Chapter Twenty-Two #3
A small sob spills out, and I hear my brother shift.
He can't reach me, but he mutters for me to move toward him. I shuffle, and he puts his good arm around me, the small sob growing into breathless cries. All the hurt of the last few days spills out and for once, it’s my brother looking after me and not the other way around.
“If it’s any consolation, you were right about him,” I sniff.
“Yeah, I tried to tell you. You didn’t have to sleep with him,” he snarks.
I’m guessing he doesn’t know about the kidnapping and the basement, so I keep my mouth shut about that.
“It’s more than that, Danny.”
“I know. I’m just being a dick. But really? My boss? You hated him.”
“I thought he was leading you down a bad path. I thought he was a criminal.”
“I told you he wasn’t.”
“Okay, but you haven’t exactly been forthcoming about what your job is, Danny. What was I supposed to think?”
“It was a secret because of the danger of his family. I work in an underground farm. We grow plants for restaurants. You’d love it; it’s all hyper-nutritious.”
“I know. I’ve been there.”
He pulls back, and his eyes bug out. He pauses for a moment, then winces. “The crop top...in his office. Please tell me that wasn’t yours.”
“Would you prefer it if it belonged to someone else and he was cheating on me?”
His mouth gapes, and if the situation weren’t so dire, I’d probably laugh.
“In his office, Olivia? Damn. I’ve actually got more respect for you. You’re nasty.” He laughs.
I shove him, and he winces. “Oops.”
Wiping away another tear, I lean into my brother.
We’re silent for a moment until he says, “Remember what Mom used to say? If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.”
“Yeah, and if it’s not, it’s just pushing you toward what is,” I reply, smiling a little, the ache easing in my chest.
“The reason I came here today is to tell you it’s not safe here right now. Not for you. We’ve managed to convince Millie and Travis they were wrong, but it’s not as simple with Austin’s family.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be hiding too, recovering until I can get back to it.”
“We’ll be going together?”
He shakes his head, and another whimper escapes. Fuck, I need to pull it together.
“It’s up to you where you go. You can choose. I just need to book your flight now.”
I hear Alfie shuffle into the room, and as I turn, he’s leaning against the doorframe. I don’t try to fight it. I can’t stay at Dr. Alfie’s forever, and despite the concern I feel for my brother, the idea of getting away from this mess makes me feel like I can breathe again.
If I get away, I can always come back. I will come back once everything has calmed down .
“I know where I want to go.”
One Week Later—Austin
The crimson color swirls down the sink in a perfect formation. The twang of copper sweeps the air as I watch the blood drain away. The water stings my split knuckles, but I can’t be sure the blood that’s draining away is my own.
Luca drags the last guy out of the warehouse and into the unmarked van that awaits him outside.
He’ll be dropped outside my father’s front door before dawn.
Another message. Another warning. It’s not unknown to me that this is exactly what my father wanted.
He wanted me back in the fold, back into the business that he’d so carefully molded me to fit into.
But even my father doesn’t understand my wrath, the pain of losing something I was so close to having.
To belong to someone else entirely. And for that person to be the smartest, most caring, and most beautiful woman on the planet, who saw me not as a monster, but as a person who could bring her joy.
That is until my father bragged that really he was letting me believe I’d stepped away. And in a way, he was right.
“If you don’t know what’s happened yet, you’re dumber than I thought.
Even your fuck-up of a brother could have figured it out.
But let me help you out since you’re blinded by a wet cunt.
I own you. Until my dying breath, I’ll own your entire life.
You think I didn’t know about your pretty little girlfriend, the blogger? ”
“It’s not a blog, actually ,” I had spat back.
“Pretty little thing, isn’t she? The boys will have their fun with her once I’m through, Austin.
That is unless you come back. No more vacation, no more acting like a child.
You follow every fucking order I give you.
You complete every fucking job. Or that little bitch will be delivered to your fucking doorstep in a body bag chopped up and ready for display. ”
So, of course, every one of his men has been delivered to him chopped up in a body bag. We’ve been busy. Not one of them would give him up. I’m not entirely surprised. My reputation has waned in recent years. He isn’t wrong that I’d gone soft.
“Boss, that was the last one. He’s alone now.”
“He’ll have new men by tonight.” I sigh, drying my hands on a paper towel, blood still flowing from my knuckles.
“I wouldn’t be so sure. The rumor mill has been working over time, and they know you’re back,” Luca says, grinning.
He’s been all too happy to help me dispose of the men my father has used to hurt Danny, to hurt me.
It’s been the first time in years that his taste for violence has almost disturbed me.
He’s fucking blood drunk, powering through the work like it’s his life calling.
“I’m not fucking back. I’m finishing this, and then I’m out,” I spit back.
“Well, thank god,” a deep voice interrupts. “This intervention shouldn’t have to last too long then.”
I turn to the entrance, and a dark figure stands with the light outside shining brightly behind him.
He looks annoyingly ethereal. It’s not until he steps into the warehouse that I see him fully.
The bastard has a few inches on me; he’s broad, filling out his tailored suit to perfection.
A lesser man would be jealous, but I’m not a lesser man.
“Ah, Dr. Angel,” I goad. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“You missed your appointment.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Luca shifts, clenching his fists.
“I feel insulted you don’t remember me, but then again, you didn’t really pay me much attention at school, Luca,” Alfie sniffs.
Realization clicks for Luca as his eyes bug out in disbelief.
“Alfie fucking Adams. Fucking hell, you grew at least two feet.”
“Unlike you. ”
“I can fuck you up, college boy. Don’t you worry about me.”
I roll my eyes. Luca always has something to prove.
Alfie ignores him. Striding toward me, he slaps a hand on my shoulder, squeezing hard.
“How are you?”
“What the fuck?” Luca mutters.
“A bit busy actually. So if you don’t mind,” I snip, pushing past him and heading to the doorway he’s just walked through.
The dingy warehouse seems somehow dirtier with him in it.
Like this perfectly crisp white shirt is shining a light on the moldy corners, the cobwebs, on just how low I’ve fallen in the space of a week.
“It’s a relapse, Austin, nothing more. You can start again at any time, but you have to start.”
“What the fuck is he talking about, Austin?” Luca spits.
I ignore him, keeping my eyes on the floor. “How is she?” He knows who I’m talking about, even if I can’t say her name.
“I wouldn’t know. She left a few days ago.”
For all I’ve tried to avoid his eye, it’s that sentence that snaps my gaze back to him.
I can barely stand to look at him. Having to ask Olivia to pretend to be with Dr. Alfie almost killed me.
When I saw the banter on his TV show between the other presenters that Dr. Alfie had a girlfriend, I wanted to throw up.
The plan had worked, but at what cost? Seeing her with him made me hate myself all over again. If only I’d kept Danny safe, none of this would have happened.
“Where is she?”
“She left a note saying you’d know where to find her when you were ready.”
Where would she go? I have no idea. We never talked about wanting to live anywhere else. We were in our own little bubble.
I say nothing, and Luca is getting antsy and starting to pace .
“Are you going to stop fighting your father?” Dr. Alfie asks gently.
“She’s gone. It’s over.” I don’t answer his question, but in my mind, I do. She’s gone, and it’s his fault as much as it is mine. I’ll punish myself by becoming the man he wants me to be and using it against him.
He sighs, frowning—no doubt racking his big brain on how to convince me to move on.
“You didn’t start this to win her over, you always thought that was an impossibility.
And yet, you started anyway. You did it for you.
We can’t do all the work for other people, Austin, we have to do the work for ourselves. ”
“Could you stop?” I pace, back and forth, pointing my finger at him like he’s the one that got me in this mess. I know he’s not, I know my father betrayed me, I know I had a fucked-up childhood. I know, I know, I FUCKING KNOW . “I’m done denying who I am, I was born to be this.”
My arms are spread wide, like a ringleader at a circus. Except my circus is some fucked-up house of horrors that would make a great set for the next Saw movie.
“How wonderful. You’ve chosen the easy option.” His eyes roll.
My blood-spattered shoes eat up the distance between us, and I shove him hard in the chest.
“You think I chose this? I chose her. She was taken from me .”
“And by the looks of it, you allowed it to happen. Have you reached out to her? How does the great Austin Black not even know where she is?”
Fuck, this guy is getting on my nerves. Like he has any idea of what it’s like to be me.
I can see Luca getting itchy beside me. He’s jumping from foot to foot, ready and waiting to pounce. He’s like a fucking jackal. I wish he would knock it the fuck off.
The doctor begins to take off his jacket.
He folds it carefully over a chair after inspecting it briefly.
God forbid he gets it dirty. He undoes the buttons of his crisp white shirt sleeves and begins to roll them up.
It kills me, but this is just like a scene out of one of those goddamn romance novels Olivia’s been giving me.
Corded forearms is all I can fucking think about.
My first instinct is to tell her about it so we can laugh together.
“Come on then,” he says.
My head shakes in confusion. “Come on then, what?”
“Hit me.”
“I’ll fucking hit you if one of you doesn’t explain what the hell is going on,” Luca interjects.
“I’m not going to hit you, doc.”
“Hit me. That’s what you want, right? Killing all those men wasn’t enough, so let’s go a few rounds. We’re around the same weight and height, and I have the added advantage that I’m not tied to a chair, unlike your previous opponents. So let’s get on with it.”
“You’re fucking crazy. I’m not going to hit you.”
“Why not?” He pushes the rolled-up sleeves past his elbows for good measure.
I splutter, throwing my hands up in exasperation. Why is it that even when I’m the fucking boss, no-one ever fucking listens.
“You’re not going to hit me, because you’re not a villain.” He pauses for dramatic effect, picks up his jacket, and heads toward the door.
If I’m not a villain, then why did I force the love of my life out of town, heartbroken and alone?