Safe With Me

Chap. 31: Hell To Pay

• Elle Bradley above •

Frowning, Elle wipes the blood from her fingertips onto her black leggings. She grabs Happy's extended hand and is rose up to her feet. She nods to him, feeling embarrassed for the scene that had took place just seconds before.

"You okay?" Happy asks firmly, examining the cut on the corner of her lip.

Feeling the sting of pain, Elle automatically pulls away from him. "Yeah...I'm fine, Happy."

"You knew better than to provoke him! He was going to kill you!" The dark skinned man continues scowling her.

"Happy." Elle says firmly, giving him a dagger like look. "I said I was fine. Move on."

Happy nods to her, seeing the embarrassment in her eyes. "Okay, Kid. Okay."

As they begin to move toward the exit, Elle sees Jesse with his hand on the small of Jaelynn's back. Jared slinks his hand down and swats her bottom hard. The sound of Jaelynn's startled, painful cries echos. Elle narrows her brows in anger as Jared quickly dashes off before Jesse can get ahold of him.

"Why do men think it's funny to harass a woman? They wouldn't be laughing if the tables were turned." Elle shakes her head as they exit the dining room, "We're not objects that were put on this Earth for man's sexual pleasure alone."

"Not all men are like Ezra or Jared, Elle." Happy looks down at her with a grim expression, "Not all men hit or attack women because they see no harm in it. Remember that."

Elle nods at Happy's words, sighing heavily. Suddenly, Brody exits out of the laundry room. He nods to Happy but ignores Elle completely. The blonde sadly frowns, but doesn't acknowledge the tension between them. Brody silently falls in line beside Elle.

            Elle turns to Happy, curious. "What does Ira want with Jaelynn?"

             "First phase of initiation, like I taught you." To Elle's surprise, Brody answers. She looks to him, seeing that his blue eyes are focused forward. "She has to learn how to take orders and fear the consequences of Ira."

Elle's brown eyes look forward at the back of Jaelynn's head. In the corner of his eye, Brody looks down at the blonde. He starts to turn away when something catches his eye: the bloody cut in the corner of Elle's mouth. Something goes off inside Brody. He stops dead in his tracks, grabbing Elle's jawline. The blonde loudly gasps at his sudden actions, her brown eyes wide as she starred up into his. Elle tries to pull away but his grip tightens.

         Brody examines the cut in the corner of her lip, his chest rising and falling greatly. His thumb rubs over the wound, making Elle hiss at the pain with a wince. Brody's breathing heavies to where the blonde can hear him.

         "Who the fuck did this to you?" The heat in Brody's voice silences Elle's smart remark she immediately thought of spatting at him. "Tell me, Bradley! What fuck hit you?"

Happy walks up and nudges for them to hurry up. "Come on! If anyone of us is late, there will be hell to pay!"

Brody continues to stare down into Elle's brown eyes, searching for answers. He lets her go and follows after Happy. Elle pouts her lip as she watches them go, quickly hurrying after them.

"Who was it? Huh?" Brody firmly speaks to Happy in a low tone of voice. "Did you see what happened?"

"Yeah, and it was her fault." Happy tells him with a grim expression, "We've warned her of Ezra—"