Chapter Seven
Viv
Sometimes I hear him in my dreams.
That harsh, grating voice whispering into my ear, telling me all the things he’s going to do to me. His eyes would darken with excitement as he promised to show me what a real man is like in bed. I’ve had nightmares of him breaking through the barricade I erected on my bedroom door every night.
I whimper, tugging the covers over my shoulders and wishing for Kyle. I want his body over me, warming me up. These nightmares don’t happen when he’s in bed with me.
Where the hell did he go?
I need him.
“Where’s that little bitch?”
I bury my face in the pillow. I’m not even fully asleep, and yet his voice still haunts me.
That grating voice I was forced to listen to for five years.
Soon, I’ll be in Chicago, surrounded by dangerous men, and I won’t have to worry about Rick getting to me.
I’ll focus all my energy on Kyle and exploring this thing between us.
Christ, why is it so cold and where’s Kyle? I want him. Now. In bed with me.
“I know her phone’s here, so you can’t hide her from me. You fucked that little whore, didn’t you?”
My eyes spring open and I realize that I’m not dreaming.
The sound is too loud, too clear for it to be in my head.
I quickly sit up, pushing my hair off my face, and listen intently.
I realize the cold I’m feeling is because the front door is open, and Christ, does that mean Rick is in the cabin? How the heck did he find us?
Oh God!
I scramble off the bed and grab my hoodie, sliding it on.
I drop to my knees and begin to slide under the bed when I stop.
Kyle is out there. It’s a habit of mine to hide whenever I hear Rick’s voice, but this time, mine is not the only life in danger.
Oh God, what if he brought the gun he keeps in the closet along with his drugs!
I shiver at the thought of Rick harming Kyle.
I jump to my feet, then tiptoe to the open door, slowly leaning forward to take a peek, and my heart nearly stops when I see a gun pointed at the man I’ve fallen madly in love with.
Kyle’s voice is cold and he appears unafraid of the death machine pointed at his face. “I don’t like having my morning interrupted. You need to get the fuck out before I call the cops.”
Rick chuckles arrogantly. “Sure, go ahead and call them. Someone will have to collect your body anyway.”
“No!” I cry out, jumping out of the room.
As soon as Rick’s gaze shoots to me, he snarls. “Where’s my box, you little thieving bitch? I know you took it with you!”
Kyle takes advantage of the distraction.
He grabs Rick’s wrist, twisting it hard enough to snap it, causing the gun to drop to the floor where Kyle kicks it away.
Rick bellows like a bull and lunges forward, his fist raised to punch Kyle, but I watch with shock as Kyle’s knuckles connect with Rick’s jaw.
And then they’re on the floor.
Frozen, I watch the chaos unfold.
I’ve seen Rick fight before. I’ve watched him knock his buddies around, but it appears that he’s no match for Kyle’s strength and obvious skill. Still, I realize their fight is bringing them closer to the gun.
I bite hard on my lip before rushing to the kitchen, intent on grabbing something to use as a weapon. When I turn around, I see Rick tug at the gun with his fingertip, slowly drawing it to himself as he attempts to kick at Kyle’s midsection.
He’ll kill him if he gets hold of that gun, I realize. This man, who tormented my life for years on end, is going to kill the man who’s done nothing but protect me from the second we met. And it’ll be all my fault.
My feet move before I can process what I’m doing.
I grab the heavy kettle on the kitchen counter.
Rick grabs the gun just as I bring the kettle down hard on his skull, and the loud crack echoes through the room.
The man turns his head to look at me for a second, surprise clear in his eyes, before he falls forward, face-first on the floor and lies still.
My breath hitches in my throat and the kettle drops from my trembling fingers God…what did I just do?
Then there’s a shadow in front of me, blocking my view from the…body? “Viv, baby, look at me,” Kyle says, cupping my jaw and pulling my eyes to his. “God, you’re shaking.”
Am I?
“Did I kill him?” I choke out, tears gathering in my eyes.
“Shh,” he whispers, gathering me in his arms and hugging me close to his chest. “No, you didn’t kill him. It’s okay, baby. I’ll take care of it. I’ve got you, sweetheart. You hear me?” I nod despite myself. “Wait here—”
I stand still as Kyle inspects Rick where he lies on the floor, and I shiver with relief and a little fear when I see Rick’s chest rise and fall. Kyle quickly grabs a couple extension cords and binds Rick’s hands and feet together, then pulls out his phone and makes a call.
This is a nightmare.
I wish I could wake up to the morning in that hotel in Denver, with the sun rising and lighting the entire room in a pretty yellow hue.
Kyle’s arms wrapped around my body, his soft breath brushing against the back of my head.
He’s hard behind me and when I roll my hips, he groans in his sleep, arms tightening around me and holding me close like I’m the most precious thing in the world.
Yes, I would love to wake up to that reality. For all of this to be nothing but a bad dream.
Except when I open my eyes, I’m still in the cabin. And my mother’s boyfriend is tied up on the ground.
Oh God.
Kyle is on the phone with Knox. “Yes. I’ve tied him up.” His eyes meet mine and something in me settles when they do. “Right, no. Vivienne is okay. Okay, I’ll take care of it.” He ends the call and walks back over to me, brushing some hair out of my face and cupping my cheek softly.
I lean into his touch when he rubs at my arm. “He’s really not dead then?”
“No, he has a strong pulse. We’ll call the cops and ambulance for him, but we need to be gone before they get here.”
“What about…” My eyes widen when I remember what Rick screamed at me before the fight.
“Wait, I took something from him. It’s in my bag.
Grab it for me?” Kyle brings me the backpack that holds my few possessions, and I open it and take out the small metal box, fiddling with the lock.
“I don’t know how to open it. I don’t even know why I took it, really. I just wanted to hurt him in some way.”
“Let me see that.” He takes the box and uses the butt of his gun to break the small padlock, then lifts the lid.
I peer in at the contents of the box. Some cash is tucked to the side, along with white plastic bags containing some white powder, but most alarming are the photos. The first is of a girl in bed with Rick, but when I reach for it, Kyle grabs my wrist.
“Don’t want your prints on anything inside the box,” he says, then he tips the box and starts to scatter the pictures on the floor without touching them. My palm flies to my mouth when I realize what it is I’m staring at. “He’s a sick fuck.”
Sick doesn’t cover it. The photos are of Rick and the guys I’ve seen him hang around with, all in compromising positions with women who don’t seem to be aware the pictures are being taken.
“Wait, I know some of these women,” I whisper, leaning forward for a closer look.
“I’ve seen her in the news before,” I tell Kyle, pointing at one of the photos with a naked woman kneeling in front of Rick.
“Her family reported her missing, I think. No, I’m sure.
I’ve seen it on the news. Her too.” I point to another picture, my heart racing as I realize that this is bigger than just some explicit pictures.
“Take a shower and get dressed,” Kyle instructs. “I’ve already spoken to Knox. We have a hacker in the club, and he’s going to erase our digital presence here, but we need to wipe everything down and take the sheets and towels we used with us. We need to be gone before the cops arrive.”
“But what about—”
Kyle’s mouth crashes down on mine in a hot, greedy kiss that seems to scramble all thoughts from my brain and leaves me trembling. “I don’t want you to worry about anything,” he breathes into the kiss. “I'll take care of it.”
I nod. Trusting him.
In half an hour, we’re already driving away from the cabin.
Kyle left the photos, the drugs, and the money scattered all over the living room for the cops to find.
I don’t know how much my mother knew about the extent of Rick’s crimes, but regardless, she enabled and supported him for far too long.
Though I’m relieved to finally be free of them both, I hope she’s better off once her asshole of a boyfriend is in prison.
I didn’t want to glance at Rick on my way out but I couldn’t help myself, and I’m glad I did. He looked so pathetic, slumped on the ground with his arms and legs tied. Nothing like the monster that plagued my nightmares. Now I will always remember him like that. Lost and pathetic.
“You didn’t get much sleep last night. Why don’t you try to get some rest?” Kyle says, reaching over to grab my hand in his. “I’ll wake you when we get there.”
I’m afraid of what I’ll see when I close my eyes, but Kyle’s presence calms me a bit and I find myself drifting.
I don’t dream of Rick or my mother—they’re gone, and even my subconscious knows I don’t need to worry about them anymore.
Instead, I’m pulled into the past, to a time when I had my big brother by my side.
A period in which that little child felt treasured.
Knox was always bigger and taller than everyone I knew.
The only person who never seemed annoyed with me, even when I followed him around and asked endless questions.
Despite the sixteen-year age gap, he loved me.
“Don’t you think it’s time to wake up?”
The voice pulls me from my dream, and I whine. I don’t want the dream to end.
Someone chuckles before I feel a tap on my shoulder. “You always were cranky whenever I had to wake you up.”
My eyes snap open and I find myself staring at a pair of familiar hazel eyes on a stranger’s face. But it’s not a stranger. I know those eyes and that face.
“Knox.”
“Welcome back to the world of the living, Vivienne Taylor.”
My breath hitches and the world around me fades into a blurry background. I don’t realize I’m crying until this older version of my big brother is pulling me into his arms. He’s as big as I remember him and his hug is just as warm as it was when I was eight years old.
“Knox?” I whisper, terrified that this is yet another dream.
“You’re home, Viv. You’re safe,” he says thickly, and I can hear the emotion in his voice, feel the tremble in his arms as he strokes my hair.
In a moment, I revert to the eight-year-old who always had her big brother to protect her.
“You’re home now. I’ve got you.” He pulls back and though his face is still a little banged up from his accident, his smile is wide and welcoming.
A part of me was terrified that this meeting would be awkward, but it’s not.
It’s…familiar. “Why don’t you come out so I can introduce you to my fiancée and my brothers! ”
“Okay,” I say, turning to the driver’s side to speak to Kyle, but the seat is empty.
My brows draw together as I step outside, but before I can look around for him, Knox throws his arm over my shoulders and pulls me to his side before turning me to face a pretty woman with the most gorgeous blue-gray eyes I’ve ever seen.
There’s a warm smile on her face that I can’t help but return.
“Hi, Vivienne, I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Ruth.”
Then I find myself pulled into yet another embrace, and another and another.
Knox is wearing a walking cast on his ankle, but it barely slows him down as he takes me around the clubhouse, introducing me to everyone as his little sister, pride heavy in his voice.
Names are tossed my way and I find myself overwhelmed with the fact that everyone seems to know who I am.
It dawns on me that this means Knox must talk about me to them.
I realize that I’ve received more love in a couple of minutes than I have in the past ten years, and I revel in it.
Still, I can’t help but feel a sense of panic.
I don’t see Kyle once during the whole event. I search for his face in every corner and I feel myself grow anxious the longer I go without spotting him. Surely, he didn’t just leave, right? Not after everything we’ve been through together.
He promised me!