by T. L Smith
Ha. Well, that’s comforting. Not.
“He didn’t say we couldn’t play, though, right?” Paige looks back to Phillip, and he says nothing. Her greedy eyes fix back on me. “You wouldn’t mind if we ruined your face, would you?” I turn back to look at Phillip, but he is walking out through the door. “That’s my little brother, did you know that?” She smiles. “It’s how I knew so much about you.”
Of course, he is.
“Do we want to piss off Keir?” This comes from Frank, who I might add is still holding his junk. “No one in their right mind wants to piss off Keir.” I think about all the times I angered him. Yet, here I am, still alive.
Well, not much longer if Paige has anything to say about it.
“I think I don’t care.” And before I can say a word, move an inch, a knife is stabbed into my hand that lies on the armrest. My screams fill the room, and my hand feels like it’s on fire. Paige is smiling down at me, happy with what she’s just done. Tears fill my eyes, my hand is stuck to the chair, and I know I have to pull it out, but I also know it’s going to hurt just as much.
“Who knew watching you scream could be so funny.” The smile never leaves her face, and I want to punch her so bad. “Should we do the other hand as well?” A second knife appears, and without thinking, I kick her shins, making her fall backward. As soon as I think I have some reprieve, someone punches me in the face from my left, then everything goes black.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Keir
“Where have you been?” Joey asks while sitting in my apartment watching …
… hold up! Is that Harry Potter?
“Out.”
“You smell like her,” Joey says, knowing full well I was with Sailor. “Oh, your baby mama is pissed and asking a lot of questions.”
“I don’t give a fuck what she is.”
“You should. That bitch is crazy. So is her family.” Just then, Phillip walks in carrying food. Joey nods to him, then looks back to the television.
“You do have your own place, correct?” I ask.
“Correct, but you missed shit today. And I’ve been waiting all day to fill you in, but I got bored, then this came on the television.” He points to the screen. “I’m digging the crazy brunette.” I shake my head at him. “Just like you, really. How’s your crazy brunette?” He laughs at his own words.
“Fine.”
“You like her. You don’t like anyone. What do you plan to do?” Joey knows me well.
I grab two bottles of water from the fridge and throw him one before I take a seat on the couch. “I don’t fucking know.”
“Well, you better sort it out soon.”
“I know.”
This wasn’t in the plan.
She wasn’t in my plan.
How can one woman fuck so much shit up without actually doing anything?
“Paige asked where she lived.”
That gains my attention real quick. “Did you tell her?”
“You mean, did I tell her you put her in the apartment that was meant for you two?”
“She has her apartment,” I tell him.
“Yes, we know. But the other one was for her family. That one you were meant to give her as a gift, but somehow you gave to that girl you are tapping instead.” I choose not to speak about that, instead, I give my attention to the television and watch whatever it is he’s watching.
But Joey being Joey, he doesn’t know how to leave things alone. “You can’t fall for someone whose husband you killed.”
“Joey, leave it.”
“No.” He presses pause on the movie and faces me. “No one has the balls to tell you what they think, but you need to know. You were, more than anyone, someone who followed the rules. Remember in high school when I wanted to date Sheila? What did you say?”
Again, I choose not to reply.
“You told me we don’t date. We fuck, then we marry, then we fuck some more.”
“And your point?” I ask.
“You only fuck Sailor. You don’t date her or marry her.”
Lying my head back on the seat, I listen as he keeps on going, “I get it, you didn’t want to kill her because she’s good in bed. So, you killed her husband and got what you were owed. But why do you have us continue to watch her? Why do you invite her to things? Why were you just there?” he pushes.
“Because I fucking can,” I snap back.
“Look, now you’re getting fucking angry. When you know all I’m speaking are the facts.”
The front door opens and Roberto walks in.
“You know where she is?” Roberto asks me.
“Sailor?” I ask.
He nods.
“Yes, I checked on her like you said but didn’t see any sign of her.”
I left her hours ago.
“The doorman said she left and hasn’t returned.” Roberto takes a seat, glances at the television, and shakes his head.
Grabbing my phone, I press her name to call her.
“You aren’t marrying this woman. She’s a fuck, remember? Leave her,” Joey interjects, and Roberto’s eyes go wide at his words. But Joey doesn’t look my way, just throws some candy into his mouth and resumes the movie.
“She’s probably at work,” Roberto says, trying to ease the tension in the room.
“No, it’s her day off.” Phillip moves from his spot by the kitchen door.
Pressing call, it goes straight to voicemail.
“See, she probably blocked your calls,” Joey chimes in again.
“Sir ...” I wave Phillip off, but he remains in front of me. “Sir,” he says more forcefully.
“What is it, Phillip?” I took Phillip in over two years ago at Paige’s request. She didn’t want her younger brother to turn out like her older one, so she asked that I take him under my wing. I pay for his schooling, and in return, he helps when needed.
I like Phillip, more than I like anyone else in that family. He’s a good kid. Though, I guess he’s an adult now and studying accounting at school. In his off time, he’s either studying at my house or helping me. I’ve told him he doesn’t need to do as much, but he insists.
“I’ve seen Sailor today, sir.”
His words surprise me.
How on earth has he seen her?
“I never asked you to send anything to her today.”
“No, Paige requested today.”
“Oh, shit.” Joey turns the television off completely and turns to listen.
“She was mumbling shit at the party. You think she really went ahead and did something?” Roberto asks.
We all look to Phillip.
“Frank, Momma, and the others are with her as well.”
My blood boils.
Red hot.
Nuclear.
That fucking bitch.
Who the fuck does she think she is?
I stand, and the boys do as well.
I stare at Phillip with my eyebrows pulled together so tight I am sure they form one line. “Where?”
He casts his gaze to the floor before he mutters, “The apartment. I’m sorry, sir, she said you approved it.”
“Approved what?”
“The letter she made me drop off telling Sailor you wanted to meet her.”
That sneaky little bitch.
“You can’t kill her,” Roberto says, placing a hand on my shoulder. “But you can give her to me as punishment.” In the signed contract, if the wife to be does anything that breaks the terms of the contract, I can pass her down to someone of my choosing. Roberto is all kinds of fucked up, and the person he was meant to marry doesn’t even live in America. So, he smiles and rubs his hands together in glee.
Joey stops me as we get to the building by placing his hand on my shoulder. I shrug it off, but he grabs me again.
“Give me your gun.” He nods to where it peeks out from the waistband of my trousers. “Give it to me, boss. You are going to go in there, and if they have hurt her, you will shoot and a
sk questions later. We can’t afford that to blow up. So, give me the damn gun.”
“Fuck you.” I step into the elevator and press the floor number. Joey and Roberto stand in front of me, and Phillip stands next to me. He’s been apologizing since we left my apartment, and to be honest, I am fucking sick of it. So much so I want to shoot him. I don’t blame him, though. I blame that evil, conniving bitch upstairs.
Maybe that’s why we were matched because we’re both as fucked up as each other. Her evil is on a whole different level than mine, though. She’s seeking revenge on a woman who didn’t even know she existed. She isn’t clever, that one. And I’m probably going to start a war by putting a bullet through her fucking brain if she has so much as moved a hair on Sailor’s head.
As soon as the elevator doors open, we march straight to the door, and I kick the fucker in. It snaps open, and what I see before me has my blood boiling.
All eyes in the room lock on me. But I focus solely on the woman who’s meant to have my child, the woman I’m meant to marry. And the first thing I want to do is cut her hands from her body, so she knows not to touch what’s mine.
I hear my name, but I’m too deep in my rage to give a fuck, to listen to their excuses, to even hear what they have to say.
Sailor sits slumped, unconscious in a chair in the middle of the room with everyone circling her like she’s their live bait and they’re all damn sharks. I’m one-hundred percent certain that Sailor could kick Paige’s ass. But, of course, Paige didn’t make the game fair because she’s gotten her family involved.
Big fucking mistake.
They all step back as I stride into the room and go straight to Sailor. Frank’s hand was on her shoulder, so I lift my gun as he removes it, then shoot his fucking hand and the other one too for good fucking measure. His useless screams fill the room, but I don't give one fuck.
“Keir.” Paige says my name and steps closer to me, daring to place her hand on my arm. As soon as she makes contact, I raise my gun and aim it at her head. “Keir don’t do this. She isn’t worth it.”
“You or your mother?” I ask her.
Her eyes go wide, and I hear her breath catch in her chest.
“I know this idea came from you and her. You two bitches need to learn to stay in your lane. So, which one will it be? You. Or. Your. Mother.”
“My mother,” Paige says without hesitating.
I look to her mother, who swears something at Paige before I shoot her in the head. She drops to the floor like the sick piece of shit she is.
“You’ll forgive me, right?” Paige asks.
I look over my shoulder to see Sailor moving, her eyes blinking as she comes around. Then she clutches her hand. What’s wrong with her hand?
“What did you do to her?” My voice is even, almost quiet, but she knows I’m hanging on the edge and one step over will have me slicing her throat.
“She stabbed her,” Frank says, lying on the floor, clutching both his hands to his chest. “Like you fucked mine up, asshole.” Before I can raise my gun, Joey steps in front of me, blocking my line of sight to Frank.
“She needs a hospital,” Joey says and nods to Sailor, her eyes red and full of tears as she cradles her hand.
I turn back to Paige. “You better hope I never see your face again. Ever,” I growl through gritted teeth.
“You’ll change your mind. I’ll give you time.”
“What you need is a bullet between your eyes,” I tell her as I reach for Sailor.
Chapter Thirty
Sailor
Arms wrap around me, and I know instantly who it is. I try to push him away, as weak as my attempt may be, because he is the reason I’m in this mess. He is the reason that pain shoots through every molecule of my body. But when he whispers in my ear, “I got you,” my body relaxes, and I know I’m safe.
I hate that.
I hate that when I’m with him a part of me goes into a state of bliss that I’ve never experienced with anyone else in my life.
Why is life so unfair?
I can hear her voice in the background, begging him for something, but I just can’t understand what she’s saying. The pain in my hand and my face keeps me from focusing even with the amount of blinking I am doing.
“I’m taking you home,” he says gently.
“No. Hospital,” I whisper through the pain.
I feel him pause.
“I have top doctors.”
“Put me down then,” I say back to him, more firmly this time. I try to move from his grasp, but I don’t get very far.
“Hospital it is.”
I contemplate for one second to say thank you, but that would be a waste of time because I’m not thankful. If I hadn’t met him, I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in. I guess the real villain in the story is Dillan, but he’s dead, so the only living subject to blame carries me out and into a car with such tenderness, I’m not even sure it’s him. Keir softly strokes my hair as I stay cradled in his arms during the drive, telling me it will be okay over and over again for the whole ride.
And for some insane reason …
… I believe him.
I have stitches in my hand, and my face is going to bruise, but it will heal with time. Keir took me to a private hospital and hasn’t left the room since we arrived. They want me to stay for a few days to keep an eye on my hand to make sure no infection occurs after the operation to fix the nerve damage. It will be a few weeks before we’ll know if I’ll regain full use of it.
“Why did you go?” he asks me.
It’s late, I’m tired, and the last thing I want to do is sit here and answer questions about his crazy baby mama. So, I ignore him.
“Sailor, why did you go?”
Huffing, I say, “I thought it was you.”
“You were coming to meet me?” he asks.
“So I thought.”
“Why?” he pushes.
“Because I know how you are. If I didn’t go, you would have just shown up at my apartment again and made a whole pile of noise,” I say and look away from him.
His face isn’t the hard sculpture it usually is. It’s softer. I haven’t seen this part of him before.
“I’m sorry,” he finally says. Words fail me. “You’ll never have to deal with her again.”
“Good. I won’t have to deal with you either. I’m moving.”
Keir steps closer to the bed, his hands coming to the railing beside me, which he promptly drops down. “You can’t leave me, I just found you,” he says, smirking.
“Don’t look for me, Keir. This life you live, I want no part of it.”
“Let me lie next to you,” he asks, pulling his jacket off.
It has blood all over it.
My blood.
“There is a chair over there.” I point to the corner with my good hand.
“But there is only one bed.” He grins. “We can both fit, and I don’t plan on leaving. So we both may as well get some sleep.”
“Jump off a cliff and die,” I bite back.
“After some sleep, I’ll consider it.” He lifts the sheets and slides on in regardless of what I say. I have to move just a little, and I reluctantly do it. “Do you think, if we met under different circumstances, we could have been different?” he asks, his hand sliding under my pillow as he gently pulls me closer to him.
“How so?” I entertain him. The funny thing is, there is a big part of me that hates him with every fiber of my being, but there’s also a part that relishes in every touch he gives me, every glance that I know is just for me. Something in my chest aches at how such a cold, calculating, and powerful man can give me black butterflies. Not colored ones, because he is anything but colorful.
It’s part of the reason that he’s lying in this bed next to me after everything I’ve been through because of him.
It’s those black butterflies, I tell you.
And those chained hands, that never seem to break, no matter how hard I try to pul
l away from him when he is around.
We get told of fairy tales, of Prince Charming, but what about the devils that live below? Do they not need love too? Obviously, they want it, and mine is proving that he’s going to do everything in his power to keep it.
If it’s even love between us.
We haven’t said those words, and I don’t take them lightly after Dillan. Can you love and hate someone at the same time?
“I believe if I met you when I was younger, we wouldn’t be here,” he says.
“Where would we be?” I ask.
“Anywhere but here,” he whispers, holding me tighter.
Keir leans in and kisses the top of my head before he lifts my chin and places his lips to mine. How can he want to kiss right now? And why am I not pushing him away? I hate that I love his touch. It’s unlike all other touches before him.
It’s tender, but he also knows how to punish.
Tonight, he is tender.
His fingers gently caress my cheek as I kiss him back. What’s wrong with me? It must be the drugs I’m on. I am fricking hallucinating on all the damn drugs.
That has to be the answer.
Pulling back, I break the kiss. “My mouth is sore.”
Keir eyes me, then nods and pulls me in before he kisses the top of my head and switches the television on. I relax into his embrace and fall asleep on his chest.
I hate to admit it, but it’s one of the best sleeps I’ve had in a long time.
Yeah, it’s probably the drugs.
Someone is speaking in a hushed tone. As I open my eyes, I see Joey whispering to Keir. They both notice I’m awake and go silent.
Rubbing my eyes and removing myself from his shoulder, I sit up. “What’s going on?”
“Your parents are here,” Joey responds.
I look to Keir. “You called my parents?” I ask him. He nods and Joey just shrugs. “Oh, my god, get out of the bed.” I try to push him, but I only have one working hand, so it does fuck all. He chuckles at my attempt before he leans in and kisses my head again, then goes to remove himself from the bed. But before he can get out completely, the door opens and my parents walk in, their faces masks of shocked horror.
