“A night of rough consensual sex could explain all of it.”
“Can’t you beat a confession out of him?” Melanie said, completely exasperated. Where was the justice in the world?
“Then it would be coercion and he’d definitely walk away a free man.”
“At least he’d be limping,” Melanie said.
The officer chuckled, but Melanie wasn’t joking.
“I’d love to go vigilante on this prick,” he said, “but I have to be on the side of law and the law says—“
“I don’t want to hear what the law says. It’s wrong. I was hoping you could guarantee a conviction. Nikki doesn’t even want to press charges. She just wants to forget the whole thing ever happened.”
“That’s not uncommon for a rape victim.”
Melanie understood Nikki’s reluctance to relive her ordeal for a judge or a jury or even a police officer, but she couldn’t stomach the thought of this guy getting away with hurting her.
“What if he does this to someone else?” Melanie said, still trying to appeal to the officer’s sense of justice. “Wouldn’t it be better to put him away now?”
“Of course, but—”
Melanie lifted a hand. She’d already heard all the buts she could take for one night.
“It’s good you’re sticking up for her,” the officer said. “She has a good friend in you.”
Melanie didn’t feel like a good friend. She’d deserted Nikki to go off for a weekend of fun with a man. She should have trusted her gut and never have left Nikki to fend for herself in an unfamiliar city. If she couldn’t protect Nikki, who could?
“I’m going to take her home,” Melanie said. “Is she free to go?”
“She can go; we have her statement,” he said.
“Yeah, just not her rapist,” Melanie said acidly and stormed out of the office.
She found Nikki sitting on a bench near the exit, staring at the industrial-grade tile at her feet. Gabe sat beside her, looking as comfortable as a bed of nails. He lifted a brow, and Melanie shook her head. He glanced at Nikki and clenched his jaw. Melanie sat beside Nikki and took her hand in hers.
“What did they say?” Nikki asked.
Melanie was tempted to lie, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “Unless they can find some evidence or he confesses to what he did of his own free will, he’s gonna walk.”
Nikki nodded. “I probably shouldn’t have cleaned up so well,” she said. “I just couldn’t stand the feel of him all over me. Inside me.”
Melanie touched Nikki’s cheek so that she’d meet her eyes. “It’s okay. I would have done the same.”
There was a loud crack from the opposite side of Nikki, and Melanie leaned around her to find Gabe holding the broken and splintered bench arm in one hand.
“Cheap furniture,” he said, his voice raw with emotion. “I have to go.” He left the broken arm on the bench seat and strode out of the station without another word.
Melanie couldn’t believe he would desert her at a time like this. Didn’t he know that she needed him to be strong for her so that she could hold it together for Nikki?
“Men,” Nikki said under her breath as the slightest semblance of a smile graced her split lip.
Melanie hugged her against her shoulder and rubbed her back. “Are you ready to go back to the hotel and get some sleep?”
“Can I sleep with you?” Nikki said in that small voice that tugged at Melanie’s heart.
“Of course,” Melanie said.
“Then I’m ready.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
There were times when having a backstage pass was very convenient. This would be one of those times. No one seemed to care that Gabe’s pass was for a different event or that he was a drummer, not a cage fighter. He had free run over the backstage area and with unbridled fury coursing through his veins, he was searching for one man.
The lowlife could not get off without punishment; Gabe wouldn’t allow it. He was about to inflict some Texas-sized justice on his ass, if only he could find the prick.
After asking around, he found Dick Bailey sitting on a bench, taping his knuckles. He was already dressed for his fight, and Gabe wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but this huge hulk of a man was more than he had bargained for. That, however, didn’t stop him from sucker-punching the fighter in the mouth and knocking him from the bench.
Dick climbed from the floor, pressing the back of his hand to his bleeding lip.
“What the hell?” he said in an impossibly deep voice. “Who the fuck are you?”
Gabe was several inches over six feet, but this guy towered over him and outweighed him by a good fifty pounds of solid muscle. Gabe supposed if he’d retained a shred of intelligence, he’d have been terrified of such a massive dude, but he was too pissed off to think clearly. And the idea that this beast had used all that muscle to rape a woman, and not just any woman, but someone who Melanie loved dearly, caused Gabe to lose his mind entirely.
He advanced on the massive fighter, just wanting to hit him and hit him and never stop hitting him. A sense of satisfaction suffused Gabe as his fist connected with Dick Bailey’s gut.
For some stupid reason, Gabe wasn’t expecting the guy to hit back. Or for the force behind the blow to knock the wind out of him.
“I don’t know who the fuck you are—”
“The cops might have let you go, but I’m a whole ’nother story,” Gabe said.
“The cops? Of course they let me go. I didn’t do anything.”
Gabe managed to hit him in the face this time. The return blow felt as if it dislocated Gabe’s jaw, but damned if he cared.
“You don’t think raping a defenseless woman is wrong?” Gabe yelled.
“Is she your sister or something?” He sidestepped Gabe’s next punch. “Look, dude, I don’t know what she told you, but I did not rape her. We got a little rough maybe, but she said she wanted it that way.”
Gabe might have believed him—God knew Nikki was a master of manipulation—but he’d seen how emotionally torn up she was. That wasn’t an act. Even if this jackass didn’t think what he’d done to Nikki was rape, she’d been violated body and soul. She was a victim. Gabe believed that from the depths of his soul and he was done talking. He’d come here to kick some ass, and he wasn’t leaving until he was satisfied that he’d done the job properly.
After he’d been pounded on a couple times himself, however, he decided that perhaps a job mediocrely done was sufficient. He got in his licks, but the retaliating blows soon had his head swimming and his body protesting its punishment.
Perhaps he should have challenged this guy to a match of wits instead of fists.
“Had enough?” Bailey asked after several minutes of bruising give and take.
Gabe was happy to see that the big guy was breathing hard. He personally felt as if his lungs had collapsed, but he was not giving up. He refused to give Dick Bailey the satisfaction of rendering him unconscious or defeated.
Gabe was somewhat relieved when security came to break up the fight. He wished he’d been able to beat the guy down, but at least he himself was still standing. Someone grabbed him by the back of the shirt and hauled him toward the exit. By the time he found himself face down in the parking lot, his shirt had been ripped clean off.
“Get out of here, punk. Before we call the cops.”
He knew they wouldn’t let him back inside to finish the job. He climbed to his feet and spat gravel out of his mouth. Or maybe it was teeth. Gabe tipped his head back to send the flow of blood down the back of his throat as he considered his options. He wouldn’t mind getting arrested. What he did mind was that Dick Bailey was only going to have one black eye while he was pretty sure he’d be sporting two.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Melanie had just shifted Nikki’s head from her shoulder onto a pillow when her phone rang. Gabe’s ringtone. She considered not answering it. She still couldn’t believe that he’d abandoned her
at the police station with no idea why he’d left or where he’d gone. He’d better have a good explanation. Wanting to hear what excuse came out of his mouth was the only reason she answered.
Or so she told herself.
“Where are you?” he asked. “I came back to our room and you’re not here.”
“I got my own room.”
“What? Why?”
“Because Nikki needs me and you apparently don’t.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t need you? Where did you get that idea?”
“You just fucking left us there at the police station, Gabe. You didn’t even bother to say goodbye. Don’t you think I have enough to worry about with Nikki without you acting like a complete asshole?”
“I didn’t think. I just…” He took a deep breath. “Fuck, Melanie. What did you expect me to do for her?”
“Not a damned thing, Gabe. I didn’t need you there for her. I needed you there for me!”
Nikki stirred beside her, and Melanie took a deep breath to calm her frayed nerves. “I have to go. Nikki’s sleeping. I don’t want to wake her.”
“Are you in this hotel?” he asked. “I need to see you, Mel. I need to touch you. I need to know that we’re fucking okay. Are we okay?”
Irked as she was, she wanted to see him too. She wanted him to hold her while she fell apart, but she couldn’t leave Nikki alone again. She just couldn’t.
“I just… I just need to be with her right now.”
He was silent for a moment. Even listening to him breathe was making her chest ache. Making her miss him.
“She’s sleeping, isn’t she?” he asked.
Melanie stroked Nikki’s silky brown hair from her face. Nikki smiled peacefully in her sleep and snuggled into her pillow.
“Yeah. She’s sleeping.”
“Can we talk in the hallway or something? Where are you? Wherever you are, I’ll come to you.”
She hesitated, considering. What harm would it do to talk to him as long as she was in earshot of Nikki?
“Melanie, please,” he said.
“We’re in Shade’s room. Adam gave us Shade’s spare key because you left us and Nikki forgot her key in the room.”
“Oh,” he said. “So you didn’t leave me because you were mad.”
“I would have if I’d thought of it,” she snapped.
He chuckled and there was a soft knock at the door. “I think someone at your door wants to see you,” he whispered. “But I don’t think you realize how much.”
She disconnected the call, climbed from the bed—careful not to disturb Nikki—and hurried to the door. She blinked in the bright glare of the hallway and gasped when she saw Gabe’s face. Both eyes were well on the way to being black, and he had a cut on the bridge of his nose, a horrible bruise creeping up the strong line of his jaw, and blood on his upper lip.
“Oh my God, Gabe” she said. “What happened to your face?”
He shrugged, still holding his phone to his ear. “I got in a little fight.”
“A fight with who?”
“A certain cage fighter we both despise.”
He’d gotten into a fight with Dick Bailey? Was he insane?
“What in the world happened?”
“I figured since the cops weren’t going to do anything to him, I’d kick his ass.” He ran a hand gingerly over his face. “You didn’t tell me he was so fucking huge.”
“Are you crazy? You went after him? Gabe! He’s a professional fighter.”
“Semi-professional,” he corrected. “And yeah, well, he doesn’t look as bad as I do, but I got in a few good licks before they threw me out.”
“Is that why you left us at the station? So you could go beat up someone?”
He winced. “You make it sound like a crime. I was beyond pissed at the time, and it seemed like a good idea to release my anger on the responsible party’s face.”
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. He gasped, and she immediately let go. Apparently his face wasn’t the only thing that had taken a pummeling.
“Don’t let go,” he said, drawing her against him again.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then don’t ever again make me think you’ve left me.”
She pressed her face into his bare chest, but kept her hold loose. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
“You did,” he said. “Far more than getting punched in the face by a cage fighter.” He rubbed his lips against her hair. “I thought you’d gone back to Wichita without saying goodbye.”
She tilted her head back so she could look at him. He smoothed her hair with both hands and then lowered his head to claim her trembling lips. She couldn’t believe he’d risked himself for Nikki. If Melanie hadn’t already been completely enamored with the man, that reckless act of selfless heroism would have done the trick.
His kiss was too short. She’d have liked it to go on forever.
“Melanie?” Nikki mumbled from the bed. She sat bolt upright. “Melanie!”
“I’m right here,” Melanie said. “I’m just saying goodnight to Gabe.”
“You’re going to make me leave, aren’t you?” Gabe said.
Knowing she had to send him away made her sick with longing. She’d much rather snuggle against him all night than fight Nikki for covers, but sometimes sacrifices had to be made. Melanie knew Nikki wouldn’t sleep if she left her alone. And Nikki needed sleep. And to feel safe and loved. Nikki needed cuddles even more than Melanie did. So she brushed a kiss against Gabe’s lips, pushed him into the hall, and shut the door.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gabe had spent half the night missing Melanie, half the night being jealous of Nikki, and half the night feeling guilty about that jealousy. Yes, his nights were now fifty percent longer. At least they felt that way when he attempted to sleep alone and ended up feeling sorry for himself.
Jacob called near noon.
“Can you vacate my room now? Adam said he gave my spare key to your girlfriend. Why are you guys in my room anyway? Did you break another set of box springs?”
Gabe knew Jacob was joking, but he was in no mood for banter.
“I’m not with her,” he said. “She’s in your room, and I’m in my room.”
“Oh,” he said flatly. “What’s going on?”
“Shit,” Gabe grumbled. “Lots of fucked-up shit.” He rubbed at his tired eyes and was served a painful reminder that he’d gotten his ass whipped the night before. Well, most of the whipping had occurred to his face, but he felt it in every inch of his body.
“Sounds like the morning I’m having,” Jacob said. “So what should I do? I don’t want to just barge in on her.”
Gabe climbed out of bed and reached for his jeans, holding his phone between his head and his shoulder while he slipped them on. “I’ll go with you.”
“Aren’t you two fighting?”
“No. She just has better things to do than me.” He knew that kind of thinking wasn’t fair to her, but after eight hours of tossing and turning—aching for her, body and soul—his attitude was more than a little skewed.
He entered the corridor and cringed as the bright lighting