Staying Dirty by Cheryl McIntyre

One
    Link
     
    “LINK.”
    I pause with my hand on the door. My anger is a living being. I can feel it slithering through my veins and pounding in my head. I can see it in the trembling of my fingers, crushing the newspaper in my grip. I can hear it in the thundering static playing inside my eardrums.
    I can smell it.
    I can taste it.
    That fucking bastard has been watching me. Bates went after Rocky. He showed up at Lea’s. And after what he did to me and Liv—I have to kill him. Slowly . And Anthony’s going to tell me where to find him or he can join him.
    Rocky thinks she can stop me. Calm me. Make me reconsider. But she can’t. Nobody can. I’m past the point of no return. I have to do this. Can’t she see that? Can’t she understand? I won’t let her suffer Liv’s fate.
    I shove the door open and keep going without a look back. If I look at Rocky—if I see the fear on her face again—I don’t know if I’ll have the strength to hold back once I have Anthony in my sights. I might beat the life out of him before I get any information from him.
    “Link,” Rocky pants as her hand clamps around my bicep.
    “Don’t try to stop me, Rock,” I utter through clenched teeth. “I’m doing this.”
    “I’m not trying to stop you. I want to go with you.”
    My steady pace falters. I stop just a few feet from my car, my gaze sliding over to hers. I narrow my eyes, my rage boiling over. “The FUCK you are.” My fingers twist into rock-like fists at the ends of coiled arms. “Take your ass back into the gym with Augie and Joe. And stay there.”
    “If you’re going I’m going,” she demands.
    I step up into her personal space and push her back with my chest. I point over her shoulder at the gym where Lea stands, waiting. “Go back inside, Rocky. Now .”
    She raises her chin, her gaze meeting mine, unaffected by my obvious anger. “If you’re going—I’m going,” she repeats.
    The last thing I’m going to do is allow her to accompany me to the house of the man who raped and murdered my girlfriend. I don’t know what the fuck she’s thinking, but it’s not happening. It already kills me that she breathed the same air as Bates. I’m not going to willingly take her to Anthony.
    I scoop her up and toss her easily over my shoulder in one continuous move. There’s one solid second of shocked silence, and then a string of cuss words begin flying out of her mouth. She tries to kick at me immediately, but I catch her legs, securing them just below the knees, holding her still. I know she’s furious with me. But I’d rather her be pissed off and alive than the alternative.
    “Put me down, Linken,” she hisses. A growl of outrage follows. Her small fists pound at my back futilely. If I were in any other mindset than the one I’m currently in, I’d probably laugh.
    “You’re not coming with me,” I state firmly. “You’re staying here, where you’re safe and I don’t have to worry about you.”
    As I near the door, Rocky pushes herself up until she’s almost straight, and slams her elbow into the side of my neck. I stumble sideways with the blow, losing my grip on her legs, and nearly drop her.
    Now that was a good hit—solid and potent. It hurts like hell and I’m proud of her—she’s been paying attention in class. But she’s still not coming with me.
    With a final kick, she slides out of my grasp. And though I reach for her quickly, she slips past me with ease. “Fuck,” I breathe, rubbing my neck. I’m sure she was only trying to get loose—not hurt me—but damn it stings. I feel bad for any guy she wants to damage.
    But again, she’s still not going.
    Rocky circles in front of me with a smug smirk, her hands resting on her hips. “I can take care of myself.” She quirks a brow as if to drive the point home. “And I can hold you up all day long. You might as well let me come with you.”
    If I didn’t give a shit about her, this would work. I’d bring her with me just for the