Page 6 of Rough Ride

“I said shut up!” Kye yelled as he grabbed the edge of the square table and flung it aside. Cards and cash went flying. Even Dhal’s ashtray of spit covered, empty sunflower seed shells sprayed around the floor. Dhal sat quietly for a moment, then stood so abruptly his chair crashed to the floor behind him.

“You wanna go, pretty boy?” Dhal asked and shoved Kye’s chest.

“Whatever shuts you up,” Kye retorted and shoved him back. Dhal swung and hit Kye in the jaw with his rock-like fist, and Kye tackled him and landed two punches to his ribs before they hit the ground.

“Knock it off!” Sammy said, grabbing Kye by the shoulder and hoisting him to his feet. Dhal was laughing as he sat reclined on the floor, thoroughly enjoying his ability to get under Kye’s skin.

“Don’t worry, pretty boy, I’m sure that whore will save a mouthful for you,” Dhal taunted, and Kye lunged for him again only to be held back by Sammy. That was when Kye heard Eliana scream. Shoving Sammy off, Kye vaulted over Dhal and crashed through the door to Max’s office.

Eliana was bent over Max’s desk, her face held firmly to the top of it by one of the other enforcers and her left arm twisted behind her back. The other man, Barret, had both handguns aimed at her while Max stood in front of her with a blank expression. Kye’s eyes must have looked wild because Barret turned one gun to aim at him, and it was then Kye realized he’d drawn his own weapon.

“Put that gun away, son,” Max said to Kye in his snakelike calm. “I was just explaining to Miss Granville her options; perhaps you’d be so kind as to reiterate for me.”

“Kye,” Eliana said in a pleading voice as she barely managed to look at him. Her face was red and eyes were leaking tears. The way her arm was pinned behind her back was dangerously close to dislocating her shoulder, and he could tell she was in extreme pain. “Kye!” she begged again.

“Do what he says, Eli,” Kye said, holstering his gun. While Eliana may have been pinned to the desk, they were both backed into a corner and at this moment, Eliana needed Kye to be the rock. If he lost his cool, he’d lose his position with Max, and it was likely the favor he garnered with the Senior Demon that was keeping her alive.

“Sound advice, Miss Granville,” Max agreed and placed a hand on Kye’s shoulder. “Your friend here is trying to keep you alive; I’d listen to him if I were you.”

Eliana let out a short sob as she struggled to keep her feet under her. The least movement sent white-hot pain through her shoulder and back to the point she could hardly breathe. What hurt more than that was the vacant expression on Kye’s face. She had expected him to come barreling in, shoot these assholes and be done with it. Instead, he was siding with them! It was enough to break her.

“Alright.”

“What was that?” Max asked coyly.

“Alright!” Eliana yelled. “I’ll do it!”

“Very good, Miss Granville,” Max said, and the moment he did the enforcer at her back released her arm. Eliana collapsed to the floor, and her hand immediately flew to her sore shoulder. Kye moved forward to help her up, but she pushed him away much to Max’s amusement. “Now, now, I’d hate to be the cause of a lover’s quarrel. Don’t be too hard on the kid, Miss Granville. Kye is my most loyal soldier.” Max moved back to his desk and took a seat in the chair. Opening the top drawer to light another cigar, he gathered the papers and handed them to Eliana who snatched them away.

“We’re not lovers,” she argued. Turning her scathing glare back to Kye, she sent every ounce of hatred and anger into him that she felt in that moment. “We’re not even friends.”

“Well, see now, that’s too bad,” Max cooed and snapped his fingers. The two enforcers began cleaning up the mess on the desk and gathering the boxes of case evidence from the floor to take outside. “You may not know this, but Kye has kept his eye on you all these years.” Both Eliana and Kye looked back at Max. “Oh sure, he made what… six trips down to Cambridge to see you?”

“Kye never came to visit me,” Eliana said in confusion, but when she looked back at Kye, he had a guilty expression.

“No?” Max asked, but clearly he already knew the answer. “Didn’t you know he was the anonymous benefactor of the All Saint’s Scholarship you were awarded four years in a row?” Eliana’s small gasp echoed her shock as she looked at Kye for the truth of it. His inability to hold her gaze was all the answer she needed.

“I’m going to be sick,” Eliana said and felt so lightheaded she had to lean over Max’s desk.

“Oh dear, we’ve exhausted our new lawyer. Kye, be a good sport and take Miss Granville home.”

“Home?” she asked, thinking of her house back in New Hampshire.

“Max…” Kye said as equal parts warning and request.

“Now,” was all Max said with a wave of his hand. Kye knew exactly what Max meant, and he also knew this was likely to tear Eliana apart. He gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and began leading her out of the room. “I expect a full update in one week, Miss Granville.”

Neither of them replied, and Kye sent one last look back at Max who was grinning like a cat who’d caught the canary. This man was pure evil. The two enforcers followed them outside and back to Kye’s car where they loaded the two cardboard boxes of casework into the trunk. Kye helped Eliana into the passenger side of the car, and she didn’t look at him once as he retraced their route back down Hell Hollow Road and into town.

Eliana was past the point of tears and was firmly rooted into a level of anger she didn’t know she possessed. Had her entire life been one big lie? What made matters worse was that her father was no longer around to scream at. She was so angry she didn’t even notice the familiarity of the roads until they were pulling into a driveway.

“Eli,” Kye said softly, and she let out a bitter laugh that bordered on hysterical as she observed her childhood home. Kye reached for her hand, but she ignored it as she exited the car and slammed the door. She nearly ripped the back door off the hinge as she yanked it open and retrieved her suitcase. Kye quickly followed as she was stomping toward the front door.

“If this doesn’t ice the fucking cake,” she muttered. Obviously, Max would house her here. In this ninth circle of hell reserved for treachery and betrayal, the new catchphrases of her life. Was she really ready to reenter the home that had housed the worst years of her life? Turning the knob to pull the front door open, she was met with a latched lock. Tugging on it angrily, she screamed in frustration when it wouldn’t open.

“Here,” Kye offered as he used one of the keys on his keychain. It slid easily into the lock and turned. With a click, it unlatched the bolt, and he opened the door for her to enter first. Eliana shoved her way inside and slammed her suitcase on the floor of the foyer. How many times had she found her dad passed out just inside this doorway?

When Kye flicked the light on, Eliana was surprised to see the house was almost completely renovated. New hardwood floors, fresh paint on the walls instead of old wallpaper. The living room to her right was redecorated with expensive furniture and what smelled to be freshly steam-cleaned carpet. The fireplace had been gutted and replaced with a gas-powered one that Kye turned on with a remote.