“Okay, I have the photos. She can get dressed.” Officer Howard turns around, and so do the guys. She slides on her clothes in record speed, and we sit down. I angle her on my lap, and she leans into me, waiting to see what the cop has to say.
Officer Howard’s cheeks puff out as he exhales, and then he shakes his head. “What, uh, what happened after that?” His face turns red and he has the same expression as we do. He wants to kill Kendrick.
Like Grayson said, get in line.
“Um, he said weird things like ‘worth’ and how happy ‘they’ would be with my behavior. I wasn’t sure who he was talking about, but the last day I was with him. He had friends over. They were talking about me being a virgin and of Mediterranean descent. He said when he first saw me, he locked me down, so he knew I’d stay pure. We never engaged in anything sexual. Not really. He’d kiss and feel me up, but it never went further than that.”
I bury my nose in her neck and inhale that wildflower scent I love so much. It calms my racing heart and somehow manages to keep my anger at bay. She is here. She is safe. We are going to ruin him. And then we are going to live a happy ever after.
“He tugged me around on a leash.” She lifts her hand to her neck where faint yellow bruises are there from the collar.
Officer Howard get as close as his can, but the bruise is hard to see in the picture.
“Anyway, he had me stand naked in front of them, like I was some sort of offering. I felt like it with how they talked about me, but I didn’t know their plans. One of them grabbed me and started touching me.” She shuts her eyes, and I tighten my arms around her as she relived that. “I smashed my skull against his nose, and I ran. I jumped off the balcony into the water, prepared to fucking die, but I didn’t. Owen found me on the beach. That’s pretty much the gist of it.”
“Do you want to press charges against the man who assaulted you too?”
“That won’t be necessary,” she says.
“Is there a reason?” he prods.
“I killed him before I jumped. I threw a knife at Kendrick, but he jumped out of the way. It pierced the middle of the man's chest. Are you going to arrest me?”
“No,” Officer Howard says with a small laugh. “Hell no. Fucker deserved it if you ask me.”
“See? A great addition to the team,” Grayson pipes up with a sandwich in his hand.
“But I killed someone,” she says. “You don’t care?”
“Nope,” Officer Howard pops the P. “I’m only glad you’re safe. As for you, Mr. Knight, I suggest you stay out of the public eye. I can’t do anything about your arrest warrant just yet. This restraining order shouldn’t be a problem to get approved, but I’ll tell you this…” Officer Howard stands, and the badge clipped to his belt shines from the overhead lights. “Usually, they don’t make a damn difference. Stay on your toes. You have my number if anything goes south. I’ll update you as soon as I can.”
“That’s it?” she squawks and stands so fast she nearly gets tangled in my legs and trips. “Nothing else? You don’t need like … a sworn statement signed in blood or something?”
It is clear that she has never dealt with the law before because she doesn’t know how the rules work. All of us chuckle, and Officer Howard pulls up his jeans by the belt loop.
“No, that’s it. I won’t be asking for blood or any of that. I’m going to start building a case against Kendrick. I just hope he isn’t as impossible to find as the rest of you, or we are going to have a problem. I hope everyone has a good rest of their day.” Officer Howard reaches out his hand for me to shake.
“Thank you for coming out. We want to get this taken care of as soon as possible,” I say.
He steps outside and appreciates the view of the redwood trees surrounding us. His hand falls to his hip and that was when I noticed the gun tucked in the back of his pants. “Do me a favor? Give us a chance to take care of it before you do. Last thing I need to do is arrest someone again, that I think is innocent. Okay?”
“Depends, Officer.”
“On what?”
“On how long it takes. I won’t have her living in fear for months or years. He nearly killed her, more than once, and I want him out of the way so we can live our lives. Do you get that?”
“I do, but I can’t stop every badge from coming to arrest you if things get messy.”
“We won’t be here if that time comes. We have no problem packing up and starting over again. If shit goes south, this house will be empty, and we will be nothing but a damn ghost to you, Officer. You won’t be able to find us either. You only found us because of Grayson. I’ll give you a week before I do this myself.”
“A week?” Officer Howard laughs, but not because it is funny. “You’ll be lucky to get this restraining order approved in a week.”
“Then I guess time’s-a-tickin’ isn’t it?” I slam the door in his face and crack my neck. This s beyond stressful.
“Is he gone?” Gabriella asks from the couch. She has a blanket draped over her now, cuddled up on the couch, and Heaven is next to her for some reason.
“Yeah, but why isn’t he?” I point to the parasite at the other end of the loveseat rubbing Gabriella’s feet.
“She wanted her feet rubbed. She deserves it,” Heaven says, rolling his thumbs across the arch of her foot.
“I deserve it, Sebastian.” Gabriella snickers when Heaven winks.
“Can’t believe I’m kicked out of cuddling my own girlfriend.” I fall next to Owen, and Grayson sits on the other end of the sectional.
“You’ll get over it. Let’s watch movies the rest of the night. Kick back and relax? What do you say, Gabby?” Owen asks, calling her Gabby for the first time; something I only do.
I don’t mind it. I like the guys getting comfortable like that. It means they liked her.
“Oh, I’d love that. I haven’t seen a movie in years. Just not Slenderman. I hate that movie.”
“It’s not even a good one,” Heaven adds. “It’s predictable. And my fucking thigh is itching like crazy. I can’t get my hand in the cast to itch it.” He moves around and try to dig his hand between his leg and cast, but it’s too big.
“I can probably get it,” Gabriella offers.
“You are not itching his gross leg,” I argue. “Who knows what’s down there. Do you really want to risk it? There’s probably an entirely new ecosystem, thriving.” I shiver at the thought of her scratching him and pulling out an old Cheeto or something.
“I’ll risk it,” Gabriella pushes her hand at the top of the Heaven’s cast and Heaven grips the couch cushions when she starts to scratch. “Right there?”
“Little to the left, okay, right, down, right there. Oh, God, yes! Right there. That’s the stuff.” Heaven’s eyes roll back, and his knuckles turn white. “Oh my God, I love you. I love you so much. Jesus, this feels so good.”
Gabriella stops scratching and narrows her eyes at Heaven. “You’re not … going to … you know … come?”
“I just might if you keep it up,” Heaven slurs. He sounded like he just had four shots of vodka and one of those bitch drinks he loves so much.
Gabriella yanks her hand out of the cast and points. “Only scratches, no happy endings for you, buddy!”
“Yeah!” I say pulling her back until she sits on my lap again. “Those are reserved for me.”
I want more than happy endings with Gabriella. I want an eternity of happy. One week, and it will be my job to make sure an eternity happens.
Chapter Twenty-Two
GABRIELLA
It has been a full day since Officer Howard showed, and Sebastian is already getting impatient. I want to live my life, but since we can’t go out because of the arrest warrant Sebastian has, we decide to FaceTime Quinn in the hospital.
“I could be out hunting my brother; instead, I’m watching Pretty Little Liars with you and video chatting my brother,” Sebastian gripes, crossing his arms over his chest as the phone rings.
&nbs
p; “Oh, okay. I’ll just turn it off then. I had no idea you despised it so much since we have been watching since last night.”
“Don’t you dare!”
“I want to see what happens to Ezra and Aria.”
“I just want to know who A is.”
“I was only kidding, guys,” Sebastian groans and get onto the floor from the bed with his friends.
They are like teens watching this show. I had no idea they would be so captivated with it, but every time I go to turn it off, they pout. So much pouting.
“Are they really fighting over that?” Quinn answered the call a few seconds ago, but I didn’t greet her so she could hear the guys being little brats.
“What?” Jaxon says in the background. He waves and smiles. His black hair is tied back in a man-bun and his beard is a bit unruly, but he pulls it off. “They are watching Pretty Little Liars! Without me? Guys, what the fuck!” Jaxon yells into the microphone, and Grayson, Heaven, Owen, and Sebastian turn around at the foot of the bed. Heaven has popcorn falling out of his mouth, and all them look like they have just got in trouble by dad.
“You know we never start new shows without one another. This isn’t even right. I can’t believe you guys would do this,” Jaxon bitches and for guys who kill and steal from other criminals, they sure are being a bit touchy over this show.
I mean, it is good, but it isn’t ‘let’s fight’ over it good.
“We are only on season one, Jaxon. You can catch up,” Grayson assures.
“Forget it. I don’t even want to watch it now,” Jaxon turns away from the camera, and Quinn covers her mouth with her hand as she laughs.“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so betrayed,” she whispers.
“Aw, Jaxon. Don’t be like that. We bought all the seasons. We can watch it all over again,” Owen tries to offer, but Jaxon isn’t participating in the call anymore.
He is giving the guys the silent treatment.
“How are you feeling?” I ask Quinn, finally getting down to the reason I called.
She leans back, taking the phone with her, and lays against the pillow. “Good. I’m still scared, but they say everything looks good. They want me to stay another night to see if they pain will come back. After some fluids and rest, I feel a lot better.”
“I still think we get you these fluids every day. It’s a great idea. I’ll tell Owen.”
“Tell Owen what?” Owen shouts when he hears his name, sounding hopeful that Jaxon isn’t mad at him anymore.
“I’m not talking to you yet!” Jaxon is a tad bit snippy still, and Quinn rolls her eyes.
“They have these rules about watching shows together. Since they go so long unemployed sometimes, it’s what they ‘do’ or whatever.” Quinn chews on an ice chip. “How are you doing? You had a rough day yesterday. Think everything will be okay? I hate I’m not there with everyone.”
“You’re where you need to be. Don’t come back until you’re better,” I warn. “I’m fine. I’ll feel better once I get the call from Officer Howard. I’m only tired of always looking over my shoulder.”
“I get that,” Quinn raises her arms to the roof. “Preach it. Been there, done that, and got the shirt. Everything will be fine. Sebastian won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Damn right,” Sebastian says, crawling into bed next to me.
“Oh, now you want to be by me?”
“They all smell down there, baby. They haven’t showered in days.”
“You’re a drama queen. It’s a day, maybe two,” Heaven licks the butter off his fingers then wipes them on his shirt. He freezes when he realizes what he did. “Okay, let’s go change and take a break. Pause it! It’s going to be awhile for me.”
Owen lifts his arm and sniffs his armpit and curls his nose from the stench. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Wow. We need to air this place out. Why didn’t you tell us, Gabby?”
“Is it weird I got used to it?” I crinkle my nose and think maybe I need to shower too.
“This is what happens when we leave, Jaxon. They let themselves go,” Quinn shakes her head with disappointment.
“Yeah, they obviously watch TV without remembering the promises they made.”
Sebastian deadpans me and mouths ‘diva’.
“I saw that, Sebastian! I’m going to take it out of your pay,” Jaxon says, nowhere near the camera for him to see what Sebastian did.
“What the fuck?” Sebastian awes, wondering how Jaxon had that talent.
I pat his leg and yawn. “Okay, I’m going to get off here and get things cleaned up. We won’t watch Pretty Little Liars anymore.” We would; we just wouldn’t tell Jaxon about it.
“Baby.” Sebastian is distraught, staring at me like I backstabbed him, and he slinks his way to the bathroom.
“I don’t know how I’ve managed to get all the guys mad at me for a show I didn’t even think they would like, but here I am, wondering how the hell that happened.”
Quinn chuckles. “I’ll talk to you later. I must go console Jaxon. These guys, they might act all big and badass, but they are softies at heart.”
Yeah, that I agree with her on. “Okay, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Byeeee,” Quinn sings before she hangs up.
I hear the shower going, so I toss the phone on the bed and get up, strip, and then crack a window because it smells like a bunch of boys in here.
“Crap, I wanted to get us shower beers,” I say. Shower beers are the best. If someone disagrees, they could try to argue to change my mind. I snag my robe off the hanger and silently tiptoe out the door, then down the hallway to the kitchen.
The Cliff House is completely different when the guys aren’t in the living room or game room. It is quiet. Why we were in Sebastian room instead of the living room has me scratching my head. There is way more room out here. I pad my way over to the fridge and open the door, grabbing two beers.
The hairs on my arms stand and I feel something behind me. My gut screams at me to turn around or get the hell out of there. I breathe swiftly and hold on tight to the bottle neck to use it as a weapon. It could just be the cold from the fridge or my paranoia, but I doubt it. I spin around and swing the bottle without thinking.
All I hit is air.
I don’t say ‘hello’ or ask ‘who is there’ because I’ve seen enough scary movies to know that the character who says shit like that gets killed, chased, or tortured.
I’d prefer to have none of those things happen to me.
I double check the sliding glass door and find it locked, and I peer out the glass to see if anyone is watching.
The infinity pool crowds by vision along with thick fog. It is eerie, how still it is outside. I expect something to run through the fog and slam against the glass, or someone pleading for help, but no, just silence. I can’t even hear the regular caw of seagulls today.
“It’s all in my head. You’re safe,” I tell myself. I turn around, but something catches the corner of my eye. I bend down and see wet, sandy footprints on the other side of the door. “It’s in your head. It’s in your head. He can’t get you here.” I shut my eyes and chant to myself a hundred times, but no matter how many times it is on repeat, I don’t believe it. I know Kendrick could get me anywhere I am if he really wants me.
He is the kind of man who never goes without resource.
“It could just be one of the guys,” I chalk it up to them, but a voice in the back of my head tells me otherwise.
Someone is here.
Someone is watching me.
And I’d bet anything it is Kendrick.
I slowly take a step back, then another, then another, and then I run down the hall to Sebastian's room. I have the beers in my hand and every time I pumped my arms, I shook the bottles. When I get to his door, I slide to a stop and fumble with the handle.
Once I am inside, I shut it with so much force the floor shakes beneath my feet. For good measure, I lock it. I try to catch my breath. I inhale the soap Sebastian uses a
nd think about how much fun we were having with Owen, Grayson, and Heaven. I think about how mad Jaxon got with watching a TV show without him, and I think about Quinn and the babies. I am so happy they are okay.
I push the bathroom door open and set the beers on the counter. I stretch either side of my neck and rub my shoulder with the other. I am too panicky lately. I need to trust that the guys know what they are doing. I need to trust the cops. I can’t keep living on the edge.
“Baby? You coming in? I need help washing something I think you’d like,” Sebastian says under the spray of water which jumbles his voice.
My eyes are closed as I rub the tension out and think maybe Sebastian has a point. Orgasm are a great stress relief. “Is that, so?” I ask, and when I open my eyes, my smile falls off my face, when I see a message written in the steam clinging to the mirror.
I own you, pet.
My hand knocks over the beer, and they roll off the counter and crash to the floor. Beer and glass flood my feet, but I don’t care. I scream. I think I do, anyway. I can’t focus. He is here. He is here in the house. He found a way in. How? No, I am supposed to be safe. This is my home now.
I step away from the glass, but I crunch against more of it. The sharp pieces dig into my foot, causing me to whimper. Blood drips into the swirling yellow of the beer, and Sebastian kicks the shower stall open and immediately surveys the room for the threat.
“What is it? Talk to me, baby. What is it? What happened? Fuck, your feet, you’re bleeding.” He notices. He lifts me up in his arms and steps over the broken glass and then lays me on the end of the bed where my feet are dangling off. “Jesus, baby, your feet are all tore up. What did you do? I’ll have to get Owen to look at them.” He grabs a pair of gym shorts and slides them on up his legs.
“No, Sebastian. Don’t leave me. Please, don’t leave me. He is here.”
“Who? Who is here? It’s just us. No one can get in.”
Cruel Seduction: A Dark Romance (Underground Kings Book 2) Page 17