Hand shielding my eyes from the blinding sun, I looked toward the front gate, searching for the woman it belonged to.
My eyes found her immediately.
Upon seeing her, surprise and a lot of fear flooded my veins, triggering my panic once again. ”D-Darcy?” I stuttered, hopping off the table. “How”—I paused—“how did you find m-me?”
If she found me…
Hands wrapped around the wrought iron bars that kept the shelter safe from the crime-ridden streets of Toluca, she glanced over her shoulder, then back to me.
“Ashley, help me!” she screamed, tears streaming down her bruise-covered face. “Please, he’s coming! If he catches me—”
Her words faded, becoming muted.
I didn’t need to ask her who he was.
I already knew.
Dominic.
He was coming.
Oh God...
“Please, Ashley…” Her entire body jerked as she sobbed, continually looking over her shoulder. “I don’t wanna die.”
Before I could think about what I was doing, my feet began to move. As risky as helping her was, I couldn’t let him kill her too.
Granted, she had been nothing short of awful to me ever since we’d met, but I didn’t blame her for that.
I blamed el diablo.
From the beginning, he’d pitted every girl in his stables against one another, relishing in the additional pain it caused each of us to be at one another’s throats.
It only made matters worse when he claimed me as his own, putting me on a pedestal no other girl could reach, making me the envy of all the others, except for Carmen and Jade.
The entire thing was sick and twisted.
Just like the man who’d orchestrated it all.
At the gate, I paused, a semblance of sanity swirling in my head. “I need to get one of the ladies,” I said, taking a small step back. “Evan too. He can protect you if Dominic—”
“No!” she screamed, cutting me off. “You can’t go back inside. It’ll take too long, and I need your help now. Ashley, please. If he catches me before I get inside, he’ll kill me.” Her knees bent, close to giving way. “Just like he killed Carmen and Jade.”
Her words were my undoing.
Determined not to let her be hurt, I let my unstable emotions drive me, and without hesitating, I lunged to my right and slammed my hand down on the hidden silver button that powered the gate.
It was a mistake.
Heart nearly exploding, I squeezed through the small opening the retreating gate created the moment there was enough room for my body to fit, and extended my shaking hand, offering it to her.
She didn’t take it.
Right then, I should’ve known something was off. But I didn’t. “Darcy, let’s go,” I said, my words rushed. “We have to hurry before he gets here and kills us both.”
Lower lip trembling, she suddenly stepped back, an emotion akin to regret swirling in her dilated eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, moving back further. “So sorry.”
Before I could process what she was saying, a large body, one that I knew all too well, appeared from behind the brick pillar that held one end of the gate in place.
“Missed you, Tesoro,” Dominic said, his dark eyes lit with fury. “Time to go home, baby.”
A scream tore from my throat as he suddenly sprang forward, a twisted smile locked on his devilish face.
Fight or flight kicking in, I fell back, my butt hitting the ground and struck out, doing my best to keep him from getting his murderous hands on me.
He grunted as the bottom of my foot connected with his right knee, but the move didn’t help.
It only served to piss him off further.
“You stupid little bitch!” he hollered, leaning down and fisting a handful of my shirt. Jerking my upper body off the ground, he glared at me, the evil that lurked inside him shining bright. “You’re going to pay for that, along with all the other goddamn problems you’ve caused me!”
Hand raised, he slammed his knuckles into my cheek, backhanding me.
The hit was hard.
The pain brutal.
Dropping me back to the ground, he clutched my shirt and began to drag me across the traffic-less street, following Darcy to an idling SUV parked next to the curb.
“Let me go!” I yelled, struggling against his hold, the bravery I feigned driven by fear and stoked by instinct. “I am not leaving with you!”
He moved faster.
My adrenaline surged.
“Help me!” I screamed, fighting against him with everything I had as the concrete bit into my bared flesh, ripping my skin. “Someone help me!”
“You stupid fuckin’ cunt,” Dominic growled, moving faster. “You’ll be goddamn lucky if I let you live past sunset.” Clenching my shirt tighter, he glared down at me. “Keep it up, and I’ll gut your troublemakin’ ass and toss you in the same swamp as your two favorite whores.”
Anger blinded me.
Until that moment, I hadn’t known what happened to Carmen and Jade’s bodies. The only thing I did know was that one of Dominic’s fixers, a dirty cop with a thirst for things only a drug dealing pimp could provide, had disposed of them. But knowing that he’d ordered them thrown into the swamp...
I couldn’t handle that.
Fueled by rage, the thought of getting loose and running straight to the police ricocheted through my head, but I squashed the idea right away.
Though I wanted nothing more than to see Dominic behind bars for the rest of his natural-born life, getting help from the law would be impossible.
Especially not with Ellington as the DA.
Between him and the half dozen dirty cops el diablo had in his pocket, the charges would never stick. That’s if they even arrested him to begin with.
Which I doubted they would.
Not to mention, with my luck, if I reported the crimes I’d seen, I would likely end up tortured and killed for turning snitch. Or I’d be locked up on false charges and silenced with the threat of spending my life in prison. A place the powers that be would guarantee was hell for me.
Corrupted beyond redemption, there was no length the scumbags of Toluca County wouldn’t go to in order to steal my voice, along with anyone else who found the courage to speak up against them.
Keeping quiet was my only option.
For now.
Clinging onto every bit of fight that I possessed, I dug my heels into the ground, hoping it would slow Dominic down, at least until someone realized what was going on and came to my rescue.
If he got me into his car, it was over.
But hard as I fought, we didn’t slow.
Not the least bit.
It didn’t matter though.
Help was on the way.
And that help? She. Looked. Pissed.
Terror stabbed me right in the heart when I caught sight of Shelby running full-bore toward me, her arms pumping wildly as she came closer, the crazed expression on her face nothing short of manic.
With only a few feet separating her from us, she lifted her arms in front of her before slamming her body into Dominic’s back, ripping his hand from my shirt.
Taken by surprise, the hit knocked him to the ground, all the air leaving his lungs in an audible swoosh as Shelby flipped forward, tumbling a good five feet.
I jerked up, the sound of my pounding pulse filling my ears, blocking out the surrounding world. Gaze locked on the scene before me, I watched in horror as Dominic jumped to his feet, hands fisted at his sides.
Shelby scrambled backward, Dominic stalking her every move, then stood. Panting for breath, she glanced at me, her eyes pleading with me to listen to whatever words she was about to say. “Ashley, run!”
I didn’t run.
Instead, I remained paralyzed with fear, glued to the spot as el diablo turned his head, shooting me a glare over his shoulder. “Bitch, you better not—”
His words turned into a pain-filled grunt w
hen Shelby took advantage of his momentary distraction and slammed the pointy toe of her cowgirl boot into his crotch, nailing him where it counted.
Like a rock, he dropped.
A mixture of shock and awe washed through me when his formidable frame hit the sidewalk with a crack, his mocha-colored complexion losing all color.
Not missing a beat, Shelby lunged for him and in one quick move, ripped the ever-present pistol he kept tucked into the front of his waistband free.
Just like Carmen had the night she died.
My terror-filled eyes flared as she and Jade’s faces flashed before me.
This can’t be happening.
Not again.
“Shelby, don’t!” I screamed, watching as Dominic fell forward, his chest nearly hitting the ground. “He’ll kill you!”
Even as I shouted the words, I didn’t believe them.
Not because Dominic wouldn’t do as I said—he certainly would—but because Shelby dying wasn’t an option I was willing to entertain. I’d already lost the most important people in my life at the hands of the monster laying ten feet away, his hand cupping his—hopefully busted—junk.
I wouldn’t let him hurt her.
History would not repeat itself.
Of that, I was damn sure.
Climbing to my feet, I took a shaky step forward, prepared to do whatever I had to in order to keep Shelby safe.
Even if it meant sacrificing myself.
She had a beautiful little boy, one who I cared about more than was logical given the circumstances, and I wouldn’t let her be ripped from him. He needed his mama, just as she needed him.
But no one needed me.
Not anymore.
Indispensable, I was completely worthless.
I’d only made it two steps when Evan suddenly blew past me, almost knocking me over.
Jaw locked tight, he came to a sliding stop next to Dominic. “You motherfucker!” Lifting his arm, he slammed his elbow down on el diablo’s back. A cracking sound followed, and right or wrong, I couldn’t help but smile. “I should kill your worthless ass!”
Pulling a pair of zip-tie looking handcuffs from his back pocket, Evan then yanked Dominic’s hands behind his back and secured them in place, making escape impossible.
Knee pressed into the back of one of my many tormentors, he looked over at me, his enraged gaze searching my body for any signs of damage.
Seeing none, he focused back on the monster beneath him, one who hadn’t said a word since Shelby drove his nuts high into his stomach a minute before.
It was surprising.
As combative as he was, I expected Dominic to curse, to fight, to do anything other than lie there on the sidewalk and take being restrained like the criminal he was without complaint.
But I shouldn’t have.
I may not have understood it at the time, but men like Dominic never went toe-to-toe with another man.
Especially not one like Evan.
Abusers in every sense of the word, they lorded their power over weaker people, making a career of harming the most vulnerable of us.
Evan wasn’t either of those things.
Dominic had no power over him.
“Ashley!” I jumped, my heart lurching into my throat when Carissa appeared beside me, her expression alarmed. “I need to get you back inside,” she said, gently wrapping her hand around my wrist. “Where it’s safe.”
Torn between the desire to flee and the need to stay and make sure Dominic didn’t hurt anyone else, my head and heart were conflicted.
I didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
I’m not sure I even breathed.
Carissa’s head jerked to the right as the sound of approaching footsteps reached my ears. I had no idea who they belonged to, but one look at her suddenly pinched lips, and I knew I wouldn’t be happy with whoever was headed our way.
I was right.
“Miss Ashley.”
Chills raced down my spine at the sound of the deep voice. Ripping my arm free of Carissa’s, I spun around, coming face to face with one of the scariest looking men I’d ever laid eyes on.
In an instant, fear flooded my veins.
“Chris,” Carissa said, speaking to one of Evan’s security team members. “We need to get her inside. If we don’t, Evan will—”
He held up his hand, halting whatever she was about to say. “Miss Ashley,” he repeated, his infuriated eyes never deviating from my terrified ones. “Like Miss Carissa said, we need to get you inside.” His gaze raked over me, just as Evan’s had, assessing my thin body for any injuries. “Can you walk? Or do you need me to carry you?”
Overwhelmed, my head started to spin, and my mind began to shut down. I couldn’t have answered him if my life had depended on it. The darkness that came for me each time the world around me became too much to handle was beginning to circle, its suffocating arms outstretched.
Fingers tingling, my breathing became labored. Growing weaker with each second that ticked by, I swayed, my legs turning to mush.
Chris reached out and wrapped a muscular arm around me, stopping the nasty fall I was about to take dead in its tracks.
My skin burned at the feel of his touch, and though I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, my fear intensified, sling-shotting me headfirst into the black hole that awaited me.
Feeling myself float away, I dropped my head back, my face tilted toward the cloudless Georgia sky.
“Ashley!” Carissa’s panicked voice echoed around me, but she sounded so far away. Wrapping a hand around my jaw, she squeezed it tight. “Oh my God, Ash, breathe!”
Ash.
No one ever called me that.
No one except Jade.
The realization was too much.
I simply couldn’t cope.
And just like that, it was lights out.
* * *
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Momentarily free of the panic that had stolen my grip on reality twice in the previous three hours, I watched as Dominic was not-so-gently placed in the back of a police cruiser, his busted face a testament to the beating he’d been handed by the plain-clothes police officer arresting him.
A man whose name I didn’t know.
Swallowing around the lump clogging my throat, I rested my forehead against one of the shelter’s front windows. “Who is he?”
Shelby, who was busy cleaning the backs of my scraped thighs with peroxide soaked wipes, blew out a frustrated breath. “His name is Anthony,” she whispered. “Anthony Moretti.”
There was something about her tone… “Do you know him?”
Still facing the window, I didn’t see her nod. “You could say that. He’s my…” She paused. “Well, I guess he’s my—”
“He’s her boyfriend,” Clara, who stood next to me, her fiery red hair pulled into a messy bun atop her head, interjected. Nose scrunched, her eyes twinkled with mischief. “You see, Shelby here doesn’t like to admit it since she has commitment issues and all”—she smiled—“but Detective Moretti is her man all the same.” Leaning to the side, she peered behind me, finding Shelby. “Right, Blondie?”
Shelby growled. “Right.”
My lower lip trembled as the man, Detective Moretti, placed handcuffs around a crying Darcy’s wrists and led her to a second cruiser. I wanted to be angry with her for the stunt she’d just pulled, but doing so was nearly impossible.
She was terrified of Dominic, and being terrified of him meant that he could bend her to his will, making her do things she normally wouldn’t. Fear, as horrible as it was, had the power to make you do all sorts of things.
It was a truth I knew all too well.
Adrenaline waning, I wrapped my arms around my torso, digging my fingers into my sides. “Is he good?”
Shelby’s hand stilled, the cool cloth she held resting against my tender flesh. “Yeah, sugar, he is,” she answered, her voice barely a whisper. “I know it may not seem like it, considering he s
lammed D-boy’s face into the sidewalk earlier, but he got combative when Tony showed up to arrest him.”
She was right.
Dominic did deserve it.
That and a lot more.
One day…
“I know you have zero reason to trust me,” she continued, standing. “But, I swear that Tony is nothing like them.”
Them.
The single word pinged around my head, reminding me of the confessions she’d made the day I’d shown up at the gate, on the run for my life. I know what it feels like to be threatened by someone with a soul blacker than coal, she’d said. And I know how terrifying it can be to take that first step towards escaping.
Like me, a man who promised to love and protect her forever had hurt Shelby.
Clara too.
It’s why I did trust them.
They understood.
Exhausted, I gnawed on my bottom lip, lingering fear, and anxiety pulsing through me. “Will he be angry if I come and stay with you?”
Though I knew Anthony didn’t live with Shelby, I wasn’t sure how he’d react to her letting a homeless teen prostitute move in with her and Lucca.
That’s if CPS even approved it.
Which, who knew if they would or not.
Shelby’s eye twitched. “Shit no!” she hollered in a thick accent. “He won’t say a single word against it.” After dropping the blood and dirt-streaked wipes into the trash, she placed her fisted hands onto her hips. “But even if he did, I’d tell him where he could shove his two cents. And trust me, it’s a part of his body where the southern sun doesn’t dare shine.”
Clara laughed, and if I hadn’t been so scared, I might have too.
Placing a single finger on my jaw, Shelby turned my face to meet hers. “Now,” she said, her stormy blue eyes filled with a myriad of emotions. “We need to talk.”
My stomach dropped to my feet. I didn’t want to talk or face the music for the reckless way I’d acted earlier. At that moment, the only thing I wanted to do was sink into the floor and disappear.
For good.
“It was wrong of me to open the gate,” I said, tears welling. “I realize that. But I thought Darcy needed help, and I couldn’t let him hurt her. I know I’m stupid but—”
Every Kiss You Steal: A Redeeming Love Novel (Book 7) Page 5
