It was then that I remembered him coming to my showing as I was leaving. The last moments before I woke up here played in my mind. Rowan had watched as this man hemmed me up and drugged me while he took my purse and did nothing. I knew Rowan and I had our issues, most stemming from adolescence and adulthood, but I’d never thought it would come to this. He spoke of how my mother and I had ruined his life, but deep down, I felt Row loved me. Hearing Damien say my brother was responsible for him taking me broke my heart in ways it had never broken before.
“He gave you up the moment he entered my gambling house, knowing he didn’t have any money for his habits.” He climbed onto the bed, sitting between my legs, and the tears I tried to hold began to fall. “You and Officer Hines couldn’t have ended things at a better time. Many nights I’ve sat outside your home and watched him kiss you goodnight. To think he’s touched you…” His words trailed as he placed his hand under my blouse, scraping my skin with his callous-tipped fingers. “I wanted to kill him and take what’s mine. We all know he hasn’t had you; they say it’s why he cheats.”
His eyes slowly raked my body as his hand roamed higher while I stayed silent, only a whimper escaping my lips. “Learning you were a virgin, Blossom, changed my original plans for you. I was going to send you to my boys in Mexico and have you make back all of the money your brother owes me. A pretty woman likeyou could make me awhole lot of money.” Dropping his hand, he leaned back and removed his shirt. I turned my head away, not wanting to see this man’s body. My repulsion didn’t stop his narration. “Fortunately for you, I decided to keep you for myself. And once I learned I wasn’t the only man watching you, I had to make my move before someone else could.”
“What… what are you talking about? Please, stop this, Damien.” I twisted and bucked my body from side to side as I tried my best to get him away from me as he began to rub his hands up my thighs. “I don’t know what you and Rowan agreed upon, but I don’t want this. Tell me what he owes you, and I will pay any amount! I will double it!” At this point, I was hysterical. “Let me call my father! He’s the governor and?—”
“Do you think I care about any of that?” His words were sharp, cutting through the sliver of hope I had that money could solve this. Placing his weight on top of me, he gripped my neck. “It’s past the money, baby. It’s about me and what I want now.” He nuzzled his nose against my cheek. “You, Blossom, are far more valuable to me. Now, relax.” He let my neck go, dragging his finger along my throat before he began to unbutton my top. “The sooner you come to terms with what this is, the easier things will be for you.” His eyes were filled with lust as he reached the last button. My red laced bra came into view as he slid my shirt off my shoulders. “Let me get a little taste before the real fun begins.”
Jerking my head from left to right, I screamed out again, hoping someone from upstairs would hear me over the music and commotion and come save me. Feeling his hardness on my stomach caused bile to rise in my throat. This was it; I couldn’t fight him off of me, no matter how hard I tried to wiggle my small frame. The cuffs on my wrists and my ankles had immobilized me. It was inevitable that he would be having his way with me. When I noticed a shadow move in the right cornerof the room, my heart pounded even faster in my chest. Thinking he had more men to come and join us, I began to cry. Panic set in as I hyperventilated, shaking as if I was having a minor seizure. As the shadowy figure neared us, I could feel myself getting lightheaded. I knew my nightmare was far from over, and passing out would probably be the best thing for me at this point.
“You don’t have to be scared of me, Blossom.” Damien gripped my cheeks and frowned. “Be the fuck still or?—”
Swish!
“Ahhh!” I screamed in horror as blood squirted all over my face and chest. As Damien’s limp body fell on top of me, I watched as his head bounced off the wall with a thud. He was murdered right before my eyes, and I knew I was next.
“Please don’t hurt me!” I yelled through my cries.
“I’d die before I hurt you.”
Am I imagining things, wishing JJ was here to save me?
The voice caused chills to run down my spine, so it had to be him. He and I weren’t even together, but I knew he would keep me safe. Feeling Damien’s lifeless body being lifted from mine, I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, unsure if I should trust my memory of JJ. If it wasn’t him, whoever it was could kill me too. Refusing to open my eyes, I prayed as I heard the man’s footsteps walk toward the other side of the room. It wasn’t long before the sound of running water filled the room before it was gone just as fast.
“Open your eyes for me, mama,” he said in a hushed tone. Feeling a cold, damp rag on my face, my breath hitched at the man’s next words. “Bloss Baby.”
Hearing JJ’s affectionate name for me made me open my eyes. When I locked in on him, I immediately sobbed, throwing my shoulders into his body. I didn’t know how or why he was here, or why he was always in the right place at the right time,but I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Moving swiftly to undo the cuffs on my wrists and ankles, he pulled me into his lap and held me closely as I cried into his chest.
“Thank you for saving me, Papa.” I hiccupped as I gripped the sides of his shirt. “I-I thought he was going to?—”
“Shhh, I got you.” He held me tightly, rubbing my back. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. He shouldn’t have ever been able to touch you, and I swear to you, no one will ever be able to hurt you again. Come on. Let me take you home.”
Lifting me from the bed, he tried to let me down, but I held onto him tighter than a scared child. Still seeing Damien’s headless body lying at JJ’s feet scared me, but the sight of his head, eyes wide, was something I would dream about for nights to come.
“He knew where I lived,” I said into JJ’s chest as we ascended the stairs, leaving from the basement-like room. “I don’t want to go there.”
“You don’t have to.” He kissed my temple. “I got you, Bloss Baby. I promise.”
Once at the top of the stairs, the brightness of the overhead lights caused my head to pound harder. The hallway was dirty and lined with various boxes. The sounds of music grew louder, but we appeared to be walking in the opposite direction of the action. Once we reached the metal doors, I looked up just in time to see his twin brother, Jax.
“She okay?” I heard the concern in his voice as we got closer to him. Seeing my shirt still open, Jax removed his hoodie and handed it to JJ. “Put this on her.” He nodded down the hallway from which we just came. “What you wanna do?”
Making sure I was secured in the hoodie, JJ looked down at me with dark eyes full of anger mixed with something else. It scared me, but not in the way that Damien did. His eyes caused my heart to skip a beat, and my body to warm all over.
“Secure all exits and burn this bitch to the ground,” he replied to his twin through gritted teeth as he carried me into the night. He was pissed and the danger rolling off him let me know his words were no joke. I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around his neck and breathe in his scent. That alone calmed my racing heart. As we neared a black truck, a door opened and JJ lifted us both inside it.
As he rubbed my back, he acknowledged someone else in the car before saying, “When I get the call to come back here, I don’t want to see shit but bones and ashes.”
Sippingfrom my glass of Hennessy, I sat in my living room, staring at live footage of Blossom sleeping in my bedroom. She told me she didn’t want to go home because Damien knew where she laid her head. Even though his own head was rolling around in a burnt building, I would never take her back there knowing she was uncomfortable. After bringing her to my home, giving her a small tour, and assuring her that no woman had even touched a pillow on my California King bed, she showered and dove in. She’d been sleeping peacefully for two hours now, and I wanted to make sure it stayed that way.
“Her car is outside, but I doubt she will want to drive it knowing that nigga has been in there,” Jax said as he entered the room. “I put her phone and purse on the kitchen island. Herfriend, Stacy, has been blowing her up, so you may want to call her.”
Hearing him, I said nothing as I pulled from my blunt and continued to stare at the screen. The night could have gone differently had I not had her calendar still synced with mine. When she told me she had a house showing, I knew she was going to close on that shit, and I wanted to surprise her with flowers and a date. When I got to the house and saw her truck outside and her nowhere in sight, I broke into that muthafucka with no regard. When I saw her phone and shit thrown all over the passenger seat, I knew something had happened.
I should have never loosened the reins and stopped following her.
After getting Jamir to check the surrounding footage to see what could have happened, all I saw was red when I watched that nigga break into her car, wait for her, and kidnap her. What pissed me off the most was her brother standing in the empty streets, rummaging through her things and doing nothing as Damien placed her in his car. Tracing them back to a gambling house outside the city, I raced against the clock, with my brother on my side, to get her back. Seeing him touch her, knowing what his intentions were, made me want to bring his ass back to life and kill him all over again.
