“Don’t.” The voice was familiar, but fear clouded my brain as I sank into myself.
There was talk all around me, but I blocked it out until I heard her. She was the only one I cared about. When her heels hit the wooden pier, I lifted my gaze from my knees to see her running toward me. The whole motorcycle club was gathered around, except for a few—Hawke being one of them—who were missing. They waited for Blaize because they knew I wasn’t comfortable.
“Kadence.” Blaize dropped to her knees in front of me, her eyes examined the cut on my neck and the blood coating my fingers. “Fuck.” She removed her jacket and pulled her t-shirt off her body, leaving her in a tight, black tank top, using it to apply pressure to my neck. “Who did this to you?”
“I-I don’t know.”
Blaize pulled me into her arms, and as much as my brain was protesting, I knew she was the only person I wanted holding me right now. She answered and came to me without hesitation. One of the guys opened the door to an SUV as she helped me crawl into the backseat, sliding in next to me and holding me as I sobbed into her chest. Blaize yelled for Sin to get in the driver seat, and then we were moving. Blaize soothed me, not drilling me for questions as we rode in silence.
CHAPTER 20
KADENCE
The drive was short lived as Sin jumped out the driver’s seat and pulled the back door open. Blaize gathered me in her arms, helping me to my feet while keeping her shirt on my throat. “Doc!” Blaize screamed as she shuffled us into the clubhouse.
I glanced at my hands and saw an unhealthy amount of blood. How could a cut bleed this much? She pulled me into the infirmary where Doc rushed in. “Goddamnit,” the older man cursed. “What happened?”
“P-people keep trying to kill me, Doc,” I joked, but his eyes narrowed at Blaize. “I-I don’t know who it was. He…he had a message for you.” I looked at Blaize. “Tell that bitch I’m taking everything she loves. I should’ve told him you don’t love me.”
“Kadence, I?—”
“Hold on before you dive in,” Doc said, not wanting to be involved in the emotional spill. “Remove the shirt, Blaize.” Blaize pulled the shirt away, trying to keep me from seeing my blood on the grey material, but she failed. That was a lot of blood. “You got lucky, kid. This person sent a message, but it’s not one of you in a pine box.”
Doc stitched my neck and covered it with a bandage. It felt weird being there on my neck, but I could be dead, so I guess I was grateful. He cleaned the cut on my breast, but it was a superficial wound and just needed a Band-Aid.
“I’m going to leave you two alone,” Doc said as he stepped out of the room and removed his gloves. “Keep that clean and let me know if there are any problems.”
“Okay, thank you,” I told him with a sympathetic smile. He was the buffer between Blaize and me, but with him gone, there was just us.
I thought about this moment for weeks. How it would be done and how she would react. Out of everyone, she was the only person I wanted. I had an apartment full of people I trusted and knew I could talk to, but I didn’t want Annika or her guys to comfort me. I wanted Blaize to let down her icy, dark walls and let me in so I could tell her what she did to me, and why it hurt. I wanted her to hold me while I cried and tell me how sorry she was for hurting me.
I took a shaky breath. “I’m sorry.”
Blaize’s brows furrowed. “Why are you apologizing to me? I’m the one that hurt you.”
“I should have told you. I was scared my past would take over the future I planned for myself. It wasn’t a plan to come here, to meet you, or for everything to happen. I just wanted a new life.”
“Kadence…” She sighed, pushing my hair out of my face. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry for hurting you. I’m sorry for making you relive a night I know you never wanted to remember.”
I wiped my eyes. “Y’know the knife to the throat still doesn’t hurt as bad as my heart does.”
She brushed my hair from my face, her hand lingering on my cheek. “I’ll repair the damage I’ve done to you, Kadence. I promise.”
Blaize looked at me like she cared for me, and I didn’t know if I should believe the look in her eyes or not. The last time I saw something resembling love and care in her honey eyes my world shattered…again. I wanted to believe the look was genuine, but I was tired of being hurt by this woman.
“My name is Caden Carpenter,” I breathed, my voice nothing more than a whisper. “I didn’t want anyone knowing who I was because I was…scared.”
“You don’t have to tell me, Kadence. Hunter showed me a news article.”
I shook my head. “No, I want to tell you my story, not what the news said. I fell in love with a man who promised me things, but in the end, he broke my heart.”
“Dominic?”
His name still felt like an inferno on my skin. “Yeah. He made me feel special, but I didn’t realize his lies were venomous. I didn’t see the red flags, and my dad hated anyone I dated. My track record for stable relationships is very low.”
“Did Dominic rape you, too?”
I shook my head. “No. He drugged me and tore my clothes. Liam Keller…he raped me.” I shifted uncomfortably. “Dominic was still in the room mocking me and calling me a whore. Liam told me totake it like a good whorewhile he did it. I couldn’t move or fight. I thought I was going to die.”
