I step inside before her, flick on the light, and before my eyes can adjust, I am brought down to my knees. My ears ring. Another blunt force strikes the back of my head. The pain is fucking real but nothing new to me. I force myself to gain some sort of bearing but find it difficult when a punch lands right in the middle of my back.
“Get the fuck off me.” I finally find my voice, but it’s too late, because I’m struck again and lose my breath. That one fucking hurt real good. I find my voice and roar at Caitlin.
“Caitlin, run! Goddamn it. Go!” There’s only one reason why someone would break in here: they came for her and her mother.
I try and lift this heavy fucker off me by jerking one arm free from his hold, but my foggy brain isn’t letting me. It’s crossed between saving her and fighting this big son of a bitch off with all I have, but it’s not enough; the cunt has the upper hand. I feel the cold steel hit my wrist, hear the click of a cuff, and the rage begins to boil inside me with the awareness that she’ll be killed if he binds me down. I need to clear my head and focus.
“You are going to die, motherfucker!” I yell so loudly that I barely hear the whimpering coming from all angles. Her mom is sitting at the table with her hands and legs tied in chains. Her watery eyes enlarged.
I can’t move my legs. My free arm is clawing to reach this twisted fuck. I make contact and hear a grunt, and yet with my limited mobility, he still has my body at an odd angle as he tries to pin me to the floor. I’m able to sink a finger knuckle deep in his eye socket. The fucker stumbles off me, crying like a bitch and holding his face. It gives me just enough time to sit up on my knees. I’m going to kill him.
Lifting my leg, I nail the bastard square in his balls. He drops to the floor, and I watch as Caitlin steps up behind and nails him in the head with the baseball bat I keep behind the door. Blood splatters in all directions. A pussified scream leaves his throat before he crashes to the floor.
“Good girl,” I whisper. “Now, move, call Curtis now.”
My voice is harsh and desperate. Being a prisoner in my own house is something I’m not fucking okay with at all. She has her burner phone flipped open and dialing Curtis, while I try and push up from the floor at the same time trying to free myself from the restraints around my ankles. No wonder I couldn’t move. Fucker is quick, but he’s an amateur. I sure in the fuck hope Caitlin didn’t finish him off. It would be a shame, because I have some plans ready for the cunt.
A clattering noise gets my attention, and I look up to see Louisa with panicked eyes throwing her head to the right. A gunshot rings throughout the house. Confusion clouds my mind when I see no blood on her. Someone else is in the house. Brick. Goddamn it, no.
“You are a hard lady to find, princess.” It’s Vince.
He raises the gun, pulls the trigger, and with no hesitation at all, shoots me. My stomach is on fire.
Caitlin’s screams. I glance up to her to see the phone still clutched in her hands.
“Run,” I fight to whisper through the blood gurgling in the back of my throat. I fall forward onto my stomach. The warm blood is coating my fingers; my eyes blur as the pain rips through my entire body and awareness that I've been shot hits my brain. I have just enough energy left to snake my hand between the wound and the floor to stop some of the bleeding, but there’s too much and little time. He shot me in the stomach.
I can barely keep my eyes open, but I refuse to fucking let my story end this way. “Baby, you have to get the hell out of here,” I try to say. Hell, I’m losing the blood that flows to my brain to even notice if I’m talking to myself or being heard. Focus, Sterling, find her and make her understand she has to save herself.
Shiny metal flashes before my eyes. Vince is swinging his gun toward Caitlin.
“Caitlin Winslow. Prettiest bitch I’ve ever seen.” I lie there in a pool of my own blood and watch him walk up to her. She’s numb. “You know, your daddy’s biggest regret was never tasting that pretty pussy.” Jesus Christ. She can’t learn her mother’s secret this way. She’ll go dark, and then he’ll win. Clarence will defeat her from his grave.
“You sick fuck,” Caitlin screams. “Katch. Oh, my God. Help is on the way, honey. Please hang on. Get the fuck out, Vince, now. Brick!” she screams. It’s either me, or she’s right on the edge of losing it. My mind is scattered as I fight to stay alert, to keep my eyes on the woman who made me want to be a better man. It’s a losing battle on my part. I’m losing too much blood. It’s in the back of my throat, hot liquid burning and refusing to let me tell her the one thing she deserves to hear. “I love you.”
“See, pretty girl”—he’s now inches from her face, and I’m fighting to remain conscious—“your daddy was a horrible man. He told me he’d never molest his own child, but the day he found out you weren’t his, he had to fucking fight hard not to fill your pussy. God, he wanted you. We all did. I still do.” No. Jesus, don’t touch her.
“I don’t know what kind of game you're playing here, but I’m not interested,” Caitlin spits in his face. I notice the phone is still open, and I only fucking pray Curtis is listening and his ass is on his way here.
“No game. Ask your little mother over there. She’ll tell you.” He notches his head in Louisa’s direction. I can’t tell if she looks at her mother or not. All I know for sure is, my woman is on her own here. There isn’t a damn thing I can do to help her.
“You’re a liar. You killed him, and I should thank you for wiping that scum off this earth.” I’m proud of her for standing tall, but damn it, he’s crazy with his threats. He’s going to torture her.
I blink back the urge to close my eyes as I lie here and watch him react fast by grabbing her throat and lifting her off the floor. I see red with a surge of adrenaline beginning to course through me even though my body is fighting to die. I fight with the hand not pressed to my wound and reach to the back of my jeans until my hand grips ahold of my gun, but it takes me several long moments to clutch it and move it forward.
When I look back to Vince, he’s dragging Caitlin by the throat toward me.
“Loverboy here is trying to save the day. Not going to happen.” Vince kicks the pistol out of my hand in one swift motion. “He’s going to watch me fuck every single hole of yours, then you’re all getting bullets in your heads.”
Caitlin’s flailing legs start to lose steam as he continues to spew his venom. “Keep your eyes on me,” I mutter. Shit, all the blood is draining from her face. The phone falls from her hand. She’s fighting for air, clawing at his hands, but he doesn’t budge. I won’t have the desire to try and survive if anything happens to her.
“I had Clarence convinced to let his old lady live. We were thriving. On top of the fucking world, raking in the greens until you fucks came in and killed him.”
He releases Caitlin’s neck, grabs a chunk of her hair, ripping her face to the side. “Didn’t know you had it in you to kill him. You’ve been his fucking pawn in this cat-and-mouse game. Always listening to everything he said. Stayed away from his troubles when all along you were waiting to take him out. Well played, bitch.”
“I didn’t kill him,” she gasps out.
“Bullshit. Nobody else hated him like you did.” He leans in, dragging his tongue up her jawline. “I’m not that fucking dumb, sweetie. You ruined every fucking thing. We were the kingpins selling drugs to everyone from doctors, CEOs, to fucking hookers on the corner. When Clarence died, our main seller didn’t trust anyone. He knew shit would run uphill and not down as it should have. You fucks ruined it all. Did you have your badass biker here kill your daddy, Caitlin? Wait, he really isn’t your father, is he? Maybe you knew it. Maybe that’s why you waited so long to kill him. He taught you how to be greedy, how to lie. Am I right, princess?”
Vince’s boot lands on my right cheek, followed by his evil laugh.
“The only way to get redemption is to punish your lot of people for ruining what I had. You took Clarence’s life, so now this is my
fucking reward.”
“I didn’t kill him,” Caitlin pleads one more time. She is so distraught that what he’s saying about Clarence not being her father isn’t registering.
“This isn’t a courtroom, sweetheart. You don’t have to lie to me to try and save your ass. You're already guilty. It’s time to be sentenced.” He backhands her so hard she loses her balance; her head hits the side of the counter. I’m dying here, and it’s not from the bullet; it’s from watching her try and claw her way up to stand.
“The biker on the couch is down. Your fuck toy is down. Your momma is all tied up and getting wet for me now, but, pretty Caitlin, I’m starting with you first.”
Vince trails his hand down her chest and rips her shirt wide open. I’m a dead man.
He looks down at me, his eyes glazed over with the desire to kill. “Don’t die on me, fucker. The fun is just beginning.”
21
Caitlin
My eyes are pleading with Katch to fight. There’s so much fucking blood surrounding him. His color is draining from his face at a rapid pace. My mouth aches, eyes blur, and I can’t seem to form a single sentence to tell Vince he is off his rocker. Is he covering up his tracks? Did he shoot my father and now pissed their drug business has withered away? His haunting words about him not being my father have a choke hold around my throat tighter than his hands need. They make sense so much so that one look at my mother would give me the answer I need. I feel betrayed and relieved at that same time. They confuse me, and I don’t know what to think. The only thing I’m certain of is the man I love is dying on our floor, and I can’t get to him. I need to be there to coax and encourage him to hang on and make him swear he’ll never leave me.
My thoughts cease when I feel Vince’s hand begin to dip below the top of my pants. The shocking truth is surreal; he’s going to rape me before he kills me. I can’t let that happen. My life has been stripped from me for as long as I can remember. I will not allow this man to take away my soul. I refuse to go out this way. This bastard is going to have to kill me, because there is not a chance in hell he’s going to take what he wants from me.
My throat is raw, and my limbs tremble in fear. Think, Caitlin.
“Fuck you,” I spit, my shaky hand reaching down to grab his erection. I dig my nails into his sick, hard flesh, twist the appendage with everything I have, and kick my feet.
Vince winces, doubles over in pain, his hands flat on the ground. His breathing ragged as he fights for air. I scurry up to grab a knife off the counter and then plan to lunge at him. I can practically feel and hear the metal blade driving hard and deep into his heart.
“Fucking cunt.” He grabs me by the waist, pulling me down to the ground. My back slams to the tile floor, then Vince falls hard on me, knocking all the air out of me. The knife slides out of reach.
“Stupid bitch, you like it rough?” he screams, eyes wild, bloodthirsty, and deranged.
“Let me show you how to use a knife.” He reaches over, picking it up from the ground, places it at the corner of my eye, and drags the blade down my cheek.
I feel the streams of blood flowing down my face. Vomit lurches from my stomach when Vince leans down and licks the blood from cheek. I turn my head, pressing my cheek against the cold tile floor. My gaze connects with Katch’s barely-there eyes. Life is barely present in my man, but I refuse to break the contact. I need him to hold on. For me. For him. For our future.
I can’t get out from under Vince right now, but I vow to remain alert. When I can make my next move, it’s going to be with everything I have left in me.
“Feel how fucking hard I am for you?” He rolls his hips into me.
“If you don’t look at me while I fuck you, I’ll shoot him in the head right now,” he growls as he kicks at my feet and spreads my legs wider.
“You are a sick, evil fuck.” I turn my head to look at him. “You say I was the pawn. Have you ever thought the pawn my father played was you? Look at you now. Scrambling to cover your tracks. To tie off all the loose ends. It’s over for you. I’m a lawyer, you son of a bitch. I learned from the best, and if you think killing us will be the end of it for you, then checkmate, motherfucker, because I’m the queen and everyone knows she’s the strongest piece. You are going to go down in flames,” I snarl.
“She may be the strongest, but the king is more important.” He grips my cheeks; a smile spreads across his ugly, marred face.
“He’s the weakest, the piece that always gets captured.”
“Maybe so. Doesn’t appear to be the case this time, does it? When I bring back your head to our main drug provider, then I’m back in the game. It’s the price I have to pay to get back into good graces. Clarence would be fucking proud.”
He rolls his hips one more time then unbuttons his jeans, pulling his cock out.
This time, I do vomit when I feel the heat of his flesh flip onto the exposed skin of my abdomen. He winces, but it doesn’t deter him from his end goal. The remaining bile in my mouth is bitter, and I do my best to spit it up in his eyes. He punishes me with a strong backhand to my face. I’m wearing the fucker down. He might get the clue that I’m not going to give up. Ever.
“He’d be jealous, too. He always wanted to fuck the bastard child who ruined his life. Said your sweet cunt would be tight, since you're such a stuck-up snob. That’s why I was shocked as hell to find out you had hooked up with the scum of the earth. A fucking biker who doesn’t exist. A ghost.”
I don’t know what kind of game he is playing by continuing to say Clarence wasn’t my father. I don’t care. He’s trying to goad me. He has no idea how wrong he is about the man I love, though. Katch isn’t scum. He’s the calm before the storm. The silver lining that has stolen my heart.
I turn my head away from this waste of a human who’s getting off by stroking his dick. My glistening eyes find Katch. I continue to stare at the only man I’ve ever loved. It’s his face I’ll hold on to. With the stare, I encourage him to fight and hold on. The trance I’ve put myself in has made my body numb, but it’s the blank one from Katch staring back at me that has my tears running free. My life is flashing before my eyes. A wilted flower that bloomed a few short days before it dies.
“Get the fuck off her,” a voice booms in my mind. Everything happens in a blinded fury. Vince shifts. I hear bones cracking. I see a black boot flying, striking Vince in the temple.
And then he’s gone. Off me. Thank God, Curtis.
I fight against my weakened state to sit up. I need to get to Katch. Fear keeps me still when I look up and notice the man isn’t Curtis. My body seizes in a panic, knowing more intruders are here with us. Could this be his higher-up and he’s here to finish the job himself? I’ve witnessed how drug dealers work through evidence in the courtroom. They don’t send their minions to do a job. They do it themselves, or they hire a man like Katch to do it for them. This man is a hired killer.
“Reason you got your dick out?” The man kneels down next to Vince and then spits in his face.
He seems more enthralled at the moment with Vince than me. I scramble over to Katch. Fucking blood is everywhere. I reach into his back pocket to find his phone. I need to dial 911 for help. He’s going to die if I don’t, which is my only concern.
I huddle over him, keeping a palm on his back, feeling his barely-there intakes of breath as I start to punch in the numbers.
“Who you calling?” The man’s voice is at my ear.
I crane my neck. His piercing green eyes and dark hair are a ghost of someone I should know. He...He looks familiar.
“Who the fuck are you calling?” he asks again.
“He needs help. He’s dying,” I stutter out.
“Hang up and call Curtis.”
“Are...are you with Curtis?”
He shakes his head no. “Do what I tell you.”
“Who are you?” I ask.
“I’m your dad,” he replies.
I’m not even able to process his words be
fore Curtis busts through the door.
“Jesus. Fuck!” he roars and kicks the other man in the head. He groans, and I jump when Curtis shoots him in his head.
The man who pulled Vince off me steps back. “Don’t shoot. I’m here to help.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Curtis bellows. “Snake, find Brick, and Doc, get your ass in here. Katch is bleeding out.”
I’m soon pushed off Katch while the doctor begins working on him. I let my fingers run circles in the pool of Katch’s blood. He’s in bad shape. Seeing his lifeless, bleeding body in front of me is worse than the thought of being raped by Vince.
“Caitlin, are you alright?” My mind is blank. “Caitlin?”
I jerk my head up. Curtis has a gun pointing at the man’s head. All I can do is nod.
“I’m Trent Welsh. Caitlin’s dad,” he finally speaks up.
Curtis keeps the gun on him while he backs up to my mother, pulling the duct tape from her lips.
“He’s telling the truth,” she admits.
In a sick and twisted way, the blood on my fingertips is the only calming effect right now keeping me from processing everything going on around me. My head is full; my brain cells are fried. Noises, so many of them I can’t think straight. Life, death. The ever after. It’s consuming me while threatening to swallow me whole.
“I want this fucker dead,” Trent speaks up. “I’ve been tracking him for years to find Louisa. Clarence wouldn’t talk. I needed this fucker to find her.”
Vince stirs on the ground once again, and Trent sends his boot to the side of his head. This has to be a nightmare, but it’s not.
Curtis nods, strides over to kneel down in front of me. His hand reaches up to palm my cheek.
“How is he?” He directs the question at Doc.
“Not good. I need to get him to the hospital.”
“Get it done. No questions asked,” Brick orders.
When Opposites Collide Boxset Page 16
