Chapter 14 #2
“You were about to,” I say. “And I need you to understand something before you make a decision you can’t come back from.
” I lean in menacingly so that he truly understands what fear feels like.
“The woman about to come out that door, you are going to forget her name, her face, and that this bar even exists. You are going to walk out of this alley and never come back.” I pause and let that sit with him for a second.
“If you come back, if I ever see you anywhere near her, I will find out everything there is to know about you, like where you live and who your family is, and I will target every single one. I will hurt everyone you love. You will know exactly why it is happening, and you will know you are last on my list. And the best part is that no one will ever be able to trace it back to me. Do you understand what I’m telling you? ”
He says nothing, so I press his face a little further into the brick. “I need to hear you say that you understand me.”
“I understand,” he grits out.
“Good.” I release him, but when he tries to move, I grab him by the back of his collar again and introduce his face to the bricks one last time.
The crack of his nose is a sweet sound, and when I let him go he staggers forward, one hand flying to his face.
I step backward and look at him bent over in the alley, feeling nothing.
“That’s so you don’t forget our conversation. ”
I watch as he hurries away, never looking back. Then I go back around to the front of the building, cross the street, and lean against the side of my truck with my arms folded. And I wait.
It takes another twenty minutes before she exits the alley, but she stops the second she spots me. She stands there for a moment and then walks toward me.
“You’re still here?” she says as she reaches the curb.
“You’re observant tonight.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “I saw you following someone outside.”
“I did.”
She glares at me. “I had him handled. Men like that always come into the bar—it’s part of the job.”
“So why didn’t you notify security? It’s their job to handle creeps.”
She rubs her chin with her fingers as if she is thinking it over. “Well, I should have made them remove you then.”
“You could try, but your efforts would have been better spent on a man who was hiding in the alley at the staff exit.”
She goes quiet for a second and then looks at me with suspicion. “What did you do?”
“We had a conversation.”
She huffs. “That’s not an answer.”
“He won’t be back.”
She stares at me, and I watch her decide if she wants to fight me more or just let it go. “Thank you,” she finally says, which shocks me and leaves me at a loss for words. I was preparing to face off against her.
“Get in,” I say, pushing off the side of the truck and moving to the driver’s door.
“I can walk—it’s five minutes.”
“Just get in the truck, Kayla.”
She holds my gaze for a second, then gets into the passenger side. Once she buckles herself in, I pull out onto the street. She is quiet and stares at the road ahead, instead of studying me the way she normally does when she thinks I won’t notice.
As I pull up outside her place and kill the engine, she reaches for the handle.
I get out of the truck and make my way around to her side just as she’s gotten out. I put one hand on the roof and the other on the door beside her. She gazes up at me in confusion. “What are you doing?”
I stare at her and don’t have a believable answer for my actions.
I have been asking myself the whole way here why her, and I still don’t have an answer.
It is something I am not used to. I always know exactly what I want and what I’m doing, but she has completely dismantled that for me, and I can’t decide if I’m pissed about it or not.
“You heard what I said to him today?”
“Kyle?”
I nod, and her brows furrow.
“She’s mine,” she says in a flat tone. “I heard it.”
“And?”
“And what, Clay?” she tilts her head. “You want me to tell you what it meant? You’re the one who said it.
” She doesn’t raise her voice but is clearly frustrated.
“You have told me to leave, have tightened your hand around my throat and almost killed me. You took me to breakfast, punched my ex, and now you’re standing here blocking me in against your truck.
I cannot keep up with you. I don’t know what you want from me. ”
“I know.”
“That’s not a fucking answer, Clay.”
“I’m aware of that.”
She stares at me and screws up her nose. “You are the single most frustrating person I have ever met.”
“The feeling is mutual,” I say, and she almost smiles but stops herself. I lean in and her chin tips up. I know I am about to cross a line, but I am so far past caring I can’t even see the line anymore.
My lips feather against hers, and my phone goes off in my pocket. Neither of us move, but when it goes off again, I pull back to answer it.
“You need to come home,” Ares says. There is no warmth or performance in his voice, which means it’s bad. “Vero is having one of his episodes.”
“How bad is it?”
“Bad enough that I’m calling you.”
“I’ll be there,” I say and end the call. I look over at Kayla, who is reading the worry on my face.
“What happened?”
“Vero,” I say, pocketing my phone. “I have to go.”
“I’m coming.”
“Kayla,” I warn.
“Clay, either take me with you or I will fucking swim there.”
“It’s not pretty.” I need her to hear what I am saying. “When he spirals, it’s not something you can prepare for. It’s not fun to watch—he won’t want you to see it.”
“Friendships don’t end when shit gets hard, Clay. Take me with you.”
I sigh. I believe her when she says that she will make her own way there, so I open her door and watch her climb inside before I close it, then hurry around to my side, slide in, and start the engine.