Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
KANE
Cash grabs my arm before I can get out of the car. “This is not a good idea.”
I throw open the door. “I don’t give a fuck. I’m getting her back.”
There’s no universe where she gets to move on without me.
Not anymore. She’ll live a single-less life, because I’ll kill anyone who looks her way.
She’s mine, and I didn’t beat my father at his own game to lose her now.
Before she came into the picture, I was barely alive, and now I can’t imagine being with anyone else.
“Kane,” my brother calls after me as I exit the car and run up to her door. I’m not going back now. Cash didn’t have to come; in fact, I would have preferred if he hadn’t, but he refused to stay behind.
I bang on the door until it finally opens. Her brother stands behind the screen, a cigarette tucked behind his ear, basketball shorts hanging low on his hips and tattoos covering his bare chest. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that her brother is built like a tank.
His expression hardens, and he makes no effort to let me in, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I need to speak to her,” I say, trying to see past him.
“She’s not in.”
I pause. “Bullshit. I need to see her. I need to explain.”
“Explain what exactly? Why you cheated on her? Why you fucked someone else?”
“I wasn’t—” I snap, then catch myself. God damnit. Why won’t he move out of the way to let me explain? “Listen, Chris, all I need is five minutes of her time and then I’ll be gone. Just let me talk to her.”
The muscles in his arms bulge as I catch sight of Malice and Jackson and that blonde guy, Sam, or whatever his name is, sidling up behind him. Reinforcements. Great.
Chris opens the screen door and steps onto the porch. “I’m only going to say this once, Ravencourt. My sister wants nothing to do with you. She told me so herself when she came home crying earlier, heartbroken because of you, and I won’t let you hurt her again. Get that?”
I clench my jaw so hard it hurts. What should I do? I need to get past him somehow. I’m not leaving here until I’ve talked to her.
Chris steps closer. “Now get off my property.”
“Just five minutes.”
“You’re a bold fucker, you know that? Coming here like this.” He lowers his voice. “If you don’t step off my fucking property in the next five seconds, we’re gonna have a problem and you won’t walk away this time.”
I crane my neck and shout, “Jessica!”
Chris rams his hands into my chest, and I stumble back, barely catching myself on the porch railing.
“Jessica!” I shout again, my voice breaking.
The screen door squeaks open, and Jackson and the others, cracking their knuckles, step out of the house and spread out in a semi-circle around me.
“Walk away,” Chris says, low and tense.
“I can’t do that.”
Down by the sidewalk, the car door opens, and Cash steps out. He’s always eager to problem-solve first, but we’re not here for that. In fact, we’re well past that stage, and I don’t care what it takes. I’m not going down without a fight. I’m not just walking away from the girl I love.
I look at all of them in turn: Malice with his perpetually bored expression, Jackson cracking his neck, Sam curling his lip, and finally, Chris, the biggest obstacle of them all.
I plead one more time. “Let me talk to her.”
“Did you think of my sister when you were fucking someone else?”
I flinch.
The words land like a blow. All this time, I was trying to protect her. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do.
“I never meant to hurt her.”
Chris huffs a breath, his jaw clenching almost violently, then he walks back inside.
No.
I can’t let him leave.
In a moment of desperation, I drop to my knees.
Behind me, Cash calls out my name, but it’s all background noise. I’d do anything to see her.
Literally anything.
I say as much, no longer caring about the consequences. What else can I possibly lose at this point? My dignity? I don’t care. “Anything?” Chris turns around and walks back up to me. The others form a circle around us, blocking my view of Cash, who is probably freaking out.
“Anything,” I confirm, my heart slamming hard. By coming here, I walked straight into the lion’s den, and now that I’m kneeling in front of Chris, making a complete fool of myself, I’m not backing down, not if it means I get to see her.
Chris sucks on his teeth.
His smile is cruel and cold as he begins to unbuckle his belt. “Let’s see it then. Let’s see how far you’re willing to go for my sister.”
Whoever is behind me steps back as a scuffle erupts. Cash is beside himself, yelling my name. I told him he should have stayed home. There are things he shouldn’t have to see.
Chris flops his flaccid cock out. “What are you waiting for? Make me hard.”
Never thought I’d be this up and close with a dick. He’s big even when soft, and I dread to think how big he gets when he’s erect.
“Put it in your mouth.”
Okay, here goes nothing.
I try to reach out and touch it, but Chris slaps my hand away with a cold laugh.
“Fucking pathetic. Do you seriously think I want you to suck me off?”
He grabs himself, and seconds later, hot piss splashes on my face as laughter rings out around me.
I’ve never been so humiliated in my life, but I take it, and even though I know it’s not true, something deep down—something shameful—believes I deserve this.
Hell, that dark place gets twisted pleasure from this humiliation.
Though I’m not ready to admit that yet, not even to myself.
Chris shakes himself off and tucks himself away. I’m still on my knees, drenched in piss, and he’s still towering over me and looking furious as fuck, even though he should be happy, right?
He crouches to my level. “My sister loves you for some fucked up reason, and that’s why you get to leave here alive.
She’s been hurt enough.” He runs his eyes over my dripping face and scoffs.
“I don’t get what she sees in you. Quite frankly, you’re not good enough for her.
” He leans closer, forcing me to look him in the eye.
“You’re nothing. You hear me? Nothing. And my sister, well, she’s everything.
You get that? She’s everything and she deserves the fucking world. You fucked up.”
Each word strikes like a blow. My body trembles, though not from anger or fear. I’m far more broken than that, barely even human. Just a shit stain on their lawn.
“Do you love my sister?” he asks, and I frown. Of course I love her. I wouldn’t be kneeling at his feet, soaked in his piss, if I didn’t.
He snaps his fingers in my face. “Do you?”
“Yes.” My voice is barely a whisper.
Chris stands up and studies me for a beat. The others are quiet, my brother included.
The fighting must have stopped.
“If you love my sister, you’ll let her go.”
But what if I can’t? What if I don’t want to live without her? I stare at a spot in the sunbaked, yellowing grass.
Chris continues. “Now walk away and never show your fucking face again.”
I slowly lift my head, seeing the blank look on his face, wondering what he sees in mine.
Hopelessness? Defeat?
Strong fingers close around my arm, and Cash pulls me to my feet before hauling my arm around his neck. So this is it? Am I just supposed to walk away? I was so close to having it all, but in a blink, a fraction of a second, I lost everything. Life has a funny way of kicking you when you’re down.
Cash drags me away, supporting my weight as we cross to the car.
The world blurs around me as he leans me against the car and opens the door.
Chris is right. I really fucked up this time.
The worst part is that I knew it would happen, even expected it.
And when it finally did, I wasn’t ready, and now I have to live with the consequences. An empty existence without Jessica.
Near the porch, Chris watches Cash wrangle me into the car and slam the door shut behind me. His expression remains unreadable until the very last second. Then, through the window, I catch a brief flicker in his eyes.
Something that looks a lot like regret.