32. Ezra
Ezra
32
My gaze shifts to the wing of the stage, hating that Rae isn’t here, but I get why she needed the night to herself. That meeting was a shit show. Hell, the past two weeks have been a shit show, and considering everything, I think she’s handling herself remarkably well. Though I won’t lie, I’m annoyed with Dylan for catching her before she could get a chance to beat Jessica’s ass. The bitch deserved it, and while watching Rae take her down would have been the highlight of my century, she needed it more than she could ever know. I might have to introduce her to a punching bag, or she could take her frustrations out on me in the form of wild, desperate sex. I have no issues there.
Rae and I, when we’re together, it’s fire. I always knew we’d be compatible in that way, but finally getting to taste her, to feel her, it’s everything I thought it would be and more, and though I don’t regret waiting, I wish we were able to get our shit together a long time ago.
Years were wasted between us. I can only imagine where we’d be now if we never lost those years. If I never left her behind, and she never suffered the horrendous abuse her father submitted her to. If Rae had been with me all these years, Ax never would have needed to go find her. He’d still be here. So many fucking harsh consequences for the decisions I made as a kid following his dream.
All of it rests on my shoulders, but I’m strong enough to bear the weight of the burden, especially if it means taking it from Rae. She’s hurt for too long, suffered in a way no woman should ever have to suffer, and if carrying her burden makes it just a little easier for her to breathe, then fuck, it’s not a burden at all. I’ll take it from her willingly.
The seductive words of “Scarlett Rose” flow from me, and without Jessica and Stacey prancing around the stage and putting their hands all over me, it’s fucking refreshing.
Firing them was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. Having their hands on me made me feel dirty, and I hated every fucking second of it. And now that they’re gone, I can sing the song the way it was always intended—right to Rae. At least, when she’s here tomorrow night.
I’m halfway through the song, and a wave of shock flows through the crowd, and I watch as one by one, the audience starts pulling out their phones, gasping, and looking up at me in horror. My brow furrows as I glance toward Dylan, who shrugs his shoulders, clearly seeing what I’m seeing.
Rock seems just as confused, and when the people in the front start holding out their phones toward me and screaming for my attention in a way they never have before, I have no choice but to cut the song short. “Okay, okay,” I say into the microphone as the boys cut the music. “Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?”
I glance toward the wing of the stage toward where a few of the backstage crew stand, and when one of them pulls out their phone and his face turns ghostly white, it’s all I can take.
I throw myself off the stage, landing with a thud in front of the barricaded audience, and I step up to the person closest to me with a phone. “The fuck are you looking at?” I demand, never having cut a song short like that in my life, but I’m starting to get pissed that I don’t have any answers. Don’t get me wrong, the second I figure out what’s happening, we’ll be right back on stage, starting the song again.
The dude holds his phone out toward me, and I turn it to face me, expecting to see a terrible natural disaster or some kind of political announcement that will severely affect the whole globe, but instead, I’m faced with a live video of Rae on her social media account.
“The fuck?”
I take her in, finding her naked on the very hotel bed we shared last night, and my heart immediately starts to race. Something feels very off about this. I shake my head, wondering what the fuck is happening when I notice her hands aren’t just behind her back, they’re bound by rope.
Fear rockets through my chest when another figure steps into the camera, and horrified gasps fill the stadium. I hear cries around me, but I’m too focused to look up as the man in the room moves toward the camera and bends low to be seen. And when his face finally comes into view, the deepest rage explodes in my chest.
“She’ll always be mine,” he says into the camera, and somehow, I know it’s a direct message to me. “You ruined my little girl, and now I’m going to ruin her for you.”
He walks over to her, grabs her thigh, and yanks her down the bed, positioning her in a way that every last person watching the stream can see directly between her legs. “You see that?” Michael Stone says, glancing over his shoulder to look directly at the camera. “You’ll never touch this filthy little whore again. She’s all mine.”
He smacks her so hard, I hear it through the phone. “SCREAM FOR ME,” he roars at her, gripping her hair and yanking her back so hard it looks as though her spine could snap. “FUCKING SCREAM FOR ME, WHORE.”
Horror blasts through my chest, and when he reaches for the front of his pants, I can’t take it another fucking second.
I take off, launching myself back up onto the stage, passing Rock and Dylan who both look at their phones, absolutely horrified. My feet pound against the stage, and as I sprint by Lenny and the other executives, none of them have a damn clue what’s going on.
“The fuck do you think you’re doing?” Lenny roars at my back. “Get back out there and finish the goddamn show.”
My gaze drops to the stranger’s phone still in my hand at the same moment Rae’s father grabs her face and shoves it into the mattress, ignoring her cries as she tries to fight him off, and not a moment later, he brutally slams inside of her.
I feel fucking sick, knowing I’m already too late, knowing that no matter how many times I vowed that he would never hurt her again, I’m reduced to nothing but a liar.
I was supposed to protect her. I was supposed to keep her safe.
Her cries and desperate pleas come through the phone, and every last one of them sends me hurtling through the backstage area faster. I leap over sound equipment and knock over the row of spare guitars waiting on standby.
Hold on, baby. I’m coming for you. And this time, I’ll make sure the bastard never touches you again.
Breaking out through the back, I find three of my security guards already waiting by a car. “Get in,” my head of security, Hardin, says.
I dive through the open car door, the stranger’s phone clutched tightly in my hand, and as the door closes behind me and the noise of the stadium is blocked out, Rae’s cries through the speakers seem so much louder.
Her father grunts while raping my woman, taking from her like he took all those years ago, night after night, as though he was entitled to her body. She cries out in pain, and as Hardin hits the gas, I can’t help but scream toward him. “GO. GO. GO.”
He flies through the traffic surrounding the stadium, pushing the car as fast as it’ll go while expertly dodging the other cars on the road. “Your room key,” Hardin says, handing me the copy of the key he has, knowing damn well I left mine back in the dressing room.
I take it from him with shaking hands, my jaw clenched. “I need to do this alone,” I tell the three guards surrounding me, having been with them long enough to know they will attempt to come with me and handle this themselves.
“Ezra—” Hardin starts.
“No,” I cut him off. “He’s been hurting her too long. I was the one who left her to endure his abuse, and I’ll be the one to make it right. I go alone.”
They all look uncomfortable, but none of them try to argue. They know what I’m capable of. They’re the ones who trained me to be ready for situations out of my control, the times when crazy stalkers make their way into my home or get too close on the street, but I’m sure as fuck this situation hadn’t crossed their mind during that particular training. Regardless of what their intentions had been, they know that when it comes to Raleigh Stone, there’s not a damn thing I wouldn’t do to protect her.
My gaze remains locked on the phone, fueling my rage. If she has to endure it, then I can be man enough to take it all in. I need to know the pain he puts her through. I need to feel it right in my chest. I need to know the extent of the horror he put her through for those two years before leaving for college. I need to know exactly what it is I left her to, and seeing it like this is the most gut-wrenching agony I’ve ever felt. But I know that what she’s going through right now is a million times worse.
I’m coming, baby. I’m coming.
“See that?” Michael Stone says, his vile tone filling the car, as he grabs her hair and forces her up to look directly into the camera. “Now the whole fucking world knows what a filthy little whore you are. Your special little guy will never touch you again, not after I’m through with you. I’m going to ruin you.” He reaches down and violently shoves his dry fingers into her ass, and as she cries out in agony, my stomach coils, the rage reaching new heights.
Rae looks away, and the shame in her eyes fucking guts me.
“And when I’m done with this overused cunt,” Michael continues. “I’m going to destroy this too.”
How fucking dare he touch her like that.
I’m going to enjoy ending his miserable fucking life.
The live stream cuts out just as we pull up to the hotel, and I can only assume the video was mass reported, which also means it won’t be long until the cops show up to handle it. “You’ve got 5 minutes,” Hardin says, reaching back over the center console again, this time with a gun in his hand, “and then we’re kicking in the fucking door. Got it?”
I nod just as the car finally comes to a screeching halt, and before he can even give me the rundown on how to best handle this, the gun is in my hand, and I’m racing out of the car and into the lobby of the hotel.
The staff try to greet me and give me their usual VIP bullshit, not having a fucking clue that they let my girl’s rapist into their hotel. Bet they were responsible for giving him her floor and room number, too.
Reaching the elevator, I impatiently wait for the door to open, and the moment it does, I fly into it and slam my fist down over the button for our floor. As it closes, I watch my security team flood the lobby, their eyes wide open and hands already hovering over their guns.
The elevator moves too fucking slowly, and I consider sprinting up the stairs, but I need to preserve my energy for what I have in store for him.
Precious seconds tick by.
Level one.
Level four.
Eight.
Twelve.
Nineteen.
And then finally, the button lights up. Level twenty-two. The elevator dings, and before the doors have even opened the whole way, I’m sprinting through the long hallway, one hand clutching the gun, the other grasping the room key.
I reach room 2201 in seconds, and as I hear Rae’s cries from the other side, I quickly swipe the keycard against the lock, turn the handle, and shove my shoulder into the heavy door.
Rae’s piercing scream sounds through the room and I race in just in time to see Michael tear away from Rae, his eyes wide as though he hadn’t anticipated anyone coming to save her.
I hold the gun up, realizing too fucking late there’s a knife gripped in his hand, one I couldn’t see from the angle of the video. My gaze quickly sweeps the room, noticing Rae’s phone propped against the dresser in front of the bed, the screen dark. I’m sure the asshole probably thinks it’s still recording.
“Get the fuck away from her,” I growl as he lazily puts his dick back inside his jeans.
“Ezra,” Rae panics, her eyes filled with horror, and with her father off her, she scrambles away from him, doing the best she can without the use of her hands. “I . . . I—”
“It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you. He won’t ever hurt you again.”
“It’s you,” she cries. “He said he was going to hurt you.”
Michael laughs, looking at me as though I was the sixteen-year-old kid he met eleven years ago. “Whatcha gonna do with that, tough guy?” he says, his grip tightening on the knife. “You don’t have the fucking balls to shoot me.”
“You don’t have a fucking clue what I’m willing to do to you,” I say, slowly stalking him through the room, putting myself between him and Rae. “I know it all, Michael. I know the hell you put her through, the vile things you’ve done to her, but your time is up. I’m going to make you regret ever touching her. It’s fucking over for you.”
Rae shakily gets to her feet and moves in close behind me, my body acting as a shield, and I can’t help but notice the blood smeared between her thighs.
Michael scoffs and peers at Rae over my shoulder, and when his grip tightens on the knife and he lifts it behind his head, preparing to launch it across the room, I squeeze the trigger.
BANG!
Rae screams behind me as Michael goes down, roaring in agony as blood splatters against the far wall of the room from the bullet wound directly in the center of his knee. “AHHH FUCK,” he growls, clenching his jaw as he tries to take the pain.
I stride toward him, rage storming through me like a fucking tornado, and as he flails on the floor, I can’t help but notice how fucking pathetic he looks. My boot grinds down over his wrist, forcing him to release his hold on the knife.
“I’ll fucking kill you for this,” he spits, but all I can do is laugh.
“Considering you won’t be leaving this room alive, I highly doubt that,” I say before glancing back at Rae, and despite how much I want to end his life, I’m not the one who was forced to endure his abuse. If anyone deserves to be the one to take his life, it’s Rae. “It’s your call, Rae. Do you want to do this, or shall I?”
My gun remains aimed right between his eyes, and now that we’ve established I’m more than prepared to pull the trigger, Michael doesn’t take his eyes off me as Rae rushes around behind me, keeping as close as possible. She turns and offers me her wrists, and I reach for the rope that keeps them bound with my free hand.
I quickly free her, and as she brings her hands to her chest, I can’t help but notice the way the rope has cut into her beautiful skin. Anger swells in my chest, and I push harder against his wrists, feeling the bones crushing beneath my boot.
Rae grabs one of my shirts and pulls it over her head, and the moment she’s clothed, I see a wave of determination flash in her eyes, and with that, I have my answer. She’ll be taking control from here on out.
A grin pulls at my lips as she meets my eyes. “There’s my girl,” I murmur before pointing to the knife laying far too close to her father’s hand. “I bet you’d have the time of your life with that.”
She grins right back at me. It’s nothing like the usual grin I get from her every time she looks at me; this one is different. It’s broken and sad, while also filled with a wickedness that makes my gut twist. But if this is what she needs, I’m more than happy to give it to her.
Realizing there’s no longer just one threat in the room, Michael glances at his daughter, and as she strides toward him and scoops the blade off the ground, his eyes widen. “Wha . . . What are you going to do to me?” he demands, suddenly no longer seeing her as the timid child he abused for years. She’s a woman with a score to settle, and he can see it in her eyes, she won’t stop until justice has been served. “I’ll fucking kill you, girl.”
Rae goes on her merry way, twisting the knife in her hand as though it’s always belonged there. “Two years you violated me,” she says, spitting the words like they’re poison on her tongue. “I was terrified, night after night, hiding in my closet, shaking with fear. You held me down and tore through my virginity, crushed my bones, and slammed my face into the ground. You were dead to me a long time ago, father. I was more than happy to try and leave the past in the past, to move on with my life the best way I could, but you just had to try and prove some sick point, but you failed to realize that I am not the same little girl you destroyed. I’m a woman now, and I have far too much to lose to allow you to come in here and steal it like a thief in the night. Don’t be fooled father, you will not leave here alive, even if it means I have to spend the rest of my life rotting behind bars.”
Rae starts to circle him as he bleeds on the ground, her finger resting against the tip of the blade, trying to figure out her game plan.
“I won’t miss you,” she says. “I won’t mourn you. I won’t grieve. I won’t even care, but you can fucking bet that I’ll stand right here in Ezra’s arms and watch the life fade out of your eyes, and I’ll be happy because, for the first time in eight years, I’ll truly be free.”
As if trying to catch me off guard, Michael lunges for Rae, but I squeeze the trigger again.
BANG! BANG!
One bullet through the hip, the other a direct hit through the ribs and lung.
He gasps for air, and while he’s already beginning to bleed out, at least he won’t be able to move when Rae takes her sweet revenge. “Go for it, baby. Make Axel proud.”
A fond smile pulls at her lips, and as she looks down at her father, she flips the knife in her hand, catches the hilt in a firm grip, and with a battle cry, she slams it down with everything she has, castrating her father in one easy strike.
Michael screams as Rae tears the knife out of him and stumbles back until the backs of her knees hit the bed. “Holy fuck.” She blinks in disbelief, but that determination returns, and she springs toward him again, clenching her jaw, and like the perfect little maniac I’ve always known she could be, she gets the justice she’s owed.
The blade plunges deep into Michael’s chest, over and over as she releases years of fear and finds justice for the sweet girl he destroyed night after night. She sobs as the blade comes down, letting all the rage fly free, and even after he’s long gone, she keeps going, desperately needing to get it out of her system until she physically can’t keep going and sags to the ground.
Rae looks up at me, and while there’s a newfound freedom in her eyes, there’s also a deep strain, and I don’t hesitate to go to her. I toss the gun aside, ignoring every safety rule Hardin ever drilled into me in my desperation to get to my girl.
I scoop her off the ground, taking her away from her father’s corpse to where she can’t see it. I hold her to my chest, and we both crumble to the ground. I keep her locked in my arms as her tears run their course. “You’re okay, baby,” I murmur into the silence of the room. “He won’t ever hurt you again. He’s gone.”
She sobs on my shoulder, and I gently rock her back and forth as my hand roams over her back. “He took me right back to that house. I felt like that terrified little girl again. And then . . . He recorded me like I was some kind of sideshow. I’ve never felt so humiliated and ashamed. Nobody will ever be able to look at me again without seeing what he did to me, without thinking I’m dirty.”
“I promise you, Rae. Nobody will ever think that,” I tell her, hearing the familiar sound of sirens in the distance. “They’ll know you’re a survivor. They’ll know that you didn’t allow him to destroy you, and what’s more, they’ll find hope in your strength. You’re beautiful, Rae. You’re a fighter, and he did not destroy you. He didn’t ruin you, and he sure as fuck didn’t make me think any less of you. You’re the strongest woman I know, and thanks to your determination and strength, he will never be able to hurt you ever again.”
Rae buries her face into my chest. “I thought he was going to kill you,” she cries. “He said if I put up a fight, that knife was going to be for you.”
“Don’t worry about me, baby. As long as you’re still breathing, nothing could ever take me away. Not a knife, not a bullet, not even your deadly wit. You’re stuck with me, Raleigh Stone. I’m not going anywhere.”
My lips press to her temple, lingering there as I hold her with everything I have, and even when my security team finally barges through the door, I refuse to let go.
Hardin takes the gun off the bed, and it doesn’t go unnoticed when he wipes my fingerprints off it before doing the same with the knife. He takes one final look around the room before walking around the edge of the bed and kneeling down. “Okay,” he says, his sharp gaze flicking between mine and Rae’s. “This is what’s going to happen . . .”
An hour later, I stand under the shower in Dylan’s hotel room with Rae tucked tightly in my arms, her face pressed against my chest. We’ve spent the last hour giving our statements, saying exactly what Hardin told us to say to be able to claim self-defense, and with the live stream of Rae being raped, it wasn’t long before the cops were satisfied with what we had to say.
“I killed him,” Rae whispers into the silence of the bathroom. “I killed a man. I didn’t realize I could be a monster like that. What I did—”
“You didn’t kill him. I took the shot, that’s on me. You don’t have to bear the burden of that. The shot through his ribs is what killed him. What you did . . . That was demanding justice and taking what you were owed. You’re not a monster, Rae, and what you did wasn’t anything you should be ashamed or fearful of. You did what you had to do, what so many other women who’ve been in your position wish they got the chance to do.”
“I stabbed him, Ezra. I took that knife and castrated him, and I lost control. I don’t even know how many times I stabbed him.”
It was twelve. I counted every last one of them, but it’s not something I think she needs to be aware of, not yet anyway. I’m sure she’ll eventually find out though. There’ll be all sorts of documentation to go along with this, and I’m sure this is only the beginning of the investigation. We’ll be questioned until we’re blue in the face, but for now, I’m just glad they’re happy to give Rae a moment of peace to come to terms with everything that just went down.
“It’s okay. We all lose control. It doesn’t make us any less human.”
“How can you be okay with this? How can you stand here and hold me and tell me I’m not a monster? What if I lose control around you? What if we get into a fight one day and there’s a knife on the kitchen counter? You should be terrified of me.”
“Are you terrified of me?” I ask as my fingers trail up and down her spine.
“No,” she says, pulling back and looking up at me with furrowed brows. “Why would you ask me that?”
“I shot your father point blank. Three times. His knee, hip, and ribs. I took the shot that ensured he bled out. Do you fear that one day I might lose control, grab a gun, and decide to shoot you?”
“No, of course not.”
“Exactly. It’s the same for me, Rae,” I tell her. “I could never fear you for what happened here tonight in the same way you could never fear me. You took back everything he stole from you, and you did it in a way that made me so damn proud of you. He died knowing you won, and there’s nothing that can take that away. You were a warrior today. You fought hard, and you won.”
More tears spill from her eyes, and she squishes her face harder against my chest. “You really think so?”
“I know so,” I murmur. “I love you, Rae. I would let this whole world burn just to see you smile, and today, you fucking shone as bright as the sun. You might not feel it now, and it might take a little while for you to feel okay again, but just know that I will be right here, always ready to catch you when you fall. I’m not going anywhere, Rae.”
Raleigh lifts her chin, squinting as the water ricochets off my chest and against her face. “You really love me that much?”
“Do you even need to question it at this point?”
A soft smile pulls at the corners of her lips. “Not even a little bit.”