Page 58 of Scorching Lies

His words cut through me. I’m sick of listening to this bullshit. He’s refusing to answer and I’m getting nowhere. Images of my girl waking up without me there fill my head. Tapping his face with a sneer, I kneel into his chest.

“I’m going to go give my girl a visit. Sit here and wait for me will ya?” Pressing into his chest where his broken ribs are, “I’ll try to remember to send in the doctor to patch up this shoulder.”

Digging my hand into his shoulder I pull the knife out, the only thing that was stopping the blood, and stand. Ignoring his cussing from the pain, I turn to see my brothers watching me. No judgment, just acceptance. I haven’t admitted it yet, but they know I’ll never let anyone else have her. Traitor or not, Kenna Kingston isn’t going anywhere. We’ll deal with the foundation our way.

I’m halfway to the door when he calls out, only he’s not asking for help. He’s dropping a name of who hired him. While I’m not surprised, I am starting to wonder what Kenna has to do with the Savage family. I look at my brothers seeing the confusion on their faces. We’re all wondering what the fuck is going on. What the hell is Kenna doing in the middle of three families?

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

KENNA

It’s been seven days since Ally betrayed me. A week since a bullet went through my shoulder. Six days since Ally came home with excuses begging for forgiveness. A week seems so short, but the last one hundred and sixty-eight hours have been hell on me. The only bright side that has come from the past week, is my shadow is nowhere to be seen. He made his last threat, then radio silence. The unknown makes me hesitant, but a part of me feels victorious at the small win. I’ve been a ball of nerves since Ryker carved his name into my flesh, marking me as his. Now when I look at the tattoo on my leg, I know it was the right choice. Not that I’ve shown it to him, even though he’s inside me every chance he gets. Possessing me.

“You almost done?” Ally says, tapping on the open bathroom door.

Looking at her through the mirror, our eyes connect. A knowing look crosses over her face when she sees my back through my sheer black shirt. Her mouth opens and closes a few times before she clamps her lips together.

I spread bright red lipstick over my lips, my eyes track the movement as I try to not look at the traitor standing behind me. I lean back and rub my lips together, admiring how the color pops against my outfit. A white lacy bra peeks through the sheer of my shirt, matching my milk white jeans.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Is all I say.

I wipe off a small smudge of lipstick from the corner of my mouth as my eyes meet Ally’s in the mirror for a split second. Giving myself one more once over, I turn around looking at a spot just above her head. Needing to get the fuck out of this suffocating bathroom, I head for the door. Before exiting, I place my hands on her shoulders, digging my fingers into her skin. Leaving a trail of crescent moons embedded where my fingernails sit. . She winces but doesn’t make a move to pull away, which makes me smile.

Flashing her a wide toothy grin, “I let you come back, but don’t mistake that for trust. You have to earn that back and you better fucking try hard. If I find out you’re still playing games, I’ll do more than ruin your pretty little face.” With a wink I slide past her.

Leaving her standing there in shock I make my way to my room. Giving her a second chance doesn’t mean I have to make it easy on her. We can laugh and have fun tonight, but at the end of the day Ally can’t be trusted right now, so being next to me is the best place for her. I can’t let my love for her get in the way again. Sitting on my bed to put my shoes on, I make sure my phone is still sitting on the dresser where I left it. Standing, I move to slip my phone in my back pocket along with my keys, when my eye catches on something outside.

“Ally.” I call out.

She comes bouncing into the room with a smile. She brushes my jabs off quickly and that’s one thing that’s made this easier to deal with. I don’t think I could deal with her sulking every day.

“What’s up, Kens?”

I don’t let her see me wince at her nickname. Motioning slightly with my head I say, “Do you see anything strange outside? Don’t make it too obvious.”

Stepping up beside me, she pretends to be fixing the back of my shirt. I can feel the cool touch of her fingers tracing down my back while her stare aims out the window. The figure shifts slightly under the light from my room.

“Who is that?” She whispers.

Her breath skates down my neck, making me shiver adding to the eerie situation. Shaking my head in response, we just stand there passing meaningless words between each other while watching the shadow standing below us. A knock at the front door makes both of us jump. We both turn towards the open doorway, our hands clasped together. Looking back over my shoulder, my eyes fall to the space below the window that’s now empty.

“He’s gone.” I whisper.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Ally shoves my shoulder, pushing me in front of her, a nervous laugh leaving her.

“Go see who it is.” she tries to whisper, but it comes out way louder than she intended it too.

I slap her hand away with an eye roll, her dramatics are ridiculous. She should be the one checking to get back into my good graces. I tiptoe across the apartment until I’m standing in front of the door. My hand hovers over the doorknob. The fucker bangs on the door like he’s a fucking FBI agent, making me jump and a giggle pass through my lips. Why the hell am I acting scared when all I really want to do is run downstairs and confront the bastard stalking me.

Yanking the door open with more force than the person on the other side expected, their head snaps back in surprise. Deep brown eyes connect with mine and a slow smile follows.

“Wow, Princess. You clean up nice.” West says, adding a wink for punctuation.

He can’t help but flirt with everyone he comes in contact with and it’s that playboy smile that wins over the girls on campus. Shaking my head with a sign, I open the door wider and step to the side without a word. No use in pretending like I’m not going to let him in when I know it’s a lie.

“What are you doing here?”

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