Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
KILLIAN
Ikeep telling myself that I did this, but it doesn’t make it easier to watch my brothers with their hands all over her.
I’m still waiting for an opportunity to apologize to her—to them, appropriately.
I’ve spent over fifteen hours driving to figure out exactly what to say, but I still don’t know what the words are.
How do you even make up for what I’ve done?
If there’s a right thing to say, I don’t know what it is.
I pull past the gate and open the garage before driving inside. Knox wakes Heather, and she looks fucking adorable as she rubs the sleep from her eyes.
“How long was I sleeping?”
Carter stares at her, his affection for her clear as day, as his lips lift into a smile.
“Both of you were out for over twelve hours.”
I exit the car and wait for the three of them before walking to the house.
Heather looks around, trying to familiarize herself with the place, but it’s hard to see out here at night.
There are no lights on the exterior of the house because we don’t want to attract any attention to ourselves.
Outside of our employees who keep the house and property maintained, it stays vacant all year.
“This house is huge.” She says as we step inside.
We step across the Spanish tile, and I pull out a remote. Knox stops her from moving as the floor slides open, and I nod for them to go to the basement.
“Fancy.” She says with a giggle.
When we make it down, and I hit the remote to close us in, I explain.
“We had this house built. Basements in Arizona are rare. Less than two percent of homes here have them. So if someone comes looking for us, they won’t look down here, especially with a hidden entryway.”
She looks between my brothers as she chews on her bottom lip.
“So we are staying in a basement? For how long?”
I don’t think she realizes how much danger she’s in.
If she did, she wouldn’t have a problem with the basement that has everything we will need.
I have not told any of them everything Butch has found.
Mainly because I’ve done enough to her, and terrifying Heather won’t calm the situation at all. It might make things worse.
“We will be staying in the basement until we go back for my fight.”
Heather places her hands on her hips, glaring at me like an angry little kitten.
“I’m not. I have been locked up and I will not be your captive, you, of all people. Also, just so you know, I’m not going back for your stupid fight. It’s a long drive, and well-”
I sigh and grin at her, making her more furious.
“What are you smiling about?” She yells as she steps closer to me.
“I missed you and your smart mouth.”
She places her hands on my chest and attempts to shove me, and I watch as her anger spikes when I don’t move an inch.
“I did not miss you. They wanted me to pray, but I only prayed for one thing—to never see you again.”
My brothers exchange a glance, all of us, except her, knowing this prayer might be granted. Both Carter and Knox are visibly worried, but I’m not. If this fight ends my life, it will be worth it. I will have made things right for all three of them before dying.
When Carter brought her into our lives, I never imagined I’d willingly give my life for hers, but now—it’s the easiest fucking thing I have ever done.
“Are you hungry, Tesoro?” Knox asks.
I wrap my hand around her wrist as I gaze at her angry expression.
“Are you hungry, Tesoro?” I say, repeating Knox’s question.
She tilts her head back and stares into my eyes, a visible shiver running down her spine.
“I am not your treasure. I’m nothing to you.”
I take my free hand and press it to her face, relishing the feel of her soft skin against my palm.
“I fucked up, so bad, Killer. Tell me how to fix this. I’m sorry, please tell me how to fix this.”
She jerks away from me, putting too much space between us.
“Drop dead, Killian. There is no way to make things right. You sent me a text message just to get me to my parents' home—knowing damn well the police would be there. You nearly got me killed, which then led to Carter’s attempt on his own life. And if that’s not enough, you got me thrown into an asylum.
Not just any asylum, but one that you knew would be the worst place for me.
You knew what I endured and used it to hurt me.
You’re a monster, Killian, and all I want is for you to disappear. Permanently.”
Her words, although not surprising, cause the aching in my chest to grow.
I knew she wouldn’t simply forgive me. I don’t deserve it anyway, but I’m going to prove to her that I’m not the man she thinks I am.
I may have done terrible things in the past, but this is not who I want to be with her moving forward.
There is one thing she accused me of that I did not do.
“What text message? I did not send you a text. Ever.”
“Forget it!” She yells and turns away from me.
Knox takes her into his arms and lifts her. She wraps her arms and legs around him, and he walks to the black sofa. Taking a seat, he speaks softly to her.
“Tesoro. Please tell us about this text message.”
She lets out a long, frustrated breath.
“That night, before I left, I got a text message. It was from an unknown number and said, ‘I’m old. Let’s finish this.
I’m tired of hiding.’ The sender wanted me to think it was my father.
I texted the number back and asked where he was.
The response was, ‘At our home you forced us to destroy.’ I got your gun just in case, and I think you know the rest.”
I glance at both of my brothers before responding to her.
“And you think it was me that sent the messages?”
Turning her head, she glares at me, her eyes full of venom.
“I know it was. You sent the message and acted like you were following me with concern when you set it all up. Don’t bother trying to deny it. It was YOU!”
“I take full responsibility for the things I have done—but this, it wasn’t me. But of course that won’t matter to you now. In your eyes I’m guilty of everything.”
I storm off to one of the three bedrooms down the hall. It’s bad enough that I did the things I did, but she’s also blaming me for things I knew nothing about. That’s the problem with this situation. She will always think I’m a monster. How could she think otherwise?