Criminal: A Bad-Boy Stepbrother Romance (16 page)

"Where are we going to go?" I ask behind
the steering wheel.

We've barely turned out onto the road, and now I feel
lost, faced with our reality once more.

"Ryder's not gonna rest. I only grazed him, it
probably looked worse than it really is." Kaiden shakes his
head, his breathing a bit raspy. "I never should've let him
live."

"You did the right thing, Kaiden. You couldn't
just kill a guy. Have that hanging over you?" I shoot him a
look. "You'd be facing a lot more than three years in prison for
that."

He stills, looking at me with his face contorted in
confusion.

"I never told you how much time I was looking
at, Abby," he says, and my face goes red. That's because he
never told me. I found out when I was eavesdropping on him and Ryder
that night at the bar.

I lick my lips nervously, but I know I have to come
clean.

We're in this together now, no more secrets.

"I heard you and Ryder talking... fighting...
one night. Outside of the bar."

He stared ahead at the highway, clearly trying to
remember what was said, and he exhaled, his words dark.

"Oh. Well, then you know what this guy's capable
of, Abby. He's not going to stop until he gets his payback, but
listen, I have a plan, alright? I'm taking the fall for Ryder's crime
anyways. He got caught selling, it got violent. Ryder hid the guns,
but best case, he's still looking at trafficking and assault. If we
go to the cops, I have enough evidence to take him down. Not just for
the crimes he pinned on me."

I glance over at Kaiden, nodding along with his
words.

"If you think it'll work, but who's to say Ryder
won't just be let out on bail and get payback then? Like, witness
protection?"

He shakes his head.

"Naw, the big boss wouldn't let him. He
contacted me a couple weeks ago, after you moved in. He wanted me to
take Ryder out, to let him take the fall, but... with you here..."

He trails off, and I know where he's going with it.

With me here, Ryder could get his revenge even if
he's behind bars because of the big boss. I lick my lips thoughtfully
before nodding.

"Alright, so we go to the Sherriff’s
office, then," I say, and Kaiden gives me a pained smile, his
hand reaching out and gripping my knee. "I don't regret it,
Abby. I don't regret anything."

I exhale a breath I didn't know I was holding and
gave him a sweet smile in return.

There'd been so much messed up stuff happening, but
if it led to me being with him, I didn't regret it either.

***

"Why are the cops here?" I ask, squinting
along the long stretch of highway.

Kaiden is bothered by the sight of the road block,
even as he tries to brush it off.

"Probably just to catch drunk drivers."

"It's eleven in the morning," I say, my
nose crinkling, but there's nowhere else to go. Just the highway and
a whole lot of more highway. We're only ten minutes outside of town,
and my palms are sweaty against the wheel.

"Just act natural, Abby. You'll do fine. Just
don't draw any attention to us that we don't want."

I stare at him, and we both know that's going to be
impossible. We didn't have time to shower, our clothes still covered
in dust and dirt, torn and ripped in places, and his black eye is,
well... it's hard not to miss.

I slow the vehicle as we get to the traffic stop,
putting on the brakes as we approach the first officer.

"Is there a problem with the road?" I ask,
trying to be as sweet as possible. The man is likely only five years
older than me, still a bit baby-faced, and he glances to his
superior.

"Abigail Tuney?" he asks, trying to make
his voice sound deep and commanding, but he doesn't have to. The fact
that he knows my name sends a chill up my spine.

My stomach lurches, and I look at Kaiden desperately,
but he looks just as surprised as me.

"Y-yes?" I say, terror beginning to grip me
in earnest.

Are we arrested? Did Ryder already go to the cops and
tell them what we did? We still have the gun on us! Damn it!

Not like ditching it would have been any better,
since it's registered in my name.

"I need you to come with us."

"But... where?" I'm trembling, my hands
slick on the steering wheel, and I'm trying not to hyperventilate.

"We need you to just come with us." He
reaches for the driver's door, pulling it open, and I undo my
seatbelt. "Kaiden, you too," he adds on, and Kaiden's
already getting out of the car, his hands on the roof, his legs
spread.

Another officer goes and frisks him, finding the
empty gun in the low of his back, and I'm shaking so bad I can barely
walk. The officer wraps his hand around my upper arm, guiding me to
the cop car.

"What about my car?" I ask, my voice high
pitched, and he gives me a brief look of pity.

"It'll be taken care of."

The officer guides the two of us back to the back of
the cop car, though neither of us are handcuffed. That part stands
out to me as really strange as we start heading down the road into
town, but Kaiden's staring out the window, aloof.

It scares me that he's not looking at me, not
reassuring me, and my stomach churns.

I feel like I'm going to be sick, my mouth watering,
and I swallow it down nervously.

It's not long before we're pulling up outside not the
police station, but a grungy warehouse that I didn't recognize. It's
on the outskirts of town, and the only buildings nearby seem to be
long-abandoned.

"Where are we?" I say, looking to Kaiden,
and he looks simply defeated. He reaches out, squeezing my knee,
turning reluctantly to face me.

"The end of the road, Princess," he says
before the cop opens his door and yanks him out.

Everything is rusted, the building almost cavernous
as obsolete equipment littered the corners. Windows are broken in and
every high-heeled step echoed around us.

My legs barely work, and I have to be pushed along by
the young officer, prodded to keep walking towards my doom.

I can't believe that this is how it all ends.

That we got away, tried to do the right thing, and
that the end comes here, in a dirty, abandoned warehouse.

It's not where I thought I'd be at this point in my
life. I'd wanted to go to college, better myself. Be someone Mom and
Dad would be proud of.

Not someone dying with my step-brother at the hands
of some drug dealer.

"I heard about last night," comes a voice
echoing through the building, though I didn't recognize it, and
despite the sun outside, I can't see anyone. There are still so many
shadows, hiding places, and the voice sounds like it's all around us.

Footsteps echo as the cops stand their guard on
either side of Kaiden and me. Did Ryder pay them off? Did he have
that much influence in this town?

Kaiden stays silent at my side, his hands wrapped
into tight, angry fists. He took a hell of a beating, but he
certainly looked ready for more.

"I'm disappointed," the voice continues,
and I can pinpoint it to the left corner of the building, just hidden
between a bunch of rebar. "I thought you weren't willing to go
all the way."

The man who appears a second later isn't someone I
know. He rivals Kaiden's six and a half foot tall stature, though
he's not as muscular, just big. His suit is tailored and tattoos run
down his hands and up his throat, making him look menacing. Like a
thug gone professional.

"I didn't want to go all the way, but I didn't
have an option," Kaiden spits back with a sneer. "And load
of good that did me."

The man laughs, cruelly, and starts down the stairs
towards us, his eyes on me.

"Ah, yes. Abigail. The one you were willing to
throw away years of your life for. Good years, too," he adds on
with a glance to Kaiden. "The little sister."

I hear a low, angry grunt from Kaiden as he tries to
move forward, but a firm hand on his shoulder stops him, the cop
giving him a glare.

"Axel, I swear to God, if you hurt her, you're
going to regret it," he says, and suddenly it all makes sense.
Their boss. Ryder's boss.

Wait, they'd talked about taking out Ryder before?

I look at Kaiden with wide eyes, but Axel comes
nearly a foot away from us, and he's not scared at all. Why should he
be? There are two cops holding us hostage, just waiting for his word
to...do what, exactly?

Kill us?

A shiver goes down my spine and I look at the boss.
He's huge and intimidating, but Kaiden doesn't seem to back down.

"You two stink of sex," he says with
disdain, and I get a pit in my stomach of nerves and fear, but he
brushes the thought off without a second more.

"Well, Kaiden, I'm glad you decided to return to
me, because now that I know you're man enough, we're going to have a
conversation. And while we have a conversation, Abigail is going to
be in my office, waiting for you to come to her rescue," he
says, and instantly, the young officer behind me starts pushing me
forward.

"No!" I cry out, reaching out for Kaiden as
he lunges for me. Axel and the other officer, though, keep him
pinned.

"Leave her alone!" Kaiden orders, his voice
booming and angry, but Axel doesn't back down.

"Abby! It'll be fine, okay? You just wait for
me, I'm going to come back for you," Kaiden promises as I'm
dragged towards the stairs, the officer ignoring my struggles as he
picks me up and throws me over his shoulder.

I reach out, trying to grab Kaiden, but I'm already
way too far, tears streaming down my face.

"Kaiden!" I sob, kicking my legs. I can't
be taken from him! Not after all we'd been through, not after all
we've done! For years we've denied what we mean to one another, and I
can't lose that now. I struggle and writhe, the guard tightening his
hold on my naked thighs as he moves off the steps.

I grab onto the railing, and for a moment, I think
he's going to fall, bringing me with him, and I can picture myself
falling forward, hitting my head on the concrete, so I let go and he
catches his balance once more.

"I'll be back, Princess! Don't doubt your Prince
Charming," Kaiden orders. "I love you!"

"I love you too!" I cry out, my voice so
hard and filled with terror, but there's no stopping what's
happening. Seconds later I'm in a small, dingy office, and the cop is
trying to handcuff me to the chair.

The door is shut, and I can't hear anything else.
There's no sound except for the metal scraping the floor as I
struggle to escape the cop's grasp.

He backhands me, and it carries more force than I
thought someone like him could deliver, and I gasp.

In that second he manages to cuff me to the chair,
rendering me immobile.

"Just fucking sit still if you know what's good
for you," he warns as he grabs some of those plastic zip ties,
bringing one to my bare ankle, binding me to the chair. Both my hands
and legs are bound before I know it.