“Enough of this bullshit, Riley,” Chett spat. “I’m the best you will ever get. It’s about time you started appreciating everything I’ve done for you—”
He lurched forward as Nitro bodychecked him against the concrete wall. Chett struggled to free himself, but Nitro kept him pinned in place.
“I made myself very clear,” he said, low and quiet. “Do not come anywhere near her. Do not touch her. Now it’s time to meet the consequences of your own actions.”
Nitro grabbed Chett by the back of his coat and dragged him out the back door. There were too many people around, too many witnesses. So he kept moving, into a patch of scraggly woods. The heels of Chett’s boots left haphazard tracks through the snow as he flailed, desperate to get out of Nitro’s iron grip.
I didn’t follow. My feet were rooted to the spot.
What felt like a lifetime later, Nitro finally returned. His fist was clenched at his side and his knuckles were split, bloodied.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a hoarse, raw voice.
I didn’t know how to answer that. So I simply shifted in place, chewing my lower lip. Nitro frowned and cupped my cheek in his palm.
“Riley,” he said, firm but gentle. “I need to hear you say yes or no.”
I hesitated. This was the part where I needed to be brave, to continue living my life so Chett no longer controlled me. But I didn’t feel brave.
At last, I shook my head.
“I want to go home.”
Without a word, he wrapped an arm around my waist, leading me to his car. The ride back to my house was silent. I couldn’t stop staring at Nitro’s blood-stained knuckles.
How long would this continue? Why couldn’t Chett just let me go? I huddled in my coat, fiddling with my gloves, chewing the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood.
When Nitro parked outside my house, he circled around to the passenger side and took my head. Keeping me close, he led me inside.
“Take a bath,” he said softly. “It will help with the shock.”
I nodded, feeling as wobbly as a newborn fawn. I barely took two steps before Nitro was there, guiding me into my bathroom. He turned on the water, testing the temperature as the tub filled. My teeth started to chatter as the adrenaline wore off and I rubbed my aching arm where Chett had grabbed me.
Finally, I managed to ask the question I didn’t have the courage for earlier.
“Is he…?”
“Dead?” Nitro finished for me. “No. Unfortunately. Believe me, if I thought I could get away with it, I would.”
I covered my face in my hands. God, how did it get this bad? I hated Chett’s guts. But I didn’t want him killed.
Nitro stood behind me to strip off my coat. Then he brushed a kiss to the back of my neck—the faintest butterfly pressure of his lips. So light. So delicate. But searing hot. Burning. Scorching.
“I’ll be outside if you need me,” he said.
Then he was gone. I shed my clothes and slid into the heavenly warm water, hugging my knees to my chest.
Chapter six
Nitro
Riley stayed in the tub for nearly two hours. I paced her house, telling myself that I was doing a perimeter check. In reality, I was worried about her. She was trying her best to be strong in the face of Kramer’s onslaughts, but the way he grabbed her today, and the look of defeat in her eyes, told me that he was breaking her spirit down.
I paused outside the bathroom door, holding my breath as I listened. It was utterly silent.
Riley needed privacy. She needed time to compose herself in a safe space.
But this was taking too long.
