This whole thing is a fucking disaster waiting to happen.
The clock on the wall ticks, taunting me with every second that passes and I don’t know if she’s dead or alive.
Dramatic? Possibly. I’ve no idea who that guy was the other night, or really why he’s after Kas aside from wanting money, but one thing I do know is that his threat is real.
He was dangerous, I could sense it. I could see it in her eyes.
It must be well over two hours later when a key is pushed into the lock and the door is shoved open.
I’m on my feet in seconds.
I’m expecting her to walk in and wonder what the hell is wrong with me. That all of my stress has been unwarranted. But the second I get a look at her, I discover that I was very, very right to be concerned.
“Kas,” I breathe, racing toward her.
“I’m fine,” she argues.
“Fine?” I spit, allowing her to step farther into the flat and close the door behind her. I take in the bruises that are already colouring her face and the swelling around her eye. “You’re black and blue. And fucking bleeding.” Lifting my hand, I brush my thumb beneath her bottom lip to wipe away a trail of blood.
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Bullshit.” I follow her as she makes her way to the kitchen, dumping her bag on the counter.
“It was just a warning.”
“Words are a warning, Kas. Someone raised a fucking hand to you. That’s more than a warning.”
She sighs, reaching for the drinks cupboard.
“No,” I bark, my fingers wrapping around her upper arm and pulling her back to face me. “Tell me what happened. Why did you leave?”
She hesitates for a second, but in the end her lips part. “I just went to meet a friend. The one I lived with. To tell her what had been happening and why I’d suddenly abandoned her.”
“I told you not to leave,” I seethe.
“Yeah, well. I did.”
My teeth grind as I stare at her.
“It was fine. We had coffee, and then right before I went to get in an Uber to come back, some guy grabbed me.”
“Him?”
“No, one of his goons. He just reminded me that Jet is waiting. Made sure I’m not going to forget anytime soon.” She gestures to her face and something explodes inside me.
“This is fucking bullshit, Kas,” I bellow, the volume making her wince. I knew I should have called the police to stop it getting this far.
11
Kas
I don’t need to see Spike’s wild, fury-filled eyes, or hear his angry tone, to know that I fucked up today. I can feel it.
“Spike,” I sigh.
“No. Don’t fucking Spike me. I’ve been sitting here for hours, wondering if you were dead in a fucking ditch somewhere, and how the hell I was going to explain to your brother that I allowed it to happen.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“No? I’m meant to be protecting you,” he shouts, making me rear back again.
“I never asked you to. You were the one who dragged me here. I was perfectly happy with my old life.”
“Happy? Living in a squat and running from some fucking drug lord or whatever the fuck he is? Yeah, sounds like a great fucking life, Kas.”
“Fuck you, Spike. I don’t judge you.”
He laughs, but it’s low and menacing. “No? You judge me every time you fucking look at me. You think I’m easy, that I’m a man-whore. That’s the reason you keep throwing yourself at me, right? You’re testing me.”
All the words I want to say to him stick in my throat as I stare into his dark eyes.
“Exactly,” he spits when I fail to find a response. “Come on.” His fingers wrap around my wrist, and I gasp in pain.
Lifting my hand, he pulls my sleeves up and stares down at the dark bruising that’s forming from where that arsehole held me.
“Motherfucker,” he grunts, but instead of him walking off and expecting me to follow, my feet are suddenly lifting from the ground.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Shut up, Kas.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m fucking telling you to.”
“And what if I don’t?” I sass, unable, even now, not to taunt him.
“I’ll make you.”
I pull my head from where it was resting against his shoulder in shock, but when I look into his eyes, all I find is desire staring back at me.
My stomach clenches as heat races between my thighs. The need to keep defying him, to keep talking back fills me just so I can find out what it is exactly he’ll do to keep me quiet.
Just as I’m about to part my lips to respond, he releases me.
The second I’m placed on the edge of my bed, I miss his contact. A shiver runs through me as he steps away, taking his warmth with him.
“Stay there.”
My sudden coldness is forgotten the second I watch his denim-clad arse walk out of my room. My blood damn near reaches boiling point as my imagination goes into overdrive.
By the time he’s come back, I’ve shed my hoodie and am sitting in my skirt and t-shirt. The fabric has risen up my thighs, exposing almost all of my legs, but he doesn’t seem to notice as he lowers to his knees before me and drops his supplies to the floor.
“What are you—” His dark eyes look up at me through his lashes, and my words falter.
“I’m fucking looking after you. What do you think I’m doing?”
I watch silently as he dips a cotton ball into a small bowl of water and lifts it to my face.
I want to back away, to tell him not to bother. No one’s ever done this for me before, not even Mum in her more lucid times. But I’m powerless to resist and stay exactly where I am, waiting for him to clean me up.
It might only be a cotton ball, but I can’t help flinching when it connects
