Chapter 39
Chapter thirty-nine
“Parker? Parker, stay with me.” I grab her face and tap her cheeks. “Come on, Sweetheart, wake up.” My body trembles and my heart wages a war inside of my chest. She goes limp in my hold, and her head falls back.
“Fuck.” I hiss and scoop her into my arms. Standing, I turn to see Nick reigning blows all over Preston’s face, his head snapping back with each one.
“Nick!” I shout and he turns to look at me. His eyes soften when he sees Parker laying lifeless in my arms, and he releases his grip on Preston. His body drops onto the floor, and the fucker actually laughs.
“Ah, Nicky, it’s good to see you again. What a nice little reunion this is. Too bad Lizzy isn’t here to witness it.” He laughs again and Karson slowly turns to look at Preston, then back to me, his signature grin covering his face.
“May I?” He asks darkly.
“Keep him alive.” I grit out, and watch as my best friend strides over to Preston. His massive size dwarfs Preston, who slowly looks up to Karson, and laughs again. Without a word, Karson kicks him in the face, knocking him unconscious.
“Shut the fuck up.” Karson says, then bends down to grab Preston by the back of the shirt, and starts dragging him across the concrete floor toward the rotted bulkhead doors we entered in.
“She’s still breathing, but it’s shallow. We need to get her to a doctor, now.” I say when I slide my eyes back to Nick, and see the tears building in his eyes. He swallows and looks back at me.
“I’ve got one who can be at my house when we get there.
” He then turns to walk toward where Karson stands.
He grabs Preston by the ankles, Karson takes his arms, and they carry him up the five wooden steps that lead back outside.
I follow behind them, watching as they let Preston’s head bounce off each step, and we make our way back to Nick’s SUV.
His driver, whose name I’ve come to learn is George, opens the back door allowing me to slide in the seat, still holding Parker.
He then walks around the back of the vehicle to open the hatch, and Preston’s body is dropped inside.
He lets out a groan and I hear Karson’s dark chuckle as he jumps in the back next to Preston.
“Fucker doesn’t want to stay asleep.” He hits him again and the vehicle fills with silence.
George and Nick rush into the front seats, and the car speeds out of the driveway of the home Parker used to live in.
Judging by how she looks, and the little bit of what Nick told me on the way over here, this was not a home.
It was her hell that she fought tooth and nail to survive, and escape, just for this scum bag to drag her back.
It looks like a waste land. There’s nothing but a few scorched support beams left of it, and my heart splinters imagining what she went through here.
I look down at her lying in my lap as we speed down a windy back road back to Nick’s home. Her forehead and lips are split, blood seeping through the wounds. Her hair is matted on the back of her head, and she has two black eyes forming.
“Come on, Raven. Wake up for me.” I beg in a whisper and pull her closer to me, never taking my eyes off of her beautiful face.
I don’t even want to think of what would have happened to her if we were any later.
I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for not being there to protect her when she needed me the most. I failed her, and I’ll never let that happen again.
Parker Ellis or Elizabeth Moretti, I don’t care who she is, or what she’s done.
This woman is my life. I will lay mine down for her, remove anyone who dares to hurt her, and slaughter her demons for her.
I’ve never known what love was before her, but I know without a doubt that I love her.
She has consumed my heart, body and soul from the moment I laid eyes on her.
A dark, obsessive type of love that some people might frown on, but I don’t give a fuck.
“Let’s get her up to her bedroom, the doctor’s almost here.
” Nick’s voice breaks me from my trance as the car comes to a stop in the circle driveway of Nick’s mansion.
My door opens, and George walks to the back to open the hatch as I step out with Parker.
Preston rolls out of the back and drops onto the cobblestone driveway like a sack of bricks.
Karson laughs and hops out of the back onto the driveway as I walk by, following Nick to the front door.
“I can’t wait to watch your fate be delivered, asshole.” Karson says to a still unconscious Preston.
Following Nick through the front door and up the stairs, I hear a woman gasp from the first floor. I look down to see her covering her mouth and shaking her head.
“Nick! Is she?” The woman asks.
“No, thank God. Just unconscious. The doctor should be here any minute, please send him to her room.” He says and pushes open a bedroom door.
I rush her over to the king sized bed that sits up against the far left wall of the room, and gently lay her down on top of the lilac colored duvet.
Her head lolls to the side, and I gently push some of the matted hair away from her face.
Brushing my fingers against her cheek, I squat down next to the edge of the bed.
“You really love her, don’t you?” Nick asks from somewhere in the room, and I nod. Sliding my gaze to where he stands, I swallow.
“I failed her, and I’m sorry.” I state with a whisper. “I’ll never let it happen again. I will always protect her with my life.”
“You didn’t fail her, Maverick, you saved her. I failed her. Fuck, I’ve failed her so many times.” He chokes on the words and runs his fingers through his hair.
“You were only doing what you thought was best. And you had no way of knowing he was still alive. It sounds to me like someone double crossed you. That isn’t your fault.
Sending her away when you did definitely saved her.
If she stayed, who knows what would have happened.
” He nods and opens his mouth to speak when the bedroom door opens.
We both look over to see a man dressed in black suit pants, and a dark blue button up shirt that's rolled up to his elbows, standing in the doorway.
Nick steps over to the man, and stretches out his hand.
“Jerry, thank you for coming.” Nick says and the two shake hands. Jerry nods and comes to the side of the bed. He stops next to where I am squatted, and I glare up at him.
“I’m the doctor.” He states, sensing the unspoken question, and I reluctantly stand to give him space.
Walking to the end of the bed, I watch as Jerry does a thorough examination on Parker–who still lays motionless on the bed.
A knock on the door has mine and Nick’s heads turning to see who it is.
Karson steps into the room, and the woman from downstairs follows.
“He’s all set. And the other two that you asked George for are down there as well.” He tells Nick, who nods then slaps my shoulder.
“Come with me. I think you’ll want to be around for this.” He says and walks toward the door.
“I’m not leaving her.” I tell them, and the woman pokes her head out from behind Karson. Her dark colored eyes meet mine and she offers me a smile that’s obviously meant to calm my nerves.
“I can stay with her. I promise, I will come get you if she starts to wake up.” Her tone is a little soothing–almost motherly–and I feel my shoulders ease slightly.
“This is Marie, she’s known Lizzy her entire life. She worked for Anthony and Tanya up until they passed, then came to work here to stay with Lizzy. To try and keep as much normalcy for her as possible. She’s in great hands with Marie.” Nick says, and walks out of the bedroom.
“I need to do some scans on her skull, I think she might also have a couple of fractures. I’m going to give her some medication for pain, so she will be out for a while.
Go with him.” Jerry speaks as he feels around on Parker’s head, not looking at me.
“Marie, will you please call Tyler, and ask him to bring up the equipment?” He asks and she nods, pulling out her phone.
“Come on, Mav. She’ll be okay.” Karson says and I look into his grey eyes.
He nods, asking me to trust him, and the two of us leave the room.
We walk down the stairs, and I follow Karson’s lead out into the back yard.
There’s a shed that sits about a one-hundred yards away from us, and we walk in silence.
Opening the shed door, Karson walks to the back of the room that houses a couple of riding lawn mowers and some other lawn equipment, and lifts a trap door on the floor. He looks back over to me and smirks, then walks down a set of stairs under the door.
We reach the bottom, and I follow him down a tunnel made entirely of concrete that reminds me of our warehouse back in Oregon–only this is underground.
Doors line either side of the long passageway with small windows at the top–resembling prison cell doors.
We reach the end of the tunnel, and I look to see two men tied to wooden chairs.
They’re sitting next to one another. One of the men looks enraged while the other looks petrified.
Both men look up at Nick, who’s removing his suit jacket and rolling his sleeves up.
He drops the jacket on top of a metal table, pushes his dark hair out of his face, then turns to look at them.
“Two years ago, I sent you to watch Lizzy’s house burn. Preston Gallo was inside that house. She told me that he was dead. So, someone fucking explain to me, how he’s alive and just kidnapped and beat my niece?” He states cooly, glaring at the men. Neither say anything and he steps closer to them.