Hanging On (Jessica Brodie Diaries #2)(82)

William and I went back to my quaint pool house. I tended his scratched face.

“William?”

“Yes?”

“Why did you come barreling out with Adam?”

He stiffened a little. “Well, I guess he said as much, so there is no harm in telling you now.” He paused and flinched when the alcohol touched his scrape. “When I got to Adam, after Lump had left, he looked like I had seen his dad look a million times. Blind fury, mostly. Ready to do battle with someone. Anyone. Adam has let himself get that angry only a few times. Each time it was defending a woman. It was never because of a woman.

“Adam’s dad looked like that when he got his dander up. Usually when drunk. If he didn’t fight a man in a bar, he would come home and beat his wife or kids. Adam got beat up plenty, but his mother got beat up more. Especially as Adam got bigger. His old man was a cowardly bastard.

“Adam grew up protecting his mother and sisters. When he eventually got bigger than his old man, his dad stopped hitting the family in front of him. But Adam would see a new bruise crop up on his mother, or on his sisters, every so often. He couldn’t do anything because everyone protected the father.”

“Why would they do that?” I asked.

He sighed. “They were an affluent family. His mother wanted to protect the family name so their kids wouldn’t be affected by bad publicity. It is always the mothers that stay and get abused in the name of the kids. It was a bad situation for everyone.

“Well, one night Adam came home and found his dad beating his mother and his sister. Adam was 17 years old I think—somewhere around there. He was big, tough, muscled, and knew how to fight. He had been ready for this day since the first time he remembered his mother getting hit.

“He brought hell to his father that day, beat him within an inch of his life. His mother was furious. What would everyone think? Adam drove his dad to an alleyway and deposited him there. His dad was found and taken to the hospital. He nearly died.

“Adam knew his dad would blame it on him like the coward he was. Adam waited in that hospital room day and night until his dad was coherent enough to understand him. He told his dad that if the finger was pointed at him, then Adam would put him in jail for spousal abuse. However, if his dad never laid a finger on his family again, Adam would leave home with his trust fund and nothing else.

“The dad agreed for Adam to leave. The story was that he was beat up in a bar. Adam left him with a parting warning that if he found out his mother or sisters were beat up or hurt in any way, he would come back and see to it that the dad ended up in the morgue. His sisters wouldn’t live there without Adam, and went with him.

“A short while after he moved out with his sisters, his mother killed his father with a frying pan, of all things. He was laying into her again. Without children to keep her quiet, his mother defended herself. Adam’s dad had been so drunk he could barely stand. She was a small woman, but she got in a few good shots. He had no will, and since they were married, it all went to her. She made sure the children were well provided for, then moved to Florida with her family. Adam’s sisters followed.

“Adam now rarely lets himself get that worked up. Very rarely. He is usually extremely even tempered unless there is just cause. How he was acting with Lump was like his father would have, like he said. It was a warning for me to see it.”

William was quiet for a minute, then, “I asked him what was going on. He told me what Lump said. He told me it was true. He was starting to break down—I could see it. He had completely lost control. If not for Lump’s presence of mind, and pointing out the warning signs, he very well might have hit her.

“If that happened...Well, Adam is exceptionally strong. He has a mean punch. He hit me once when I jumped in between him and someone else when he lost control...I went tumbling. I weight 150% more than your friend does, and I can match Adam for strength, yet he knocked me clean out. He would have made putty of her face.”

“She is fast, though. She has fought against men as big as Adam,” I said in her defense.

William nodded. “I’m sure she could hold out for a while. But when a man loses control in rage, it’s worse than a drunk. He feels no pain and he is faster than lighting.”

“Lump is fast!”

“Jess...Lump is a woman.” I bristled. “No—don’t take this the wrong way. But, Lump is a woman. Women...” I could see him looking for a good explanation. He better, too, because I was ready to argue!

“Okay, men have testosterone, right? Young men have a lot of it. It tapers off as men get older. Some men more than others. A shot of testosterone makes men faster than normal, usually because there is adrenaline with it. Reaction-wise they are genetically faster, and they are stronger than your average woman. Lump is not your average woman, so she would hold up against most men. But Adam is not an average man, either, and when he loses control, which happens rarely, he is a force of nature.”

“But... but her moves helped me get away from Dusty.”

“Yes. But Dusty is small, not very strong, not very good at fighting, and a wanker. Your friend Lump would have probably made mince-meat of that guy. If given the opportunity, I would tear that little snake limb from limb for what he did to you!”

William calmed himself down. “But Adam is not Dusty. Adam, also, has a violent past and a lot of demons.”