Figure Eight (Celtic Knot Book 2) (28 page)

Rage, fury, hatred were all feelings that festered inside of me as I drove the Aston Martin at breakneck speed trying to get to Kelly and Ashley’s apartment. I was going to determine once and for all what the fuck was going on and why she was trying to destroy my heart and my life. A hole sat in my chest where my heart once laid. I didn’t think I could even feel it beating anymore as numbness now set in. I let the rage and the anger take over, replacing the pain that I felt. If I concealed the hurt long enough, then maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to have to deal with.

Shifting gears with a determined fervor, I dodged through the cars lining the streets of Chicago on a mission to stop the fucking madness. I would give her whatever she wanted. I was ready to wave my white flag of surrender if it would get her to stop the accusations and planting evidence. If I didn’t convince her to tell the truth, then Knox and I would be going to jail after the trial because we had no proof that the file Russell found was fake.

Approaching the street where Kelly and Ashley lived I noticed Kelly’s, Ashley's, and that fucking prick Rownan’s car all parked behind one another. More anger, more resentment, began to load on top of the other angry emotions I was feeling when I spotted Rownan’s car.

I came to a screeching halt before throwing open the door of the Aston Martin as I parked behind all the other cars. Knox and Toby were quick on my tail, arriving just a few moments after I had. I stood on the concrete sidewalk staring at the entrance to her apartment building so long Knox and Toby had joined me.

“Nic, as your lawyer, I am advising you not to go in there. It will just cause you more trouble in the long run. As your friend, I understand your need for closure, but I need you to think with your head right now and not your emotions. Yes, what she has done is awful, but we don’t need for her to have any other reason to come after you again,” Toby said out of breath like he had just ran a race.

“I agree, man. Please, just think before you act,” Knox reiterated. Their pleas went past deaf ears. How the hell could I get a hold of my emotions, when they overpowered me? I was numb. Novocain ran through my veins and I was deadened of all power and sensation except anger and pure jealousy. It was a feeling that I was not accustomed to. Having to watch Ashley be with Rownan for weeks now had finally taken its toll on me and I was ready to snap. I wanted to break every finger on both of his hands that had the pleasure to touch her body when I felt it belonged to me.

Why the hell did I have to feel like that? So fucking pissed off at her for what she done, but still felt possessive over her in the same thought?

I ignored my two friends and broke through the wall they tried to put up between me as I pushed past both of them to make my way to Ashley’s apartment. There was no way in heaven or hell that was going to stop me from this.

I bound up the steps and threw open the front door to the building with enough force to send the glass shaking in the panes of which they sat. I heard Knox and Toby’s repeated attempts to stop me, ignoring their pleas. I jammed my finger into the doorbell of Ashley and Kelly’s place impatiently, sending a rhythm of ringing tones into the apartment. Several silent seconds went by before the door opened and I pushed my way in and came face to face with fucking Rownan Kleinfield.

“Where the fuck is Ashley?” I asked as I looked around the apartment. “Her car is out front, so I know she is here.”

“She is busy. Who the fuck do you think you are barging your way in here? I suggest you leave, mate, before I help you out.”

I laughed a full on belly laugh at Kleinfield’s attempt to scare me, before getting in his face, one on one, man to man.

“Listen, I am in no mood for your shit right now or for you to rub your and Ashley’s relationship in my face right now. By the way, did she tell you how I fucked her just last night? Did she tell you how I had her bound to my table, practically salivating from the mouth and pussy for me to fill her?”

I heard it before I felt it, the sound of skin on skin as Rownan reared back and his fist collided with my nose. The crunching sound of bone and cartilage was felt before the realization of what happened set in. I stumbled back slightly as blood began to pour from my nose. I was still numb from everything and felt nothing but anger. Not even the pain from his punch could be felt as I approached him once more, sizing him up and down.

“Is that all you got?” I spat in his face once more and watched as droplets of my blood splattered upon his face.

“You don’t fucking deserve her, you asshole,” Rownan said in practiced calm.

“Oh, and you think that you do? Let me tell you, that woman is a fucking man-eater. She will steal your heart from you and bust it wide open, only she leaves splinters behind. Pieces of her that make it damn near impossible to forget. I won’t forget. You see that body of hers? It belongs to me. I own it. I own every piece of her and if you think that she is going to magically fall in love with you and run off to live some fucking fairy tale, you are dead wrong Kleinfield.”

I shoved against his chest hard sending him stumbling backwards and that was all it took before we went to blows, each of us fighting for one mutual interest that had brought us to this moment.

Ashley.

Swing after swing we traded blows, knocking over table lamps and knickknacks before we both came crashing to the floor with me on top of Rownan. I held him down with every ounce of strength I could as my fist collided with his face and jaw in a torturous rhythm. I was so caught up in my quest for revenge against him that I didn’t hear or see Knox and Toby come rushing into the apartment. I heard the sound of female squeals as Kelly and Ashley joined them moments later.

“Dominic, stop!” Ashley pleaded with me and I turned toward the sound of her voice giving Rownan open opportunity to land a hard blow against my jaw. Knox and Toby were on me the moment it happened knowing that his punch would only anger me more.

“Dominic, stop please,” Ashley pleaded with me again and after looking around at the mess Kleinfield and I had made of the apartment, and the now bruised, bloody and swollen face of Rownan, I lifted my hand in surrender and climbed off of him, as Knox and Toby both lifted me up to assist.

“Jesus Christ, Nic. What the fuck? Assault charges on top of everything else? That is just what you need,” Toby said leaning in so that I was the only one who could hear. The girls stood there staring, not believing what they had just witnessed. The door to the apartment was still open and I knew that the other tenants had to have heard the ruckus that went on. Toby was right. What the fuck was I thinking? That was the thing, I wasn’t.

Ashley made a dash for the kitchen before coming back and producing two cold, wet towels, one for me and one for Rownan. I was handed mine while Ashley seemed to pay special attention to Rownan’s wounds as she held up the towel to his busted lip and cheek in a comforting, and intimate way. My blood seethed in my veins to watch the interaction of the two. Ashley was saying something to Rownan, while Toby and Knox were desperately trying to get me to leave before the cops showed up due to one of the other tenants in the building calling the police, but all I could do was stare and watch the interaction between Rownan and Ashley.

“Nic, I think you better go before the police get here and you get into more trouble,” Kelly suggested and I was temporarily broken away from my stare down between Ashley and Rownan.

I nodded in agreement, but I wasn’t leaving here until I knew the truth and heard it from her lips.

“I know why you were in my club last night,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear. An almost unnoticeable gasp came from Ashley, but I didn’t miss it.

“Tell me, Ashley, why did you do it?”

I didn’t mean to be more attentive to Rownan’s wounds, but I did if for the reasons that Rownan’s injuries were far worse than Dominic’s, and also that I knew that if I got close to him, I would want to touch him, reach out to him to seek the comfort of his arms.

I was trying to attentively clean up the cuts on Rownan, trying to ignore that fact that Dominic was just a few short feet away from me. The blood that ran down Rownan’s face made my stomach turn. I had never been turned off by the sight of blood before, but for some reason the metallic smelling, red fluid had me feeling a little green. I had to hold onto Rownan’s forearms a little tighter to try and hold back from getting sick.

“I know why you were at my club last night. So tell me, Ashley, why did you do it?” Dominic’s voice boomed through the apartment. Freezing in place, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. How could I admit what I had done? My best friend’s life was at stake from a vicious, sick as fuck, delusional woman who thought that she had some weird chance in hell to make Dominic love her.

I looked at Rownan, the only person in the room who
did
know what I had done at the club last night, and tried to seek help from him with my eyes as to what to do. He registered the panic in my face, but didn’t say anything, possibly due to his jaw being broken. He just nodded at me to indicate that everyone was staring at me.

I felt myself shrink as everyone and everything around me started to spin. I felt like I couldn’t breathe and my chest felt tight. I could feel a full panic attack coming on and knew I was going to be sick. I sucked in as much air as I could. Sirens could be heard in the distance, and Kelly, Toby and Knox all begged to try and get Dominic to leave. I needed to get him out of here.

“I don’t owe you or anyone else in this room an explanation. If you will excuse me,” I said sternly before I walked past all of them and ran down the hallway to the bathroom. Before I got the chance to shut the door, I heard everyone trying to coax Dominic out the door before the police arrived. I prayed in my heart that Rownan wouldn’t seek charges against Dominic. I had put him through so much already, and the last thing he needed was to have more charges brought against him. I barely made it to the toilet in time, knocking items off of the sink along the way before I got violently ill. I threw up so long, that all that was coming from me were dry heaves. I don’t understand how I could even throw up anything in the first place, when I hadn’t eaten anything at all today.

Kelly knocked on the bathroom door before entering and came in holding a tall glass of water. I used some toilet paper to wipe at my mouth before accepting the glass from her and hoping that if I drank it would stay down.

“Did he leave?” I asked Kelly knowing she would know who I was referring to.