“He’s a dead man, Jeremy. I don’t give a fuck if I go down for this either. He’s dead.”
“Leave no witnesses,” he adds.
“I’m serious. You can’t get involved in this. I won’t let you go down too.”
“That’s why we’re not leaving witnesses, Royal. Neither of us is going down,” he says as he reaches for the bag on the floor and pulls out two guns. He passes me one, which I take and shove into the back of my jeans, turning to head for the door.
“No plan?”
“Yeah. Kill him,” I reply before stepping out the door. Jeremy is right behind me as we head toward the gym. Anger burns inside me like I’ve never felt before. I can’t believe he’d actually do this. I can’t believe he has her.
Rage slowly begins to consume me as we make it to the gym. I glance around, and there isn’t anyone here right now I need to worry about, but I’m sure Brent has guys inside watching her.
I storm through the door, pulling the gun from my jeans as I go. Jeremy is right behind me, ready to go too.
“Back rooms?” Jeremy asks. I nod my head because that’s the only place he could lock her in. I open the first door, but there’s nothing. Jeremy moves to the next door, but she’s not there either.
I stop at the last room, and the door is locked. I motion to Jeremy that she has to be in this one. I unlock the door and shove it open, ready to fire when I see her on the floor curled into a ball. I glance around quickly, but there’s no one here.
“River?” I call her name, hoping like hell that she isn’t gone, or that those cuts weren’t deep enough. She slowly lifts her head and sobs when she sees me. I shove the gun back into my jeans and drop down next to her while Jeremy watches the door.
“I was looking for you,” she cries as I lift her in my arms and cradle her against me.
“I’m so fucking sorry I wasn’t here. Who did this?”
“Brent made Jim do it,” she sobs as she clings to me. I nod my head and stand on my feet.
“You shoot anyone who comes in,” I tell Jeremy. He nods his head, and we follow him out of the room and back down the hallway. Strangely, he doesn’t have anyone watching her, but I guess she wasn’t going anywhere.
We make it out and head back down the block to the warehouse. I set her on the floor, grab the first aid kit we keep, and clean her wrists up before bandaging them up.
“What were you doing here?”
“Looking for you. I couldn’t be there, Royal. I don’t belong there.”
“Did they find you here?”
“No. I went to look for you at the gym, and he grabbed me before I could leave. He said you missed a fight,” she tells me as I wipe her tears.
“Fuck, River. I’m sorry.”
“Stop. You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” she tells me.
“For fucking leaving you at the hospital. For this. Fuck!” I roar as I stand to my feet, ready to punch the wall. River moves quickly to stand in front of me, grabbing my fist in her hand.
“No. You did what you thought was right,” she argues.
“But it was wrong, River. It felt wrong, and I did it anyway. I didn’t know how to help you,” I admit.
“I don’t know how to help me either, Royal, but I know being there wasn’t helping. The medicine, the bullshit shrink. None of it helped. I need you.” Her admission takes me by surprise, but I need her too.
“Fuck. I missed you.” Pulling my hand from hers, I grip her cheek in my hand.
“I missed you, too.”
“What are we doing? He’s going to know she’s gone,” Jeremy chimes in.
“We wait until tomorrow. Tonight we rest.”
