Chapter 79 #2
“Thank you for whatever you did. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but I appreciate you trying to fix things. And just so you know, I’m going to see Sabastian.”
Nash made a face, and I could tell he was going to argue.
“It might make things worse,” he said.
I sighed. “Maybe you’re right, but I don’t want him to feel alone. I think that was part of the problem all along. He felt abandoned.”
“If you’re going to insist, then you must take one of us with you,” he said.
“Alright, it’s a deal.”
Nash smirked as he tugged on my hand.
“Now that all of the unpleasantness is out of the way…you coming to help me get changed?”
“Nice try. I’ll go grab a seat on the bleachers,” I said, but Nash didn’t let go.
The next thing I knew, he’d dropped his duffel bag and was kissing me. His lips were soft, but demanding, and it was as if his hand scorched my skin as it slipped under my top and gripped my waist.
My backpack dropped to the floor, and the coffee cup shook in my grasp.
My heart galloped out of control as he pushed me up against the wall.
He was completely unyielding, his body hard, arms flexed like he was barely holding it together, and it was entirely too sexy to feel his control slipping.
Nash broke the kiss and traced my jaw with his lips, sending sparks everywhere.
I panted as he sucked on the sensitive spot under my ear.
“Say the words, Princess. Say you forgive me,” Nash growled. “Say we’re okay.”
“You’re forgiven,” I whispered, holding him tighter.
He pinched my chin between his fingers as his eyes locked with mine. They were always so blue, like the deepest part of the ocean, and yet held enough heat to burn us both down.
“When I’m done training, we’re skipping first period,” he said, and I licked my lips.
“We are, are we?”
“Yes, because I need to make things right with my wife.”
He ran his thumb over my bottom lip and pressed down a little in the middle. I opened just enough for him to slip in, and sucked. His eyes turned feral.
“Fuck you make me so hard. How am I supposed to train like this?”
He looked down, and so did I. Sure enough, there was a large tent in the front of his trackpants.
“Beat your best time,” I said, nipping his bottom lip, “and I’ll skip the day.”
“Really?”
He looked shocked.
I rubbed up against him, and he groaned.
“Really.”
With a smirk, I picked up my backpack and stepped away. I expected him to grab me and yank me back, but instead he swore, and the locker door thumped closed.
My phone buzzed, and I snickered while I pulled it out. I thought it was Nash sending me a dick pic, because who the hell else was texting me at this time, but instead the caller ID said Unknown.
I was going to ignore it, but my heart raced as I stared at the first three words. I tapped on the text, and my blood chilled. I looked behind me down the long, dark hallway, searching the shadows. There was no one there, but I still couldn’t shake the worry as I entered the brightly lit pool area.
Unknown: I didn’t think you had it in you. I’m impressed. You are far more cunning than I gave you credit for.
R: Who the hell is this?
My shoes squeaked slightly as I walked around the edge.
Unknown: Certainly, more cunning than your cunt of a mother.
Anger flooded my system. One face came to mind, but I asked the question again anyway.
R: Tell me who you are right now, or I’ll block you.
Unknown: Like you don’t know.
R: Christov.
Unknown: I will get you back for what you did to my son. I regret not letting Alina smother you when you were born. Everything would’ve been so much easier if you’d just died in Canada last summer like you were supposed to. Instead those asshole you’re fucking, screwed it up.
I gasped as my chest tightened like vice was twisting everything inside of me. He was the one that had sent the men. He killed Nadia.
I hated that his words still found something soft inside me. Tiny, fractured memories surfaced and danced around in my mind. I was small, and thought he was my father even if only for a short time. That sliver of grief was infuriating and oh-so-dangerous.
R: It’s a shame you didn’t die when my mother shot you. Sabastian would’ve been far better off. I bet he regrets having you as his father now.
Unknown: You bitch. I will kill you.
The words were still glowing on my screen when something shifted. The hair on the back of my neck bristled. There was no sound, but I looked up and caught movement behind me in the reflection of the darkened window.
My stomach dropped before my brain could name the threat.
I spun.
Instinct took over, and my body reacted before fear could paralyze me.
I swung my backpack hard, the weight of it dragging momentum through my arms. It connected with a solid crack, and a knife went flying from Mr. Sharpe’s hand.
It sliced through the air before disappearing into the pool with a splash.
For half a second, neither of us moved.
My breath came shallow as his gaze dropped to the rippling water, then slowly lifted to me.
He didn’t resemble a teacher. Or a man. He looked feral.
His eyes were bloodshot and wild, pupils blown wide. His lip curled back from his teeth in something closer to a snarl than a human expression.
My brain refused to accept what my eyes were seeing. This was Mr. Sharpe. My professor. The man who’d trusted me enough to make me his TA. Even after catching him with Patricia and my suspicions about the texts, I never thought it would come to this.
I searched his face for reason or logic, for some explanation that made sense.
But there was nothing familiar there. Just rage where quiet authority once lived. Just a stranger wearing a face I thought I knew. And the worst part wasn’t the fear. It was the realization that I had trusted him.
“Mr. Sharpe?” My voice sounded thin, wrong in the vast echoing room. “What’s going on?”
He didn’t answer. He just lunged.
Panic slammed into me as I threw my backpack up again, using it like a shield. He ripped it from my hands with brutal force, yanking me off balance before tossing it into the pool.
“No!”
I watched helplessly as it hit the water and sank. My laptop, my notes, the pictures Sabastian had given me, pieces of my life swallowed whole.
He was on me again before I could think to move. I tried to recall Nash’s instructions. Liam’s corrections.
Center your weight.
Protect your head.
Move fast.
Anticipate the strikes.
But the tile was slick beneath my feet. My heel slid as I avoided his grasp.
Taking advantage of my error, he grabbed my arm.
“Na—” I started to scream, but pain exploded across my face.
The punch snapped my head sideways, and white-hot stars burst behind my eyes.
I tasted blood. He hauled me upright and hit me again, harder.
The world blurred at the edges as if someone was smearing reality with their hands.
My knees wanted to give out. I covered my head trying to ward off another blow.
“Nash,’ I said, but it sounded muffled to my ears.
“Hey!” A woman shouted. “Let her go, Sharpe! It’s over, we know everything.”
I knew the voice but couldn’t place it. Everything felt slow, like I was underwater.
He snarled something incoherent and shoved me away. I stumbled backward toward the pool and hit the starting blocks.
“Ahh,” I cried out as my foot caught wrong. It all happened so fast. My head cracked against the edge—sharp, ringing pain—and then there was nothing but gravity.
Splash.
There was only a weightless panic as I hit the water. Then the world vanished as it closed over me.
Nash
My phone dinged just as I went to leave. I opened the locker and grabbed it.
Edmundo: Nash, have you or the guys gotten any new strange rhymes?
N: No, nothing on our end. Why?
Edmundo: I got one last night that was disturbing. I’ve been up for hours trying to get it traced. It bounces all over the world and then stops at Wayward.
N: That happened to our guy, too. I think the property has its own electronic security that scrambles things.
Edmundo: What makes you say that?
N: Before Zigzag was tossed in jail, he tried to search for my phone. It showed up here, but not exactly where on the property. He said he was going to work on it, but then Christov and Sabastian happened, and we never got an answer.
Edmundo: I will look into it. Did the information I emailed work for you?
N: Yes. Ellis called me right away. It got Sabastian a deal for no more than two years.
Edmundo: Good, he will be out in a year for good behavior, I’ll make sure of it.
N: I guess I should’ve run the idea past you. I’m not used to considering other people’s opinions. This is a learning curve.
Edmundo: Are you talking about me, or my daughter?
Nash: Both.
Edmundo: Lol! Yes, I think it’s time we discussed what being my son-in-law looks like going forward.
I swallowed hard. Shit. Shit. Shit. Why hadn’t I thought about how this would affect Edmundo? God, I was tempted to bang my head off the locker for being so stupid.
Edmundo: Especially, now that you’re officially a Genovese.
I froze and just stared at the message.
Nash: What?
Edmundo: I should’ve waited until I could see your face. The paperwork was delivered late last night. Congratulations son, you’re rid of the Collier name.
I sagged and sat down on the bench.
Nash: Oh my god. I don’t even know what to say. I can’t tell you what this means to me. Thank you.
It felt like I was floating as a smile spread across my face.
“Hey!”
What the hell?
I looked at the door that led to the pool.
“Ahh!”
A scream pierced my heart as adrenaline shot through my body.
I sprinted across the locker room and yanked open the door, dashing out onto the pool deck. I couldn’t see Ren, but I caught a glimpse of a man running out the back exit. What the hell? Panic filled me. Where was she? I started to follow the man.
“Ren?”
“Over here,” someone called out, and I heard splashing.
I ran to the edge and dropped to my knees to help, realizing it was Chantry. She was trying to roll a facedown Ren over in the water. Fear gripped my heart as I hauled her lifeless body out of the pool and saw blood running down her face.
“What the hell happened,” I asked, my body shaking.
Chantry pushed up onto the ledge while I tried to check on Ren. My hands barely worked properly as my mind raced.
“Let me, I have first-aid training,” she said, checking for a pulse and breathing. “Call Dean Henry, he’ll alert the doc and call an ambulance,” she ordered.
I scrambled for my phone that I’d dropped.
“I don’t have his number.”
“Call the office, it’s forwarded to his cell until reception arrives.”
“Shouldn’t I just call 911?”
Chantry looked at me like I was an idiot. “Just do what I tell you.”
I’d never seen her like this before.
“What happened,” I asked again, pulling up the main number.
“She’s breathing and has a strong pulse,” Chantry said. “Grab a towel and hold it to the gash on her head. We want to slow the bleeding and encourage clotting.”
I felt lost and was suddenly thankful that she knew what to do. I stumbled over to the stack of fresh towels on the wall and grabbed one as I waited for the phone to connect. Then, ran back to Ren and kneeled, holding it against the wound as the phone rang.
Chantry looked at me and shrugged.
“I don’t really know what happened. I came in early to workout and was in the hallway when I heard arguing. I ran in just as Ren screamed. I saw her hit her head and fall into the pool. Mr. Sharpe ran out the back, and I jumped in after Ren. Then, you were here.”
Fucking Sharpe. Liam didn’t trust him. He’d said that the personality switch lately had seemed…off. But Dean Henry had told us to stay out of it, and now I wanted to kill Sharpe and punch Dean Henry.
“Why is there so much blood,” I asked, trying not to panic as the phone rang.
“Head wound, they bleed a lot,” Chantry said.
She reached out and grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at her.
“She’s going to be okay.”
The phone clicked.
“Dean Henry here.”