Chapter 18
NASH
The moment I hear her scream, something inside me snaps clean in two.
I’m still half dead asleep when the sound rips through the house, Blair’s voice, sharp with terror.
I bolt down the stairs two at a time, my heart pounding like a war drum, and burst into the kitchen just in time to see them dragging her out the broken door.
Brooks. That slimy, gray-haired motherfucker her father tried to sell her to. Two thugs have her arms pinned, her bare feet scraping across the gravel as she fights like a wildcat. Her wide eyes meet mine for one fractured second, desperate and pleading.
“Nash!”
The roar that tears out of me isn’t human.
It’s pure animal fury. I don’t stop to think.
I don’t grab a weapon, I just sprint after them, my bare feet pounding across the cold gravel.
The SUV is already peeling out, tires spitting stones.
I reach my truck in seconds, slamming the door so hard the whole vehicle rocks.
The keys are in the ignition, thank fuck, and I floor it, the engine screaming as I tear down the driveway after them.
I grip the wheel until my knuckles whiten; the rage so pure and blinding it feels like my blood has turned to molten steel.
They took her. They put their filthy fucking hands on what’s mine.
On the woman who chose me. Who let me claim her, mark her, fill her night after night.
The woman embodying the future I never thought I’d have.
I will kill them all.
The truck fishtails onto the coastal road, tires screeching. The SUV is ahead, maybe a quarter of a mile, but I’m gaining fast. I keep my foot welded to the gas pedal, blowing through traffic lights and swerving around cars, and every near-miss only feeds the fire.
I’m talking to myself like a madman, voice raw and guttural. “You touched her. You fucking touched what’s mine. I’ll cut your hands off. I’ll rip your throats out with my teeth.”
The ocean blurs past in a streak of gray, but the only thing I can focus on, the only thing that matters, is getting her back. Blair. My Blair. The girl who looked me in the eye and chose the monster over her own father. The woman who let me fuck her raw while she whispered my name like a prayer.
They will not take her from me.
The SUV turns off the main road onto an old industrial track leading to the scrap metal yard on the outskirts of town.
It’s a maze of rusted cars, towering piles of scrap, and abandoned buildings.
I kill the headlights and follow at a distance, my pulse thundering in my ears.
When they stop near a derelict warehouse, I pull off behind a stack of crushed vehicles and kill the engine.
I watch as two men drag her out of the back seat.
She’s still fighting and kicking and screaming my name.
Brooks walks behind them, calm and smug, as if he’s already won.
He reaches for her arm, and the sight of his hand on her makes me see red.
My vision tunnels until all I can see is her, terrified and barefoot, wearing nothing but my oversized button-down.
I slip out of the truck, barefoot and shirtless, as the cold wind bites into my skin.
I barely register it, instead, I grab the tire iron from the bed of the truck and start moving, low and silent, weaving between mountains of scrap.
Every step brings me closer. Every second they have their hands on her is another second I add to the list of ways I’m going to make them suffer.
By the time I reach the edge of the warehouse, I’m vibrating with rage. Pure, unfiltered, murderous rage. I watch through a broken window as they shove her inside. She stumbles, catches herself on a rusted beam, and spins on them with fire in her eyes.
“Don’t touch me!” she spits. “Nash will kill you. All of you.”
Brooks laughs, the ugly prick. “Your meathead boyfriend won’t find you in time, sweetheart. By the time he figures it out, you’ll already be on the chopper back to your father. And then you’ll be mine, just like we agreed.”
The words ignite something feral inside me as my fist tightens around the tire iron. My mind is a storm of violent images: smashing Brook’s skull until it caves in, ripping the throats out of his men with my bare hands, painting the concrete floor with their blood.
I don’t care if I go to prison. She is mine. And I will burn the entire fucking world down before I let them take her.
I circle the building, looking for an entrance, taking advantage of every second to control my breathing. The obsession has consumed me completely. There is no Nash anymore; there is only the beast who will slaughter anything that tries to claim what belongs to him.
Blair’s voice echoes from inside, angry and defiant. My good girl. So brave. I smile, sharp and terrible in the darkness.
I’m coming, baby.
And when I get there, none of them will walk out alive.