She didn’t want to look at him, but she definitely didn’t want him to have all the control, so she reluctantly opened her eyes. This way she knew what he was doing. Leveling her eyes on him, she waited.
“That’s more like it. Did you know that you show all of your emotions in your eyes? Fear, pain, all of it plays out across your face like my own personal movie.”
She did know this. While it was typically a good thing, in this case it was a death sentence. Steeling her spine, she tried to mask those emotions and not give him what he wanted. Above her, she could hear the shower still running, and it made her want to cry knowing Jason was so close, yet so far away. He was probably waiting for her to come to him and wouldn’t be coming down anytime soon. Not wanting Damien to see the sadness in her eyes, since it was for Jason, not him, she blinked away the tears. Unfortunately, Damien knew just what to do to make her break.
“It appears my movie is on pause. How about I do something to get it going again? What do you say, we go upstairs and play with my daughter?” he asked in a low voice, but it had Tori’s attention.
Her back became more rigid, and her hands fisted on the counter in front of her. Glaring at him, she said in a voice laced with venom, “I’ll never let you touch her, you bastard.”
“Ah, so that’s what it takes to spark a fire in your eyes. I’m looking forward to the fight, Victoria. How about I up the stakes?” Damien said with a chuckle as she felt cold metal press up against her cheek. “Would you like a scar on this side to match your other one? We could even give one to your daughter if you’d like. It’s the least I can do after what you did to my face.”
She closed her eyes as fear and panic rose again. Her bravado lasted for only a few moments, but resolve was setting in. She would do anything to protect her daughter, and Damien had to know this. In a voice just above a whisper, she said, “Me, I’ll take it. Do whatever you want to me, just leave my daughter alone.”
Damien’s laughter was malicious, his words full of intent when he said, “That’s right, Victoria, I can do whatever I want to you. You’re mine, and I refuse to share you. Not with my daughter and certainly not with that oversized moron upstairs.”
His words angered her, but reminded her of the risk Jason and Lexi were in. She felt the blade of the knife, now warm from her skin, shift against her cheek. Damien was making his point clear. When it shifted a second time, she felt the tip pierce her skin and gasped at the pain. A moment later she felt blood trickle down her face. It mingled with the tears she couldn’t control.
Damien’s body shuddered and hardened against hers. Staring at the knife on her cheek, his pleasure was evident. Being completely at his mercy was terrifying, but at least he wasn’t anywhere near Lexi. And she knew she was definitely at his mercy when his eyelids lowered and his nostrils flared. She whimpered. He was getting off on what he was doing, and she saw what was coming a moment before he slid the blade across her skin, slicing it open as it went. She cried out in pain but heard the knife fall into the sink below her.
The roar of her heartbeat deafened her ears as Damien spun her around to admire his handiwork. He sighed in pleasure a second before she heard a loud thud, and Damien’s body flew away from her.
JASON knew something was wrong. He’d been waiting in the shower for Tori, but a sinking feeling in his gut told him to get out. Leaving the shower running, he stepped out and slipped on the jeans he’d discarded when he got in. Forgoing a shirt, he padded barefoot down the hall. Peeking in on Lexi, he was relieved to see she was fine, but still no sign of Tori. As he exited the room, he grabbed a bat lying in the pile of toys he had for his nephews. Gripping it tightly, he rested it on his shoulder as he quietly closed the door. Cautiously he descended the stairs—prepared to swing at anything he came in contact with.
When he reached the bottom step, he listened carefully as he turned toward where he’d left Tori. As he got closer to the kitchen, he heard it. An evil chuckle followed by words that made his blood run cold. You’re mine, and I refuse to share you …
Not in this lifetime, asshole, he said to himself, staying quiet so Damien wouldn’t know he was there. The kitchen came into view seconds later, and Jason fought the urge to run head-first into the bastard. He could see him standing behind Tori, one hand gripping her hair, and the other out of view. Because he wasn’t sure if Damien had a weapon on Tori, he chose not to charge at him.
Stepping closer, he heard Tori gasp and then whimper, and he knew for sure Damien was armed. Assessing his options, he continued to get closer. He readied the bat, he thought maybe he could swing at the guy’s legs, taking him by surprise. Hopefully then he’d let go of Tori long enough for Jason to do some permanent damage.
Then everything happened in slow motion. Tori cried out in obvious pain, and Jason knew he couldn’t wait any longer. At the sound of metal clinging in the sink, he knew Damien had dropped something. When Damien spun Tori around, and Jason caught sight of her face, he sucked in a painful breath and swung with all the power surging through his body.
With a sickening crunch, the bat made contact with Damien’s ribs, and his body flew to the side. Taking in his motionless body, Jason dropped the bat and moved to Tori. Her hand cupped her cheek and blood seeped through her fingers. Jason couldn’t handle the sight of his beautiful girl covered in her own blood. Grabbing a towel, he quickly pressed it over her hand and wrapped his other around her for support, her body immediately relaxing into him. “I’ve got you, baby.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
JASON held his hand tightly against Tori’s cheek. When she opened her eyes, he said, “I’m so sorry, baby. Did he hurt you anywhere else?”
She took in a ragged breath before shaking her head no. He kissed her forehead and sighed. “Thank God. Let me call for help.” She nodded this time, closed her eyes, and rested her forehead against his chest. Holding her to him, he reached across the counter to call the police. Phone in hand, he turned it to dial when he was struck in the arm. He roared in pain as he felt his bones snap, his arm now hanging limp at his side. Bracing for another attack, he pulled Tori closer to him and turned away from Damien and his own bat.
Tori screamed, and Jason felt the second blow against his ribcage. The force pushed them forward, and Jason shoved Tori out in front of him, “Go! Get out of here.” Jason wheezed as he spoke, unable to get his lungs to expand further without pain wrapping around his body.
Tori tripped and landed on the floor, but quickly recovered and was making her way around the other side of the kitchen island. Taking his free arm, Jason braced himself on the counter to turn and look at his attacker. It was the first time he’d been able to look the bastard in the eye. He wanted to look him in the eye and tell him that Tori was his now.
With short, shallow breaths, Jason stood as tall as he could and glared at the man in front of him. He could hear Tori’s rapid breathing behind him so he knew she was still in the room. There was no way she could get out of the room and reach the stairs without passing Damien. Jason needed to find a way to make that happen, so Tori could get to Lexi and get the hell out of there.
Damien was shorter than Jason as he stood before him, slightly hunched to the side. Clearly he’d inflicted damage to the guy when he hit him. It was a small victory considering Jason’s arm hung lifelessly at his side, numbness beginning to set in. He didn’t care; Tori and Lexi were all he cared about in that moment. Looking in Damien’s eyes, Jason could see the desperation and craziness swirling around in them. He was surprised they weren’t black.
Jason smirked when his gaze landed on the scars he saw covering the right side of Damien’s face. His girl did that to him, and he was damn proud of her for it. Wanting to provoke the asshole, he said, “So you’re Damien. I think I pictured a bigger, more imposing beast. Not the broken, damaged weasel I see here.”
It worked because Damien snarled and gripped the bat tighter. His breathing was labored like Jason’s, but he didn’t say anything. S
o Jason continued, needing to push harder, “How does a guy like you even manage to father a child? Did you have to inflict pain on her just to get it up?”
Damien chuckled. “Something tells me you don’t want to hear the pleasure I got from hurting her. Do you want to hear about the time I held her down and sliced her cheek open with the top of a can?”
Jason tensed. No, he sure as fuck didn’t want to hear about that.
“That’s what I thought. How about two minutes ago when I sliced open the other side of her face? Do you want to know what the sound of the blade sliding across her flesh does to me?” Damien asked, visibly shuddering.
He wanted to vomit. Here, Jason was trying to provoke him, but it was being turned on him instead. If he had use of both his arms, he’d wrap them around the sicko’s neck. Needing to turn the tables back around, Jason said, “I want to hear that shit about as much as you want to hear me tell you what it’s like fuck her senseless.”
Hitting his mark, Jason smirked as Damien bared his teeth at him like an animal. “Yeah, we could even talk about how she loves to go down on her knees and wrap that pretty mouth of hers around me.”
Jason inwardly cringed at his words. It felt wrong to belittle anything he’d done with Tori, but he needed her safe. Backing up a step, in hopes Damien would step forward one, he could now see Tori in his peripheral vision. He couldn’t take his eyes off Damien, but could tell she was ready to move when she saw an opening. Good girl.
When Jason stepped back again, Damien followed this time. Backing himself into a corner may appear to have been to Damien’s advantage, but that was part of his plan. Even with his arm broken, he was confident that he’d be able to deflect a blow from the bat with the other one. So long as he gave Tori the ability to get out of the room.
Gearing up for another verbal attack, Jason took another step back until he hit the wall, and said, “Tell me, Damien, when you fucked her, did she ever scream your name like she screams mine?”
His eyes bulged, and Jason knew he was almost ready to snap, so he finished with, “Oh wait, that’s only when she orgasms … and she told me you didn’t know how to make that happen.”
With a roar, Damien raised the bat and attacked. Coming at Jason like a crazed animal with one mission: kill its prey.
TORI listened to what Jason was saying, but didn’t let it bother her. She knew he was only saying that to get at Damien. And she could see it was working. With each word and each step back, she could see Damien’s rage grow like a living thing. His posture changed, his breathing became shallower, clearly compensating for his injury.
All she needed to do was get past him so she could call for help. She didn’t know where the phone was since he’d knocked it out of Jason’s grip, but she could see the alarm pad on the wall by the garage door. If she could get to the panel, she could hit the emergency button and alert the security company. So when she heard Jason throw his next insult at Damien, she knew her window of opportunity had just opened. When Damien yelled and charged at Jason, she took off running across the room. Behind her, she could hear the grunts and groans of the two men in battle, but she had to ignore them. Reaching her destination, she promptly pressed all the emergency buttons she could see on the keypad. Seconds later, the house phone rang; the transmission was successful.
The ringing led her to the phone in the family room. Jason and Damien had now moved from the corner where Jason previously was to the other side of the kitchen island. The family room branched off the kitchen, and she could see them clearly. Dropping to her knees, she found the phone under a chair and answered it.
“Hello? Please help us!” she screamed breathlessly into the phone.
The emergency operator on the line asked for more information, and Tori yelled, “We need police and paramedics.” She swallowed, her mouth dry and gritty. “Send everyone!”
Tori kept the phone to her ear as she scanned the room for a weapon. She couldn’t tell who was winning, but Jason was already hurt enough. Spotting the fireplace in the corner, she grabbed the poker and lifted it with one arm, testing its weight. She’d need to put the phone down to swing it properly, so she did. Moving closer to the fight, she cringed when Jason howled in pain after Damien landed a punch to his already injured arm.
When Jason stumbled back, Tori took a swing at Damien. She hadn’t realized she’d closed her eyes until she heard his below. Opening them, she could see him holding the side of his head. Apparently she’d only grazed him, but she hoped it would give Jason a moment to recover. Before Jason had fully recovered though, Damien landed a kick to Jason’s ribs, and he went down on his knees.
“No!” Tori screamed as she watched him fall. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Damien grab the bat and lift it over his head. Trying to push herself into action, she lifted the poker to swing at him. Her heart racing, blood dripped from the wound on her cheek, and she felt her stomach turn at the sensation. Ready to strike at Damien, she watched as he began to swing the bat at Jason who was completely unguarded on the floor.
In an attempt to warn him, she yelled Jason’s name, just as a gunshot sounded and echoed loudly. Stunned by the sound, and not knowing where it’d come from, she looked around. The bat clanged against the tile floor as it fell from Damien’s hands. Tori watched as Damien looked down at his chest, pressing his hand to it. That was when she saw the blood spreading across his shirt and trickling through his fingers. Damien had been shot?
Still looking around to see who fired the shot, Tori wasn’t sure who the newcomer holding the gun was, but she’d never been more grateful to see a stranger in her life.
Tori dropped the poker and rushed to the ground next to Jason. When she cradled his head against her chest, she made eye contact with Damien as he fell to the floor. Seconds later, she watched as his eyes went blank, and he gurgled his last breath. Jason’s body heaved in distress as Tori held him, his hand reaching up to touch hers. Releasing her hold on his head, she let him lift it, and he looked to the doorway where the man stood. His gun was still in hand, but now at his side. He looked to be in shock, and a moment later he mumbled, “Police, don’t move.”
Tori thought it was the strangest thing to hear, after the fact, but she wasn’t about to question it. The man was clearly in shock. Jason’s voice brought her attention back to him when he said, “Thanks, rookie.”
JASON never thought he would owe his life to the rookie officer who’d thought Jason had something to do with Tori’s kidnapping. But there he stood, gun in hand, shock on his face, with Damien lying dead on the floor opposite him. Jason couldn’t remember the rookie’s name, and when he thought to look at his nametag for it, he realized the guy was in street clothes. As odd as it seemed, he was grateful nonetheless.
“Do you think you can call for backup, officer?” Jason asked, his voice strained and fatigued.
The officer blinked and finally took his attention away from Damien’s body to look at Jason and Tori. He didn’t get a chance to answer before sirens filled the air. Jason sagged against Tori and waited. When his front door opened and Sean walked in followed by other officers with guns drawn, Jason wanted to laugh. The show’s over guys, he thought.
Sean took in the scene around them before his eyes landed on the rookie in the doorway. “Officer Jennings, I’ll need to confiscate your weapon. Standard procedure.”
The young guy still hadn’t said anything, but he nodded at Sean’s request before removing the magazine from his gun and unloading the round from the chamber. Sean took it from him and handed it off to another officer who had a bag ready. Jason took the pause in activity to ask, “How did you know to come here?”
The young guy obviously had a reason other than being alerted by nine-one-one.
“I got a call from the landlord, Hal. He said someone had been snooping around his place and thought I should check it out. Then he insisted I check out your place, too. When I got here, I could see the smoke coming from the barbeque over the fence, so
I thought something was wrong. That’s when I saw him aim to take your head off with the bat.”
“Then you have impeccable timing,” Jason said as he closed his eyes. The pain in his side was increasing in his current position, and he feared he’d pass out from hyperventilating. Looking up at Tori, he sighed when she smiled at him. The amount of blood on her face was frightening, but he was so happy that was her only injury.
“Hey you,” he said.
“Hey yourself,” she said in a whisper.
“I think we both have an ambulance ride in our future.”
She nodded. “I think you might be right, but you can take the bed. In fact, I insist.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
TORI parked the car and turned off the engine. Looking to the passenger seat, she couldn’t help but laugh at Jason again. Shaking her head, she said, “Oh, will you stop pouting. There’s nothing wrong with letting me drive you around.”
Jason scowled. “You’re injured, too.” He tried to cross his arms over his chest to complete his pout, but grunted in pain when his casted arm landed on his broken rib.
“Are you seriously comparing my stitches to your post-surgical arm and two cracked ribs? Suck it up, big guy, and let me take care of you,” Tori said in her best stern-mom-voice.
Still scowling, he grumbled, “But it’s my job to take care of you.”
She was about to tell him that he was being ridiculous when a stuffed animal came flying from the back seat and nailed him in the back of his head. Tori let out a laugh before quickly schooling it and looking at Lexi. As she was about to scold Lexi, she got as far as saying her name when the stuffed animal flew back and landed in Lexi’s lap. Looking back at Jason, he shrugged. “What? She started it.”
Love Required (The Real Love Series) Page 25
