Thrive

by Rebecca Sherwin

  No reaction.

  I was stuck and trapped by an unfeeling monster.

  Benny hadn’t been there to protect me, he just wanted to see the fight.

  Curtis had no idea where I was; I’d never get to say goodbye or tell him I was sorry.

  We edged nearer to an area of woodland that the carpark backed onto and my screams stopped as the fear took over, stealing my breath. I was never going to see Curtis again and he was going to be left with Charlie. She would ruin him and there was nothing I could do.

  My kidnapper stopped and threw me carelessly to the ground. I fell to my hands and knees, colliding with the mud, moss and discarded rubbish. I was going to die here, amongst used condoms and pizza boxes.

  I turned around and fell back against a rotting tree trunk. I wanted to look into my murderer’s eyes as he killed me. I’d die with the last shred of tenacity I had.

  I gasped, recognising his face as a dark body loomed over me.

  Twenty Four

  I spent the day in bed, waiting for her to return, but I was filled with the same sense of dread I had the night I made the biggest mistake of my life and sent Skye away. She was in trouble, I knew she was. But by the time the feeling set in, bringing the driving urge to climb out of bed, find her, and make sure she was safe, the medication set in and my body relaxed; I gave in. I gave in and fell asleep, wondering if I would ever see my princess again, and earn the right to be her prince.

  ~Curtis~

  “What in God’s name are you playing at?!”

  The voice was smoky and well-spoken, but I was frozen in shock. Icy blue eyes bore into mine and even in the darkness, I saw an angry grey cloud move over the otherwise placid orbs; I thought I’d explode under the heat of his glare. A crisp suit – charcoal grey with a black shirt and tie, and a face I didn’t expect to see. The voice continued, but I couldn’t hear as the blood rushed through my ears and my vision tunnelled on the man in front of me.

  “Skye, are you crazy?”

  “Jesse.”

  “What on earth are you doing?”

  “Charlie,” I answered, frantic. “Charlie.”

  “I know all about Charlie,” he said. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

  “Curtis.” My voice was alien and weak, defeated with the hint of betrayal. “Curtis.”

  Names and faces swirled in my mind. Alliances blurred, friends became enemies. No one could be trusted.

  Whose side was Jesse on?

  “Jesus, Skye.”

  He crouched down but I edged away, pushing my back into the tree trunk. His hand came out and I flinched, but gentle, cold fingers touched the claw marks on my face.

  “Please don’t kill me.”

  He froze and the grey evaporated from his eyes as easily as it had moved in. “What?”

  “You’re working for Charlie.”

  He laughed and fell to the floor in front of me. I continued to stare, my guard up and firmly in place.

  “Why would you say that?”

  He sounded hurt, but I refused to care. I refused to step into the mind fuck of someone I didn’t even know. Curtis trusted him with his life and it filled me with more disappointment than I allowed myself to think about.

  “You’re here.”

  “Reuben called me and said you were about to get yourself killed.”

  “Reuben?”

  “Six feet tall, about six feet wide. Stands at the door ready to fight back the police if they try and raid the place.”

  I sagged against the trunk, almost relieved. “He said Curtis was the boss…”

  “He is. AJ ran the place and Curtis took over when we died. I had to tell Reuben in case Curtis did something…Curtis-like.” His voice had a haunted edge that turned my head and forced my eyes to seek out his. “You’re forcing me to come out of hiding with your recklessness.”

  “Why are you hiding?” I flinched when his fingers brushed the open skin on my cheek.

  “Why are you fighting in the pit?”

  “Curtis.” I shrugged. “Charlie attacked him and she needed to pay.”

  “I’ve got my eye on Charlie. She won't go near him again.”

  “How?”

  “I’m dead, Skye. People have no idea when they’re being followed by a ghost.”

  “Funny.” I rolled my eyes and shivered. “Why are you dead?”

  “It’s the only way I can find answers.”

  “To…?”

  “Everything.” He stood up, slipped out of his suit jacket and slung it over his shoulder. “Come on.”

  He helped me to my feet and eased the jacket over my aching arms.

  “Is it bad?” I asked, pointing to my face as he took hold of my elbow and steered me along the threshold of the forest.

  “It’ll heal, but you’re going to have to explain it to Cut Throat.” He gave me a cautious once over. “I’m more worried about your mental state.”

  “I’m fine. Last time I checked, you were a surgeon, not a shrink.”

  He laughed. It was throaty and hoarse, and a sense of comfort washed over me. I felt at ease around Jesse, now I knew he wasn’t a traitor. He had a natural authority and swagger like Curtis; he wasn’t a man that you could cross and get away with it. But he had the charisma and protectiveness of my brother.

  “You’ve done your research.”

  “I wanted to find you. Curtis needs you.”

  “Not yet, he doesn’t.” We reached a sleek black two-seater and Jesse opened the passenger door for me to slide in. “He needs you to stop being so wild.”

  Jesse joined me in the car and pulled away from where it was hidden behind some trees, with two dozen more.

  “You said I’m his weakness. I have to be his strength. I have to save him.”

  “You’re his weakness because of things like what you did tonight. He needs to protect you and putting yourself in danger will distract him from what’s important.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Revenge.”

  I nodded. I wouldn’t have to fight Jesse about this. Curtis had told him enough to understand what we needed to do.

  “I’m watching Charlie,” he continued. “Forget her. You need to worry about your father and Lois.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Skye…” he looked at me and shot me a playful wink that lightened the mood between us. “I’m a fucking genius.”

  I smiled. “I like you.”

  “I like you, too.”

  He tapped my knee and pulled away from the traffic lights.

  “What’s your mission?” I asked as we got closer to home. Home.

  “The fire wasn’t an accident.” I noticed his firm grip on the steering wheel. “There’s something going on and I have to find out what…before I can return from the dead.”

  I read between the lines and sighed in disappointment.

  “I can't tell Curtis I saw you, can I?”

  He shook his head and pulled up outside Curtis’ building. He reached into his pocket and held out a piece of paper between his fingers. I was sick of seeing sheets of paper. Did nobody talk anymore?

  “What’s this?” I asked, taking it anyway.

  “I found your father. The rest is up to you.”

  I blinked, stunned. Jesse had found Phillip for us and I held his address in my hand.

  “Thank you.”

  I stepped into the bedroom and closed the door, instantly crossing the room with my eyes on a sleeping Curtis. I stripped out of my clothes and climbed under the covers, seeking out the warmth of his body, with my arm resting gently on the bandage wrapped around his waist. It reinforced my belief that what I did tonight was right. It reminded why we were here.

  “Skye?” he murmured, sensing me in sleep, and reached out to tuck me into his side where I belonged.

  “I’m here, baby,” I whispered, kissing his stubbly cheek. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”

  I was sure I heard him whisper that he lov
ed me too, but I was already being dragged into a tormented sleep with my father’s location held tightly in my hand over Curtis’ heart.

  Twenty Five

  There was no way to describe the relief that washed over me when Skye climbed in bed and attached herself to my body like she was a part of me. She was the missing piece of the puzzle. We clashed, we fought and we battled for control, but she was a part of me and I was part of her. We were one person in two bodies and the only way we could stay sane and overpower the insanity was to be hand-in-hand, stepping into the inferno together.

  ~Curtis~

  Curtis pulled up on a triple driveway that had only been repaved a few years ago. He slid the car into the space between a silver Peugeot and black Range Rover. The front of the house was bright, the windows big and inviting; the front door was heavy solid wood with accents hand-carved in the garage that was converted into a workshop. The trees that lined the side of the detached house blew gently in the breeze, alerting me to the quiet and stillness of the house.

  I sighed, afraid to go inside, but refusing to back out when I looked at Geoff and Curtis in the front. This was for them and I knew Thomas would be happy that the house he’d spent years perfecting, re-building from the bottom up, would be put to good use and offer Geoff peace and comfort in his final weeks.

  “Ready?” Curtis asked.

  Geoff huffed. He hadn’t expected Curtis to arrange something quickly, but Curtis was wasting no time in getting him settled.

  “Ready.”

  Curtis looked at me with a soft concern in his dark eyes; I offered him a small smile and we climbed out of the car, Curtis grabbing the bags while I went to Geoff and helped him out. Curtis was worried he’d break him if he helped him and I saw him peer beyond the boot as I took Geoff’s hand and he avoided my gaze. He held onto my elbow and we took careful steps towards the house as Curtis ran ahead and opened the door.

  “Thanks, Pam,” Geoff said, with a tap on the hand that held him steady.

  I rolled my eyes, “Anytime, old man.”

  “He’s gonna be okay, ain’t ‘e?”

  We looked ahead to see Curtis pause in the doorway, faced with proof of the life I shared with Thomas, and then he quickly rushed in and to the spare room I’d directed him to.

  “He will. Let’s just worry about you, okay? I’ve got Curtis covered.”

  He tapped my hand again and took in a sharp breath. We only made it a few metres from the car before he needed to take a break. I kept my eyes on the door, waiting to comfort Curtis when he emerged and saw Geoff in pain, but he didn’t come back out.

  “Hey.”

  Curtis wrapped his arms around my waist while I washed up after dinner and rested his chin on my shoulder. I’d gone into town to get some essentials – the house had been empty for a week and I was anything but prepared for company before that. I cooked us a simple dinner, we settled Geoff in the spare room with the French doors open to let in the countryside air, letting him listen to the soft trickle of the stream that ran beneath the decking outside.

  It had been a battle from the moment Curtis opened his eyes that morning; the second I pulled his t-shirt over his body after packing his wound the way Jesse had instructed, he’d charged around like a bull – demanding Geoff up and leave the gym and we get him into my house before noon. That hadn’t happened, much to Curtis’ disappointment – and his hair had paid the price. But Geoff was in and settled, with a hot toddy in his hands and Only Fools and Horses on the TV. Not even Curtis, with all his money and demanding aggression, could secure a nurse for round the clock care with the click of his fingers, so we were staying with Geoff until Curtis had figured it out.

  It was something else he’d stolen control of.

  He had already arranged the clearance, of Geoff’s house; a surveyor was scheduled to price it up next week, and Curtis was planning to buy it so it couldn’t be stolen and sold off piece by piece to the highest bidder. He was also buying the gym; not just Geoff’s area of it, but the entire building, as well as taking control of his contracts to sign the fighters with Phoenix Management so they wouldn’t be left without a manager and snapped up by his rivals.

  I knew why he was keeping himself destructively busy – he needed something on his mind other than the death that crept closer every hour, and everything else that threatened to floor us.

  He was doing more harm than good. He was stealing every ounce of control from Geoff when decisions over his possessions were all he had left. I’d seen the sadness in his eyes when Curtis informed him of another decision he’d made on his behalf, and I’d seen the disappointment on his pale face when he opened his mouth to talk, but Curtis interrupted him.

  “Hey,” I finally replied, turning in his arms and hugging him back.

  Today had been tough. I hadn’t had time to clear the house; photos of Thomas and me still lined every visible surface. His coat was still on the hook, his shoes still on the rack. Clothes I’d worn of his were scattered around the ground floor where I’d pulled them off in tears when the pain of living without him became too much.

  “This is some place you’ve got.”

  “Thomas re-built it. It isn’t even really mine. He already owned it when I moved in and he just left it to me when he…”

  Curtis silenced me with a kiss, his lips burning onto mine and taking a share of the torturous longing I had for Thomas, and replaced it with a searing desperation for Curtis.

  “I like it,” he said, pulling back and leaving me breathless and giddy. My eyes fluttered closed when his thumbs stroked my cheekbones. I opened them again when his grip tightened and his soft breathing became harsh and jagged. “What did you do?”

  My eyes were on his, but his were on my cheeks where the marks from Charlie’s nails had faded, but were now standing out like red rags to a rabid bull. Curtis had been so busy, so distracted with needing to arrange everything for Geoff, that he’d barely paid any attention to me. I’d managed to get away with not telling him about last night, by keeping my head down and using my hair to shield the left side of my face. But now he’d seen it and, although he asked, he already knew.

  “I’m fine, Curtis.”

  His hand squeezed harder and he snapped my head to the side to get a better look. I winced, trying to push him away, but he wasn’t budging.

  “Where?” When I said nothing, he took a step forward, pinning me to the counter with his hips. “Where did you fight her?”

  I met his seething gaze. “You know where I fought her.”

  He dropped his head and threw his arm out, dragging me with it and flinging me out of his hold onto the floor. Turning towards me slowly, with a burning fury of lava in his eyes, he took a step towards me. I slid away, the flight or fight response crashing into me as I contemplated which one I had a better chance of succeeding at.

  “You fought her at Joe’s.”

  “Yes,” I breathed, and swallowed in fear.

  He was stalking me, his feelings for me forgotten as he allowed the anger to take over. He’d been at breaking point for days and he was about to propel himself over the edge.

  “She hurt you, Curtis. She had to pay.”

  “That’s not your decision to make.”

  “Yes, it is. The blade that struck you? It was meant for me.”

  “What?” he snapped, stopping just in front of me, towering over me as I began to cower against the wall.

  “She wanted to hurt me, so yes, it was my decision to make. To protect us both. To show her that she has no power over us.”

  “But she can't fight.”

  “She brought two big guys with her. She took the beating and they just stepped in to pull me back.”

  He groaned and bent over to place his hands on his knees. He was so close I could feel the furious heat radiating from him in pulsing waves as he tried to stay in control.

  “I will protect us, Curtis. Just like you do. You need to accept that. I have to keep you safe, too.”

&nb
sp; “I won't let you.”

  “You have no choice.”

  He grabbed a fistful of his hair.

  “You can't fight. Why the fuck would you fight? After everything I said to you. In the pit of all fucking places.”

  “Ben-”

  He cut me off with a growl and in a flash, he’d yanked me to my feet and slammed me into the wall. My breath caught and his hand hit my throat with his teeth bared, a snarl rumbling in his throat like a tiger before it attacked.

  “You let him show you how to fight the pit? Have you learned nothing?”

  I grabbed his wrists as I fought to breathe, but he refused to loosen his grip.

  “Please,” I choked.

  “You can't do this, Skye. You can't defy me.” He shoved me to the side and I stumbled backwards to the other wall. “Get away from me.”

  He turned his back on me, gripping the counter, his body visibly shaking with rage and hunched over with the pain of my betrayal.

  “Do you want to hurt me?” I asked, approaching him slowly.

  His body stiffened and his voice was tight when he replied, “Yes.”

  “So hurt me,” I challenged. “Get it off your chest and in your head…I’m not here to obey you. This is my life, too, and I’ll do whatever it takes to fix this.”

  “You can't fix this.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re nothing.”

  His voice was cold and distant but his word struck me like a searing poker to the heart.

  “I’m everything. You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me.”

  I felt his fury collide with something else; something equally as powerful and dangerous. Lust. It swirled around us and collided as a chaos of want and hate.

  “You’re just a girl with no parents and no family. You’re a widow. You serve no purpose.” He turned to me with a pained growl and lunged at me, shoving me onto the bar behind me. His nails dug into my back, my skin burning through the cotton as he broke the skin. “You’re here to do as you’re told, so I can do my job and protect you.”

  “Your job?” I shrieked, striking his cheek with my hand. “Your fucking job? What happened to infinity?”