Page 35 of If You Fight

Chapter Eleven

Ryder

The throbbing in my head felt like someone with a jackhammer tunneling into my fucking brain. I’d been beaten up before, but now I didn’t seem to be getting any better and it had been nearly twelve hours since Robert and his goons had fucked me up.

Curious about the time, I tried to sit up to turn the light on so I could find my phone, but halfway there I had to lie back down. Even if my head wasn’t banging like a bass drum, my broken ribs weren’t going to let me just move around willy-nilly for a while.

Through my one eye I could actually open, I looked around for Serena but didn’t see her. Had she left? Or had Robert done something to her too?

A sudden rush of terror raced through me, and I tried to sit up again to go find her. I couldn’t let him hurt her. Sharp pain stabbed at my sides, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered if he hurt her like he’d hurt me.

Staggering to my feet, I steadied myself and tried to see in front of me, but with one eye only half working, seeing much of anything wasn’t happening. With my first step, I grazed the corner of the coffee table with my shin, and another level of pain added to the rest I felt. I didn’t care. As long as I found Serena, I didn’t care how much it hurt.

Every movement of my body resulted in new agony, but I made it to the door. Exhausted from just crossing the room, I sagged against the wall as my brain urged my body on and my heart seconded the idea, but my body couldn’t follow through.

I stood there wanting to run to Serena’s apartment to see if she was there and safe, and all I could do was hold myself up and pray to God my legs didn’t give out and send me crashing to the floor.

What if he did something to her? I’d seen Robert exact his revenge on others before me. Ruthless only scratched the surface of what he was to people who betrayed him, and that was exactly what he believed she’d done by having me take care of Oliver. He wouldn’t just let her get away with it. He never did.

Even I would get more than just the beating he’d had those guys give me. This was only the beginning. I knew that, and I could handle it. Whatever he did, I’d deal with it.

But Serena had already had to deal with too much. She didn’t deserve having more misery piled on top of what she’d gone through with Oliver. I wouldn’t let Robert hurt her anymore.

The sound of footsteps outside my door brought me back to the pain torturing my body, and I waited to hear a knock on the door. Instead, it opened and I saw Serena walk in.

“Ryder, I’m back,” she whispered softly as she headed toward the couch.

“Serena, I’m right here,” I croaked out behind her.

She spun around and stared at the door. “Where? I just came in. Where are you?”

“Right here. Next to the door.”

“What are you doing off the couch?” she asked as she came toward me and took me in her arms.

God, she felt so good. “I didn’t know where you went, so I wanted to go find you to make sure you’re okay. Where were you?”

She began to walk me back into the living room. “Lean on me. Let’s get you to the bed so you can lie down.”

Ten agonizing steps later and I was flat on my back in my bed. Serena brought me a glass of water, but all I wanted was more whisky. Water wouldn’t touch the pain, but whisky would at least deaden it a little.

“You need to drink something, Ryder,” she said as she tried to position the glass near my mouth.

I pushed it away. “I need to drink something that’s going to take the edge off. Water won’t do that.”

She sighed and frowned before putting the glass on the night table. “You shouldn’t have gotten up. You probably made things worse for yourself.”

“All I could think about was finding you and making sure he didn’t hurt you too.”

“He wouldn’t do anything like this to me. My father’s brand of torture for me runs in a different direction,” Serena said as she cradled my cheek.

“Did he do something?”

I knew he eventually would. It was just a matter of time.

Shaking her head, she leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. “He tried, but don’t worry. It’s all good now.”

Serena had a way of seeing goodness where none existed. Nothing was all good now, except her with me. Everything else was shit, just like it always had been.

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