Chapter 66
Lydia
I had taunted him too much, but at least he stopped hitting me. His hands wrapped around my throat. He screamed something about Daniel, about Natalia… I didn’t care. My eyes were on Becca.
And then the door opened.
Daniel.
I looked up at him and smiled.
My Daniel.
The most beautiful sound I had ever heard echoed through the empty room. A war cry made of rage and love came out of Daniel as he slammed into Langford. I gasped for air.
Jake ran into the room, falling to his knees beside Becca.
I shut my eyes, waiting for the room to stop spinning and trying to steady my breathing. When I opened them, Cole was on his knees in front of me, cutting the rope around my ankles.
“I’ve got you, little one.” His voice was steady, cold, and nearly boiling over with rage. We were all on edge now.
Cole moved behind me, surprising me with his gentle touch on my hands as he untied me.
I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t speak. He was in front of me again. One of his arms went under my shoulders, the other under my knees, and I was in the air.
“Daniel,” I croaked.
“Danny’s busy.” Cole’s jaw clenched.
I turned my head toward the noise I hadn’t realized was Daniel pounding into Langford on the floor.
For a moment, Daniel’s eyes found mine. He dropped his hold on Langford’s shirt, leaving him groaning on the floor. It felt like I was flying when Daniel grabbed me out of Cole’s arms and held me in his. I winced.
“Fuck. You’re hurt.” He said, lowering me to the floor.
Cole stayed in front of me as Daniel slowly put me down, both ready to catch me if I fell.
I tried shaking my head, but it made the room spin, forcing me to grab the closest arm to me to stay upright. “Becca. He hit her bad.”
Daniel looked behind me toward the door. “Jake’s got her.”
Cole turned me around slowly so I could see. Jake was carrying Becca in his arms out the door.
The three of us stood there quietly for a few moments after Jake left. Behind me, Langford mumbled something.
I took a deep breath. I was steadier on my feet now that I could breathe.
“Knife,” I said, palm held out.
Cole put a knife in my hand.
Daniel walked up to Langford and held him up.
I took three steps, slowly and carefully. Cole stayed right behind me, his size and warmth giving me strength.
He’s got my back. I have people who have my back. Becca, Jake, Cole, Terry, Daniel… my family. And Langford was going to take it all away from me.
“When I was sixteen, I killed a man who tried to rape me. He was my friend, my family. He taught me how to fight, told me to always carry a weapon.”
Cole and Daniel watched me intently as I spun the knife in my hand.
“Shouldn’t have taught me that,” I continued. “I let him get on top of me and I shoved a knife into his temple as hard as I could.”
Cole’s hand was on my shoulder. Daniel’s eyes pierced mine.
I looked at Langford. “I wanted to kill you slowly. I wanted to hurt you until you begged for death, but what’s the point?
You’ve been torturing yourself for your entire life.
You’re going to die now, knowing that if there is a life after death, you’re not going where Natalia went.
Wherever she is, she’s ashamed of ever loving you, if she ever really did. ”
Langford’s eyes widened. His mouth opened to say something, but I didn’t want to hear it. I pushed the knife into his temple, slowly this time. There was no reason to do it quickly like I did when I was a teenager.
He screamed for a moment, and the room was quiet again.
Daniel dropped his body to the floor and I fell to my knees.
Cole and Daniel were on me instantly. Daniel’s hands were everywhere, searching my body and making me wince every time he touched a tender spot. Cole kept shooting questions at me until my head started to spin again.
“Stop!” I sighed and held up a hand, not caring who took it. “Help me up.”
“We need to take you to—”
“I’m fine. I need to breathe and I need space.”
Cole stepped back and nodded to Daniel. “Go. I’ll take care of this.” He looked down at me. “Little one.”
I smiled as Daniel held my hand and helped me walk out of the room. When we were outside, he helped me into his car, leaving his bike in the driveway.
“I want to take you to the hospital,” he said as he drove us away. It was finally over.
I exhaled loudly. “I have a mild concussion. The rest is… I’m just a little banged up. He didn’t hit my ribs, just my stomach and face. I know how to take a hit, Daniel. I promise, I’ll be fine.”
“Fine. But I’m not letting you out of my sight until I’m sure, and I’m not asking again if I think you need to be checked out.”
I shrugged, hiding the wince at the stabbing pain in my shoulders. Everything fucking hurt.
When we got into his building, he picked me up and carried me into the elevator and then into his apartment, refusing to let me walk on my own.
Terry ran to me the second we walked in, stopping himself from hugging me and nearly crashing into me as a result.
“Oh fuck, Lydia, you look—”
“Langford beat the crap out of us. He’s dead,” I said.
“Leave, Ter.” Daniel’s voice was low, shaking with… rage? What now?
Terry grabbed his laptop and practically jogged out of the apartment. Daniel locked the door with a key.
I turned to Daniel to ask him what was going on, but his face shut me up. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was seeing, but I kept quiet. He picked me up and carried me to his bedroom and into the shower.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
I looked exactly like I felt. My face was covered in blood, which went down in streaks over my neck and down my chest. My shirt was torn open at the top where Langford grabbed it, and covered in dirt at the front, either from Langford hitting me or from the ground in the parking lot when he knocked us out.
Daniel turned the water on in his giant shower, filling the room with hot steam. Without a word, he took off our shoes, picked me up, and walked with me under the stream, both of us still fully clothed.
The water burned as it hit my skin, and I relished it. I wanted every memory of Langford washed away from me, though I knew I’d have bruises for a while, maybe even a scar on my cheek or lip.
My clothes were soaked, and blood covered the white floor under our feet.
Daniel stood in front of me and gently opened the remaining buttons on my shirt, slowly and carefully taking it off.
His hand touched the bra clasp behind me, releasing it.
I didn’t move as he slowly pulled the straps down my hands and tossed the bra aside.
His eyes stayed on mine in silent reverence. I felt his fingers unbutton my pants and pull them down with my underwear to the floor. They felt so heavy, soaked in hot water.
All of my clothes were now in a pile in the corner of the shower. I stood naked and bloody in front of Daniel, who was still fully clothed.
I reached out to grab his shirt and winced.
His lips found mine for a moment, the softest touch, before he stepped back and took his own clothes off.
Daniel stepped out of the shower, leaving me standing underneath the hot stream for a few moments. When he came back, he held a pile of white washcloths.
He put them on the shower niche and grabbed one.
I felt hypnotized by his movements as he held it under the stream.
Daniel slowly and gently wiped my face with the washcloth. It burned when he touched my cheek and lip, but the rest was fine. I wanted to lift my hand and touch my face, feel the cut, but my body was frozen in place, watching this giant man take care of me.
He tossed the bloodied washcloth to the pile of clothes and grabbed another one, this time adding soap.
It took three more washcloths to clean me of all the blood and grime. I never moved as Daniel went over every inch of my body, feathering kisses on every bruise on my face and stomach as he cleaned me.
When he was done, I stayed under the stream and watched him clean himself in front of me before shutting the water off and wrapping me in a towel.
I grabbed his hands and lifted his knuckles to my lips, kissing him where his skin broke on Langford’s face. My towel fell to the floor, and my hair dripped water down my shoulders and chest as we stood in front of each other.
Daniel took a step forward. I took a step back.
And then he did something he had never done before—he took another step forward.
I took another step back.
Slowly, carefully, I walked backwards, letting him herd me where he wanted me as he kept walking forward, until the backs of my knees touched the bed.
His eyes shot down to the bruises on my stomach for a moment before he looked up at me.
“I’m going to hurt you.” His voice broke the silence.
Yes.
“Probably,” I said.
“You need a safe word,” he whispered, swallowing.
I always had a knife—that usually made for a pretty good safe word. I didn’t need one this time.
I felt my lip split open and tasted blood as I smiled.
“What’s yours? Because I’m going to hurt you, too, Daniel.”