I squint my eyes, fear rolling over my entire body. I may know my worth, and who exactly I am...but that doesn’t mean that I’m not afraid. I’m petrified, and as much as I don’t want to admit that I am — I can’t hide it. I may very well die here today, or maybe even tomorrow. Whatever is meant to be, will be.
“Kenna?” Phoenix’s voice is ragged, filled with worry. Never have I heard him like this before.
“Phoenix!” I shout out, pulling myself forward the binds dig into my wrists further and I can’t help but cry out, the plastic binds rub against my raw skin which I am sure is infected by now. I pull my knees to my chest and put my head there, salty tears sliding onto my skin.
“Oh, baby, fuck,” he mutters, I look up at him, the light shining gives me a good look at his face and all I manage to do is continue my crying fest.
“Phoenix…” I mutter lowly, looking up to him. I watch as he grabs a knife from his pocket and reaches behind me, cutting me free from the binds. I bite my lip as he peels them carefully from my wrists, breathing deeply as the burning courses through me.
“I’m here, don’t you worry ‘bout a damn thing. I’m not fuckin’ leavin’ you baby, you hear me?” He wraps his hands around me and holds me tight. I cry, and I keep fucking crying into his shirt. I can’t help the tears that spill from me. I can’t help but relive every moment that I wished for this, for him to come in and save me from this fucking nightmare. He’s here now, and that’s all that matters.
He came for me, and I know in my heart that he didn’t come because I’m Kenna Vernon, the girl who has the keys to the city. He came for Kenna - his Babygirl.
As much as I hate being vulnerable, I can’t hide the fact that this man has my heart. He may have been after the city, but he’s got so much more than that. He’s got me.
Phoenix lifts me up into his arms, I cry out, muffling the sounds through his shirt. My legs are suddenly jolted alive after days of hardly any movement. He walks us towards the car, I hide my face in his chest, not wanting to look at anyone right now. I pray it’s just him, that no one else is here, but the person who speaks surprises me more than anything.
“Motherfuckers gonna pay,” Ascher grumbles, and I hear the rumble that comes from Phoenix’s chest in response. He’s right. They’re gonna pay, with their fucking lives.
Phoenix opens the door to the passenger side and slides himself onto the seat, holding me close against him. I peek my head up and decide to kiss him. I’ve fucking missed him. I missed his company; how safe he makes me feel. He grabs the back of my head and pulls me closer to him, but as his nose hits mine I let out a loud whimper. I know it’s broken, there’s no possible way that it isn’t.
“Dammit, baby. I’m so fuckin’ sorry. Shit...I’m...fuckin’ heads are gonna roll for touchin’ you, that I can promise. Devil’s Ash don’t let shit like this happen to their people, or their Prez’s ol’ lady”
“I’ve got my crew on shit too, don’t nobody fuck with my family. Whatever you need from me, bro. Know you have whatever you fuckin’ need”
I’m drained, emotionally, mentally and physically. The only thing I want to do is hide in Phoenix’s arms and that’s all I plan to do.
Ascher makes it a point to swing us by a fast food joint and orders me a milkshake. Phoenix argued that I needed more food than that, but Ascher was right in only getting me the milkshake. I’m sure if I ate any more I’d be vomiting right now. After we went straight to the club, Phoenix had walked me in his arms back to his room. I can remember hearing the noise happening from inside, and then how silent it went when he walked inside with me. My head was buried in his chest, right where I wanted to be, and he sat me on the bed while he shredded his shirt off.
“I’ll be right back, stay put,” he directed me, and I listened. There’s no way I’ll be heading anywhere anyways. Phoenix comes back opening his bedroom door and then locks it shut behind him. He yanks a baby wipe from the container and brings it against my skin, wiping the grime from my body.
“I’m gonna take care of you, Babygirl. I can fuckin’ promise you that. I will always be here to take care of you. No way am I never gonna be here; gonna stand by your crazy ass and destroy scum alongside you. Gonna make sure Miami is just the way you want it to be. Fuck, I want you to be my Ol’ lady. Don’t you get that? I want you wearin’ my patch and my fuckin’ ring, baby. You ain’t gotta answer me now, but I want an answer tomorrow”
I nod at him, showing him that I heard every word he said.
He doesn’t need to hear me speak my answer, he already knows. I want him as bad as he wants me.
I want to be his girl.
Chapter 20
Phoenix
“How’s she doin’?” Leo asks as I sit at the bar with my head in my hands.
“Doc checked her out. Her nose is broken, a shit ton of bruisin’. Nothin’ physically that won’t heal but that’s not what I’m worried about.”
“Don’t do that, Phoenix. She’s stronger than that and you know it. She’s got us, yeah?” Nodding my head, I know she does. When the guys found out what those bastards did to her, they lost it. It made me proud to call them family in that moment.
“She’s been through hell, Leo. Fuck! That is gonna leave an impression on her. She might be strong but that was some violent shit.” He knows what I mean and when he slides the bottle of Jack in front of me. I know he gets it.
“Lucky is pullin’ up some shit for us. He ain’t slept in days,” Leo informs me. As much as I want to tell him to have Lucky take a break, I can’t. I need to find the motherfuckers that did this to her. I need to make them feel every ounce of pain that she has.
“You think her dad knew anything about this shit?” The question has been lingering in the back of my mind. Something just rubs me wrong and I can’t place it.
“You think he’d put her in the line of fire?” Leo asks. I glance over at him and shrug.
“Don’t know shit anymore.”
“Yo, Prez! Got a visitor!” I swivel around on my stool when I hear one of the guys calling out to me. Ascher saunters over toward us as Leo grunts. He’s still not too keen on the idea of Ascher being around but he’ll get used to it.
“What’s up, bro?” He nods at me.
“Not much. What’re you doin’ here?”
“Came to check on your girl. How’s she doing?” Taking a long pull from the bottle, I set it back on the bar.
“She’s pretty fucked up. They did a real number on her.”
“What do we know? We got any leads on the assholes?” Ascher asks.
“Got my guy workin’ on it. I’m thinkin’ we need to go have a little chat with her daddy. Make sure he didn’t know shit about this. If he did, I’ll take that motherfucker out with the rest of them,” I say. I’ve thought it over. If he had anything to do with it, I know I’d kill him without blinking an eye, but he is Kenna’s dad. I don’t know what her reaction would be to all of that, but I do know that I won’t let that shit slide.
“Gonna talk to Kenna. See what her thoughts are on this,” I say as I shove off the stool and head down the hall. My heart slams into my ribs with the thought of seeing her. She’s so broken right now and all I want to do is make it right and make her whole. Kenna isn’t the type of girl to take shit lying down and she isn’t the type to stay down for long which makes her my perfect match. Walking into the room, I find her sitting on the edge of the bed fully dressed like she’s about to go out for the day.
“Goin’ somewhere?” I ask. She turns her head to look at me over her shoulder and gives me a slight grin.
“I can’t sit here and do nothing, Phoenix. We have a city to run.” God hearing her say we sends a chill up my spine.
“You also have healin’ to do. I’m not one to boss you around but you need rest, Babygirl.” Her eyes stay locked with mine and I can’t help but laugh. I walk toward her, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her and pull her into my side. Pressing my lips to the top of her
head, I sigh.
“You’re gonna be a pain in my ass about this aren’t you?” I chuckle.
“It’s what I do best,” she teases.
“I wanna ask you somethin’ and I don’t want you to get upset but do you think that your dad knew anything about this shit? I’m just askin’ since Philip was his man.” Kenna lets out a sigh and shifts so that she’s closer to me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
“I hate to say this too because he is my father but if you want to go talk to him, we should go.”
“We?”
“Yes, we, Phoenix. I’m the one that got hurt in all this,” she snaps breaking my goddamn heart a little more.
“You think so? You don’t think it fuckin’ killed me to not know where the hell you were and what was happenin’ to you?” As the words leave my mouth, I stand from the bed. This is insane. I was losing myself when she was missing.
“I’m sorry. You’re right.” She stands from the bed walking over to me and wraps her arms around my waist. I take a deep breath and wrap my own around her, pulling her as close as I can.
“Fuck, Kenna. I’m sorry. I thought...fuck. I thought what if I never see you again. I was scared to death and all I wanted was to kill someone for goin’ near you. I’m gonna kill them all, Kenna. I’m gonna make their blood spill all over Miami for what they did to you.”
“Let’s go talk to him but I’m telling you right now, that when you find the assholes that did this, I want to be there Phoenix.” Her words would normally soothe me, but those words make me uneasy. I don’t want her to have to relive any of that shit.
“Not a good idea, Babygirl.”
“Side by side, remember?” I chuckle and kiss the top of her head once more.
“Side by side, Babygirl. Let’s get you somethin’ to eat before we go. There’s someone here that wants to see you.” I lead Kenna out of the room and down the hall. She stops confused at what she’s seeing when she spots Ascher standing near the bar. She looks up at me for an answer, but I truly don’t have one. I don’t know what makes Ascher do the things he does.
“I look like shit,” she mumbles making me laugh.
“You look like a girl that lived another day. You’re fuckin’ gorgeous,” I remind her. We walk a little closer when Ascher turns his head. His eyes roam over Kenna before his hands fist at his sides. That’s where him and I are the same.
“You could say hi and not just stare,” Kenna snaps at him. Leo laughs catching her attention.
“You look good, babe. Don’t let that pretty boy throw you off,” Leo chides.
“He’s right. You look good. How are you feeling?” Ascher finally asks, stepping closer. Much to my surprise, he pulls Kenna in a for a hug. She looks at me out of the corner of her eye confused as hell. That makes two of us!
“I’m okay. I’ll live. Someone has to keep your brother in line.” Ascher pulls back and nods.
“Look. I know I fucked things up with both of you but I’m here now. I want to help with whatever I can. My brother loves you even if he hasn’t told you yet. I know when to back off and when to be a brother. This is me, being a brother.” His words surprise us both. Kenna turns toward me, tears in her pretty eyes.
“Do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Love me?”
“More than you know.”
Chapter 21
I’d rather have an enemy that admits they hate me versus a friend who secretly puts me down. - Anonymous
Kenna
After my talk with Phoenix I tried to tell him that I didn’t need him to guard dog me while I went to speak with my father. I knew that it was something we should do together, but at the end of the day I also knew that this conversation wasn’t going to be easy and I’d most likely turn into a raging bitch. I didn’t have to do it alone, and that’s what I appreciate the most about Phoenix — he’s shown time and time again that he will always be here for me when I need it.
I may have argued, but in the end, Phoenix won this battle. I hopped on the back of his bike and he drove us right into South Beach where I knew my father would be. He loves to eat dinner at this high-class restaurant called Lario’s. He’s told me multiple times that they have the best Cuban food. I must agree. They are one of the absolute best, and if I can get some Chino Cubano while I’m here….I’ll be happy. Lario’s is located right on the beach; my father practically owns a table in the back and when Phoenix parks the bike out front I make sure to lead him right to where I know my father will be sitting. I did a damn good job with concealer and foundation but I’m not one of those famous YouTube makeup artists. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be able to see a good bit of the bruising over my face.
I asked Phoenix if my father knew what happened to me, and he told me that he had Leo give him a call with an update, but my dear old Pops didn’t decide to come see me at the club. I can’t help but wonder why that is. He also didn’t fucking call me either. Not gonna lie, I’m a tad upset with him about that. I could’ve died and he’s acting like everything is peachy keen. It would’ve been a little nice if he came to visit, or even called, but no — he couldn’t be bothered to do that.
I take a seat directly across from him, he doesn’t make a movement besides his eyes skimming over me, and then to Phoenix as he pulls out the chair besides me.
“Hi, Daddy,” I greet, my tone full of anger and frustration. As much as I’d love for this to be a casual conversation, it won’t be.
“Kenna. How are you feeling?”
I want to throat punch him right now. He’s acting as if everything is normal. No, he only does this shit when he knows something that I don’t. I’m his daughter, I recognize his behaviors.
“I’m just a ray of fucking sunshine, Daddy. Now let’s cut to the chase because I know you’re keeping something from me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be acting so calm and collected right now.” I spit out calling him Daddy, my anger radiates through my entire body until I can almost feel the steam blowing out of my ears. I’m livid.
He picks up his phone, ignoring me like I am nothing but a small child. It only serves to make me grow more frustrated. After a moment, he takes a sip from the glass in front of him which I am sure has tequila and looks me directly in the eyes. “You have always been such a curious girl, mija. One with good intuition at that.”
“Like father, like daughter,” I coldly, comment.
I see a waiter coming in our direction with a bottle of wine. He approaches our table and pours it into the glass in front of me and then goes to Phoenix’s glass. “Aw, nah, bro. I’m more of a bud light kind of guy. You got any of that?”
“Uh...no. Would a Corona do, Sir?” Phoenix nods at him and the waiter scurries off to fetch his beer. If things weren’t so tense right now, I’d laugh at what just happened.
“Why aren’t you speaking? Your silence is only pissing me off,” I grumble, taking a sip of the wine before me.
“Because, I am thinking on how to word what I have to tell you. Patience is never something you will understand, is it? Sometimes you must wait for things, including this, but there is no easy way for me to say it. Philip was never just your bodyguard, mija. He is much closer to our family than that, much closer to you and me than just a man on our payroll, and this is why I feel much guilt for what it is you have endured...I will never be able to forgive myself for it, for not seeing the signs of what was unfolding…”
He goes silent, and Phoenix grabs my hand under the table. Our waiter approaches with Phoenix’s Corona, leaves it on the table and then returns to wherever it was that he came from.
“What are you trying to tell me?” I ask, trying like hell to not show the emotion in my voice. I hate it when he withholds information from me. It makes me feel as if he doesn’t trust me enough to share.
“When I was young I did not make the best choices, I will be the first to admit that. I only had one objective, and that was to have control over Miami. I didn’t care as to what
I did, or the chaos that I had caused in achieving what I now have today. I made many mistakes during this time, and the biggest one...well, that resulted in Philip.”
I start to move my lips, to ask him what he means because I’m not following when he puts his finger up in the air. A small order of my silence. He grabs the drink in front of him, taking another sip before continuing to speak.
“I had knocked up a woman before I met your mother. It was just before her and I started dating. A few months into my relationship with your mother, this woman had approached me and let me know about her pregnancy. I was a bit shocked, to say the least. I had brought up abortion, but she was against it. While I respected her decision, I was not in a place in my life where I wanted to be a father, and I would have been a shit one at that. I needed to be ready, and I wasn’t. Fast forward a few months down the line and I heard of his birth, his name was Philip. I had seen his mother once more where she asked me for money and of course I obliged. Even though I wouldn’t be around to take care of him, it was my duty to make sure he was provided for. So, I made sure that he was. I’ve always made sure he was provided for. A year goes by and I get another request for money, so I send it. Another year, and another request, so of course I send it. The next year I didn’t hear a word, it felt out of the normal that I was used to. I had spoken to your mother about it and we both agreed to explore it further, it’s when we discovered that Philip’s mother had died from a drug overdose. Turns out that my money wasn’t just for taking care of Philip, but her nasty habit as well. At this point, Philip had been in foster care for quite a while. We had just found out your mother was pregnant with you and we were in no position to bring him out of social services; not when your mother was terrified of being a mother. You were a surprise, but a welcome one at that. Philip had been safe, for once he was with people who could take care of him and I didn’t feel the need to disrupt his life.”
Against All Odds (Full Throttle Book 1) Page 9