Prevail (Triumph Book 3)

by S. J. McGran

  Just as I reach my hand out the door flies open as Roxy and the girls burst through, drunken laughter still bouncing between them. Roxy’s face immediately sobers when she sees the look on mine.

  Scanning the street, her eyes land on William still hunched over several feet away. “What in the actual fuck is he doing here?” She screeches.

  Zhoe and Angelica finally realize something isn’t right at the same time William regains his bearings.

  “Riley, baby. That wasn’t very nice.” He smiles his perfectly practiced grin, and my skin crawls. “I just wanted to see if you needed a ride home, you shouldn’t drive drunk.” He slithers forward and I take a step back instinctually. “Come home, baby. Please.”

  Roxy steps in front of me effectively stopping Williams assent. “Back the fuck off Stephens. I’m sure you’re breaking your restraining order, don’t make me call the cops.”

  I watch as his charming grin falters, a devious sneer taking its place. “Still letting Roxy fight your battles for you, Riley?”

  I don’t answer. I refuse. I wouldn’t have needed Roxy back then if he weren't such a sick fuck. Grabbing Roxy’s arm I start backing up slowly trying to formulate a way to get all of us out of this situation with the least amount of damage.

  The door to a bar across the street opens and a group of guys walk out. One of them must notice the hostile vibes coming from our group because they make their way in our direction.

  “You girls okay?” The biggest of the three addresses us but never takes his eyes off William.

  “Yeah, they’re fine man. I’m just trying to get my fiancé to come home, but you know how girls are when they get drunk.” I watch the exchange terrified the guys are going to believe him. He’s a pro at schmoozing, but I’m hoping the stranger detects the edginess in his tone that is just barely disguised by his seemingly innocent words.

  A van with a large pink mustache on the front rolls up to the curb and I know this is our only way to get out of this situation completely unscathed. I give the guy wide eyes when he glances back at me praying he understands their meaning. He must because he places himself very strategically between us and William before speaking over his shoulder in my direction, “That’s our cab, why don’t you girls go ahead and take it. We’ll call another one.”

  “Thank you,” I rush out before pulling Roxy behind me, with Zhoe and Angelica following behind us silently.

  “Tell Rico I said hello,” William sneers at me.

  Ice cold fear freezes me, with one foot in the car and the other still on the ground. Rico has already been drug into this mess enough. I don’t need William threatening him, too. I don’t need his life on the line. I can’t handle it. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to him—ever—but especially if something happened to him because of me.

  Roxy pulls on my hand forcing me into the back of the van. That was too much. Too creepy. Too familiar. I thought that part of my past was behind me. But, it—he—keeps showing up unannounced.

  “What the hell, Riley? How did he know where you were? And what did he mean about Rico?”

  Roxy’s voice is a mixture of anger and fear. I know the feeling. Keeping my eyes closed I rest my head against the passenger seat wishing I were alone for five minutes, wishing I had time to process everything that just happened. Wishing I knew if Rico is okay. Wishing I was safe in his arms.

  I pull out my phone with the intention of calling Rico, just to hear his voice, but, a black screen greets me. “Shit,” I mumble to myself. It’s dead. Panic fills me. I need to get home. I need to get to Rico’s. I need him. Right now.

  “Riley?” Zhoe’s voice is soft, motherly even. “Who was that? And, why exactly did he call you his fiancé?”

  “Because he’s sick, fucked up in the head,” Roxy answers for me. While her answer isn’t completely inaccurate, it isn’t enough. I have to tell them the truth. At least the cliff notes version of the story.

  “He is my ex-fiancé. We haven’t been together in a long time though, but apparently he doesn’t get it. He… um, he hurt me really bad and was put in jail. He just got out a couple of months back.”

  “Jesus,” someone mutters under their breath. I’m too tired, too strung-out to really care who it was.

  I breathe a silent sigh of relief when Roxy steps in filing in all of the missing pieces. I’m grateful for her at that moment, especially when she leaves out some of the more personal details, simply giving them what they need to know to understand my history with William. She tells them about high school, college, and our engagement. She tells them about finding me unconscious in my own living room with my own fiancé hovering above me. And, she finally ends the story with the damage he did to the apartment the weekend of Zhoe’s wedding.

  I remain silent throughout afraid the dam of tears I’m just barely containing will break if I move, let alone speak.

  When Roxy’s finished, the car is silent, the tension palpable.

  ***

  With tonight weighing heavily on my shoulders, and William’s unspoken threat replaying in a relentless loop I raise my hand and knock on Rico’s door. I shouldn’t be here. I should be running away from him—or, well running away for him. But, I can’t. I have to make sure he’s okay.

  The door flies open and a terrified looking Rico stands there looking at me like he’s seen a ghost. “Fuck,” his voice is gravely. Reaching out he wraps his arms around me, holding me to him closely. “Baby, what the hell? I’ve been trying to call you forever. Are you okay?”

  “My phone died,” I mumble as I tighten my hold around his neck. My tears fall unchecked. “Are you okay? I ran into William at the bar and he said…” I hiccup as I try to inhale a steadying breath. “Are you okay?” I ask again.

  “He was there?”

  Again, I just nod my answer. I can’t possibly speak around the lump in my throat. Fear. Relief. It’s all sitting in the middle of my throat blocking any words.

  Pulling me farther into his apartment he closes the door behind me. Lifting me up he carries me into his bedroom silently. Laying me down gently on the bed, he steps back and lets his gaze run all over my body rapidly and I do the same to him.

  “Fuck, baby. I was so fucking scared when I couldn’t get a hold of you,” he drops to his knees at the foot of the bed and slowly starts undressing me. His eyes never leaving mine. “I didn’t know where you were and I couldn’t get a hold of you. Every awful thing I could think of ran through my head. I was going fucking crazy.”

  I lift my hips for him so he can shimmy my jeans down my legs. Then he grips my waist so I’m sitting upright and removes my shirt and bra. I watch him walk away from me, leaving me sitting on his bed in nothing but my panties. He opens a dresser drawer and lowers a soft, t-shirt over my head.

  If I could, I’d smile at the way he’s taking care of me. But, I’m too scared. Too lost to really feel much of anything at all.

  Dropping his own jeans and removing his shirt he climbs onto the bed in just his boxers and pulls me with him to the pillows. Covering us up, he pulls my body to his and squeezes me tightly from behind.

  “Kit?” His voice rumbles against my skin. When I don’t answer, he tries again. “Riley, I need to know if you’re okay. Talk to me, baby. Say something.”

  My body shakes from the force of my tears. “I don’t know. I’m so scared. How does he keep finding us? How is it that he can get to us so easily, but the cops can’t find him?”

  His arms get impossibly tighter around my middle. His breath rushes out in a large sigh. “I don’t know. But, I promise I’m going to keep you safe. I promise.”

  We’re quiet for a long time. And for just a few minutes I forget about William. I focus solely on Rico and the comfort he gives me, the strength in his words. I know he’ll do everything he can to keep me safe, but is that his burden to bear?

  Rico has gone through enough in this life, is it fair for me to ask him to accept me despite the craziness my life brings
? To be my protector? To risk his own life, his own sobriety, his own sanity?

  No. No, it’s not.

  I realize now what I have to do.

  I have to let Rico go.

  I have to walk away from the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

  I have to save Rico. Protect him.

  But for tonight, I take a little more from him. I take one more night in his arms.

  Tomorrow I’ll save him.

  Tonight I cherish him.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Rico

  “What the fuck?” I shout as I throw my phone across the room.

  “Dude, watch it. He’ll be repeating what you say eventually, might as well get used to not cussing now.”

  “Sorry,” I mumble. I know Ryan’s just trying to cheer me up, but it’s not working. Nothing will work. Nothing except talking to my girl again that is. Last night I fell asleep with her in my arms and when I woke up she was gone.

  Her side of the bed was still warm. But she wasn’t there. Instead of the warm, curvy body I wanted to feel when I reached over, I felt a cold, rough piece of paper.

  A note. She left me a fucking note.

  William is out there. William keeps finding her.

  And, yet she left. She left me.

  She left me with a note.

  I could have loved you, Rico Jones.

  That’s it. A promise of more. More that I’ll never have.

  “Still can’t get a hold of her?” Ryan asks.

  With my head in my hands, I shake my head in answer, unsure if I’ll even be able to speak around the lump in my throat. I can’t even distinguish what I’m feeling right now, I’m not even sure if there is one particular thing I’m feeling. Anger is definitely there. Worry seems the most prominent. But, pain is there, too. For once I thought I finally had someone in my life I could count on, someone I could trust. Shit, someone I could give my broken, tattered heart to. Turns out I was wrong.

  I learned at a young age people will always, always let you down. I was a fool for forgetting that. Even temporarily.

  After everything that went down the other night, I’m fucking terrified that asshole got to her. That he managed to get her back. Or, worse that he’s hurting her.

  Because of that I have to push everything else I’m feeling aside and find her. I have to make sure she’s okay. If she wants him, if she picks him over me, then fine. But, I have to make sure she’s okay and that she’s making that decision on her own and not because he’s holding her at gunpoint.

  “I have to go,” I announce to Ryan and Angelica tersely. Standing from my spot I push my way through the house. I have to get to Riley. I have to find her.

  The entire drive to her place worst case scenarios have been running through my mind. What if she went back to him? What if he kidnaped her? What if he hurt her?

  Slamming my truck in park, I throw my door open and sprint to her front door. Raising my fist, I pound on the wood as hard as I can. This is the second time today I’ve been here, but this time I refuse to leave until someone answers me.

  “Come on. Open the door.”

  Minutes. Hours. Time goes by unchecked, all I know is that by the time the front door finally opens my hand is bruised from all of the hammering it’s done. Roxy looks exhausted when she looks up at me. The look only threatens to break me a little more. I’m terrified now that something awful has happened to my girl.

  “Where is she?”

  She sighs as she leans against the doorjamb. “What did you do to her?” Her voice is bitter. Angry.

  For a moment, I’m not sure what the hell she’s talking about. What did I do to her? What did I do to her? Are you fucking kidding me?

  “I didn’t do anything, Roxy. She left me. Not the other way around. Where the fuck is she? William is still out there. I need to make sure she’s okay.”

  “She left you?” I give her one nod. I don’t know what Riley told her but, whatever it was, she lied. That makes me even more nervous. Makes the pessimist in me believe he forced her to lie. “She told me you broke it off with her.” She looks down and lets out a mumbled mess of words I don’t really understand.

  I try to stand there patiently. Try to exude some measure of confidence, sureness, but after everything my head and my heart have gone through these last few days I’m just as exhausted as Roxy looks. “Please. Please tell me where she is.”

  “I’m only telling you so that you can fix this. She went home to her parent’s house. I’ll give you the address, but I swear to you Rico Jones if you don’t make this right I’m coming after you.”

  Unable to resist I pull her into my arms so fucking grateful Riley has a friend like her and that she trusts me enough to fix this. And, I’m beyond thankful that William doesn’t have her.

  “Thanks, Rox.” Releasing her, I head back to my truck at a full sprint.

  It’s time to get my girl back.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Riley

  I’m calm. Eerily calm. Though I really shouldn’t be.

  Not when I’m sure my life is about to end.

  They say when you’re about to die your life flashes before your eyes. Some say you see all of your regrets played out like a movie reel of every mistake you’ve ever made. Others say you see every beautiful, precious moment you’ve ever experienced.

  I say they are all full of shit.

  There is only one thing I see. One thing that keeps playing over and over on a loop through my mind.

  Rico.

  I wish I’d kissed him one last time before I rolled out of his bed the other day. I wish more than anything I was safe at home wrapped up in his strong arms.

  I wish I had told him I loved him.

  I left him a note telling him I could have loved him. But, that was a lie. I do love him. I love him so fucking much it hurts. But, he’ll never know that. I’ll never get to tell him.

  Damn it, I wish I would wake up from this goddamn nightmare so I can start living my life the way I want to live it. Without fear. Without doubt. Without worry.

  “When are you going to learn?” My eyes are blindfolded, but I don’t need to see to know who’s doing this to me. The way I feel edgy in my own skin, the goose bumps traveling down my back, and the bile rising in my throat are all indications that William is the mastermind behind this plan.

  “You’re mine Riley,” he continues, “You’ve been mine since you were seventeen.”

  My hands are secured to the chair so I’m powerless to stop him when he drags his finger from my mouth, down my throat, stopping only when he reaches my cleavage. I physically gag at this touch. I tried to stay calm, tried not to antagonize, but it’s impossible not to react to having his hands on me.

  “You’re always going to be mine.” His voice is laced with menace. It’s disgusting and terrifying. But, in the back of my mind I can’t help but wonder who this person is. Where is the sweet seventeen-year-old boy I fell in love with all those years ago? Has he always had this monster lurking inside of him?

  The air shifts around me as he circles me. The room is silent except for his heavy footsteps. He circles over and over, dragging just his fingertips along the exposed skin of my throat, chest, and shoulders. I count to five as his thumb and fingers thrum against my throat when his pacing comes to a stop behind me.

  One beat. Two. For ten seconds, he strums his digits against me. The silence is nearly suffocating. Before I know it, with no way to stop it I truly am gasping for air when his hand tightens against my windpipe.

  “I’m willing to forgive you, Riley. I’m going to forget about all the times you disobeyed me.” His grip tightens with each word. “I’m even willing to forget about you throwing me in jail.”

  My hands shake. My arms twitch with the desperate need to rip his hand away. In a rare moment of civility William’s hand loosens, causing me to cough out as air rushes back into my lungs. “Why are you doing this?”

  His fingers stay wrapped arou
nd my throat, but his thumb skates up my chin, skating along my bottom lip. Goose bumps run down my spine and shivers follow. William misinterprets my reaction to his touch.

  “Still craving my touch, Riles?” I cringe at the nickname—my dad is the only one who’s ever called me that, and William knows this. I hate that he’s taken it from me. Taken something else from me.

  The blindfold comes off and I struggle to focus on the dark room he has me in. When I recognize the gun case in the corner, I’m thankful my parents decided to take a vacation this week because William has me held captive in my own fucking basement.

  He walks around me, crouching down so his pale blue eyes are directly in front of me. “I’m doing this because I want you back. I shouldn’t have lost you to begin with, but like I said I’m willing to forget your past indiscretions.”

  “Fuck you, William.” I snarl at him.

  His slimy grin falls back into place as he sneers at me. “Well, well, well. Seems you’ve grown a backbone in the time I’ve been gone.” Leaning forward he places his lips against mine. I twist my head to the side, doing what little I can to get away from him. “This is going to be fun, baby.”

  When he finally pulls back from my mouth, I spit in his face knowing I’m just waking a sleeping bear, but I refuse to sit there and take whatever he has planned to give me. His eyes narrow into slits, his hand rears back before coming down across my face. My eyes burn and my cheek stings from the impact.

  “You stupid bitch,” he sneers at me. “You’re going to pay for that.” He stands again and moves behind me. With my hands and legs strapped to the chair, I’m completely helpless, but it only gets worse when he covers my eyes with the blindfold, again.

  His hands skate down my skin—skimming my cheeks, jaw, and shoulders. One stops, wrapping its way around the column of my throat. The other keeps moving until its found its way under my bra. I let out a sound of protest, my eyes filling with tears when his hand tightens around me, groping me. Not again.