11. Tessa

ELEVEN

TESSA

Nerves battered my ribs, and my palms were slick with sweat as Milo pulled to a stop at the curb in front of Karl’s house. Years of bad memories flooded my brain. Every one of them was a reminder of why I had to take a leap in this direction.

A leap I was taking for myself.

Fear had stopped me.

The worry that I had no other options.

But I had people who cared about me, and I knew they’d help me figure this out.

I glanced over at Milo who vibrated in the driver’s seat.

He was all burly monster then, aggression so clear in the way his hulking muscles twitched and flexed as he held on to the steering wheel like it was the only thing keeping him from flying out the door and seeking retribution.

Beautiful Beast.

“Don’t like the idea of you going in there by yourself,” came as a low rumble from his mouth.

Was it wrong that I liked it so much?

“If he’s here, it’s only going to make things worse if you go storming in there with me. He’s going to take it as a threat, and we don’t need that trouble. I’m going to grab a few things and my car, lickety-split, then we’ll get the heck out of here. He won’t even know I was here.”

Ferocity blazed through Milo’s expression. “You have any issues, you call me. I’ll be right here waiting.”

“I know you will, and I hope you know how much I appreciate that.”

I ducked out of his idling truck and rushed up the walkway toward the ritzy, modern house. I’d think it really super gorgeous if the douchenugget hadn’t ruined it with all his ugliness. Painted it in his overinflated ego.

Now, the monstrosity oozed with Karl’s pretension and snobbery.

I could feel myself getting tripped up in it where it leaked from the cracks and leached out in a thick, slimy bog.

Fighting the force of it, I climbed to the columned front porch, my pulse racing so wild I thought I might pass out.

I might have put on a brave face for Milo, but I’d rather spend an entire day locked in a classroom full of six-year-olds who’d popped a dozen cases of Red Bull than deal with Karl’s petulant ass.

I stole a quick glance behind me.

Milo watched me through the windshield, his expression coiled in pained restraint.

My chest panged.

It looked like he physically ached letting me do this alone.

And crap, this was all getting extraordinarily complicated.

These feelings.

These wonderful, horrible, terrifying feelings.

His kids.

His mother.

But most of all, it was the man.

I gave him a thumbs-up before I turned and moved for the door.

I eased the key into the lock so slowly, I could hear each of the bullets sliding into the groove. My breaths were shallow, and I pushed open the door to the spray of afternoon light that speared through the row of windows that sat high up on the two-story wall.

The alarm started to beep, and I rushed over to the pad and entered the code to shut it off.

It was a miracle.

Karl had actually respected my wishes for once and wasn’t there.

Maybe he didn’t want to deal with me, either.

My attention swept over the main room. Everything was white and sleek and posh and probably the most uncomfortable thing I’d ever seen.

Disgust pooled in my stomach.

This place was nothing more than a prison to me.

No more.

I took a quick breath and jogged up the stairs to the second floor. I went into the master bedroom and directly into the enormous closet.

I snagged a suitcase from the top shelf, tossed it open on the floor, and began to stuff as many things into it as I could.

Shirts and jeans and my favorite dresses.

Shoes.

I stuffed in as many of those as I could.

Obviously.

I dumped in an entire drawer of underwear and bras.

There.

Snagging a big tote from a shelf, I hustled from the bedroom, across the landing, and into the office.

Second to my car, what I needed most were the important documents I kept in a bin. I knelt next to the bookcase that had a row of drawers on the bottom, and I opened the one where I stored my things and began to frantically pull out what I needed.

Bobby’s medical records.

My birth certificate and social security card.

Pictures of our parents and a few of me and Bobby from when we were children.

The information for the storage locker where I kept Bobby’s possessions because I’d never had the heart to get rid of them.

I stalled out when the shadow fell across me from behind.

My racing heart chugged, and my blood thickened to sludge.

I’d never been afraid of Karl before.

Honestly, I’d felt little of it the night he’d hit me. Most of that adrenaline had been fueled by my anger.

I hadn’t ever felt an innuendo of it until yesterday.

And I felt the full force of it right then.

I thought maybe a veil had been lifted.

The one that had cloaked him in chivalry and hidden away a vileness I could feel curling through the air.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Venom cut through the room.

I hid my alarm behind a scowl, glancing at my phone, unsure how to play this. I could easily call Milo, but him barging in would only escalate whatever bullshit Karl wanted to throw my way.

I intended on throwing it back.

“Getting my things, like I said. Don’t worry, I won’t be long. Give me one second, and I’ll be out of your hair.” I said it like it was no big deal.

I went back to grabbing the few files I needed, doing my best to keep my hands from shaking as I stuffed them into the bag.

“You don’t get to do this.”

“And what’s that?” I kept it all so casual as I zipped the bag and stood.

Karl was at the doorway, dressed in his typical suit, not a blond hair out of place. But his blue eyes were cold as he stretched his arms out across the doorway. “Leave.”

I huffed. “We already went over this yesterday, Karl. Like I said, I’m finished with you. It’s over.” I moved around the desk and started his way with my head held high. “Now get out of my way.”

When I got to within a foot of him, he grabbed me by the throat, his hand cruel and unforgiving.

My mouth gaped open with the surprise, and a slosh of terror slithered down my spine.

This was different.

So different than I’d ever seen him before.

“Let me go, Karl, I’m not joking.” I hated that the pressure slurred my voice. “You’re not going to back me into a corner, and I’m not going to change my mind or conform to your will. In case you didn’t notice, I don’t give a shit what you say anymore.”

“Do you have any idea how much money I’ve spent on your worthless brother? He’d be dead if it weren’t for me.”

“And I’m grateful for that.” It was true. That money had mattered, even though it’d come from this jerk. “But you tainted it, and that’s on you.”

He squeezed tighter, and I did my best not to panic, but there was a fury in his eyes that I’d never seen before.

And my breaths, they were wheezing, my throat constricting to the point of pain.

My mind spun with a swirl of dizziness, and my fingers itched with the regret that I hadn’t tapped out an SOS to Milo.

I had little choice then.

Fight or flight.

I decided on the first.

I dropped the bag to the floor, and the sudden movement caught Karl off guard. Before he recognized my intention, I reached up, grabbed him by the shoulders, and shoved my knee between his legs.

Hard.

I found a sick satisfaction in the crunch.

Roaring, his hand slipped from my throat, and he stumbled back as he bent in two.

There was no time to relish in it because he straightened before I had the chance to grab my things and run.

He took a menacing step forward, and I took one back. Another, then another. The backs of my thighs hit the edge of the desk. “Leave me alone, Karl, I’m warning you.”

Condescending laughter rolled from him. “You’re warning me? I think you have this situation completely twisted around. I own you, Tessa. Bought and paid for.”

“You bastard,” I seethed. “It wasn’t like that, and you know it.”

“Wasn’t it?”

He kept coming, and he reached out to grab me by the arm.

I wasn’t about to let it happen.

I’d go psycho on his ass before he ever touched me again.

I slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

“You don’t get to make that choice.”

When he moved for me, I went feral.

Clawing and hitting and kicking.

Nails scraping as shouts ripped up my throat.

I was only half-shocked when I got in a good hit. My fist connected with his mouth, and his lip split open.

Blood dribbled from the wound.

It only made him angrier.

“You bitch,” he hissed.

He shoved me hard, setting me off balance, and I gasped when he had me by a wrist, then the other. He bent my arms back and pinned me to the top of his desk.

I flailed and tore and struggled to break free.

“It appears you need a reminder of your position. I spent fifteen-thousand-fucking-dollars a month to pay for your pathetic brother. This is the least you can do.”

He shifted both my wrists to one hand, the asshole trying to work his other hand between us like he was going to shove off my pants.

It created a gap between us when he did.

I took the chance.

This time, my knee hit him in the stomach when I drew it up fast. The impact knocked him off to the side, and I shot up to run, but then froze with the storm of violence that suddenly descended on the room.

Held in the dark malice that rained.

“What the fuck are you doing in my house?” Karl snarled.

“This.”

I couldn’t decipher if it was in fast or slow motion, the way Milo moved before he had Karl by the shirt, dragging him up and toward him. He cocked his giant arm back at the same time.

He delivered a punch to Karl’s nose.

One hit.

One blow.

Karl was facedown on the floor when Milo let his shirt go.

Shock hurtled from my lungs in rasping juts, and Milo glared down at him, too freaking calm for how Karl was bleeding out on the white carpet.

“Is he dead?” I whispered in abject horror.

“Unfortunately, no,” was all he said, his jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth would shatter.

“Are you injured?” he finally grated.

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

My nod was shaky. “Yeah.”

“Then let’s get the hell out of here.”

I nodded again, still trying to process what had happened, my attention on Karl, who wasn’t moving, as I slipped off the desk. I stared at him for a second before I rushed to grab the bag from the floor.

A frenzy lit, and I tossed the strap over my shoulder before I ran back into the master bedroom and into the closet.

I dropped to my knees, frantic, barely able to get my hands to cooperate as I tried to get the suitcase zipped shut. Milo was suddenly there, kneeling in front of me, taking my hands and setting them in my lap.

“Let me.” His voice was low. Back to that reserved quietness he wore at the club.

He zipped it closed, his gaze cautious as he stood with the suitcase and stretched out his free hand. “Let’s go.”

I nodded again.

Numb.

Shocked.

I didn’t know.

I rushed to keep up with him as he hauled butt out of the room and across the landing to the stairs. I warily glanced through the double doors of the office to where Karl had begun to moan as we went by.

Holy crap.

Did that just happen?

Milo gave my hand a tug, and he bounded down the stairs. I almost followed him out the door before I realized what I’d forgotten.

“I need to get my car.”

“Shit.” He almost looked like he was going to tell me to leave it.

“This way.” I turned directions, and Milo followed me into the garage. Three luxury cars were parked in the first bays, and my Corolla was in the fourth. I jammed at the button to open the garage door, and I moved for the car, Milo right behind me.

I got into the driver’s seat, my shaking hands going to the steering wheel, my breaths labored.

“You sure you can drive, Little Dove?”

“Yep, I’m fine. Great. Perfect, actually. You kicked Karl’s ass.” I grinned. All manic-like. But could anyone blame me?

Milo grunted. “Pull out and onto the road. I’ll follow you home.”

Home.

Right.

With my fake fiancé.

I laughed.

Laughed and laughed because this shit was hysterical.

Huh.

It looked like the insanity of it all had just caught up to me.