Chapter 63
Chapter Sixty-Three
Kash
“You need to be careful, dumbass. Don’t let Mila out of your sight until she’s found,” Seth growls into the phone.
Looking around, I see Mila heading into our apartment, leaving the door open. Shaking my head, I grab a bag and sling it over my shoulder. “Don’t tell me what to do with my w—” I stop myself before I say wife. “My woman. I know what I need to do.”
Seth scoffs and I have no doubt he’s rolling his eyes at me. “She deserves better than all this.”
Stopping at the entryway, I take a deep breath.
“You don’t think I know that? No shit, Seth.
She doesn’t deserve anything that’s happened, but she’s tough.
We’re back to work and stuff on Tuesday.
Cassie said she thinks they’ve found Bri, and she doesn’t know where I live.
We’re fine. Let us just stay in our bubble a little longer. ”
Walking into the apartment, I hear a cry coming from the hallway. What the fuck? I drop the bag I was holding and interrupt Seth’s tirade, “Shut up. Something’s wrong.”
“Don’t tell me to shut up, asshole. What’s wrong?”
Stepping into the living room, I find Bri standing above my girl, bat raised in the air. Mila’s prone body is lying on the ground, curled into herself. Dropping my phone, I rush toward her. “Don’t you fucking dare, Bri!”
I pray Seth hears and calls the police, because I’m about to turn this entire apartment into a crime scene. Running straight at Bri, I take the brunt of the swing into my collarbone and wince.
As we tumble to the floor, she screams, “You bastard! It should have been me!”
Mila hasn’t moved yet, and my veins fill with ice. Holding Bri’s thrashing form beneath me, I peek back and notice there’s blood on Mila’s face. That’s when I see red.
Her nails are clawing into my hands, trying to get free, but I tighten my hold. Shoving her against the floor, she cries out, “Stop, Kash. You’re hurting me.”
“Kash,” Mila’s voice mumbles behind me.
Taking my eyes off Bri for a moment to check is a mistake because I miss her movement. She latches her teeth into my hand and bites down hard.
“Fuck!” I howl in pain, moving back, scrambling toward Mila. I have to protect her. “What the fuck is wrong with you? What’d you do to her?”
Standing to her full height, Bri grabs the discarded bat and points it at my face. “It was always about her, wasn’t it? You threw me away for the book slut, then you moved onto the little baker when she wouldn’t give you the time of day.”
Is she talking about Cora? “There was never anything between me and Cora! Fuck, you’re crazy!”
She swings the bat toward my head, and I duck in time to narrowly miss having my skull split open. I don’t, however, have time to move before she brings it down on my leg. I feel the bone splinter and fuck—that hurts!
“How does that feel, Kash? How does it feel to be hit the way you hit my brother?” she spits, glaring at me. “He was all I had, and you took him away from me!”
I’m done with this. I stand to my full height even though my leg throbs in protest. If I have to hurt her to save Mila, then so be it. “He’s not dead!” Yet. “He deserved what he got.”
Maniacal laughter splits the air, making Bri sound so sinister it chills me to the bone.
“Jake went along with what I wanted. It was all my idea from the start. I learned all about your precious baker, and he followed her. It’s amazing what doctors will believe when you learn how to fake it. They all thought I was cured.”
My phone lays across the room, and I see Seth’s number is still connected. I just have to stall for time. With any luck, the police should be here soon. “Why would you do all this? I’m not worth it Bri. I never was.”
Shaking her head, she glares. “We were perfect together, Kash. I thought eventually you’d appreciate me, but you never did. You treated me no better than trash.”
“That’s not fair.” I wince at how much my leg is throbbing, but I need her to stay focused until the police get here. “I never promised you anything and you know it.”
I look past Bri and see the blue-and-red lights through the front windows. Fucking finally. Leaning against the wall, I smile. The sound of sirens pierces the night air, and she whirls around.
“It’s over, Bri. Just surrender yourself. No one else has to get hurt.”
“It’s over when I say it’s over.” Bri drops the bat and pulls a small gun from behind her. She points it at my chest, and I freeze.
“Bri, stop.” I hold out my hands. “Just think about what you’re doing. This is wrong and you know it.”
“If I can’t have you, no one will,” she cries, releasing the safety. I briefly close my eyes and pray for Mila to make it to safety, and for her to know how much I love her and our baby.
“No!” a voice shouts as the gun goes off. A blur moves in front of me, shielding my body, and I swear I feel the bullet hit Mila as she falls to the ground.
Pulling her into my arms, I see blood pooling around her chest. There’s so much of it. It's too bright and red. It shouldn’t be this color. Another gunshot goes off, but I don’t even look because if Mila dies, then I’m dead too.
“What did you do, Mila? Why would you do that?” Hugging her small frame against my chest, I cry as her blood coats my shirt.
Voices and commotion surround me, but none of it matters; only her.
As I look into the light brown eyes our baby should have, I press my forehead to hers and demand. “Why, Mila, why?”
She gives me a watery smile, and right before her eyes roll back into her head, she whispers her answer, “Because it’s you.”