Chapter 23
Jackson
Life had a funny way of working out. I strolled out of James’ house with a grin on my face, happy for my buddy. He’d gotten his woman, he was now the head of Legion, and I couldn’t have been happier for him.
My smile faltered as I slid into my car, a pang of jealousy slamming into me from nowhere. I’d never been jealous of James; all the time we were free and single to fuck around with whomever we wanted, I’d never had a need to be jealous of him.
But now he had something I didn’t think I wanted. He had a wife whom he was head over heels for. There was only one woman I wanted to be with, but Kiera and I, we weren’t meant to be. Not while she kept her secrets from me.
As if sensing I was thinking about her, my phone rang, the screen flashing up with her name. My brows furrowed. She was ringing me from her personal phone, not the one I’d given her. I didn’t know why, but something pulled tight in my gut.
Despite how things had been left between us the night before, that feeling had me jamming my finger on the button to answer the call. “Kiera?”
“Jack…” she winced, as if the simple word had caused her unbearable agony. “I…need…help.”
An alien feeling bubbled up my throat. Fear. “Kiki, what’s happened?”
“Please…just…come.”
The line went dead.
Before I could even think about disturbing James reuniting with his wife to tell him that something had happened to his sister, my foot pressed the gas to the floor, and I sped out of his driveway.
The back door hung off its hinges, the glass panel in the top half shattered. I raised my gun, the one I always kept in my car, and nudged the door open with my foot. It creaked as it swung open, and I tentatively peeked around, prepared for some kind of ambush.
My eyes widened at the chaos that greeted me. Glass covered the kitchen floor, cupboard doors and drawers had been flung open, and the contents from inside scattered everywhere. My gaze landed on a trail of blood, and creeping forward, I tracked it behind the kitchen island.
“Kiki! What the fuck?”
Not giving a fuck that the glass would likely cut me, I fell to my knees in front of her.
She’d propped herself against the island, congealed blood covering her forehead caused by a gash that disappeared into her hairline, one eye swollen shut, the other badly bruised.
Dried blood crusted under her nose and onto her chin.
“Jackson,” she whispered, wincing.
An array of emotions crashed into me as I took in her battered form, but none as clear than the rage. Whoever had done this—and I had a damn good idea who was responsible—was a dead fucking man.
Guilt joined the party at the memory of the bruise on Kiera’s face when I’d arrived for dinner. I’d intended to find the footage of Alec hitting Kiera to use as proof, but with everything that had happened between us, and helping James uncover Willow’s past, it slipped from my mind.
Fuck. I could have prevented this if I hadn’t been so damn wrapped up in the way Kiera made me feel.
“What happened?” I asked, stroking a bloodstained strand of hair from her face.
Tears filled her eye. “Alec. I told him my dad had died and he…went beserk.”
“Over your dad dying?”
She nodded, her face twisting in pain. “It’s a long story. But he…he’s taken Billie.”
My brows shot up, the anger pumping through me turning to white-hot fury. “He’s taken Billie?” Kiera grabbed my hand and tried to pull herself up, groaning in agony as I stopped her. “Don’t move, Kiki. What are you doing?”
She continued her attempt to stand. “I…I have to. He’s got Billie…and I need to get her back.”
Hearing the distress in her voice, I lifted her into my arms and sat her on top of the island. “You need a doctor before you do anything.”
“What I need is to find my daughter,” she replied, desperation coating her voice. “He knows, Jackson. Alec knows, and I think he is going to do something to Billie in revenge.”
My heart leaped into my throat. “Knows about us?”
Her pleading eye found mine. “No. He knows about Legion. My father promised him a place in Legion when we got married, but now my father is dead, he knows that won’t happen. That’s why I think he’s taken Billie. I think he’ll use her as a way to secure his place, or he’ll…he’ll hurt her.”
Blood swirled down the drain as I gently swiped the sponge over Kiera’s battered body, careful to avoid the colorful bruises marring her ribs.
She’d begged me to help her find Billie before breaking down into wracking sobs that had made her entire body violently shake. Of course I was going to help her; Billie wasn’t only her daughter, but she was my best friend’s niece, and I too had grown fond of her.
But first, I needed to clean Kiera up and assess her injuries. Only once I had satisfied myself that she didn’t need further medical attention could I sit her down and probe her about Alec. The more I knew about him, the more chance I had of finding where he’d taken Billie.
Soft moans flowed from Kiera as the two of us stood naked under the hot running water, although I didn’t think it was from the injuries Alec had caused. It was from the pain in her heart at knowing her daughter was out there somewhere, but she didn’t know where.
And fuck, did I want to stop her torment.
Whatever it took, I wouldn’t give up until Billie was back in her mother’s arms.
With most of the blood cleared from Kiera’s skin, I ditched the sponge and turned her, moving her so her hair was under the stream. Her tits pressed against me, but for once, my cock didn’t stir. Not at a time like this.
When her hair was wet enough, I squeezed the shampoo into my hand, spinning her again so I could lather it into her hair. Her body slumped helplessly against me; her back to my chest as I massaged her scalp, careful to avoid the gash so it didn’t start bleeding again.
Kiera released another sob, and I couldn’t help but lower my lips to brush against her shoulder. Right then, right at that minute, nothing else mattered. Not the past, not the future. Not even Alec.
Only her.
“We’ll get her back, baby,” I whispered, grazing my lips against the shell of her ear.
Her body shuddered. “What if it’s too late?”
I turned her to face me, delicately cupping her bruised cheek. “Don’t think like that, Kiki. Billie is a fighter. She’s been through so much in her life already, and she never gave up. She never stopped fighting. She’s strong and brave, and she’ll be home to you in no time, I promise.”
She gazed up at me, her swollen eye open the tiniest amount. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Jackson.”
“I don’t. I’ve never broken a promise.”
Her eyes dropped. “You promised you’d love me for eternity.”
The sorrow in her voice hit me straight in the chest, and I couldn’t help my next words as I pressed two fingers under her chin and lifted it so she had to look at me. “And like I say. I’ve never broken a promise.”
Her bottom lip quivered as she inhaled a shaky breath, and for several seconds, neither of us looked away.
Every part of me ached to close the gap between us and kiss her, but I held back.
She’d been through enough, and as much as I was sure I still had feelings for her that ran bone deep, I couldn’t ignore that I didn’t trust her.
Stepping back, disappointment flashed on Kiera’s face as I moved her under the stream to wash the shampoo out. When the water ran clear again, I cast my eyes over the gash to her head, assessing how bad it was.
“I don’t think you need stitches, but I suspect it’s going to hurt for a while, and you’ve probably got a concussion, so you need to stay awake.”
Her lips creased into a small, sad smile. “I don’t think I’ll be sleeping until I know Billie is safe.”
I bobbed my head. “Then let’s get to work and find out where that fiancé of yours is.”
She snorted. “I think it’s safe to say he is no longer my fiancé.”
“Good,” I growled, my fists clenching. Even when the asshole was dead and buried, I wasn’t sure I’d ever not want to dig him up, just so I could kill him all over again for daring to hurt Kiera. To hurt my woman. “Come on then, let’s get dressed, and we can figure out where to start.”
I reached for the handle to shut the shower off, but Kiera’s hand whipping out to grab my arm stopped me. “Can I just have a minute on my own?”
My brow lifted. “Of course. You okay?”
Sorrow filled her eyes. “Yeah. I just…need a minute alone.”
I pressed my lips lightly against hers. “Shout if you need anything.”
Leaving her to it, I dressed and headed downstairs to wait for her.
There were a number of options I had to start tracking Alec.
His phone, his car, and his money to start with.
Not wanting to sit around with my thumb up my ass, I headed to Alec’s office, figuring his computer might hold useful information.
Unsurprisingly, his office was the one room he hadn’t smashed up before he went on his kidnapping mission, and it remained exactly as it had when he’d brought me in here to discuss investment options.
His computer stood on his desk, and I wasted no time taking the seat in front of it, tapping away at the keyboard in an attempt to bypass his password.
Lost in concentration, trying every trick I knew to hack into a computer, the rumble of an engine only caught my attention because of how close to the house it had sounded.
My head whipped up, and I jumped from the chair to sprint to the window, catching Kiera reversing her car out of the driveway before speeding off.
I bolted to the front door, confused as hell as to where she was going, but by the time I ripped the front door open, her car had disappeared around a corner.
Where the fuck had she gone? More to the point, why had she left?
Dread churned in my stomach as I pulled my phone from my pocket, loading up the app that showed me all the incoming and outgoing text messages from where I’d cloned her phone.
My gaze landed on the most recent message, and I muttered a curse as I read it.
Unknown number:
If you want to see Billie again, answer your fucking phone.
I quickly loaded up the list of her phone calls, noting two missed calls from two different numbers before the message came through. The call that had come after the message had been answered, and a forty-three-second call had taken place only moments ago.
Not bothering to shut the front door, I ran to my car, tapped the onboard computer several times to bring up the data for the tracker I’d put on Kiera’s car, and then I took off after her.
Stopping my car half a mile away from where Kiera’s car had come to a stop, I made the rest of the journey on foot. I knew the area well, and I’d be lying if I said I had any idea why Kiera had come to this place.
Especially if she was meeting Alec.
Not knowing what she was dealing with, and not wanting to spook Alec—if that was who she had come to meet—I kept myself hidden behind outbuildings as I neared the property. Reaching the carport, I peeked around in hopes I could see what was going on inside, cursing myself for not having my gun.
I’d rushed out of Kiera’s house so damn quick, I hadn’t thought to grab my gun from the kitchen island where I’d left it after finding Kiera.
My brows furrowed. Kiera’s car had been abandoned at the front of the house, parked next to another, one I recognized instantly.
But it wasn’t Alec’s.
Before I could give it too much thought, the front door swung open, and a man limped down the steps, cupping his balls before getting into his car and slamming the door furiously. The car reversed at speed, the driver spinning the wheels so the car was facing the direction of the main road.
He didn’t see me as he floored it out of the driveway.
For several seconds, I stared at where he’d disappeared with one question racing through my mind.
What in the everloving fuck was going on?