Page 27 of Vicious Titan

19

Elliot

My head pounds as I lie in bed, replaying the events of last night over and over. Dickie was collateral damage but I feel a slight bit of guilt. Not much, but some. I can’t really think past the fact that she completely shut me down last night. Even with Arty out of the way, I know she will be a challenge, but I will gladly keep at it. Just not right now because the house is filled with screams from her parents. Mostly her dad, but it’s nothing new around the Hastings house. I debate staying in bed, but it’s no use. I hadn’t gotten any sleep last night, and I know I won’t now. Once the sounds of chaos grow louder, I head downstairs. Victor’s shouts grow more enraged by the second. He’s irate but none of it is concerning until I hear a loud crash. Instinctively, I break into a sprint, following the frenzied sounds coming from the kitchen.

Once in the room, I see Asher and his dad in a full-on brawl while Victoria and her mom stand by, helpless to rein in the disastrous scene. Charging forward, I wrap my arms around Asher, telling him to calm down as I haul him away from Victor. Asher tenses up, fighting more against my restraint than freedom to get to his dad. Confining Asher is worse than anything thanks to Victor Hastings. Shoving Asher back, I release the hold I have on him, moving between the father and son set on beating each other to a pulp.

“Let’s go,” I shout at Asher, ramming him further back and away from Victor. I reach over and grab Victoria’s arm as we pass, dragging her to the garage along with Asher. She doesn’t fight against me, thankfully, because it’s all I can manage to coax her raging brother out of the house.

Slamming my fist into the button on the wall, the garage opens as I release Victoria, instructing her to get in my car. We need to get out of here. Nothing good is going to come from either of them being around Victor when he’s like this.

“No,” Victoria shouts, shutting the door as she shoves me away, heading to her car. Now she decides to resist. Great. My attempt to stop her isn’t going well as I yell to Asher, “You too. Let’s go.”

I struggle to get ahold of Victoria as Asher drops into his car and speeds away.

“Will you just stop fighting against me?” I yell to Victoria as she squirms out of my grip.

Instead of heading to her car, she yells incoherently at me as she moves back towards the house. The house where Victor is more than likely still livid. There’s no way I’m letting Victoria go back in there.

That’s it. Bear-hugging her, I walk back to my car, open the passenger door, and sit her in the seat. “Five minutes. Just leave this dreadful house for five minutes and let your dad calm down.”

“My mom,” she says breathlessly.

“She ran off as soon as Asher and Victor stopped fighting.” Monica has dealt with Victor long enough to know to hide away until the initial threat ceases.

I slam the car door closed and she remains still even though I wait for her to dart away at any moment. Just five minutes. That’s all I want with her. Just the two of us without all the other toxic BS.

Dropping into the driver’s seat, I speed off as she stays silent. It’s a relief at first but as the minutes tick by, the silence between us becomes more and more unnerving.

“Talk to me,” I whisper.

She looks out the passenger window, her face turned away from me as she says, “Just because I left the house with you, doesn’t mean anything between us has changed. I still hate you.”

My jaw clenches as I try my best to keep my mouth shut. The fact that she’s here means everything to me—she means everything to me. I said five minutes, but that will never be enough. I need more. More of her. More time. And a shitload more chances. I’ll need each and every one, because no matter how hard I try not to fuck up, I will.

I veer off the road, steering into the nearest parking lot I come to. Slamming on the brakes, the NSX skids to a jerky stop. “No, you don’t.”

Slowly, her eyes meet mine as she turns to look at me, her tear-stained cheeks causing me to lift my hand, attempting to touch her, but she jerks away. “Yes, I do. I hate you. Now take me back home.”

Home.She’s my home, and I want to be that for her. But how, without pushing her further out of my grasp? One thing is damn certain. I won’t bring her back until her dad simmers down. “No. I’m not taking you back to that house with Victor on the warpath.”

“I’m much better off there with him than anywhere with you, you malicious, heartless monster.”

“Are you really comparing me to him? The man who beats his kid fucking senseless for jollies?” I know she hasn’t been clued in on all of Victor’s wrath, but she has to have the slightest notion of the man he is—a horrendous one.

“He might not be the best father, but Asher goes out of his way to piss him off at every turn.”

“Are you fucking serious right now? ‘Not the best father’? How many times does a man have to lock his child in a dark fucking closet in order to earn the title of worst father? That prick shouldn’t be allowed to fucking breathe.”

She looks to me with confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“There’s no way you’re that clueless.” Or is she? Had she been shielded from it that well, or did she just not want to see it?

Her face pales as she stares at me, looking sick to her stomach. Asher’s always said Victoria hasn’t witnessed the true evil of Victor, but does she not even know about any of the abuse Asher suffered at her father’s hand? How is that possible? There’s a sense of relief in me that she hasn’t been burdened with the vile truth of his despicable evilness. But then, it could be a bad thing, too, because she doesn’t know how much she should truly fear him.

“What did you think happened to Asher all those times as a child? Where did you think all the bruises and broken bones came from?”

“You’re lying,” she whispers. But it’s evident by her pained expression that she’s putting the pieces together. “He lost his temper. They’ve gotten into fistfights, but that’s it.”