Chapter 26
CASSIDY
There’s something happening. I don’t know what it is, but the club whores have been cleared out, and Noah and I have been holed up in the snug room while the guys have been in church.
I sit on the couch with my legs drawn up to my chest, with Noah asleep beneath a blanket on the opposite couch. There’s a prospect at the door and a dangerous atmosphere in the air that causes anxiety to ripple through me.
Something is wrong.
Really wrong.
When the men returned an hour ago, we were woken by Savage, and he asked us to wait in here, and although I can hear voices from the room they call church, I can’t hear what they’re saying. But I know it can’t be good.
Has Killa changed his mind about us living here?
I chew on my fingernail, a habit I’ve had for as long as I can remember, one that used to drive Benjamin crazy.
“Cassidy? Can we borrow you for a minute?” Savage asks in a gentle tone I’ve come to be skeptical of. I glance at Noah. “He’ll be safe here, I promise.” And I believe him. I don’t know what it is about the man twice my size, but I do feel safe with him.
I nod and push off the couch, bending to gift Noah a kiss on his forehead, and I can’t help but linger over him.
An odd feeling takes over me, and I don’t know whether it’s knowing how much Noah has settled in here or something to do with what’s happening in church, but I feel the need to take a mental screenshot of my little boy.
He clutches a ring in his hand; one I know to be Killa’s, and a rush of love sweeps over me. We’re safe here, we both are, and with that thought in mind, I turn and follow Savage into church.
As soon as the door closes behind me, Killa is up and out of his seat.
He lifts me like I’m broken and strides to his chair, then plonks us down, with me in his lap.
One thick arm is banded around me, holding me in place, and when he places a tender kiss on the twitching pulse on my neck, it eases all concerns of him not wanting me around.
Savage sits forward. “Cassidy, this isn’t easy to tell you.” His Adam’s apple slowly drags up his throat.
The apprehension in his words drives me insane. The number of interviews I’ve endured over the years with the same approach feels like a trauma in and of itself.
I wish people who wanted to discuss something with me would just say it, ask it. Not drag it out for what feels like an eternity in a bid to make themselves feel like they’re delivering something less difficult only to succeed in the latter.
“Just say it,” I snap.
He takes a deep breath. “We planned on hijacking a police convoy escorting Benjamin to a solitary confinement unit last night.”
Just hearing his name causes a ripple of fear to trickle down my spine, and Killa’s arm tightens. “I got you, Little Demon,” he whispers against my skin, becoming my anchor while I fight not to drown in my darkness.
“I-I don’t understand.” My voice is scratchy. “What are you trying to tell me?”
“He escaped,” Hunter says with an abrupt confidence, and Killa grinds his teeth so loud I hear them scrape against one another.
It takes a moment for his words to register, but when they do, they play on repeat.
“He escaped.”
My tormentor.
My chest feels like it’s being squeezed.
My rapist.
A lightheaded sensation has me trying to stay focused on Hunter’s handsome face, but it’s futile. He’s becoming two men, both staring back at me with concern swimming in their eyes.
My abuser.
Killa flinches, and I stare down at the red liquid on the tips of my fingers where my nails have drawn blood from his arm.
He’s escaped.
“He’s coming for me.”
“He won’t get near you or Noah,” Killa states.
If only that were true. I discovered a long time ago never to underestimate Benjamin’s ability to get what he wants; if you do, you risk losing it all.