Damage (Havoc #2) (17 page)

“You start your life too,” I said.  He nodded.

We waited in that distinct silence of ours until Abram came.

chapter twenty-five

The car ride from the hospital was mostly silent.  Nate gave us space the second we got back to our suite at The Monarch.

I shed my jacket the second the door closed behind us.  I was still wearing the white dress I’d gone out to see Stefan in.  Before leaving with Nate last night, I’d thrown a sweater over it and slipped into flats, but the dress was now filthy, covered in bloody fingerprints.  I wordlessly reached behind my back so I could peel it the hell off.  I struggled for all of a second before Abram was behind me, his hands careful to touch only the zipper as he pulled it down.

“Isla.”  His murmur was tortured as I walked away from him.  I knew he was watching every second of me as I slid the dress off my body but I said nothing.  I wasn’t sure what to say to him yet.  My mind was in too many places.  I had just texted Stefan back and was waiting on his reply.  I was wondering if Stefan had an actual thought-out plan for “taking care of some important shit.”  I suddenly feared that he’d called all the area hospitals to ask if a Jesse Toro had been admitted.  But he wasn’t smart enough to that.  Right? I had a million different anxious thoughts racing through my mind and on top of it all, I was still angry and a little scared of Abram for how relentless he’d been last night.

Worst of all, I had no time to think about it.  A buzz in my hands and I jumped knowing Stefan had just replied to me.

yes awesome. Need u bad right now beautiful. come to the lux towers asap text when here im on the 26 floor just give my name to the front Steve Miller

Steve Miller.  I had to snort.  “Stefan wants me there as soon as possible,” I finally spoke to Abram, turning to find his eyes on me.  They brimmed with pain but he kept his voice professional.

“It would be best if you could get him to come here.”

“I tried already. I can try again.”

Abram shook his head.  “No.”  He stood across the room watching me.  I knew he was dying to talk to me, dying to hold me.  There was a space between us that was never there before and neither of us could stand but there was no time to fix it.  Not with Stefan to take care of.  “It’s okay,” Abram murmured. “We can do it there.  It’s just going to require a little more work on your end.”

“That’s fine.”

The extra work was clearing the suite and unlocking the door.  Sitting well across the room from each other, Abram and I mapped out the plan sans Nate.  He and Abram would arrive directly behind me at Lux Towers.  Once I got to Stefan’s room, I’d ask for a tour and make sure that there was nobody else in there with him.  He’d no doubt be antsy to get to business after that but I’d excuse myself for the customary bathroom visit right before, at which point I’d text to alert Abram and Nate that I was about to unlock the door.  After, I’d return to Stefan and use the sixty seconds I had to get him in the most vulnerable position before Abram and Nate came in.  They would secure him and after that, cover the floor in plastic.

At that point, I would be given permission to look away.

~

I was in sneakers, a T-shirt and the shorts I’d cut for my visit to Applejack Saloon.  There was no need to doll up for Stefan anymore and it was best for me to wear something I was fully mobile in.  I’d be leaving in a separate car, just like yesterday.  But this time, Abram was having trouble saying goodbye and Nate was giving him the time to simply stand there and study me, the air thick with silence and agony so palpable I couldn’t tell if it was his or mine.

“Abram, now’s not the time,” I whispered, ours toes touching as he gazed down at me.  “We can talk when it’s over,” I assured him, letting my fingertips just graze his chest.  But one touch and I was hooked as always. I couldn’t stop myself from running my palms down Abram’s front.  I leaned into his torso, giving myself five seconds to indulge in the comfort of his warmth.  He held me tight, his murmur soft.

“I know you think I’m a monster.”

“I think we all have our turning points.  And we’ll talk when this is over.”

We ended on that.

Alone, my car ride to the Lux Towers was spent with a surprising lack of nerves.  I wasn’t thinking about Stefan, I was only thinking about Abram.  I asked myself if I thought he was a monster and the oddly calm answer was yes.  I had never known anyone like him – with his dark past and tortured existence, his superhuman physique perfectly designed to deliver pain.  He was made to harm, to ruin.  Yet he was desperate not to.  But without Gavin, he no longer had that rock, that anchor assuring him that his wishes to be better weren’t just fleeting thoughts.  He was a good person who didn’t have to be defined by the wreckage he’d caused and I had every intention of showing him that when we were finished with Stefan.  Abram had the strength of five men combined and yet it was impossible for him to recognize the simple truth – that he did deserve to live free of his demons.

“Miss Maran.”

The driver opened my door to alert me to our arrival.  I gave him a polite nod and smile as I got out.  But on the inside, I was revved to go.  My body pumped with speed, adrenaline and the desperate wish to get this over with.  The fear I’d gone into the lounge with last night was gone, replaced by a feeling that vaguely mirrored excitement, which I found disturbing.  But there was no time to acknowledge that so I walked through the front doors of the towering hotel, texting Stefan on my way in.

Downstairs. Get ready for me ;)

~

Strung.  Out.

Those were the only two words I could use to describe Stefan when he opened the door for me.  His red-rimmed eyes darted with frenetic energy when he saw me and thrust his arms open for a hug I didn’t want to walk into.  “Hi,” my smile was strained as I let him embrace me.  His hands wandered as I looked over his shoulder to survey his suite.  It was expansive, with a bathroom and what looked like two separate bedrooms.  “Nice.”  I put on doe eyes as I looked around the room.  “Care to give me a tour?”

Stefan thrust his hand between my legs.  “I’d care to fuck you up against this door.”

“Charming.”  I pushed him away.  “Give me a tour.  I want to see a nice hotel room for once in my life.”

Stefan stared at me as if processing my words at a ten-second delay.  “Aw, baby hasn’t lived the good life yet,” he finally grinned.

I played to his ego and pouted.  “My boyfriend’s a cheapskate.”

“Oh no,” Stefan lilted against my neck, giving a quick bite and suck of my skin before tearing away to drag me around by the wrist.  “Let’s show you around then, princess.  Give you a taste.”

There was a bathroom close to the door.  I left my purse in it.  The living room was big but simply decorated and I did my best to look awed by it.  When we went into the master bedroom, I spotted two lines of coke on the nightstand before Stefan tossed me onto the bed and climbed on top.  “How’s that for a tour?” He clamped a hand over my breast, squeezing as he thrust his tongue in my mouth.  He tasted like burning chemicals.  I broke away from him, trying not to show my disgust.

“What about the other room?”

He unbuttoned my shorts.  “Smaller version of this.”

“Can I see?”

“There’s nothing to see,” Stefan muttered, struggling to get my shorts off as I refused to lift my hips.  “Help me out here,” he finally growled, sitting back to rub impatiently over his jeans as I slowly peeled off my shirt.

“Let me go to the bathroom real quick?” I asked in a dainty voice once I was down to my bra and shorts.

“Why do you girls always have to do that?” Stefan groaned, getting off of me.  “It’s over there,” he nodded at the master bathroom attached to the bedroom.  I looked at it.

“I want to use the other one.”

“
Why?
”

“I left my purse in there, okay?” I frowned as if confused by his outburst. “Don’t be a grump with me,” I murmured in a baby voice, forcing myself to give a flick of tongue with my kiss before hopping off the bed and out of the room.  Through the corner of my eye on my way out, I saw Stefan go for the line on the nightstand.  The fact that he was so coke-fueled somewhat scared me but at the same time, it felt like I was under the influence of some drug of my own.  Outside of my tasks, my mind was now blank.  I had tunnel vision and far less apprehension than I should as I closed Stefan’s doors and made a beeline for the smaller bedroom.

It was haphazardly locked, easy to undo with some aggressive yanking of the handle.  Ten seconds later, I was looking into an empty bedroom, the sheets on the bed looking slightly used.  When I heard Stefan call out from next door – “Hurry up!” – I ran out and closed the door behind me, bolting quietly into the bathroom to alert Abram. 
Done
.  I sent the single word text and slipped back outside to unlock the front door.  Only then did my heart start to beat a little faster.  It was pounding by the time I returned to Stefan.

He was sitting at the edge of the bed, down to his dark blue boxers, his hand moving underneath them as he kept his eyes fixed tight on me.  He stroked in silence for a little before showing his irritation.  “You should be naked already.  Get naked.”

“I’m sure you can ask nicer than that,” I sulked playfully, undoing my zipper at a snail’s pace.

“Get naked.”  Stefan repeated in the same short tone.

Thirty-four…thirty-three…
I counted down the seconds to ensure that I’d have to touch Stefan for the shortest amount of time possible.  “I’m getting there,” I murmured, shedding my shorts so I was down to my black bra and panties.  He let out a groan when I finally put my hands on his chest, pushing him back on the bed and straddling his torso.

“Yeah… let me see that nice body of yours, Mya.”

“Isla.”

“Come on, show me.”

“Patience, Stefan.”  I pushed my straps down one at a time.

“You’re killin’ me here,” he hissed as I reached around, pretending to unfasten my bra.

“Don’t be dramatic,” I scolded. 
Eighteen… seventeen
…

“Sweetheart, I don’t think you realize just how dire the situation – ” Stefan’s drawl stopped suddenly.  He looked from my breasts to my eyes and instantly, I knew something was wrong.  Slowly, he narrowed his stare at me.  “You just called me Stefan?”

I stared back, speechless.

Hissing, Stefan had me flipped and pinned to the bed before I had the chance to scream.  His hand darted under the pillow above me and pulled out a black gun that he shoved under my chin, the hard metal rattling every bone inside my body so hard I could almost hear them clattering. “You’re here with my brother,” Stefan murmured.

Worse.
  Panicked and shaking, I said nothing. 
Three…two…

My eyes squeezed shut when the door blew open as if rigged with explosives.  Stefan’s weight flew off me and I heard the sheer disbelief in his string of profanity.  Then I felt myself pinned down by my throat.  I opened my eyes to see a barrel between them.  “I’ll do it,” Stefan said calmly.  I had no view besides his gun and the white ceiling but I knew that Abram and Nate had their weapons pointed at him from the door.  Every second that passed felt like an eternity till I heard the gravel of Abram’s low voice.

“It’s two against one, Toro, and I’ll kill you before you can pull the trigger.”

I could see the underside of Stefan’s chin expand, the apples of his cheeks protruding as he broke into a grin.  “You’re going to kill me anyway, so I might as well take her with me.  It’ll be nice to have a plaything in Hell.”  He cocked his gun.

Bang!

I had to be dead.  It felt as if I’d been struck by lightning, my body buzzing and shaking.  I was gone.  I didn’t even bother to think otherwise until I heard Abram say my name with urgency as his strong arms lifted me off the bed.  I opened my eyes to find myself trembling, convulsing but unharmed.  My nails dug into Abram’s back as I looked around, every sense but vision rendered useless, as if they’d never existed.  It took several moments for me to register that either Abram or Nate had shot Stefan in the arm.  Pinned to the bed by Nate, Stefan was thrashing in pain and wild-eyed panic as he cried out.  I stared at him, numb, in a daze.

It dawned on me too late that he was calling out someone’s name.

“Abram!” I screamed when I saw the gunman in the door.

Bang!
Nate slumped over Stefan, a bullet in his back.  From there, my screams went on like a broken record.  They singed my throat raw and dry as I watched Stefan free himself, fighting off Nate’s dead weight with one arm, his fingers outstretched and inches from grasping his gun. 
Bang!
I heard the shot and then I felt Abram’s grip tighten around me, which told me that he had taken out the strange gunman.  But everything stopped when I saw Stefan hold up Nate’s gun and point it at me.

The world moved in slow motion, without sound besides distorted gunfire.  I pounded Abram’s chest so he would let me go, so I could run and take him with me.  We could escape together and find help for Nate.  People had heard, they had to be coming.  Stefan would be taken care of.  I could already see my feet hitting the carpeted hallway outside, my hands squeezed tight around Abram’s as we ran together.  I went as far as to envision sitting next to him at the precinct, one hand still entwined with his, the other holding a cup of hot tea as we told the cops that Stefan had put a gun to my head.  It was so vivid that I blacked out for a second.