another couple of times before resuming his incessant pacing. He ignored the drip of blood
from his knuckles as thoughts of Tori played on his mind, and it eventually made him walk along to the main bedroom.

  The sight of one of her dresses draped across a chair made him curse. His rage came out even more as he grabbed the garment and put all his strength into ripping it to bits. It made his breath rasp out, but he wanted more of the ecstatic delight that destroying her possessions gave him. Moving across to the wardrobe, he yanked the door open so forcefully he almost ripped it off its hinges and hangers clattered to the ground as he pulled them out. He was unable to stop himself as he grabbed at his girlfriend’s clothes. The thin material of her dresses and tops was easily shred and there was a pile of ruined garments at his feet when he eventually stopped.

  The blistering fury powering him on became worse at the thought of Tori walking out on him that evening, and he grabbed at the wardrobe to tip it over. Suddenly he was unable to contain the madness burning in his brain as he trashed the bedroom in a mindless rampage. It was only when he brought the gun out from under his belt that he pulled himself back from the brink. His breath rasped out as he looked around at the damage he’d done, but he didn’t care. He ripped off the t-shirt he was wearing and beat his chest until there were trickles of blood sliding down his body. His earsplitting yells of anger faded away when he wiped a hand across his chest and looked at the red on his fingertips. The injuries were causing him no pain, however, as the stimulants continued to drive him on.

  “She’ll be fucking sorry for this,” he hissed as he stepped out of the smashed up bedroom.

  He made his way to the fitness room and went the chest of drawers. The box he got the pills from was sitting on top and he grabbed another couple of paper packages to put them in his pocket before walking to the kitchen. There were a couple bottles of beers in the fridge, so he got them out and walked to the table to sit down. Putting the top of the bottle against the edge of the wooden surface, he hammered his hand down to pop the cap off and drank half the beer in one long gulp.

  The mix of alcohol and drugs only fuelled his paranoia and he conjured up images of Tori being with another man. When the bottle was empty, he flung it violently across the kitchen then watched as it hit the wall and smashed to pieces. The sight of the flying glass brought out a manic laugh and it was only when it ended that he opened the second bottle. He drank half of the beer in one gulp again and the fingers of his free hand drummed endlessly on the tabletop.

  His mind ticked over as he emptied the bottle and the images running through his mind now were of what he was going to do to his bitch girlfriend when she came home. He would make sure after tonight that she never showed him any more disrespect. She would learn that she could leave the apartment only when he let her and show her what would happen if she disobeyed him.

  “Need to make that bitch learn she has to treat me right,” he let out through clenched teeth.

  A malevolent smile played on his lips as he continued thinking of the ways he was going to teach Tori to love him. He looked at the bottle of beer when it was empty, but on this occasion simply set it down on the table rather than throwing it at the wall. Getting to his feet, he walked around the apartment switching off the lights until the place was plunged into complete darkness. When he was finished, he made his way to the lounge and stepped over to an armchair. He got the packages out of his pocket and placed them on the table beside the chair when he sat down.

  It was now just a matter of waiting like he’d done earlier in the evening. At some point or other during the next few hours, he was certain that he’d hear the door opening to signal the return of his girlfriend and when he did the lesson would begin.

  Chapter 4

  The brightness stung when Tori tried to blink her eyes open, and after a second or two she gave up trying as it became too much for her to cope with. The strong sunlight seemed to sear through her eyelids and she wanted to block out the unsettling sensation. It slowly became obvious that she couldn’t raise her right hand to cover her face, and at first she thought it was just the weakness of her body that was stopping her from lifting her arm from the mattress. As the drowsiness slowly wore off, she cottoned on to the fact that a strap was actually binding her wrist to the frame of the bed she was on.

  “What the hell?” she let out in a frail voice, but just saying the words hurt her throat.

  She forced herself to open one eye and saw the large plaster sticking on the back of her hand. In her exhausted and confused state of mind, it was difficult for her to comprehend the narrow plastic tube coming out from under the medical dressing, and her gaze lazily followed it all the way up to the clear plastic bag of fluid hanging on a metal stand.

  She thought she was dreaming and closed her eyes to try and make sense of the situation. Her breathing was labored and the way it wheezed out made her all the more conscious of how sore her throat was. A glance to her left hand showed that it wasn’t tied down, and it was only when she looked up from it that she saw the man sitting at the side of the bed watching her. The flash of anxiety was instant and she tried to sit up.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” the man let out.

  The flare of dizziness was enough to convince Tori that trying to get up was a bad idea and she let her head drop to the pillow. She glanced fearfully at the man.

  “Who are you?” she asked and her voice broke to make her cough.

  “The name is Vincent Jamison, but I usually go by my nickname of Patch.”

  Tori’s brow creased as she frowned and she ignored the pain of the brightness to open her eyes wide and glance around. She was lying in what appeared to be a normal, if somewhat untidy, bedroom. Her next question came out as her gaze went to Patch.

  “What am I doing here?”

  “Would you rather be dead?” Patch snapped in a harsh reply.

  She visibly winced as the words brought her mind to the night before. Images of the beating by Matt and her flight from the apartment came to her and tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. The evening culminated in her taking the overdose of painkillers, and she remembered the world fading to darkness as she slumped over in the dark alley.

  “Someone found me,” she let out quietly before looking towards the man sitting at the side of the bed.

  “Yeah, that would be me,” Patch replied.

  “Is this a hospital?” Tori went on as she looked around.

  Patch couldn’t hold in the snorting laugh that erupted out of his mouth.

  “Does it look like a fucking hospital to you?” he asked.

  “No,” Tori replied.

  “Then there’s your answer.”

  She grimaced as she lifted her hand to her throat and coughed.

  “It will probably be sore for a couple of days,” Patch said.

  “Why?” Tori croaked and it made her cough once more.

  “I needed to get those pills out of your stomach somehow,” he went on then held up a couple of his fingers to show her. “Not the most sophisticated of medical equipment, I’ll grant you, but it can be effective at cleaning out the contents of a stomach.”

  Tori grimaced as she caught on to his meaning. He’d obviously shoved his fingers down her throat to make her throw up.

  “It’s like your fingers are still in there,” she said as she continued to rub her throat.

  “Yeah, well you gave it a real go at emptying those boxes I found lying beside you,” Patch replied. “It wasn’t the easiest of jobs to get that many pills out.”

  “You shouldn’t have bothered,” she said in a despairing voice. “It would have been better if you just left me next to the dumpster.”

  “I did think about it,” Patch told her.

  “Then why didn’t you?” she let out.

  “Because you’re too fucking young to give up,” he barked in a strident voice that revealed his annoyance. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  Tori rolled her head to the side to look away from him as a tear rolled down her cheek.

  “Why do you fucking care
?” she asked.

  “I don’t,” Patch answered uncaringly. “But you should.”

  “Maybe I’ve got nothing worth living for,” Tori went on.

  “Then maybe I should go and buy you another two boxes of painkillers,” he snapped severely. “And just leave you to it.”

  Tori lifted a hand to wipe the tear away and grimaced as the pain burned on her cheek. It reminded her of Matt’s beating and she wondered just how bad her face looked. At least her eye wasn’t swollen shut, and she followed the tube coming out from under the plaster all the way up to the clear bag.

  “What are you pumping in my veins?” she asked.

  “It’s just saline solution,” Patch answered and his voice was calmer. “You lost a lot of fluid when you were throwing up, and you were sweating a lot too. The solution will rehydrate you. I tied down your wrist to make sure you didn’t move around and rip the needle out.”