Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
KANE
“Rise and shine, sunshine.” Cold water is dumped over my head, and then Chris yanks the sack off with a hard tug. I don’t know where the hell we are. I don’t even know how long I was out.
I flick my wet hair out of my eyes, my head pounding as I look around. We’re in a basement, and there’s a single bulb hanging overhead like something out of a cheesy, old mafia movie. This situation would probably be pretty funny if my head didn’t hurt so damn bad.
“If you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask,” I say as he leans over and grabs my wrists. I might not be able to escape these restraints, but the least I can do is to rattle him.
I flash my most charming smile, if only to piss him off. “But I’m not really into the whole sibling thing,” I continue, leaning in slightly and lowering my voice. “I’m straight.”
Chris snatches my jaw, fingers digging into my cheeks. “You think you’re so fucking clever, Ravencourt.”
He pushes me back before standing up and then slamming his fist into my face, hard. The punch makes my ears ring for a second, but before I can catch my breath, he hits me again. He’s not holding back, and there’s vicious anger behind every blow.
This is personal.
His bleeding knuckles hit my cheekbone again, causing my head to snap back, and I laugh despite the throbbing ache.
I’m pretty sure my nose is busted. Blood fills my mouth.
I spit some on the ground and tilt my head back to look at him.
Why is he holding back? He could cause way more damage than this foreplay.
“I told you to stay away from her.” He punches me in the gut.
There’s no time to tighten my abs, and the wind is knocked out of me with an ‘oomph.’
I double over, breathing through clenched teeth. The gut is always the worst because of the nausea that follows.
My stomach roils.
“Is that all you’ve got? Fucking pathetic.”
I hear a crackling noise that would normally make the hairs on my neck stand up if it weren’t for the cramping in my gut.
I’m two seconds away from vomiting and about to spew my lunch everywhere.
Malice yanks me up by the hair and jabs a cattle prod into my ribs.
I’ve known a lot of pain, but this rivals the worst. When the currents flow through me, my teeth clamp so tightly that I worry they might crack.
“Not so smug now, are you?” Chris mocks, and Malice steps back with the prod in his hand. I curl my lip, which makes him smirk before he strikes me in the face with the prod. The pain hits instantly, hot and pulsing, but I’ve felt much worse.
Believe it or not, I’d take this over Beverly’s hands on me any day. I can handle physical pain because it’s all about mind over matter. But her sickening whispers in my ear? Her lips on me? The pleasure she steals without my consent?
No, I’d rather be electrocuted with a cattle prod.
Bring it on.
As if he hears my thoughts, Malice sends another jolt of electricity through me while I white-knuckle the armrest.
“Stay away from my sister and it all ends.” Chris’s voice sounds far away when my body stops twitching.
I look up at him through my lashes as my lips curve to the side. We stare at each other, neither willing to back down. My head feels so heavy that I can barely keep it up.
“I’ve already told you,” I say. “I won’t stay away from her.”
He leans over me again and places his hands on my bleeding wrists. We’re at a stalemate. This can only end in one of two ways. I think he’s coming to the same realization.
He has to either kill me or back off. The choice is his, but he’s all bark and no bite. He loves his sister, and if I had to guess, the only thing he fears more than losing his mother is losing his sisters too. They’re his only remaining family. He sees me as a threat.
“I’m going to marry her,” I say.
He sneers as he pushes away, but if I thought that was the end of it or that we’d reached some kind of truce, I was wrong. The next thing I know, he slams his fist into my temple, and laughter bubbles up, sounding unhinged even to my own ears.
Chris turns to Jackson, who rubs the back of his neck and says, “I don’t know,” when he realizes Chris wants him to take a turn. “Don’t you think he’s had enough?”
“What’s the matter?” Chris steps closer. He’s taller than Jackson but not by much. “Grown a fucking conscience all of a sudden?”
Jackson swallows hard as he glances my way. I can only imagine what my face looks like. I taste blood every time I swallow.
The blonde guy slaps Chris’s chest as he passes by. “My turn.”
He buries his knuckles in my stomach, and I double over, coughing, right as the door opens and Jessica crashes into the room. When she sees me, her eyes widen.
That girl has perfect timing.
I guess this means Maverick ratted even though I asked him not to. I had it under control.
Jessica shouts my name, and Malice blocks her. I can handle a lot of things, but the rage that erupts when he grabs her like that? Yeah, fuck that.
“What the hell, Chris? Let him go!”
“Yeah, Chris,” I taunt, grinning through bloody teeth. “Let me go.”
“You motherfucker.”
Pain explodes across my jaw as the punch lands, blood spraying from my mouth and splattering on the ground. That one will bruise, but what’s another? My father already beat me up. Might as well add a few more bruises for effect.
“Don’t hurt him!” Jessica cries.
I hate seeing her in Malice’s arms. He’s got her trapped against his chest. She’s flailing…kicking and clawing like a feral cat.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” I growl, clenching my fists. He better do as I fucking say. I’m done playing nice. I’ve sat in this chair and let them pummel me like a bunch of thugs, but they don’t get to touch her.
“Let her go,” Summer commands, surprising us all. I don’t know much about Jessica’s younger sister; she’s always seemed like the meek type, but now her voice is firm. “Let my sister go, Malice,” she repeats, giving him a hard look. “I mean it.”
And surprisingly, Malice listens.
Jessica pushes past him and slaps Chris hard across the face. Then she does it again before he has a chance to recover, her hand connecting with his cheek with a loud crack.
No one says a word as Jessica looks around at the others.
She trembles with anger and tears glisten on her lashes.
I shouldn’t enjoy this as much as I do, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t like how protective she is.
Anyone in my position would get a kick out of seeing her brother seethe like a petulant child.
When he looks at me, I grin, but then Jessica drops to her knees in front of me, struggling to get the zip ties off.
She’ll need something to cut through them, and she soon realizes the same, looking around for a knife or scissors.
“Don’t just stand there,” she shouts, emotion bleeding through her voice. “Help me.”
Jackson hands her a pocket knife, and she begins at my ankles, sawing through the thick plastic. It snaps, and she frees my wrist. The zip ties have been too tight, and my fingers tingle as she throws herself at me, whimpering my name against my neck.
Something is really wrong with my chest because it aches strangely as I hug her close, whispering words of reassurance. I’m starting to think I should get kidnapped more often if this is the kind of reaction I get. Her brother deserves thanks for setting this up because it was a genius idea.
“It’s okay…I’m okay.” I cup her face and kiss her right there in front of her brother. “Don’t cry.”
She cries harder, trembling in my arms, and I glare at her brother over her head. This is your fault, my look says.
Chris grits his teeth as he avoids eye contact, while the others show various emotions.
Malice looks like he always does.
Bored out of his mind.
A muscle is pulsing in Jackson’s jaw as he watches Jessica in my arms. I can’t tell if he’s jealous or if it’s regret. It could be both.
Blondie—Sam—keeps typing on his phone. I think he just wanted to get a punch in.
And then there’s Chris.
He’s watching us with a look I can’t read, and honestly, I don’t care either way. After our little bonding session, he needs to back the fuck off or I’ll be forced to retaliate.
Despite what it may seem, I have no plans to interfere between Jessica and her brother. But I also won’t let her go, so he has a decision to make.
“Can you walk?” Jessica asks as she climbs off my lap.
Water drips from my sopping clothes when I stand up. I can walk just fine, but I’m going to milk this while I can, so I pretend to be unsteady on my feet.
Jessica is by my side in an instant, helping me out of the room.
“Sis…” Chris reaches for her, and she glares at him as she says, “You’ve done enough damage.”
“I’m just trying to protect you.”
“By hurting me?”
“That’s not—”
“Leave it,” she snaps, struggling to hold my weight, so I ease up. “You took it too far, Chris.”
I’m tempted to say, Yeah, Chris, you took it too far, but somehow I doubt it’s helpful to rub it in his face right now. So I do my best to look injured instead. Not that it’s that hard when my face is throbbing like a bitch.
“If you care about me at all, you’ll leave Kane alone.” Jessica lowers her voice. “And if you love me, you’ll respect that I love him.”
Okay, now I do smile. I mean, how can I not? I’ve won the lottery.
Chris looks at me then, and his expression is just as hard as before, but he stays quiet, and I take that as a win for now.
Jessica leads me out of the room while I pretend to wince for effect. Summer is in the doorway, glaring daggers at Malice. When we get close, she steps aside and then follows us out with a final, scathing look at her brother’s friend.
Chris must be fucking blind not to see there’s something there, or maybe he has his head so far up his ass he only sees what he wants to see.
“Jess,” Chris calls after her, but she ignores him.
For a second, I almost feel sorry for him because he looks wretched, but then I remember he’s tried to come between us from the start, and any sympathy I had disappears. I probably shouldn’t feel this smug, though.