One thought ran over and over again, letting her seize on to it. Bradley had been the best thing that had ever happened to her. He'd opened her eyes to a part of her she struggled to understand, and it seemed she may never get to see it all the way through.
"You think he'll forgive you for this? For killing me? He loves me," Erin found herself yelling at Claudia. She may not have her feet or hands to strike out with, but she could still speak.
Claudia started laughing, a loud, robust laugh Erin hadn't expected.
"You think he loves you? Bradley doesn't do love, you idiot. You're just a shiny thing to him right now. You think you're his first newbie sub? Please! He loves to train them and dump them. That's his thing. I'll let him keep doing that, he likes it, but you won't be in his fucking bed anymore. That's where I sleep."
He's trained other submissives? New ones? She should have guessed. He'd never said he loved her before either, but she knew it, felt it deep within her when he held her, kissed her—hell, just the way he looked at her sometimes sent more security of love through her than she'd ever experienced with anyone. And she loved him. They hadn't said the words, but it was true. Wasn't it?
"That last punishment he gave you, it was harsher, right? Yeah, he's just about done with you, but I don't feel like waiting that long, and you really are a liability at the moment."
The metal pressed harder against Erin's temple, and she grappled for something to do, to say. "My assistant knows I was meeting you! They'll know I was with you."
"I know. I'm counting on it. That way, when they find us here, me all dirty and scared from Travis's threats and beatings, and you lying there dead from him shooting you, they'll know why we were together." Deciding not to just sit there and take a damn bullet, Erin lurched forward, falling flat onto the floor. Her face rubbed against the carpeting, but she tried to squirm her way to the door. Claudia laughed again.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" She kicked Erin's feet when they finally managed to get a grip on the ground to push herself forward. “You’re not going anywhere, and no one’s coming to save you.”
Claudia’s crazed giggle sent an icy shiver down Erin’s spine.
She couldn’t believe that.
Someone would come.
Bradley wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
She gripped onto hope with every ounce of energy she could muster—it was all she had.
Chapter 30
Kendrick twisted the door knob and opened the front door of Travis's north suburban home. Bradley pushed past him and ran into the foyer, looking around quickly.
A scream from upstairs alerted them to where Erin was, and they both ran up the stairs two at a time with Royce and Alex following right behind.
Another scream and a cry of pain put Bradley's body into a higher gear, and he moved past Kendrick to reach the closed door. He flung the door open to find Erin curled in the fetal position on the floor, hands tied behind her back, feet bound, and a black blindfold still halfway in place. Claudia stood over her, pointing a gun at her, blood dripping from her mouth.
"You fucking kicked me!" She wiped her mouth, inspecting the blood on her hand, as though to confirm she really had been kicked.
"Claudia!" Bradley's roar shook the room. She wasn't given any chance to acknowledge his presence. He barreled through the door and wrapped his arms around her while taking her down to the ground and knocking the gun from her hands. She landed with a grunt as he crushed her to the floor of the master bedroom.
"Bradley?" Erin's voice plucked him from his cloud of rage.
"No! You aren't supposed to be here!" Claudia grabbed for his arms, trying to keep him near her. Kendrick came to his rescue and yanked her hands away, hauling her up to her feet and shoving her to sit on the bed. "You aren't supposed to be here! Not like this!"
"You’re crazy!" Bradley shouted at her. "Batshit crazy." Ignoring her continual pleas and cries, he grabbed his pocketknife and cut away the ropes binding Erin. A jagged cut bled on her forearm, a knife on the floor was covered in blood. Her blood. She must have rolled over it in her struggle.
"Bradley. You're here?" Erin asked, rubbing her head against the floor to fully remove the blindfold. He tried to give her a smile, to comfort her, but the banshee behind him continued her rants.
"Get her out of here," he told them.
"The cops are on their way," Kendrick said from the doorway. "Erin, are you okay?" He crouched down next to her, but Bradley had already pulled her up into his arms.
He smoothed her hair away for her face. Seeing the bruise on her chin, he growled. "Who did this?" He knew Claudia wouldn't risk breaking a nail to punch someone, no matter how angry she was.
"The man. I don't know who he is." Erin closed her eyes, needing a minute to process everything.
"It's okay. Don't worry about that now." Bradley stood up, taking her with him. "We're going to the hospital. The cops can come there to talk with you if they need."
Kendrick offered to call an ambulance, giving Erin a small smile.
"No. I'm taking her." Bradley didn't wait to be argued with, he just walked from the room, holding her close to his chest, needing to feel the beat of her heart in line with his. Claudia had a gun. He'd seen it pointed at Erin. So fucking close he came to losing her.
* * *
Bradley watched Erin sleep in the hospital bed, glad the doctor finally gave her something to help her drift off. The bruise on her cheek was nothing to be concerned about, but the cut on her arm had been deep enough to stitch. The only thing left was to wait for the results of her CT scan so he could take her home.
"Erin!" Kelly and Jessica shoved their way past the two police officers standing outside the door to Erin's little room in the ER. They wanted to question Erin, but Bradley wouldn't let them wake her.
"She's sleeping." Bradley stood from the chair he'd been sitting in for over an hour. How long did it take to read a goddamn CT report anyway?
Kelly ignored him and ran to Erin's side. "I thought she was okay? Kendrick said she was fine." She picked up Erin's hand and glared over the bed at Bradley. Her attitude toward him sapped the last bit of patience he had.
"She needed to rest but wouldn't settle down. The doctor gave her something for the pain in her arm, and she finally fell asleep."
"Erin can't take pain pills because they make her too sleepy, didn't she tell you that?" Kelly shot at him. For a woman he kept being told was scared of him, she sure showed her claws well enough.
"She did." He nodded.
"Kelly." Kendrick's warning came as the fiery redhead opened her mouth again. "Stop being such a mother hen."
Kelly ignored both of the men and went about checking out her friend. Jessica moved to sit on Erin's bed, resting her hand on her leg. "Royce is with Alex at the police station. They'll be here soon. Alex needed to sign a statement or something."
"Claudia ratted Travis out right away," Kendrick told Bradley, moving around the bed to stand by his side. "Those two are complete whack jobs. One wanted your money, the other wanted you, and Erin here got caught in the crossfire."
"Did you call her parents?" Jessica asked.
"No, not yet. I thought she might want to, you know, so they don't come barging down here." Bradley ran his hand over his smooth head, feeling the weight of the day finally sinking into his body.
"They won't come running anyway." Kelly shook her head. "Erin's…well, she's never been their favorite."
"I know." Bradley nodded. Another reason he didn't want to have her parents coming to see her just yet. They would probably set her healing back several days. "I could use some coffee."
"I'll go get it. Kelly come with me." Jessica hopped off the bed.
"We just…fine. Fine." She let go of Erin's hand and followed Jessica to the door. Bradley mentally thanked Jessica.
Once they were gone, Kendrick slapped his back and plopped down in the recliner. "I know that look. She's fine. She's going to be just fin
e. Don't beat yourself up over this."
"Did you tell yourself the same thing when Kelly got hurt?"
"That was different. She charged into a shitstorm."
"I should have protected her better." Bradley looked down at Erin's sleeping features. If something worse had happened, if he had lost her, how the fuck would he be able to go on with his life? How do you lose someone you love and just move on?
"You did protect her. What were you going to do, lock her in your room and keep her hidden? Claudia got to her through her work, not from swiping her off the street."
"It doesn't matter. I should have done more."
"Mr. Sorenson?" The doctor walked into the room. Noticing Erin still sleeping, he lowered his voice. "I have her results."
Erin's hand started to move, then her head turned to the side. They were waking her. Bradley pointed to the door and followed the doctor out into the hall.
"She's okay?"
"Yes. Nothing to be concerned about. Other than being shaken up by the whole event, she'll be fine in a few days. She will need to have the stitches removed from her arm in a week. In the meantime, keep it clean. I'll have a nurse come with her discharge papers and written instructions for her care."
"Thank you." Bradley turned to look back into the room. Erin was sitting up, rubbing her eyes with Kendrick leaning over her while she said something to him. Kendrick waved his hands in the air, as though exasperated.
"I'll also have the name of a good trauma counselor in the paperwork. Talking to someone will help." The doctor shook Bradley's hand and gave the police officers a nod. "When she's up to talking with you, I have no objections."
"Thanks, Doc." Two pairs of eyes glared at Bradley, letting him know he couldn't keep them out of her room much longer.
Kendrick came out of the room and slid the glass door closed. Bradley looked over his shoulder into the room, and for a brief moment, caught Erin's eyes. Tears brimmed her lids, and before he could move Kendrick out of the way, she'd turned her head to look away.
"What's going on?" Bradley demanded when Kendrick wouldn't budge from the door. "Why is she crying?"
Kendrick let out a long breath. "She doesn't want you to go back in there."
"What? Why?" Bradley’s chest tightened. Of course she was upset with him, it was his fault she found herself where she was. She'd had her arm cut open because he didn't get there in time, because he hadn't figured it all out before something horrible happened.
"Just give her some time, Bradley. She's not thinking straight right now." Kendrick nodded to the officers. "She'll talk to you now."
Bradley didn't miss the smug smirk on their faces as they walked past him into the room. "I want to be in there with her when they talk with her. I need to know what else happened."
"Bradley, just give her today, okay? I can't talk any sense into her right now. I'll get her home, and then you two can talk."
Watching her talk with the police officers, Bradley could see she was struggling. Her hands were fidgeting in her lap, and she began to chew on the inside of her lower lip. She needed him, dammit.
Pushing her, though, could make it all worse. "I'll wait out here."
"Let me take her home." Kendrick shook his head. "I don't know what's going on in her head, but she said she just wants to go home. Alone."
"Fine, I'll see her at home." Kelly and Jessica came walking toward them. Not wanting to have another run in with Kelly and upset Erin even more, he pulled his ego out of his ass and walked away.
He heard the girls ask where he was going, but he ignored them. Ignored everyone and headed out of the ER and out of the hospital.
When Kendrick brought his girl home, she would have a lot of explaining to do. And he had a lot of apologizing to do.
Chapter 31
Erin opened another box, discarding the used tape onto the floor of her new apartment. Not entirely her own. It really belonged to Jessica, but she managed to get her to sublet the place to her while she waited for her lease to be up in six months.
It hadn't taken very long to get Royce to agree to it either. She told him to either let Erin sublet the apartment or Erin would be moving in with them. Although he didn't mind having her for a few days after being released from the hospital, he could see having her live with them wouldn't solve anything.
Bradley tried valiantly to get to her. He sent text after text, called a dozen times, and even showed up at Royce's, but Erin didn't want to see him. She couldn't. It hurt too much to see him. If she looked at him, she'd lose her resolve. And she needed to keep the course she’d set for herself.
She hadn't kept him in the dark, not entirely. Failing to call him out of fear of hearing his voice, she sent him a text message. Not her finest move, but it was for the best. That's what she continued to tell herself. She'd told him how sorry she was, but they just weren't going to work out. Of course, that caused a flurry of messages to come flying her way and several calls she needed to ditch. He was angry. Hurt. But he would move on. That had been the plan anyway. It was easier this way. For both of them. He wouldn't have to kick her out, and she wouldn't have to wait for him to tire of her and break her heart.
The front door swung open, and Kelly walked in with a few bags of groceries, Kendrick behind her carrying the last box from his car.
"Kitchen please," she said to Kendrick.
"You know, this is just stupid." Kelly put the bag of chips and cereal on the dining room table. Kelly hadn't let up on the conversation of their breakup since she arrived that morning.
"I thought you didn't like him," Erin said to her while removing the towels from the box.
"He's not for me, but of course he needs to know I'm watching him, so he doesn't get too high and mighty. But you were happy with him, Erin."
"I don't want to talk about it anymore." Erin turned her back on Kelly and went down the hall to put the towels away. Her house had sold after one week on the market. She counted herself lucky that Jonathan hadn't wanted to wait for a higher bid. He seemed fine with getting it over with. Even when it came time to split the things in the house, he didn't argue with her over anything. Several times, he tried to broach the subject of their failed relationship, but she kept him at bay. It looked like things weren't as great in the greener pasture as he thought they'd be, and he wanted to keep her around as an option to fall back on. She wasn't allowing that.
"Talk about what?" Kendrick walked through the swinging door of the kitchen.
"How stupid she's being by not even talking to Bradley. I mean, I get having your own place. You moved in pretty quick with him as it was, but not talking to him at all?"
"I said I don't want to talk about it," Erin said again as she passed them with another handful of towels to put away.
"What happened anyway? I don't really get it." Kendrick leaned against the wall with his arms folded.
"It's quite simple. We weren't suited." Erin moved the empty box from the table and went about unpacking the groceries.
"Not suited?" Kendrick's brow wrinkled in confusion.
"What she means is she's gotten it in her damn head that Bradley didn't want her for the long-term. He was just playing with her, ’cause—how did she put it?—oh, yes, he was getting his jollies off on training a newbie and would dump her as soon as the novelty wore off."
Erin pinched her before picking up the second bag of groceries. "It's a bit more complicated than that."
"Oh yes, because he gave her a book. That's what it was." Kelly rolled her eyes and jumped out of the way when Erin went to pinch her again.
"A book?" Kendrick looked more lost than before.
"I'll explain it later." Kelly waved her hand through the air. "Where's Jessica? I thought she was coming by."
"She called. Her brother surprised her this morning with a visit, so she's stuck for the day. Royce, too, though he sounded a little happier than she did about the whole thing."
"Alex said he'd stop by tonight to help put the entertainm
ent center together." Kendrick pushed off the wall. "Erin, call him," he finally told her.
"No. I'm fine. It's for the best. I'm sure he's already moved on." A sharp pain gripped her at the mental image of Bradley standing before a woman on her knees.
"Stubborn bitch." Kelly shook her head.
Erin laughed, wishing she could make the sound a bit more natural and a hell of a lot less forced. Kelly just rolled her eyes.
"Really. I'm fine. You guys should go. You have a tasting to get to, don't you?"
"We can reschedule." Kelly shrugged.
"No. Go." Erin gave Kelly a shove toward the front room. "I'm fine."
Kendrick followed them to the front door and gave Erin one more reproachful look. "I'll tell you once more you have everything wrong about him. Whatever you've cooked up in your mind is all ass backwards. Call him."
"Thanks." Erin opened the door. She couldn't stand another minute of hearing a push for her to call or see Bradley. The decision had been made. Why was she the only one who understood that?
Kelly rolled her eyes again and tossed her purse over her shoulder. "Stubborn bitch," she muttered again before giving Erin a quick squeeze and heading out of the apartment. Kendrick nodded in agreement but dropped the subject and followed his fiancée out.
Once the door was locked, Erin took a look around her new home. Except the entertainment center, everything was unpacked. She was finally alone.
Completely alone.
The thought ripped through her, dragging tears to her eyes. She missed him.
When Jonathan had left, she’d felt abandoned, hurt. This was worse. Much worse. Her heart ached with every breath she took. Every smile she managed to form came from a bitter feeling in the pit of her stomach. Nothing tasted right or smelled right or looked the same.
Liberated Heart: Windy City Book Three Page 23
