Stark Resolution (Stark Trilogy Book 3)

by C. D. Bradley

  “I couldn’t let you go,” she cried. “If you were going, then I was going to follow you into the dark.”

  “Well, we are in a fucking mess now. Damn it, Kira, the last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you. I fucking love you. Aaaaagggghhhh! Fuck!” he yelled, as his fingers began to slip. “Fuck Kira. You have to try to climb! I can’t hold on forever. I’m losing my grip.”

  He held her right wrist firm and she tried to get a footing against the wall. Her toes slipped and slid. She got a little toe-hold and reached forward with a shaky left hand. Her palm was so sweaty she couldn’t hang on to the rock.

  “You’ve got this, Kira. Don’t give up now. Fight,” Stark ordered, the heat, the fire, returning to his voice.

  She kept reaching around for something, anything to grab onto. Finally, her aching fingers found a slight ledge she could use for leverage. She pressed her fingers into the crease.

  “There you go. Now push yourself up. Stand on that foot,” he instructed calmly.

  Kira tried to stand, but her legs wobbled. “I can’t. I can’t do it.” Kira looked down and her whole body tensed.

  “Listen to me. Stand up. I’ve got you. You can do this. Now, Kira.” He took on the dark operator tone she heard in her sleep.

  Slowly, Kira began to stand on the tip of her toe smeared into the wall. Her legs wobbled violently. She was doing it. She got so close to reaching the next hold when her foot slipped and she swung away from the edge.

  “Fuck!” he yelled, but he didn’t let go. She swung out and back into the edge of the wall. The ripping crunch as his right shoulder dislocated brought his stomach up into his throat.

  “Jesus God in fucking heaven!” he yelled. “Ahhhhh Fuck!” He could barely speak. His whole body broke out in sweat as the pain washed him.

  “What was that?” Kira asked panicked.

  “My shoulder. Fuck! I think it’s dislocated. You are going to have to climb up to me. I can’t pull you up. I don’t know how long I can hold on.” He jutted his head back in intense agony. He could not let go. He willed his right shoulder to hold on just long enough for her to climb up. In his desperation, Stark felt something help him, give him strength. He looked up but no one was there.

  “Oh God! Owen, I’m sorry!” she cried.

  “Just climb, Kira. Fucking climb. Do you hear me? Climb!” He panted through the pain. The world threatened to go dark. Not again. He would not give up. He could feel Colin there helping him, holding his wrist.

  “Let me go,” she pleaded through tears.

  “What? Fuck no!” he yelled back. “Climb woman!”

  “Let me go,” she said again calmer this time. “You can climb back up if I’m not weighing you down. Let me go, and you’ll have your left hand to climb up.”

  “You are fucking crazy. I’m not letting go again,” he grunted through clenched teeth. Though he strained to hold on, his fingers slipped a little farther on the concrete. The ripping in his shoulder threatened his consciousness.

  “I know you are the one who saved me in the jungle,” she started. “I know you gave up everything for me. Your career … your leg … your best friend. I shouldn’t even be here. You see, Owen? It’s all my fault. Let me go, and you can start over.”

  “You are out of your fucking mind! In case you missed the memo, this was my Goddamn suicide, woman. Now quit talking shit, and climb the fuck up.”

  His hand slipped. He had no purchase left. They were out of time.

  “Kira, I love you. You have always been the most beautiful thing in my life.” A single tear slipped down his cheek and fell from his face. “I never wanted to fail you.”

  “It’s ok, baby. It’s time to come home,” she called to him.

  “THAT’S SOME FUCKING poetic shit!” a voice called from overhead. Miller reached over and grabbed Stark. Taylor leaned over the wall to reach Kira.

  Kira looked up and saw the men leaning over reaching for her hand. Oh, thank you, God. Thank you.

  “We’ve got him. Over here! We need some help!” Miller yelled behind them. Reed and Paige and a couple of uniformed soldiers arrived to help. Strong arms latched on to Stark and Kira. They were hoisted up and over the wall.

  Stark collapsed onto the pavement, his right arm tucked awkwardly to his side. Kira fell to the ground beside him and threw her arms around his shaking frame. She couldn’t stop crying.

  He was ok. They were ok. She didn’t know how or why the guys showed up when they did, but she couldn’t be more thankful.

  “What the hell happened?” Paige was crying and yelling at the same time. “Sweet Jesus you were both almost killed!” She was hugging and kissing them both.

  “Kira, I thought you left with Holt this morning?” she asked, confused.

  “I just couldn’t leave. I couldn’t leave him here to deal with this alone. I had no idea. God, if I had any idea. I never would have let you out of my sight.” Kira was crying again.

  “So how did you end up over the wall? What fucking happened?” Paige was still trying to put the pieces together.

  “I came back to see him, and I crashed trying to avoid his chair. I saw him up here and thought … I tried to stop him but …”

  Stark reached around her with his left arm and pulled her close. “She tried to jump up on the edge with me and fell.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Kira Riley, don’t you ever pull shit like that again. I love you, you crazy beautiful girl.”

  She covered his face in kisses. “Likewise, mister,” she fired back.

  “Ballsy shit, Vanilla. Stupid, but ballsy.” Paige gave her props and mussed her hair. “I’m glad you’re part of our fucked up family.” She group hugged them both.

  “Ahh, easy. I think I’m gonna have to get this fixed,” he said, wincing as she jostled his dislocated shoulder.

  “Oh, don’t be such a sissy bedwetter,” Miller chided him. Then more seriously, “I’m just glad you’re gonna be ok, brother. Taylor went to get a gurney. It looks like your chair had a bit of an accident.” He nodded toward the broken overturned chair.

  Stark reached his good hand out toward Miller. “Thanks for coming man.”

  “Of course, brother. You didn’t answer our fucking calls. Don’t you ever pull that shit again. We are still a fucking team. Don’t you dare check out on us.” Miller wasn’t cutting him any slack. “I just wish we had gotten here sooner.”

  Kira wiped a sweaty piece of hair out of his eyes. He looked back at her with stormy eyes. Like a man reawakened, he was back from the dead. She could see the fire in him once more, and it was beautiful.

  Taylor, medics, and a couple of MPs arrived with two gurneys. They loaded Stark up. She didn’t want to let go of his hand.

  “Ma’am you need to let go of his hand and get on this cot,” the short medic ordered.

  “Oh no. I’m fine. I can walk,” Kira rebutted. “I want to walk down with him.”

  “Ma’am, you are bleeding from your forehead, legs, and arms. Until you are checked out in the ER, you aren’t walking anywhere.”

  Reluctantly, Kira consented. They loaded her up. As they fastened her chest and abdomen straps she looked over at Stark. He was the hope that waited for her in the dark. She smiled at him. The whole world lit up when he smiled back.

  As the medics started wheeling her down the ramp she looked back at Stark. He called Miller and Taylor over and whispered something to them, pointing at the wall. She wondered what the fuss was all about. The only thing that really mattered was that he was safe. Second chances were a rare gift, and she wasn’t going to waste a minute of it.

  Minutes turned to hours waiting in the ER. Kira had been checked out and released. Stark wasn’t as lucky. His right shoulder had a severe posterior dislocation. The ER physician and orthopedist couldn’t believe he had held on for a second, let alone holding Kira long enough for help to come. They just shook their heads. It defied medicine. Hell, it defied physics. But then he never was bound by regular human terms.r />
  “That is some next level warrior shit right there,” Reed said as they wheeled Stark to surgery.

  “You know, the leg was badass enough. You didn’t have to go out and be fucking Superman saving Lois Lane. We already knew you were a fucking legend,” Taylor taunted.

  “I’m not kissing your ass. I’m going to be here to bust your ass through PT,” Miller told him. “Be safe man. We’ll be right here when you wake up.”

  Kira held his good hand and kissed it. “I love you, baby. I’ll be right here when you wake up. Come back to me.”

  The morphine was beginning to swirl him away. He kissed Paige and Zoe and told them he would see them soon.

  Lights going down the hall flashed like a tunnel at high speed. He started to close his eyes. Things were going to be …

  “Where is he? Oh, my God! Where is he? Stop! Owen! Stop!” the painfully shrill voice burst into his fading consciousness.

  Fuck … it is Simone.

  KIRA SAT BETWEEN Paige and Zoe in the row of blue vinyl chairs in the surgery waiting area. They were a Neapolitan collection of bitch as they eyed Simone in her Elie Tahari black lace jump suit. She walked back and forth on her Christian Louboutins, talking on the phone, much too busy to bother with sitting. She had eyed the chairs when they first walked in and snarled at their filth.

  Kira wondered what kind of hospitals they had out there in California. Not the kind she would likely ever get to practice in. Not that she would want to. She didn’t think she could deal with patients like Simone on a daily basis without going postal.

  She checked his watch. They said she could check in at the thirty-minute mark to get an update on his condition. Twenty-six minutes, almost there. She traced her finger over a crack in the glass. In the ER, he had busted out laughing when he saw the lens had cracked, but it was still ticking.

  “Damn thing still works!” he said and just shook it up in the air. “Colin, you bastard, it still works.” His laughter and tears were infectious to the guys.

  She thought it was just the morphine, but Miller told her that Stark would explain it someday. She wondered if each scratch and scuff told a story. It was beautifully flawed like Stark himself. Each scar was a reminder of just how strong he was. She wanted to spend the rest of her life learning the legend of each one.

  Kira was yanked back to the present by Simone in the hallway, yelling into her phone. “I don’t care what time it is. You get that judge right now. Do you hear me? If Owen is found incompetent, I need an emergency power of attorney for the company. We can’t risk a takeover if our competitors find out the owner of Anderson Stark Technologies just tried to kill himself. You get that judge ready, or find yourself a fucking Walmart to work in,” she snapped and hung up. She rubbed her freshly botoxed temple with perfectly manicured nails. She took out a gold and black lipstick case from her gold and black cross body bag.

  She saw them looking, and smiled. “Like the bag? It was a gift from Owen. It’s a Givenchy called Pandora’s Box.”

  “Fitting,” Kira said under her breath.

  “Don’t be cross darling, you can touch it if you like, I’ll bet you haven’t seen a Givenchy before.”

  “I’ll pass,” Kira responded, and turned away from her before she said something that she might regret.

  Simone took out her phone to make another call. Kira looked back and forth to Paige and Zoe. What was happening? Was that evil bitch really trying to steal his company? Fuck. He wasn’t even conscious to defend himself. They guys had stepped out to take care of something for Stark.

  “I’m calling the guys,” Paige said, keeping her eye on Simone, who was on the phone with someone else. “This can’t be good.”

  “What can we do?” Kira whispered, struggling to hear what Simone was saying. “If they deem him incompetent, could she really take his whole company? There has to be a way to help.”

  “Do either of you know anyone at the company?” Zoe asked.

  “No, shit I was only there once and it seemed like Simone ran the show,” Kira commented. “There has to be a way to help.”

  “The guys are getting here as fast as they can. They said something about a wild goose chase,” Paige said with a sigh. “I don’t have any clue what we can do, short of tying up her Prada ass and throwing her in the closet.”

  “As much fun as that would be, we left your crop at home,” Zoe teased her, but then a lightbulb seemed to come on. “Hey Kira, what does it take to get someone deemed incompetent?”

  “Well you would need evidence of suicidal ideation or mental instability, an overt act, like trying to kill yourself or harming someone else, and … the testimony … of a psychiatrist! Zoe, you are a genius!” Kira refrained from jumping up and down. She knew how to help. She checked in at the help desk. Surgery was going well, but they still had a long way to go.

  “Stay here and keep an eye on the snake,” Kira instructed Paige and Zoe. The guys walked in. Miller glanced at Simone as they walked through the door. He looked like he was contemplating hitting a woman, just this once.

  “Please call me if he wakes before I get back. I need to go see a doctor. Taylor, can you keep her busy?” Kira said nodding toward Simone

  He grinned and said, “I’ll do my best.”

  “Miller, can you come with me. I may need some help,” Kira asked, twirling her hair.

  STARK BLINKED HIS eyes slowly. He felt like he was coming out of a four-day drunk. His whole body fucking hurt, but damn his shoulder was talking. He needed water.

  “Water,” he pleaded in the blurry void of the room.

  “Of course, dear,” a silky voice answered. His ears were playing tricks on him. He squinted and tried to make out the woman bringing him the cup.

  “Kira?” He searched for her in the haze. “Kira?”

  She brought the water over and held a straw to his lips. Eagerly, he drank the cool liquid.

  “Kira, baby, thank you.” He coughed and sputtered, choking on the water. He couldn’t place the bitter after taste.

  “She's not here. She's off playing GI Fucking Jane.” The silky voice turned cold as ice. “Sleep now, darling. It will all be over soon. I'm sure the two of you will be so happy.”

  What the fuck? Simone? In the next moment, the nausea hit. It came over him like a wave and rolled him through the surf.

  “What the fuck did you do Simone? You fucking bitch,” he spat, but it was too late. He had already swallowed the vile liquid. Pain hit his stomach making his shoulder feel like a walk in the park, and he began vomiting.

  “Don’t panic, you big baby, you’re going to live. You won’t remember any of this, though. I just need a little insurance policy until I get these papers signed. Not that you flinging yourself off the building won’t be enough. Really, bravo darling.” She moved just out of reach, taking his chair with her. “You could have had it all you know. Powerful CEO of Anderson Stark Technologies, wealth beyond your imagination, me as your partner and gorgeous wife. No, you had to go piss it all away pulling that little guttersnipe out of the jungle. God, she is a pain, always sticking her damn nose where it doesn’t belong. If she would have just left well enough alone. It’s her fault, really,” Simone whined, and began to twirl a long lock of blond hair.

  “You’re an evil witch,” he stammered groggily.

  “And you’re are a broken excuse for a man. Look at you. I told you this GI Joe business was a waste of time. You can’t walk. Now you can’t even wipe your own ass. Why couldn’t you just leave her alone.” Simone stamped her foot. “I’m sick of your excuses, Owen. I’m tired of waiting for the company I have dedicated my life to, while you don’t even care enough to show up to one fucking meeting.”

  “Simone, you are acting CEO. What do you want?” He wavered back and forth in the bed, fighting for consciousness.

  “I want it all, Owen. I want everything I worked for and deserve. You think just because you were born into some rich fucking family, you should have everything hande
d to you. Well not this time, sweetheart. This time, I win. Don’t worry. I’ll leave you enough money to pay for your care home … unless.”

  “Unless what?” His head weighed a hundred pounds, each eyelid like sand bags.

  “You could just sign everything over to me, come home, let me take care of you, my wounded darling, and I’ll make sure your little friends are taken care of. What do you say, love?” She moved in closer as his eyelids closed. She made little circles with her perfect nail on the skin of his forehead. “Ready to come home?”

  “Simone,” he breathed sleepily, “fuck off.”

  PAIGE WAS PACING back and forth at the nurse’s station. Why the hell hadn’t Stark woken up yet? The nurses said sometimes the Versed reacts with the cocktail of medications they had him on. They assured her that his vitals were stable. She didn’t trust them. Simone’s team of lawyers and a very sleepy judge had arrived. It was 3:25 in the morning. Where are Kira and Miller? If she had something planned, they better damn well hurry.

  They had set up shop in a conference room on the third floor. While Stark snoozed away, the fate of his family’s company hung in the balance. Paige was already immensely worried about Stark. She had never seen him give up on anything. The fact that he was out on that ledge scared the shit out of her. Is he still the man I have known for the last decade? Damn, I should have gotten here sooner. If he did lose the company, would he be able to recover? Would he just fade away into some depressed shell of the man I loved?

  The proceeding was beginning. How had Simone orchestrated a hearing in the middle of the fucking night? Damn, that woman was resourceful. The judge sat at one end of the table and Simone at the other. She had two lawyers on either side of her. Paige, Zoe, Taylor, and Reed were instructed to sit on the sides.