Page 54 of Ky

Minutes later, or it could’ve been hours for all I knew since I was losing track of time, and everything around me, I noticed a group of men enter, wearing leather vests. The first group I didn’t recognize, but the group following, my glassy eyes tried focusing on Ky, his jaw ticking when his eyes came to rest upon me. That was his only reaction as he turns away and walks farther into the warehouse.

A voice I recognize as Ink’s spoke soothingly behind me. Telling me not to worry, that they were going to get me out of here. Pain shoots through my abdomen, causing me to let out a groan. I feel as though I’m dying.

“Help me. Please,” I beg, my voice soft, I was certain that nobody could hear me over the din of the loud music. I was certain Ky and the club had turned their backs on me, which meant I was left alone to rot in this godforsaken place. With that final thought, I slip into unconsciousness.

***

I wake with a start, thinking that everything that happened beforehand was a dream. But I’m still in the warehouse. I’m still locked in this damned cage. But what is new is the fight that’s taking place in the boxing ring set up in the middle of the large rundown warehouse.

Someone must’ve moved me, because the cage is now butting up against the ring, and I can see Ky and his opponent clearly. In my delirious state, I can still enjoy the way Ky looks in his red boxing shorts, his long dark hair tied back away from his face, his deeply tanned muscular torso as though he had spent most of his life outdoors. The ink that covered his tall frame and his legs. Everything about him was just perfect. Even the sweat covering his body.

Shouts and jeers, and grunting from the two in the ring, permeated the air in a loud cacophony of noise. It was then I heard Ink’s voice somewhere in the distance. Or what I thought sounded like Ink, since I was disoriented and probably hallucinating again.

“Are you ready to get out of this hellhole, darlin? Nod your head if you can hear me.” I nod, but I quickly stop, as the pain in my head was immense.

“Okay, get ready,” he tells me, just as gunshots ring out, bringing with it a sense of déjà vu. I lift my head, bringing my eyes to the ring, and I can see Ky’s opponent has him in a headlock. I want to scream, but I have no energy left to do anything but just watch. Ky finally gets the upper hand, reaching towards Tiny who’s shooting, and handing him a knife at the same time. In a single, fluid motion, Ky plunges the knife into the other man's throat, the blade slicing through flesh and cartilage with a sickening crunch

A horrible gurgling sound comes from the other man, but Ky doesn’t let the knife go as a dark grin appears on his face.

Removing the knife, he cleans it almost gleefully on his shorts and jumps from the boxing ring into the fray of screaming patrons and the three groups shooting and fighting. The cage I'm in shakes violently, making a rattling sound, and I can't help but feel hope that it's Ky or one of his brothers coming to set me free.

Instead, it’s Angelo, holding a set of keys, his clothes covered in blood, and his face a mask of evil. He unlocks the cage and pulls me out roughly.

My body protests. Lack of food and medical attention have taken their toll. I just want to curl up somewhere and fade away peacefully. But it seems Angelo has other plans for me, as the man I’ve heard about many times as a massive beast of a man, his name stitched into the breast of his vest the only reason I knew his name was Tiny, but I have never actually met the man, comes in front of us, his weapon trained on my stepbrother.

“I can’t let you go,” Tiny grinds out between clenched teeth. “Let me rephrase. I won’t let you go. This is the last stop, Angelo.”

“I think not,” Angelo almost gleefully says, before he pulls the trigger of the gun he was holding, trained on the other man. Red spreads on Tiny’s chest, a look of shock on his face. I manage a scream, the noise getting the attention of the other men. Varying degrees of surprise and anger on each of their faces when they see what’s gone down.

Tiny drops to the ground like a heavy log, and I shake my head, unable to believe what has happened. The men as a group all run in our direction, and Angelo can see his time has come up. With a rough shove, he pushes me to the floor next to Tiny’s body and runs in the opposite direction to the other men.

When Ky reaches me, I’m surprised at how quickly he’s changed back into his own clothes, his jeans riding low on his hips, his vest the only covering over his chest; he drops to hisknees in front of me, together with Ink, while the others circle around Tiny.

“Someone call 911,” Ky calls out, with a gentleness belying what I’d just witnessed him do to another human being, he picks me up and strides purposefully out of the warehouse.

“Is he okay?” I ask weakly. But he ignores me, stopping at a blacked-out SUV and placing me just as gently as he had picked me up inside.

Before he shuts the door, he drapes his vest over my nakedness, something I had completely forgotten about as the worn leather offers a comforting warmth I desperately crave. Tears burn my eyes, and I finally let them fall. Uncaring who sees them.

I was safe.

“Thank you,” I reply. He juts his chin at me, his gaze taking in my appearance with soft, regretful eyes. But there’s something else in those depths. An anger burns brightly inside him, and I feel guilt all over again.

He walks around to the driver’s side, slamming the door shut with a resounding thud as he settles into the seat. The passenger side door swings open, and I brace myself. My shoulders drop when I realize it's just Ink.

“How is he?” Ky asks

“Not good, brother. The rest of the guys are waiting for the paramedics, Kick said for us to take Sera to the hospital.”

“No hospitals, please,” I whisper, my voice fading.

“Sorry, sweetness, but you don’t get a say this time.” I hear Ky’s voice as if in a long dark tunnel, I try to stay awake, but the pain, exhaustion and adrenaline all combine to suck me down into the dark depths of unconsciousness.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Ky

Holding Sera’s hand in mine, I’ve been sitting by her hospital bed for the last week, willing her to wake up.

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