Pierce

Chapter Eleven

The three men started off toward the stairs, ready to confront Kenneth and any other scumbags he had up there with him.

"She's a little spit fire isn't she," Slater said with a laugh as they headed up the stairs.

"Hell yeah, she is." Pierce chuckled.

Once they reached the door, Slater stopped a waitress that was passing by to inquire about the number of people inside Kenneth's suite.

"How many people would you say are in there?"

"Just four." She cut her eyes to the door, obviously having had a bad experience in the suite as well.

Giving Slater a nod at the headcount, Pierce flung the door open and exploded over the threshold, hoping to catch Kenneth off guard.

"Shit," Kenneth yelped at the sight of Pierce with his nose still bandaged and right eye swollen shut.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Pierce's thunderous voice echoed through the room as he charged toward Kenneth.

"Yo Kenneth is this the guy that messed up your face?" One of Kenneth's friends said, standing abruptly as if he were going to fight Pierce.

Caleb was there immediately, blocking his path to Pierce and smiling down at the man's small stature and weak threat.

"You feelin' froggy little man?"

The sight of Caleb's lean muscular build was the only deterrent the man needed, causing him to promptly return to a seated position on the couch.

"I didn't think so." Caleb said with a cocky half smile.

"This doesn't concern you. My issues with Natalie are none of your business." Kenneth said as he cowered in front of Pierce.

"Natalie is my business." Pierce growled.

Another one of Kenneth's friends stood in protest, but was quickly met by Slater. His large tattooed arms shoved the man hard in the chest sending him flying back into the velvet couch.

"Sit the fuck down," Slater commanded.

Grabbing Kenneth hard by the collar, Pierce yanked him up from where he was sitting and yelled down into his face.

"Now answer my question. What are you doing here?"

Kenneth winced, bracing himself for another physical blow from Pierce before he answered.

"I just wanted to talk to her." Kenneth said with his voice weak and shaky.

About the police report she filed against him no doubt.

"You lost that privilege when you put your hands on her."

Thoughts of Natalie's perfect skin being bruised under Kenneth's fist flashed through Pierce's mind, causing him to tighten his grip on Kenneth's collar and grit his back teeth.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen up, asshole. Stay away from Natalie. She doesn't want to see you. She doesn't want to talk to you. She is done with you."

"He's right Kenneth," a small angry voice said from behind him.

Pierce turned his head over his shoulder to see Natalie entering the room behind him. Since Pierce's hands were clearly full, Slater moved to stand behind her as a warning to every one of Kenneth's friends that she was not to be messed with.

Her icy blue eyes blazed with hatred, becoming a deeper shade of blue with every angry step she took toward Kenneth, who was still dangling in Pierce's hands. Her expression hardened and she fixated her gaze onto Kenneth before she spoke.

"We are done. Over. You think slapping me around makes you strong, but you are the weakest man I have ever laid eyes on. So in case it wasn't clear enough when I packed up my shit and left, let me simplify it for you..." Natalie stepped closer with every vicious word and Pierce set Kenneth down, stepping to the side, forcing Kenneth to take the brunt of every ounce of venom that Natalie was spewing.

"I am done with you. There's not one part of me that wants anything to do with you and the parts of me that did, died the second your fist touched my skin. You're pathetic. You're disgusting. And I've outgrown you."

Pierce's chest swelled with pride, drinking in the sight of Natalie delivering her ferocious reprimand. She took strong confident steps toward Kenneth, showing absolutely no fear and delivering her message with a backbone of steel.

At that moment, Natalie's words and description of herself from the night before burned through Pierce's mind. She had called herself broken, but that couldn't be further from the truth. This woman was far from broken. She was fiery and strong and he found himself feeding off of her fearless energy, cheering her on from within as he stood there, utterly captivated by her inner strength. It was beautiful and he considered himself lucky to be able to witness it.

"Now leave." she snarled.

Without another word, Caleb approached Kenneth, grabbing him by the back of the neck and forcefully steering him out of the room and toward the exit to throw him out for good.

Pierce wrapped his arms around Natalie from behind, completely engulfing her with his massive biceps as he whispered in her ear.

"You're a fucking badass. You know that?" He planted a long kiss on her cheek and felt it raise into a smile beneath his lips.

She turned in his arms to face him, looking up at him with her chin almost resting on his chest.

"Thank you for taking care of me Pierce."

"You did that all on your own, beautiful. I just held him still."

The sound of a commotion pulled Pierce's attention to the bar area causing his head to whip around and his feet to move instantly, grabbing Natalie's hand in the process.

Caleb had slammed Kenneth's face into the bar top in front of the waitress that had been doused in Kenneth's drink.

"Apologize!" Caleb ordered.

"Sorry" Kenneth muttered under his breath with his cheek against the marble of the bar.

"Say it like you fucking mean it." Caleb ordered in a deep aggressive voice as he pressed more of his body weight onto Kenneth's neck and face.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Kenneth howled.

Kenneth's pitiful yelping seemed to satisfy Caleb who grinned at the waitress before yanking Kenneth back to a standing position to escort him out.

Once Caleb had returned he smacked his hands back and forth as if he'd just taken out the garbage. "Well that was fun," he said with a smile.

"You guys want to stay for a while? Drinks are on the house." Natalie graciously offered her knights in shining armor.

All three men agreed and took seats at the bar, surveying the crowd around them, all except Pierce. His eyes were glued to Natalie and he was completely hypnotized - enthralled by this woman who had crashed into his life and changed it all in an instant. She was incredible and he was addicted.

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