Chapter 39

Daelyn

By midnight, my stomach’s a twisted mess and I’m panicking.

Daelyn : Call me.

Addie’s asleep in her room. She crashed an hour ago, saying she was so happy to be back in her own bed.

Pacing my bedroom, I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. My nerves are shot. I’ve just outed not only myself, but my family—because that’s what Kaleb and the rest of his crew are to me, whether they’re good or not.

And I gave them up to save the one I love most, and someone I barely know.

Staring at my cell, I’m positively seething because I’ve been left on delivered, just like the five other times I’ve texted this evening.

Daelyn : I’m scared.

Kaleb might not be home for another five days, but the time bomb I’m straddling is already ticking. Fuck my life . And Fuck Dmitri too, because he showed me what safety and peace felt like and then stripped me of both by taking me back to reality.

The best week of my life will cost me my entire future.

Rubbing my tired eyes, I creep downstairs, so I don’t wake Addie, and head to my laptop. There’s no way I can fall asleep, so I might as well stay busy and get work done and stay distracted. Opening the website to my bank account, I transfer all of it into Addie’s. She doesn’t know I’ve opened this one for her. All the money I get from the state to be her guardian goes into this account, so she’ll have a nice chunk to start college with. If not college, then she can invest it or buy a house or something. No matter what, she won’t have to depend on someone else to get ahead in life.

Unlike me.

My heart aches over Kaleb and I don’t even understand why. He’s awful. And yet…

My back sliding glass door creaking open makes me freeze. Dmitri . Relief flows through me, having him come back. I’m sure he’s going to be mad that I forgot to put that wood slab back on it to keep it secure, but in my defense, I have a lot going on and those burnt pancakes kept setting the alarm off earlier.

“I’ve been calling and texting you all fucking night,” I say, getting up from my desk and heading into the dark kitchen.

“I know.”

My heart stops.

Ace stands in front of me, his gaze blazing with fury. He holds up a cell phone that’s not his, and on it are the texts I’ve been sending Dmitri. How on earth does he have D’s cell phone? “You fucked up, Dae.”

I take a step back. “I… listen… I can explain—” I stumble over Addie’s beach bag and crash onto the floor. Ace storms over and grabs me by the hair, his face inches from mine and I see his eyes are bloodshot. He drags me into the living room and shoves me against the wall.

“Dae?” Addie yells from upstairs. “You okay?”

My eyes widen with terror. Oh my god. Oh my god . Ace glowers at me and puts his finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet.

“Dae?” Addie calls out again. We hear her pad across her bedroom and open the door.

“I’ve got this one,” the woman says behind Ace. “You take care of that little bitch upstairs. Permanently .”

“No problem, boss.”

Panic races in my veins when Ace lets go of me to race up the steps. “Addie! Run !”

But it’s too late. I hear her scream. A door slams. There’s a bunch of banging and I try to fight off the person pinning me down so I can get help. But the woman on top of me has a gun to my head and something sharp in her hand that burns when it pricks me.

The last thing I see is that bitch’s face in mine. Her blonde hair. Her piercing blue eyes. Her red mouth. It’s her .

“You were supposed to be dead,” I mumble, just as the drugs take me.

???

Dmitri

I’m cuffed to the wall of a familiar room.

Daelyn said Kaleb was unpredictable, but so far, I find that untrue. I’m right where I suspected he’d take me.

Groaning, I tip my head back, and try to stand so my shoulders are no longer bearing my weight. I was clocked in the head pretty fucking hard in that alley and I had to play sleeping beauty while Kaleb took my phone and my knife out of my pockets before him and his boy hauled my ass into the back of a truck and straight to here.

Now I’m tied to the wall, the same one I fucked Daelyn against that first night, and I feel like I deserve a prize for playing possum so well. It was a test on self-control I nearly failed.

I’ll continue letting Kaleb think he has the upper hand for now. I work best when I’m being underestimated.

“Oh good, you’re finally awake.” Kaleb’s so close to my face I could bite his nose off.

“Your breath wreaks.”

He shoves my head back, slamming it against the wall.

Laughter bubbles out of me.

He paces back and forth, seething.

“You can’t win this fight, Kaleb.”

“I already have.” He punches me hard in the belly next.

I wheeze, then laugh again. “Try harder, motherfucker. You hit like a little bitch.”

Kaleb hits me in the head again, and my vision flashes black for a second.

I laugh some more.

At about five inches shorter, and probably fifty pounds of muscle lighter than me, he’s still a force to be reckoned with. And I need to tread carefully so I don’t accidentally die prematurely of a fractured skull or some shit.

“I fucked her here, you know.” Looking around the room makes me feel slightly nostalgic. “Right here, against this wall, I had her wrists raw from these cuffs and cunt drenched around my fat dick.”

Kaleb groans and covers his ears, but not well enough since he’s still holding his Glock.

“You brought her right into my arms, Kaleb. I guess I should thank you. She’s the best pussy I’ve had in a while.”

He rears up and screams in my face.

“Kaleb, knock it off.”

We both glance over at a blonde woman standing in the doorway.

“Mommy’s home,” I tease in a low voice.

Her heels click-clack against the floor as she saunters closer. “You look so much like your father,” she says to me.

I swallow back my rebuttal. She’s not worth wasting my breath on.

Gretchen Calloway trails a sharp, red fingernail down my torso, scraping my skin. “She chose this animal, Kaleb,” she chides smoothly. “Your precious girl picked this monster over you. She turned on you in less than a fucking week .”

His body language changes completely.

Where I merely pissed him off teasing him, his mother has actually triggered him.

Fucking hell, I hope Daelyn’s got her doors locked like I told her to. I’m not sure what time it is, but I’ve got everything in place to keep her and Addie safe and a car will be on its way soon for them. Ryker, Vault, and Knox don’t know what I’ve done and I’m hoping by the time they find out, this will all be over.

Gretchen runs her tongue along her pearly whites, eyeing me up just before she speaks to her son. “Daelyn’s always been a disappointment. I don’t know why you put so much effort into someone who doesn’t deserve you.”

“Shut up,” Kaleb growls behind her. “Shut. The fuck. Up.”

“I’m only telling you what you need to hear.” Gretchen turns to him. “Dae’s betrayed you with the man who killed your father. She fucked this man, over and over.”

All the air blows out of Kaleb as the color drains from his face. “I told her to fuck him. You… you told me to do this. She followed my orders because it’s what you wanted. Daelyn’s a good girl.”

“She’s a whore.”

Kaleb gets in her face. “Don’t talk about her like that!”

“Or what? You’ll do something about it?” Gretchen laughs. “Please. You’re so fucking weak, Kaleb. I had such high hopes for you, but you’ve remained sloppy and pathetic. Your father was right. I should have aborted you.”

Jesus Christ. This woman is horrible.

“You’re pathetic. A weak little boy who could never do anything on his own. Even Daelyn is sick of your shit.”

Kaleb’s heavy breaths rattle out of him. His nostrils flare. His hand trembles when he raises his gun to her. “Shut up.”

Gretchen laughs at him, just like I had. “Get that goddamn gun out of my face, Kaleb.”

He pulls the motherfucking trigger.

???

Daelyn

“There she is.”

My heart swells at those three words, my memory buzzing like a little honeybee bouncing across a flower field, bringing me back to Dmitri. “ I’ve never love-loved a woman in my life. I’ve never seen one and thought, There she is .”

“Dmitri?” Groggy and disoriented, I blink a few times and his face comes into view. Except he’s a lot thinner, and his hair is longer, and he’s got facial piercings. Fury quickly sobers me when I realize who this is. “Ace.”

“Wakey, wakey, Dae.” He slaps the side of my head, making it pound harder.

“Addie.”

“She’s been taken care of,” he spits out like she’s trash. “About fucking time, too. I was sick of babysitting her.”

Pure grief consumes me. Tremors takeover my body as a sob rips from my sore throat. “No.” Drool dribbles from my mouth and I can’t hold my head up. Sucking in a lungful of air, I scream and shake against my restraints. “ No !”

“You did this to yourself,” Ace sneers. “You fucking sealed her coffin when you sold Kaleb out.” He holds a gun to my head and the look on his face is a mix of anger and resentment. “I should do us all a favor and blow your goddamn brains out right now.”

I wish he would.

The guilt of Addie’s death on my hands is unbearable.

She was all I had to live for.

And now she’s gone .

Ace has scratches all over his face and arms. She must have tried to fight him off.

“How could you do this to her?” I scream.

Casey’s holding me up, which I didn’t realize until now.

“I didn’t do this to Addie, Daelyn. You did,” Ace claps back.

Pop! A gun goes off somewhere in the warehouse we’re in.

“Shit.” Ace pulls away from me and looks up.

“Get the fuck away from her.” Kaleb marches down the steps with blood sprayed all over his face and chest.

Ace steps back and Casey lets me go, his hands raised in surrender.

The closer Kaleb gets, the more I shrink. Oh God . A familiar numbness creeps up my limbs and I welcome it. I detach completely. He can do whatever he wants to me, and I’d deserve it. No punishment would be severe enough for what I’ve caused Addie.

“The fuck?” Another of our crew steps up. “Kaleb, what did you—”

A bone-chilling scream tears out of Kaleb, and he spins around, firing off eight rounds, dropping our crew like flies. Then he storms straight towards me and raises his fist. “You stupid fucking cunt.”

He breaks my nose.

I don’t feel it.

He kicks my stomach.

I don’t care.

Kaleb snatches my hair and pulls my head back. Whatever he’s searching for in my eyes, he must not find. I’ve truly checked out.

“Kill me,” I say calmly.

“You’re not getting out of this so fucking easy, Daelyn.” He yanks me forward, but I crumble to the floor. Whatever drug his mother shot into me has almost worn completely off, but I’m not going to let him figure that out. Especially considering my body doesn’t seem to want to function after the news of Addie’s d—

A fresh sob blows out of me. “She was a kid!” I scream on my hands and knees.

Kaleb kicks my ribs, sending me sprawling across the floor.

Everyone is here. Kaleb’s entire crew. And most of them are dead on the ground.

He’s lost his goddamn mind . I’m not going to be able to control or reason with him. And I’ve done this to myself. He knows I’ve betrayed him. He’s taken everything away from me.

Dmitri…

I hope he stays away. Maybe he left my texts on delivered because he blocked me and has packed up and left town. I hope so. I hope—

“Casey, grab my girl a chair. The show’s about to start.”

Casey quickly follows orders and within a few heartbeats, Kaleb’s slinging me into a folding chair. “You get the best seat in the house for this fight, babygirl.” He pulls out my cell and takes a picture of me. I can only assume he’s going to text it to Dmitri.

“He’s not going to come,” I say, taking shallow breaths. “If you think… Dmitri is… going to swoop in here… and save me… you’ve got him all wrong.”

“The picture isn’t for him, it’s for me.” Kaleb spits on my forehead, then caresses my cheek. “You look so beautiful, all busted and broken.” His smile makes my stomach churn. “Sorry you lost Addie.”

“Don’t you dare say her name,” I growl.

Kaleb cocks his gun and aims it at my head.

“Do it. Pull the trigger.” I lean in with no fear. “Fucking do it, you sorry piece of shit!”

He hesitates, and I use the precious seconds to do exactly what Dmitri taught me. In three swift moves, I’ve disarmed Kaleb and have the gun pointed at him.

I pull the trigger.

Click .

I pull the trigger again, and again, and again. Click, click, click . My eyes widen with terror.

Kaleb’s smile makes me back up. “You’re adorable when you’re stupid.” He easily knocks the gun out of my hand, sending it sliding across the floor where Casey picks it up.

“You were really going to kill me,” Kaleb seethes. “After everything we’ve been through, babygirl?”

“You mean after everything you’ve put me through.”

“It was for your own good,” he snaps. “Everything I did, I did out of love. You’re my girl.”

“No, I’m not.”

His smile gets even worse. “You will be.”

“Daelyn.”

That voice.

My heart screams in horror when I see Ace escorting Dmitri down the steps at gun point. His face is busted and there’s blood all over his clothing. When his gaze lands on me, they narrow viciously.

Ace kicks Dmitri in the back, sending him tumbling down the remaining flight of metal stairs.

“Daelyn,” he grunts, staggering back to his feet. Blood pours from a fresh cut on his head.

“Your sister’s dead, Dmitri.” Kaleb whirls on him with that awful smile. “Daelyn killed your little Addie.”

“ Addie .” Dmitri stumbles forward, loses balance, and falls to his knees again. Vomit flies out of his mouth. I think he’s concussed. Or drugged. Maybe both? Dmitri looks me dead in the eyes asks, “Is she dead?”

I don’t know if I should lie or tell the truth. Which will help him more right now?

Before I can answer, Kaleb shoves me, tipping me and my chair over. I crack the side of my face onto the floor and cry out.

Then all the cell phones go off with this horrible noise and large projection screens slide down from their wall mounts.

Tick, tick, tick…

BOOM.