by Nashoda Rose
I stopped breathing, my insides curdling. I was afraid I’d throw up and suffocate on my own vomit.
He picked up strands of red curls, rubbing them between his thumb and forefinger. “I told your mother once I liked your red curls.” My heart skipped a beat. Oh, my God. “She didn’t like that. I think she was afraid I’d put you in one of my clubs. I may have if you hadn’t left.”
He dropped the strands of hair. “You’re stubborn like her. I like that. The spirited horses always turn out to be the best, once you break them.”
I’d been right about his dad. There were no good bits. No wonder Killian warned me at the cemetery not to trust everyone. Because he’d grown up with this man.
“Remove the gag,” he ordered, then scowled at me. “Scream, and you’ll lose your front teeth.”
I coughed as my captor pulled the gag from my mouth and tossed it on the floor. Everything in me wanted to scream, but I knew if I did, I’d never get enough out before his threat became real.
“Killian will be furious when he finds out you came here. One of his men is outside right now. You’ll never get out of here without him seeing you.” Furious was an understatement. And it worried me what Killian would do.
He laughed. “Why do you think we’re here? You know what he was like, don’t you, Savannah? I wonder how he’ll feel when he sees the bruises on you.” The bruises? His eyes flicked to my captor and the steel arms released me. I staggered to the side of the bed, away from both of them. “I suspect he’ll revert back to his old ways and that façade he hides behind will break.”
Before I had time to process what he was talking about, his fist barreled into my stomach, and I fell to my knees on the floor, the wind knocked out of me. But it didn’t stop there as the bulky guy looked over his shoulder at Killian’s father and with a nod from him, he grabbed me by the hair then slammed his fist into my face. My lip split as I bit my tongue and blood pooled in my mouth and dribbled down my chin.
I grabbed the duvet, trying to pull myself up, but collapsed on the floor again, my head spinning from the blow.
The shadow of my abuser backed off, and Killian’s father took his place, crouching in front of me. I jerked back when he reached to touch my swollen lip and fell on my ass, my spine hitting the nightstand.
“A rock star who has a violent past and beats his girlfriend.” He tsked. “I wonder what the media will have to say about him now?”
“He’d never hurt me,” I spat. “Killian would die before he laid a hand on me.”
He stood towering over me. “Maybe so. But the media will spin it my way, especially when I tell them about his arrest at the raid. Juvie. And the kids he beat up. I wonder how many of them would talk now?”
“Why? Why do you want to hurt him?”
“Because he ruined everything,” he shouted. “She was my wife. Mine. And she thought she could take Kill and leave me—for him. My own brother. I’d never let that happen. Never.”
Oh, God. Killian was his brother’s child. The uncle whom he lived with after his father left him in juvie. Did Killian know? Did his uncle?
I couldn’t imagine what it was like for Killian to grow up with a man who held such animosity for him. And it wasn’t his fault. Then to lose his brother and his mother and be left with this man.
Tears stained my cheeks. “Don’t hurt him. Please.”
“I don’t plan on hurting him,” he sneered. “He’ll do that all by himself. That façade he plays so well will crumble and Kill will end up exactly where he was meant to be… in jail.”
“At least you’ll be dead. Because he’s going to kill you.”
My words bounced right off him as he quirked a smile. “I see why he’s infatuated with you. You’re exceptionally beautiful when you’re angry.” He turned and headed for the door, pausing to say to his crony, “Don’t be long. Meet me on the roof.”
I scrambled to my feet and managed a half scream before he grabbed me and cut off my air with his arm hooking my neck. I kicked out at the lamp on the nightstand, and it crashed to the floor.
Please, Trevor. Anyone.
“Fuck,” he growled. He abruptly released me, and I staggered back, sucking in air. I didn’t see his fist come toward me until it was too late.
I hit the floor and everything went dark.
I called Savvy in the car on the way back from the airport, but it rang then went to voice mail. It was two in the morning and she may have fallen asleep. I smiled, thinking about my mouth on her pussy.
Fuckin’ two days. It had been hell without her, and the guys had noticed. I’d let Logan deal with the magazine, which was normally my deal. I’d even gone to my hotel room early both nights so I could talk to Savvy. There was nothing sweeter than Savvy saying goodnight to me in her honey voice over the phone.
Logan and Ream both lived out of the city, so Roman was driving them and Crisis left his car at the airport.
I called again. No answer. I pressed End and sent her a text that I was five minutes away. I didn’t have a key to her place, so as much as I’d love to wake her with my mouth between her legs, I couldn’t.
“Okay, what’s the deal with this chick Savvy?” Crisis asked, glancing over at me. “You’ve been with a lot of chicks, man, but this is different. She’s either really fuckin’ good in bed and is into your ropes and shit or she’s permanent.”
I slipped my phone back in my pocket. “Both.”
Crisis slapped the heel of his hand on the steering wheel. “I fuckin’ knew it. Ream owes me a case of beer.”
I shook my head. “You guys made a bet?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. He thought you’d never last.” He glanced at me. “Your track record sucks, so he had the advantage, but you bringing her to my mom and dad’s place, that sealed it. Kite, man, we’ve lived together. I saw you bring chicks home. Never with the same one twice. Never. But this one, you bring to family dinner, to Logan’s, to your vacant warehouse that you don’t call home.” He huffed. “And it’s not. Fuck, man, you need to sell that place. Or at least decorate if you want to keep a girl like Savvy. Or get a cat. Something to say you’re normal living in that place.”
I chuckled. “I’m not getting a cat.”
“If she’s so permanent, why didn’t you say that at the interview with the magazine?”
They’d mentioned Savvy because of the pictures of us floating around, but nothing much had surfaced yet, and I wanted to keep it that way. At least until this shit with my father was over, and I planned on ending it sooner than I’d thought.
I’d decided to sell my half of Compass to Brett. If my father’s nightclubs went under, then I didn’t want to be part of it. I didn’t give a shit anymore. He wasn’t important and I was making him important.
Savvy was important.
Emily and the SPCA were dealing with the horses. Even if I was walking away from this, his continued abuse of horses had to stop.
Crisis pulled up in front of Savvy’s building, and I unclicked my seatbelt. “Waited a fuck of a long time for Savvy. Only girl my cock has ever been inside and she will be the last. Clear enough for you.”
I opened the door and got out.
“What the fuck?” Crisis shouted leaning over the seat. “Kite? What the fuck do you mean? Jesus, man. Are you serious? Christ….” I shut the door.
“You owe me a phone call tomorrow.” I heard him curse as he drove off.
Luke walked up, and I shook his hand. “All good?”
“She’s been home half an hour.”
“And already asleep because she’s not answering her phone,” I said. “She has to buzz me in.” She was giving me a key to her place tomorrow. Non-fuckin’-negotiable.
Luke frowned. “You called her?”
“Yeah. Why?” I took out my phone to see if she’d texted me back. She hadn’t.
Luke looked up in the direction of Savvy’s third-floor apartment.
My back stiffened. “Luke?”
“Her kit
chen light is still on.”
“And?”
“Been watching her a long time. She never leaves lights on when she goes to bed. And you said she knew you were coming?”
Because Savvy was concerned about the hydro bill, and yeah, she knew I was coming. My heart pounded and stomach coiled as I pressed her number again and listened to it ring as we jogged up to the front door.
Luke pressed her buzzer. No answer.
“Jesus.” Everything inside revolted as a million thoughts plowed through me. Nothing could happen to her. She had to be okay. I couldn’t lose her, not Savvy too.
I yanked on the doors, but the one good thing about this place was the front door locked. I banged my fist into the glass. “Damn it.” I looked at Luke. “Her neighbor Trevor. Buzz him.”
Luke scrolled through the names while I paced back and forth.
Trevor answered. “What the fuck? Do you not know my fuckin’ rules. No one buzzes me after midnight.” The air went silent.
“Fuck.” I buzzed this time and as soon as it clicked when he picked up, I spoke. “It’s Kite. Buzz me in.”
“Why didn’t you say that the first time?” Trevor replied.
The buzzer sounded, and Luke threw open the door and we ran inside. My heart was in my fuckin’ throat as we raced up the three flights of stairs.
I didn’t bother knocking on Savvy’s door or asking Trevor for a key. I slammed my shoulder into it, splintering the wooden frame, and the door burst open.
“What the hell is going on?” I heard Trevor shout from across the hall. Luke grabbed my arm to haul me back, and I glanced at the gun in his hand.
“Kite. Let me check it out first,” Luke said.
“I can’t.” I jerked my arm free and moved through her apartment, eyes scanning the couch first, praying that maybe she’d just fallen asleep. But the truth was, I already knew. I felt it.
“Savvy?” I yelled, running for the bedroom, Luke beside me.
The second I stepped into the room and saw her it was like being slammed in the gut with a wrecking ball, then a chainsaw ripping open my chest.
“Noooo!” I shouted, tumbling to my knees beside her, my hands running the length of her body as I tried to see where she was hurt.
She lay on her stomach, her head to the side, hair covering her face, and blood splattered across the floor.
“Don’t move her,” Luke ordered as he held his phone to his ear. He was talking to someone, but his words were muffled as my mind gyrated with fear.
“Fuck. Savvy. Baby.” I brushed her hair away from her face and neck and felt for a pulse.
I closed my eyes as a wave of relief poured over me when I felt the thump beneath the pads of my fingers. “She’s alive.”
A shadow cast over me, but I didn’t look to see who it was, all I saw was Savvy and… fuck, Emmitt. Facedown in the water, blood splattered on the rock where he’d hit his head.
But there’d been no pulse.
Savvy was breathing. She was fuckin’ breathing. “Where the fuck are the paramedics,” I shouted.
“Any second,” Luke said as he crouched beside me and took her wrist to check her pulse.
“I swear. I didn’t hear anything. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I heard her come home and…” Trevor went on as he paced the floor, his eyes shifting to Savvy every time he turned.
I grabbed the blanket at the end of the bed and lay it over her while I held her limp hand in mine.
I heard sirens. Footsteps. There were people bustling into the bedroom, and I couldn’t focus on anything but her.
“Kite. They need to take her.” Luke dragged me back so the paramedics could put a neck brace on her, then they rolled her onto the stretcher.
Christ, this was my fault. I brought this into her life. I ran my hand through my hair as I watched Savvy being carried out of the bedroom.
My hands shook and my body trembled. “I did this. I did this.”
“We don’t know what happened. A lot of scum come into this building, Kite.” Luke said.
This was my father. Her place wasn’t robbed; nothing was disturbed. This was him.
Luke put his hand on my shoulder. “I called Crisis. He’s meeting you at the hospital. I’ll stay here. Talk to the police.”
I didn’t even realize I’d walked downstairs as Luke spoke. I climbed into the ambulance with Savvy, and my hand found hers.
“She’ll be okay,” Luke said as the doors shut and the ambulance’s siren blared.
“Sir?” Why? Fuck, why would he go after Savvy? Why hurt her? “Sir? We need her arm, sir.”
I glanced at the paramedic beside me who held a cotton swab in his hand. “Her arm, sir.”
The moment I released her hand, it was like I was letting her go. That she was slipping from my grasp. “Christ.” I put my head in my hands and closed my eyes, but the second I did, images of Savvy lying motionless on the floor haunted me.
I didn’t protect her.
“She’s going to be okay, right?” I asked the paramedic, my voice barely distinguishable.
“Don’t know about internal damage, sir. We’ll know more when they take her in for radiographs. But she’s stable. Heart and lungs clear. Blood pressure steady.”
I nodded, running my knuckles down her cheek. “I’m sorry, Savvy. Fuck baby, I’m so sorry.”
The ambulance stopped and I moved out of the way as the paramedics wheeled her in and I followed until they disappeared behind swinging doors and a nurse stopped me.
“Kite.”
I stood staring at the door, my limbs frozen.
“Kite, man.” Crisis’s hand settled on my shoulder, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
My mind was an infestation of emotions. Emotions I’d kept locked away, and now like a raging river hitting a cracked dam, they were leaking through me.
I didn’t know how to react. I was afraid to react. Fuck, this wasn’t me. I had control. For years, I had control.
But the dam had broken and behind it was the boy who’d lost his brother. A boy who was reminded day after day that it was his fault for not protecting him. That it was his fault his mother had died and the family was ruined.
Memories buzzed like wasps around me. Reminding me. Hunting me.
I inhaled a ragged breath and turned to face Crisis. “I have to go.”
“Whoa. Kite.” He grabbed my arm. “Where? Haven is on her way. And I called Logan. He and Emily will be here soon with Ream and Kat.”
Fuck, I couldn’t breathe. My chest was tight and my head felt as if it was going to combust. I had to get out of here before the anger boiled over.
“Text me when you know something.”
“Jesus Christ. You’re leaving? You just blurted out that she’s the first fuckin’ chick you stuck your cock in and you’re leaving? What the hell, man?”
The hospital doors hissed as they opened. The second the air hit me, I inhaled deep lungfuls of air.
I was being pulled away from Emmitt’s body.
Cold, wet, and alone. The river raging like I was. My father stood on the bank glaring at me. The hatred in his eyes. Hatred I’d been subjected to for years until I got out. And I got out because of Savvy. Saving her at the raid had ended up saving me.
He hurt Savvy. He fuckin’ hurt her.
It was the crack in the pink pot. It burst wide open and was spilling out onto the ground.
“Kite, where the fuck are you going?” Crisis shouted. “Kite!”
I strode across the parking lot to the street and hailed a cab.
I woke to the sound of beeping and tried to sit up, but the second I did, agony shot through my ribs.
“Savvy? Thank God.”
I blinked, attempting to focus, but everything was blurry. “Mars?” A warm hand lay on my forearm and gently squeezed. “Where am…?” I sucked in air as the memory came back like a movie reel on fast forward. Killian’s father. His hatred for Killian. My mother.
“You have a concussion and broken r
ibs, but you’re going to be fine,” Mars was saying.
“Killian?” God, where was he? He’d been on his way to my place.
“I don’t know where he is.”
I groaned, sitting up, and the beeping accelerated on the machine. “What do you mean?”
“Luke came by the hospital to check on you and told us he and Kite found you on the floor in your bedroom. Kite rode in the ambulance with you, but Crisis said he left as soon as they took you in.”
“No.” My heart raced. This was exactly what his father wanted. He’d be ready. Killian would be arrested if he went after him. “No. I have to find him.” I yanked on the intravenous in my arm, and Mars stood, her hands locking my arms at my sides.
“Savvy. Stop. You can’t do anything. And you need to rest. Killian can look after himself.”
“I have to go. I have to get out of here” I winced when I tried to push her hands off me, but my ribs objected. “I need to talk to him, damn it. Luke. Where’s Luke?”
“I don’t know. Maybe looking for Kite? Savvy, you need to lie back and settle down.”
I couldn’t. He’d been worried about his father. That was why he’d put his security on me. All his father cared about was his reputation. How he appeared to everyone else. He was the complete opposite of Killian. God, Killian wasn’t his real son. It was why he never cared about him. Killian was a constant reminder of his wife’s cheating. Her wanting to leave him.
“Mars, can you get me Logan’s number?” He knew Killian. He knew about his fighting.
“I can do better. He’s out in the waiting room with everyone else. The nurses are fighting over who gets to work the nurses’ station in the waiting room.”
“They’re here?”
She nodded. “Yeah. All night.”
“All night? How long have I been unconscious?”
“You were brought in around two-thirty. It’s nine now.”
Which meant Killian had been gone for six and a half hours. “I need to talk to Logan.”
“Okay, but you’re really not supposed to have visitors. I lied and said I was your sister. But Logan—”