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But those thoughts weren’t at the forefront of my mind. No. At the forefront of my mind was Brody’s voice.

“You are so fucking strong, you have no idea.”

Before I could question the wisdom of the action, I closed my teeth over Nick’s ear and bit down hard.

Blood filled my mouth, and he was shouting and trying to push me away. I hung on doggedly and jerked my head to the side.

He screamed and punched my side hard three times. I let go with a piece of ear still in my mouth. I spat it onto the floor, my face covered in a spray of his blood. I turned to see what my efforts had wrought. Nick’s ear hung awkwardly, torn deeply down the side and missing an entire chunk.

I barely had time to congratulate myself before he hit me.

I tuned out as much as I could during the beating, the victory at having hurt him still pulsing through my veins. I’d done it. I didn’t care what he did. I’d made my mark. I’d made him bleed.

He stumbled away, and I sagged forward, catching my breath. Adrenaline pumped through my blood, making me jumpy and ready to fight. I wanted to kick and scream and tear him to shreds.

Then he was back again, stopping right in front of me.

“You think you can hurt me, bitch? I’ll show you hurt,” he grunted.

I looked up to see what he’d found to torment me with next.

Oh. A hammer.

I didn’t even have time to be afraid before he swung it toward my foot.

Brody

“I told you,I need out of here, now!” I snapped at Ronan, who was sitting far too calmly for my liking. I was covered in blood from beating Preston, disheveled from attempting to rip my hair out, and I couldn’t sit still. I needed to get out and find Selena. I needed to gonow.

“Your job is to get me out of here, and instead you’ve got me here playing nice with the pigs.”

“Well, for that to be true, first of all, you’d have to stop hurling insults and threats at them and actually play nice. Do you want out of here or not?”

I took a long breath. “What do I have to do to get out of here?”

“Well, we could admit to beating the cop unprovoked and then we could post bail and you’re out. It could have consequences for your future, however. Alternatively, we get the investigation into Preston rolling and say you were acting in self-defense. It’s slower, but that way nothing will stick to you. Your reputation will be intact, and your record will stay clean.”

I nodded, making my mind up in a moment, and turned toward the two-way glass in the interrogation room. I banged hard on it.

“Come back in. I confess, I did it. Unprovoked attack, or whatever. I’m guilty. Charge me and let me go.”

“Brody!” Ronan snapped at me from across the room. “What are you doing?”

“The woman I love is out there somewhere, abducted, and it has something to do with all of this. I can’t sit here one more second, while sheneedsme,” I insisted.

Ronan considered my words and then blew out a harsh sigh. “Fucking love, who’d bother? It just fucks everything up. Fine. We’ll do it your way. I just hope this doesn’t come back to haunt you. A reputation once lost is lost forever, remember.”

“Well, that’s what I have you for. I’m sure you can fix all of it, after. Right now, I can’t be here.”

Ronan watched me and then rolled his eyes. “Fine. Your dad’s not going to like this, though.”

“I don’t give a fuck.”

A few hours later, I burst out of the police station and took my phone from the little baggie all my stuff had been put in.

I called Cal. “What’s the news?”

“I got the security footage from the diner. It was Nick. The waitress recognized him. Don’t forget, he’s the fucking cop’s little brother.”