Alec pounced, but I couldn’t let myself give in. The two of us wrestled, knocking into the furniture and causing a vase to fall from the sideboard onto the floor. Exhausted, every bone in my body protested against the continued exertion I was putting myself through, but I had to.
I was fighting for my life.
Flinging my hands into Alec’s face, I scratched my nails down his cheeks, hard enough to draw blood, but earning another smack to my face. My cheeks blazed, and wracking sobs escaped me as I continued to fight against him.
He gained the upper hand, though, pinning me to the ground. My eyes widened in horror at realizing he’d picked up the fallen vase and held it above his head. The last thing I saw was him bringing his hand down, before pain exploded in my brain, and myvision went black.
My entire body throbbed in agony. I slowly opened my eyes—well, eye. One had swollen shut. With my head pounding, I pulled myself into a sitting position and glanced around the living room, taking in the mess.
It looked like Alec had continued to destroy the house after knocking me unconscious. The coffee table was overturned, the drapes had been pulled down, and every photo frame had been shattered.
Wiping my forehead, bright red blood smeared my fingers, and I knew I needed help. I held my breath, listening intently to any signthatAlec was still in the house.
Silence.
Prayingthathe’d left, I stumbled to my feet, my knees wobbling, and nausea threatening to expel from me.
I tiptoed to the hallway, once again listening for any signthatAlec was out there, but when I was still met with more silence, I crept along the hallway, using one hand to cradle my side, the other clasping at the wall to hold myself up.
My head throbbed, I was convinced my nose was broken, and from the burning pain in my ribs, I was certain he’d broken at least one of my ribs. Tears stung my eyes, but I hurt too much to let them fall.
I needed my phone. As soon as I called for help, I could lie down, close my eyes, and forget the pain for a short while. Making it to the kitchen, my gaze darted around at the carnage Alec had caused in here, too. It looked like he’d smashed every single glass, plate, and anything else he could get his hands on.
Careful not to stand on any glass, I crossed to the island, relief swamping me at finding my phone was still there, and Alec hadn’t taken it. I picked it up and unlocked it, my brows lifting at seeing I had a missed call and voicemail from Billie’s school.
My heart plummeted to my stomach. Something was wrong. They’d never called before. I jabbed the button to access my voicemail, waiting with bated breath for the message to play.
“Hi, Ms. Carter, it’s June Taylor here. I’m one of Billie’s teachers. I was hoping to speak to you about Billie’s absence. I know your fiancé mentioned she would be away for a few days due to a family emergency, but I wanted-”
I didn’t hear the rest of the message as my phone dropped to the floor. The barbed wire wrapped around my heart tightened so muchthatI was convinced I was going to die from internal bleeding.
My knees gave in, and I collapsed in a heap, my hands landing in fragments of shattered glass and adding to the wounds already covering my body as the truth sank into the marrow of my bones.
Alec had taken Billie.
Chapter 23
Jackson
Life had a funny way of working out. I strolled out of James’ house with a grin on my face, happy for my buddy. He’d gotten his woman, he was now the head of Legion, and I couldn’t have been happier for him.
My smile faltered as I slid into my car, a pang of jealousy slamming into me from nowhere. I’d never been jealous of James; all the time we were free and single to fuck around with whomever we wanted, I’d never had a need to be jealous of him.
But now he had something I didn’t think I wanted. He had a wife whom he was head over heels for. There was only one woman I wanted to be with, but Kiera and I, we weren’t meant to be. Not while she kept her secrets from me.
As if sensing I was thinking about her, my phone rang, the screen flashing up with her name. My brows furrowed. She was ringing me from her personal phone, not the one I’d given her. I didn’t know why, but something pulled tight in my gut.
Despite how things had been left between us the night before,thatfeeling had me jamming my finger on the button to answer the call.“Kiera?”
“Jack…”she winced, as if the simple word had caused her unbearable agony.“I…need…help.”
An alien feeling bubbled up my throat. Fear.“Kiki, what’s happened?”
“Please…just…come.”
The line went dead.
Before I couldeventhink about disturbing James reuniting with his wife to tell himthatsomething had happened to his sister, my foot pressed the gas to the floor, and I sped out of his driveway.
