Chapter 5 #3
“She’s finally asleep. Your mom had to keep her up most of the night. I imagine she’ll be out for a few hours. You wanna go home and catch some sleep, then come back?” I shook my head, my single-minded focus on getting to Fiona.
As I walked into the apartment, I had to stop myself from creating the loud noise that usually accompanied my arrival. I was a big man. I took heavy steps and wasn’t always the most aware of my strength.
Last time I was there, I had felt like a giant in the small space.
Remembering that, I slowed myself down, taking quiet steps once I crossed the threshold into the apartment, before heading straight for the bedroom.
It was dark in the space, but the light from the door I had left open behind me illuminated Fiona’s tiny form.
Tucked under a pile of blankets, her face seemed paler than I remembered.
Her hair was spread around her like a crown of fire, only heightening the grotesque marks on her face and neck.
The slender slope of her neck was exposed, covered in red and purple blotches.
There were scratches on her cheek, and I could see some spots of blood on her pillowcase.
Her breathing was even and steady, and I couldn’t help the instinct to touch her.
I brushed a curl out of her face, twirling the strand of hair between my fingers.
It felt like silk, softer than anything I could have imagined.
She made a pained expression, and I let go, stepping back.
Fiona resettled herself, and I left the room, closing the door behind me as quietly as possible.
Charlie was curled up on the couch asleep, a blanket strewn over her, giving me a weird sense of reverse déjà vu from the first and only other time I had been there.
I fixed the blanket, properly covering her before heading into the kitchen to join my parents.
My mom looked exhausted but was up pouring me a cup of coffee before I had time to protest. We all sat around the table, quietly sipping our drinks.
“That’s a remarkable girl in there,” Dad finally said, and I looked up to see him staring at the closed door. My mom hummed her agreement before chiming in.
“She’s handling all of this exceptionally well. Her concern for Charlotte is obvious. I’m just so sorry this happened.”
“Keys was able to pull footage from the security cams in the parking lot.” I nodded and checked my phone. He had texted to let me know he had already sent a prospect over with a thumb drive for us.
“Charlotte had a laptop bag in her car when we drove over. Want me to go down and grab it?” Mom offered. Before I could reply, Dad was already up and grabbing Charlie’s keys.
“You sit still, sugar. I’ll go.” He pressed a kiss to Mom’s head before pulling his jacket on.
Shortly after he closed the door, Charlie stumbled into the room, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
Once she saw me, her eyes lit up, and she ran at me.
I stood up, ready to hug her, surprised by the shove I received instead.
Stumbling backward, I barely righted myself before knocking the whole table over.
“What the fuck, C?” I asked, trying to keep my voice low.
“I want him dead. I want to see it myself. I need to make sure he’s gone for good.” I was shocked by the violence in her tone. I had seen her angry before, but not like that.
“I’m so sorry, Little Bit. You know I hate that this happened. The club’s on it. We’re gonna find him. Don’t worry.”
“It’s not fair. This shouldn’t have happened. I never wanted Fiona to get hurt.”
“I know, and we’ll make sure nothing like this happens again. You’ll get your pound of flesh.”
“Good. Now go crash on the couch. You look like shit. We’ll get you if anything comes up,” she said before finally giving me a hug, then snagging my seat at the kitchen table.
I wanted to refuse, but Mom stood up to hustle me over. I sat down on the couch, figuring I’d let them have their way for a few minutes, then go check on my dad and the Brothers outside. I let myself sink down into the couch, shutting my eyes for what felt like a minute.
Next thing I knew, I woke up to light streaming throughout the apartment, my body sprawled across the couch, my legs dangling over an armrest. I sat up and dragged myself into the kitchen, where Mom was at the stove, stirring a pot of soup.
Charlie and Dad were huddled together with her computer, a prospect hovering behind them.
“What’s going on?” I asked, and Mom jumped at the stove.
“Oh, good, you’re awake. Glad you were able to get some sleep. We’ve got the security footage from Keys. You’re gonna wanna see this.”
As fast as I could, I rounded the table, taking the seat Charlie abandoned so I could have a good view.
The camera must have been placed high up somewhere, as it had most of the parking lot and office building entrance in view.
I watched as her small form came into view.
She was tightening her coat as she walked toward her car.
Fiona peered around as if sensing something, her steps obviously quicker after that.
From out of view, a man came up behind her, and I watched in horror as he threw her against the car before dragging her to the ground like a rag doll, his hands wrapped around her throat.
She struggled against him, then stopped moving completely.
For a minute that felt like an hour, Fiona didn’t move underneath him, her hands making jerky movements at her sides.
I was afraid she was suffocating, and was caught just as much by surprise as Theo when she nailed him in the eye.
The glint of her keys flashed in her hands as we watched her scramble away.
Dad and I collectively winced as she nailed him in the balls, then got into her car.
Before I could say anything, we heard rustling sounds from the bedroom. I closed the laptop and wordlessly passed it to Charlie. She slipped it into her case and handed it to the prospect as Fiona came barreling out of her bedroom, only to freeze in place at the sight of all of us.
She was clearly on the verge of running.
Mom stepped forward and took her into the living room.
I sent the prospect out of the apartment with the laptop and to let Prez know that Fiona was up.
We still needed to get some things straight, then we needed to start planning an attack.
Theo only had so much time left alive in our city.
I watched as my father stood up, heading for the living room.
I had seen Fiona’s wide-eyed stare when she first woke up, so I decided to hang back, not wanting to overwhelm her with too many bodies in her personal space.
The deep timbre of my dad’s voice carried out, and I couldn’t help the wave of envy that went through me as I heard her respond to him, the laughter in her voice.
Having already seen the video, I didn’t have a ton of questions for Fiona. I just needed to confirm it was Theo, since his face wasn’t clear in the footage we had. I wanted to hear exactly what he said to her and what he said about the club.
When it was my turn to speak with Fiona, I worked hard to ignore the lump in my throat at the sight of her. She looked out of it, as if waffling between shock and panic. She was also clearly uncomfortable and unsure what to do with all of us and the help we were offering.
I couldn’t resist touching her, and was relieved when she entwined her fingers with mine. Sitting that close to her reminded me of how small she was, how fragile. But she wasn’t weak. We had all seen that for ourselves.
As she told me her version of events, I didn’t like the distant tone of her voice, how her eyes wouldn’t focus on anything for too long. I had to leash my rage as she told me what that shit did and said to her.
She never should have been caught in the crosshairs. A bloodlust like nothing I’d experienced before ran through me, and I was ready to unleash it on anyone who got in my way.