Because of Kian (19 page)

“No. I can’t. If I do, I’ll just want to go back to him. And I’ll freak out again and leave and go back, again and again…”

“Brynn—”

“And he deserves so much more than that shit. Anyway, I’m home with an armload of groceries,” I cut her off, “so I’ve gotta go. Talk to you later.” Before she could say another word, I flipped my phone off and dropped it in my purse. As I fished for my keys, my door flew open. A vicious grip yanked me inside and threw me hard against the wall.

“I’ve finally got you, you fucking little whore,” Evan sneered as I crumpled to the floor.

• Find My Way ~ Nine Inch Nails
  
• Take it All ~ Adele
  
• Your Latest Trick ~ Dire Straits
  

Kian

“
Dammit…” Sage muttered as she suddenly picked the phone up again, punching a button and holding it up to her ear. She waited a few moments, listening and looking increasingly concerned. “Shit. It went straight to voicemail.”

“Because you mentioned me,” I muttered
sullenly.

“Yeah, but
I need to tell her about that creepy guy,” she murmured as she began to type in a text.

A painful chill instantly settled in my heart.
“What guy, Sage?”

“This weird guy who was asking about her earlier tonight.
I’ve never seen him before, but he said he knew she came in here sometimes.”

“
Do you have any idea who he was?”

“No, but he said they were old friends. Really light hair, fancy s
uit. He said something about stopping by her place.”

“Fuck… Sage, call the cops. Get them to her
apartment. Now! And an ambulance. I think that was Evan,” I barked as I started to turn away.

“Oh my God, Kian,” Sage gasped
.

“
Just fucking call, Sage!” I shouted back and bolted out the door to my bike.

Brynn

For a moment, I was stunned, wondering what happened. Why my head hurt. Slowly, my mind filtered in that Evan was in my apartment.

My warped brain tried to focus on little things
.

The
shattered appearance of the wall just around my front door. Evan must have kicked it in. How nobody else in the building heard it, I have no idea. He must have been here for hours, days or maybe weeks even. Watching, waiting until the other building occupants were out, off at work or something.
Had he been watching me all this time
? Splinters of wood and small chunks of sheetrock lay scattered on the hardwood around his feet as he closed the door behind us, cutting the light from the hallway outside my apartment.

I felt a
throbbing pain on the side of my head from where I’d cracked it into the wall. The pain actually made me nauseous, and I fought to keep the bile from rising in my throat.

“
Did you really think you could hide from me, Brynn?” Evan menacingly said from the shadows. “After you ruined my name with your fucked up accusations, did you really think I’d just let you go?”

He took a few slow, methodical steps towards me. I lay hunched over against the wall attempting to keep my breathing stead
y. Forcing the calm into my mind. My Zen. Over the time I’d been with him, as things had deteriorated, I’d learned that any type of response infuriated him. Self-preservation made me freeze up.

“You know, my
legal practice has gone to shit,” he growled as he stood over me. “All those rumors... the crap that you said, it’s a small town. Word got around. You ruined my career.”

He gave a harsh laugh as he swiftly kicked my thigh with his fine Italian leather shoe.

“And now, my own fucking dad says he wants me gone.” Evan’s voice was becoming more animated, more crazed as he spoke. “He says the situation is bad for politics. And it’s all your fault, you fucking bitch,” he grated out and he kicked at me again. My body curled instinctively in an attempt to shield from the blows. “Your bullshit stories have turned my family against me.”

Grabbing me by the hair, he pulled me to stand. A small cry left my lips as he pushed me up against the wall. He wasn’t a big guy, especially in comparison to Kian. But he was much stronger than me. His eyes were hard and his breath sour with stale booze.

“So, I think you deserve a little payback, don’t you?” His voice sounded vicious and deviant. “Now that your big tough bodyguard boyfriend isn’t around anymore. It took forever for him to get tired of your shit, but I’m a patient man. And I knew you’d drive him away eventually. You’re just too fucked up for anyone to really love you.”

“Evan, don’t…” My voice shook and broke.

“Don’t what, Brynn? Fuck you? Fuck you like you fucked me?”

“I never meant to…”

“Awe, look at you cry,” he taunted, holding my head still with a steel grip on my hair as his other hand began to slowly move down my cheek, my throat. It glided over my collarbone like the slither of a snake. “So pretty. Such a pretty little girl with the tears falling so sweetly down your soft little cheeks.” In the pale light filtering in from the streetlamps, I could see him leering down at me. “You were always the prettiest when you were broken.”

“Evan, stop,” I whispered. “You’re drunk, you’re not yourself and you’ll hate yourself for this.”

With a swift motion, he yanked at my hair, wrenching me closer as he slapped my cheek viciously.

“I hate
you
even more,” he snarled. “You ruined my fucking life. Look at what you’ve done to me.”

Then he turned quickly into the living area,
pulling me along with him. As we neared the couch, he shoved me hard, causing me to awkwardly fall against the heavy furniture.

“And now it’s time for you to make nice. To pay me back for all the shit you’ve put me through.”

For a moment, my soul surrendered. All the fight left me and I resigned myself to this fate. He’d beat me. He’d probably rape me. He might even kill me. I thought that this was maybe it, that I’d finally be free from him.

That he’d finally end it all.

But then my mind began to turn to Kian. His careful and quiet instruction echoed through the far corners of my consciousness. The shock of seeing Evan again, here in what I’d thought of as a safe zone, began to wear off. I began to remember some of what Kian taught me. The confidence he’d nurtured in me started to unfurl.

I drew on e
very conversation, every moment, and a strange calm replaced terror and defeat.

Evan
stepped closer, grabbing my shoulders with a bruising grip, pinning me down on the couch as he leaned over me. I mentally calculated the distance of my swing, what I could reach with a sharp kick as I forced my body to go limp.

My eyes drifted almost totally closed and I purposefully let a whimper escape from my throat.

And I waited.

“Oh, there’s the pathetic little girl I remember. Just giving up again, huh, Brynn?” I felt the sickening slide of his tongue against my throat, and a true shudder coursed through me. “I can taste your fear, you know. I always could.”

He carelessly leaned into me, presuming my capitulation. His hand left my right shoulder as he began to jerk up the hem of my skirt.

And still I waited
.

I felt his fingertips trailing up the bare skin of my thigh, towards my panties. Evan shifted ever so slightly, creating a little space between us to pull at the delicate fabric.

That was my moment.

With his attention drawn to my hips and thighs, I brought up my arm in
a sudden movement, ramming the heel of my hand sharply against his nose. I felt the crunch of cartilage and warm drops of blood.

Evan
had reared up in an attempt to avoid the blow, and I brought my knee up sharply, catching him perfectly in the groin.

Kian always said I had a good groin shot.

Evan’s body curled instantly with the pain, and I wedged my legs up between us, throwing him off me. In a second, I was on my feet and tearing through the door to safety.

Kian

I barreled through traffic as fast as my bike could go. My heart clawed at my throat as I pulled up to her building and flew through the front entrance to bound up the stairs. I’d just turned down Brynn’s hallway when I saw her racing out her doorway.

“Kian!” she cried as she ran into my arms.

Crushing her to my chest, I pressed my face to her hair, overwhelmed by the feel of her safely in my arms.

“Evan…” she sobbed.

I pulled back, grabbing her by the shoulders. She winced in pain, dropping her head, and I noted smeared drops of blood and a fiery red handprint on her pale cheek.

Everything in me went ballistic.

“Stay here, Brynn,” I growled as I pushed past her.

The fucker was just rising to stand
as I charged into her apartment, crouching and cupping his junk. Blood poured from his nose as he turned to face me. Pure rage filled me and every shred of inhibition evaporated. I grabbed Evan by the lapels of his fancy suit and threw him across the room. He crashed into the coffee table which splintered beneath him. I was on him in a second, swinging with all the pent up fury and anguish that had been building up in me from the time my mother died.

I wanted to kill the motherfucker.

He’d put his hands on my sweet Brynn for the last time.

Bones cracked
under the pounding force of my fists and his blood covered my hands.

“Kian, p
lease stop! You’re going to kill him!”

Brynn’s voice cut through my rage. Incredulously, I stared at her.
After all this, after everything this fucker did to her, and after all I’d done to bring her back to life, she was worried about Evan?

I rose to stand, dragging Evan to his knees before I pushed him back to the ground in disgust and faced Brynn’s frightened eyes.

“What the fuck, Brynn? Why are you protecting this fucker?” I erupted.

“No, Kian. I’m not…” she cried,
wrapping her arms around my waist, “I’m trying to save you. You can’t do this. You’re too good. If he dies, they’ll fucking throw you in jail…” she sobbed against my chest. “You can’t, Kian. You can’t.”

God, she felt so good in my arms
. Like my heart had been placed back in my chest. My blood was pumping and my lungs were pulling in the sweet air around her.

My paradise.
My heaven.

My Brynn
.

The peace of her love began to cut through my rage. I cradled her close to my chest and wrapped my arms tightly around her
. “I’m not going anywhere, baby,” I murmured against the top of her head.

I
faintly heard a groan behind me, then a click of metal. Time seemed to slow as I turned my gaze towards that piece of shit on the floor. Just in time to catch a glint of light reflecting off the barrel of a gun.

“I’ll just fucking kill you both,” Evan spat through his bloody pulp of a face.

I twisted my body around Brynn’s, enveloping her as I tried to shield her. Two shots rang out, and felt a searing pain in my shoulder followed by another in my ribs. A warm, sticky wetness began to seep through my shirt.

And then
, to my horror, Brynn went limp in my arms.