Page 31 of Hard Ruck
“Then I would have—” He closed his mouth with a click.
“What would you have done?” I insisted.
He was a simmering pot, ready to boil over. I wasn’t sure if he realised that. He saved the violence for the rugby field, but it was close to the surface, itching to spill over into the rest of hislife. Better he realise that now before he lashed out the way Frost had.
“I would have told her to fuck off,” he said.
“And if she refused?” I asked. “What then?”
“I would have walked away,” he insisted.
“What if she followed?” I pressed.
“I would have—” He cut his words off again.
“What would you have done?” I pressed harder.
“I would have stopped her,” he said, his voice quieter now.
“How? How would you have stopped her?” What I was getting at quickly sank into his mind. He didn’t like it, but he needed to face it.
“If I had to, I would have fucking done what Frost did,” he finally admitted. “I would have wrapped my hands around her throat and squeezed until she understood.”
“Do you wish you’d done what he did?” I asked more gently. “You like having power. Do you want power like that?”
He pressed his hands to his face. “I don’t know. I can’t stop thinking about him doing it. I should go to the police, but instead I’m fucking hard.”
I placed a hand on his thigh. “Welcome to Dusk Bay. The question is what do we do with the way you feel right now?”
“The answer to that should be extensive therapy,” he said bitterly.
“If that’s the path you want to take, I’ll support you,” I said. “I’m a doctor, I shouldn’t be advocating violence. But I also know there are some shitty people out there.” People much worse than Ivy. “People the world would be better off without.”
“What are you saying?” he asked. “Are you suggesting you will bring me some…I don’t know…rapist, and let me kill him?”
“When you thought Frost forced himself on me, what would you have done? If you honestly thought he was capable of that?” I asked.
“I would have ripped his nuts off and choked him with them,” Storm growled. “I would have smashed his face in.”
“You would have killed him,” I stated.
“For raping you, yeah, I would have killed him,” Storm said. “I was pissed at him, but I knew he wouldn’t go that far. Not really. If he was any other guy…” He shook his head.
“How would doing that have made you feel?” I asked.
“I dunno. Better. Asshole wouldn’t have laid a finger on you again.” His words were still grudging.
“If you want, you could make sure people like that don’t rape anyone,” I said.
“It’s not that simple though, is it?” he asked. “Your brother isn’t a vigilante. He works for people with an agenda. Right? Does he kill innocent people because his boss tells him to?”
That was a good question and one I was reluctant to answer. Yes, at times Ice might have had to torment someone he considered innocent. Times like that would be few and far between though. He much preferred to deal pain to those who brought pain to other people. It was his way of doing good in the world.
My tongue slid over my lips. “Not just because his boss tells him to.”
Storm’s head snapped towards me. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Remember Belinda Simmons?” I asked.
