He shook off my touch. “I don't have to tell you anything. She’s coming with me, and that’s final.”
“Get out.”
“Not without her.”
“I said, get the fuck out of my house.”
I lunged for him as he walked away from me, leaving me in the dark. That, my brother never did. He’d always been open with me, so long as I asked questions. He never gave up what he didn’t need to. But he’d never been hesitant to answer questions if I had them.
Why was this time different from the rest?
“Let me go,” he glowered.
“Not until you tell me why you’re taking her away from this house,” I said.
“I never should’ve let her stay here. Let me go.”
“No.”
“I said, now.”
“I’m not letting you lay a hand on her after how you plucked her off the street.”
“Get the fuck off me, Kay!”
His roar filled the space around us, and he shoved me. I fell to the floor, cracking the back of my head against the coffee table in my living room. The world spun. Things faded in and out of darkness. Nausea? No. None of that. But I still didn’t feel well.
“Alex,” I whimpered.
“I never should’ve listened to you in the first place. Now, we’re all in trouble. She’s coming with me, getting loaded into the foster system, and we’re both washing our hands of this,” he growled.
“No! Stop!”
“Shut. The fuck. Up, Kay!”
“Stop calling me that, you asshole!”
I climbed onto my knees and crawled toward him. I came to the doorway of the living room and pulled myself upright. I lunged at him, tackling him just shy of the stairs. And when he stood up, he gripped my upper arms. He held me away from him, shaking me. Like he was trying to shake some sense into me.
“What are you hiding!?”
I sniffled. “Nothing, Alex. Just stop. She’s petrified. Scared out of her damn mind. Let me take her, at least.”
“Don’t you get how dangerous this is for you? How dangerous all of this is?”
“And yet, you keep dropping me kids. Like it’s nothing.”
His silence told me everything I needed to know about his expression. Since I couldn't see it through my teary eyes. My hands came up and hooked onto his forearms. I steadied myself on my feet as the back of my head throbbed. My neck felt numb. My eyes felt like they were crossing. And as tears streaked my cheeks, he snickered.
“You got attached.”
I paused. “What?”
“You got attached to her, didn’t you?”
“What? No. I just—”
“Admit it. You care for that girl, and you don’t want me taking her because then she won’t be in your care any longer.”
“I don’t want you taking her because she’s sleeping and it’s only going to make things worse if she’s grumpy from being woken up by your ugly face.”
He chuckled. “Cute. Really. It’s so obvious, though.”
“What’s obvious?”
“How much you love her.”
I paused. “Please, Alex. Just come back in the morning. Just—”
He shoved me away, causing me to stumble as I hit the wall. I splayed my hands against it, trying to steady myself. Until his hand wrapped around my throat. My eyes widened. Tears stained my neck as he locked his fingers around my jugular. He squeezed. Tightly. Until my head swam and it grew hard to breathe.
“Alex,” I choked out.
“Why are you trying to force me out of this house?” he asked.
I coughed, trying to take in a breath of air. “Stop. I—I can’t—”
“Answer the question.”
“I can’t.”
“You’re talking now. Answer me. Why are you trying to get me out of here so quickly?”
I shook my head, unable to speak as he closed off my airway. Tunnels closed in on my vision. I slapped his arm, trying to get him off me. But my slaps grew weak. I pounded my fists against his chest, but all he did was chuckle. Snarl. Glare at me as his fingernails curled into the skin of my neck.
“You’re lying, Kay. And I don’t like it when people lie to me.”
“Ale—I—you—”
A crash sounded above our heads and he dropped me. I didn’t even realize he’d been lifting me until my feet touched the ground. Until they caved, and I hit my knees on the hardwood. Full force, with a cry leaving my lips I’d ever experienced before. I fell to my hands as drool escaped my lips. I heaved for air, holding myself upright on all fours as tears dripped effortlessly from my eyes. I picked up my hand. Wrapped it around my throat. Tried to massage the pain away as I heard a gun cock.
“What was that?” Alex asked.
I wheezed for more air. “Nothing.”
“That wasn't nothing. What the fuck was it, Kay?”
I’ll kill you if you call me that again. “Probably just—Ariel’s water bottle. Or stuffed animal. Maybe she—she rolled out of bed, or something.”
He paused. “Her room isn’t over the foyer. The library is.”
And as I looked up into his face, I saw the other shoe fall.
He rushed for the stairs and I scurried off the floor. I lunged for him, yelling at him to stop as he leapt up the stairs. My world spun. It still felt hard to draw in air. Tears leaked down my fucking cleavage as I stumbled up after him, hoping and praying I’d catch him. I reached for his leg. I threw myself at him as I wrapped my hand around his ankle. He stumbled as he cursed under his breath, with my hand holding onto his slacks for dear life. I couldn't let him get upstairs. I couldn’t let him get to them. Even if he killed me. Even if he tortured me. Even if it meant paying for it for the rest of my life. I wouldn't let him have Ariel. I’d protect her no matter the cost.
“You stupid bitch,” Alex grumbled.
He kicked his foot back, hitting me square in my nose. I cried out in pain as my hand loosened, and he slipped away. I screamed. I cried out for him. Blood trickled down my face. And as I tried getting up again, I heard the sound of another gun cock.
As my brother halted near the top of the steps.
“Take one more step, and it’ll be your last.”
15
Ryker
“Daddy, what’s—”
“Shh, shh, sweetheart. I really need you to keep quiet, okay?” I asked softly.
My daughter whimpered, pressing herself further into me. This damn house was too big. Much too big for one person. I had no idea what the fuck they were saying downstairs, but I heard their voices raising. I heard them moving around, the voices fading in and out. And the more the voices faded, the more worried I became for my daughter’s safety.
And Kaylynn’s.
Their voices grew louder. Ariel pressed herself further into me. I backed her into the walk-in closet, opening a small door that housed nothing more than a few hangers. I slipped her inside and dipped down. I took her hands within mine, watching her sniffle as tears dripped down her face.
“Princess, I need you to—”
“We have to do something to help her, Daddy. Her brother’s bad. Really, really bad. He’s the one that took me. He’s going to hurt her.”
Her plea struck a chord with me. More so because that was the man who laid hands on my daughter. Instantly, I wanted him dead. I wanted him to suffer for what he’d done to my little girl. Voices below us continued to climb as I cupped her cheek. I caught some of her tears against my thumb, trying to brush the salted trails away.
“Then, I need you to stay in here. I need you to stay safe if I’m going to do something,” I said.
She threw her arms around me, thanking me softly against my ear. She peppered my cheek with kisses before backing her way into the closet. Then, she closed the door herself. I sighed as I stood up, drawing my weapon off my hip. If my daughter wanted this woman safe, then that was what my daughter would get.
And after one last deep breath, I started out of the
bedroom.
I kept my footsteps silent. Every time I thought a floorboard might creak underneath my weight, I sidestepped. Thankfully, the bedrooms were carpeted. So, it muffled a bit of the sound. Until I got to the hallway, at least. Once I got halfway back to the stairs, the altercation hit my ear. Voices grew frantic. I heard something thud against a wall. The hairs on the nape of my neck bristled, and I readied myself for a fight.
Until I heard them coming toward the stairs.
“Why are you trying to force me out of this house?” Alex asked.
I heard Kaylynn cough, trying to catch her breath. “Stop. I—I can’t—”
“Answer the question.”
“I can’t.”
“You’re talking now. Answer me. Why are you trying to get me out of here so quickly?”
I crept toward the top of the steps as anger welled in my veins.
“You’re lying, Kay. And I don’t like it when people lie to me,” he said.
“Ale—I—you—”
I had my ears trained so much on the conversation that I didn’t notice my jacket snagging on a picture. It took so much energy I had not to rush downstairs and kill that man on sight for hurting her that I didn’t fucking feel my leather snag against the damn picture frame. It crashed to the ground, the glass shattering everywhere. And when the sound ricocheted off the walls, I grimaced.
Are you fucking kidding me?
“What was that?” Alex asked.
Kaylynn wheezed softly. “Nothing.”
“That wasn't nothing. What the fuck was it, Kay?”
“Probably just—Ariel’s water bottle. Or stuffed animal. Maybe she—she rolled out of bed, or something.”
“Her room isn’t over the foyer. The library is.”
Footsteps rushed for the stairs. So, I went to stand at the top. I looked down upon the squabble, watching as Alex attempted to get up the steps. And more than ever, I saw Kaylynn fight. She lunged for him. Wrapped her hand around his ankle. Trying to stop him from getting upstairs. From getting to my daughter.
“You stupid bitch,” Alex grumbled.
I watched him kick back and I leveled the gun at him. Hearing Kaylynn cry out in pain like that was all the ammunition I needed. All the excuse I needed to pepper him with the lead sitting in the magazine of my fucking gun. I drew in deep breaths. I held myself steady as Kaylynn whimpered in pain. Blood dripped down her skin. I watched Alex work his way up the steps. Then, his eyes fell on me as he neared the top of the steps.
Forcing me to cock my gun as I leveled it between his eyes.
“Take one more step, and it’ll be your last.”
Because you have every reason to die tonight.
The grin that slid across Alex’s face was unnerving. It didn’t reach his eyes. He didn’t look scared in the slightest. His gun came up quicker than I’d seen anyone move with a gun, but I kept my cool. I kept my hand steady, even though there was a small twitch underneath the man’s eye. Giving away how stressed he was in this particular situation.
Which meant there was something I could exploit.
We stared one another down as Kaylynn struggled in the background. Every ounce of me wanted to move and help her. Clean her face up and get her to a doctor. I heard that crack. How the heel of his shoe connected with her face. And judging by the wheezing she still had going on; he had knocked the wind out of her somehow. Or robbed her of her breath for an elongated period of time. My mind swirled with all the things he could have done to her. Choking off her air supply. Elbowing her in the back. Kneeing her in the stomach.
“Well, well, well. Who the fuck do we have here?” Alex asked.
It wasn’t a question, though. Which meant he knew who I was.
“Hello,” I said flatly.
“Hey, Kay?”
“Shut. The fuck. Up, with that nickname,” she glowered.
He chuckled. “Why the hell do you have a Dead Soul in your house?”
And now, it was my turn to grin. Because he kept giving himself away with every word he spoke.
“I don’t have to tell you shit,” Kaylynn spat.
Her brother whipped back around, but I wasn’t having it. I reached out for the back of his collar and pulled him up the steps, slamming him against the wall. His cheek planted against the surface as the barrel of my gun pressed against his temple. He laughed bitterly, trying to kick back against me. Trying to get away. Trying to dislodge my gun.
But he was either too weak or too tired to do it.
“Want to try asking another question?” I asked.
He paused. “Nah. I think my original one is a good enough question.”
“Then why are you asking questions you already know answers to?”
“Something tells me you already know the answer to that.”
To see if I’ll give anything away to you.
Alex chuckled. “You screwing him, sis?”
“Would that be any of your business if I was?” Kaylynn asked.
His face fell. “If you touch my sister—”
“You’ve already touched my daughter. I suppose turnabout’s fair play,” I said.
He growled, but I drove my knee into his lower back. The man was pathetically short compared to me. And I used it to my advantage. I twisted the barrel of my gun against his skin, listening as he groaned in pain. The gun from his hand clattered to the ground, and I slowly looked over at Kaylynn.
I motioned for her to get it with my eyes and she scurried up the steps. Taking it with her bloodied hands as her nose continued dripping slowly with blood.
“You should die for what you did to her tonight,” I said coolly.
Kaylynn’s trembling hands pointed the gun at her brother as I held him against the wall.
“Yeah? And I should’ve taken your daughter straight to my boss instead of coming here. I knew my sister would get attached to some girl. That’s why I always brought her boys. Fucking women and their emotions. It’s bullshit,” Alex spat.
I looked over at Kaylynn and her eyes found mine. I didn’t know what that look in her face was, but it was… well, something. Had she gotten attached to my daughter? Did she not mean my daughter any harm? It was obvious Ariel had become attached to her. But Stockholm Syndrome was common among taken children.
Was it a legitimate connection, then?
Kaylynn provided to be enough of a distraction for Alex to throw his head back. He cracked me in the jawline, causing me to growl as he wiggled out of my grasp. He rushed Kaylynn, wrangling the gun from her as one gunshot went off. Then, two.
“Give me. The fucking. Gun. You little bitch!”
“No! You’re not getting it back!”
“Give it to me!”
“Alex, cut it out!”
I aimed at his leg, ready to cap him in the knee. But just as I shot him, Kaylynn shoved him away. The bullet only grazed his leg. It was enough to take him down, though. Such a pussy when it came to Alex. Him, on the stairs, holding his leg like it had been chopped off.
“Daddy!”
I whipped my head over, peering down the hallway. And when I saw my daughter standing in the doorway of the bedroom I’d carried her into, my eyes widened with shock. Her jaw dropped open. Her eyes looked to the gun in my hand as tears rushed her eyes. This was exactly what I didn’t want. This was the kind of thing I refused to let Ariel see. This was why I kept secrets. Why I kept my life separate from hers. Because I didn’t want her to see what I had become. What I was capable of doing to another human being.
She looked at me as if I were some sort of demon. Some monster underneath her bed.
But we also didn’t have time.
“Ariel, we have to go,” I said.
I held my hand out, but all she did was back her way into the shadows.
“Ariel,” Kaylynn said softly.
She pushed past me, placing her hand against my chest. The heat of her touch stunned me in my spot as Alex tried pulling himself up off the stairs. I aimed mindlessly
at his other leg and shot, burying a bullet in his thigh. He cried out in pain as I stared at the outline of my daughter, whimpering and sniffling as Kaylynn crept toward her.
“Ariel, honey, do you trust me?” she asked.
My daughter sniffled. “I—I guess so.”
“Can you see my face?”
“Why are you bleeding, Miss Kaylynn?”
I listened to the interaction as I felt something come down against my leg. I looked down, watching as Alex wrapped his arm around my leg. So, I kicked out, knocking the wind out of him by jamming him straight against his stomach.
Causing him to slide down the steps.
He won’t make the mistake of coming alone again, though.
“I’m bleeding because that bad man that took you wanted to hurt you. Your father saved me, pretty girl. He’s not a bad guy,” Kaylynn said.
I watched her reach out her hand for my daughter, but Ariel didn’t move.
“He—he used a gun t—”
“To save me. And you,” Kaylynn said. “Because trust me, if I thought for a second your father was a bad man, I wouldn't give you back to him. I wouldn’t turn you over. You came into my care by bad circumstances, yes. But I wasn’t handing you back over to another set of bad ones, either.”
Wait, she wouldn't have?
“Promise?” Ariel asked.
Kaylynn nodded. “I promise, pretty girl. I promise, promise.”
In a flash, Ariel darted out of the shadows. She hugged Kaylynn’s neck tightly and I heard the woman groan softly to herself. She scooped my daughter up and turned around, her eyes finding mine.
Then, she nodded for the stairs.
“Come on. My car. We have to get out of here before more people come looking for him,” she said.
I held my arm out, ushering them down the stairs as Alex laid there, just now catching his breath. I aimed my gun behind me and popped off a shot, not caring where it landed. The only thing I cared about was scaring him long enough to keep him down so we could get out of that fucking house. Ariel cried out at the sound. Kaylynn shot me a deadly look before we made it out the door. She reached for her purse, carrying it as she cradled my daughter, who had meticulously wrapped herself around this strange woman.
Dead Souls MC: Prospects Series Books 1-5 Page 55
