Page 34 of Tell Me You Need Me

As I'm texting her, I bump into someone, causing the phone to slip from my grasp. “Shit, sorry.” I try to find my phone, but there are too many people around.

“Teddy?” I glance up to see that it’s Derrick I’ve run into.

“Hey,” I respond. “I dropped my phone.” Derrick looks down, helping me search for it.

“Got it.” He finds it under someone's foot.

“Sorry,” I tell the person.

“Come on.” Derrick grabs my wrist, pulling me through the people.

“My phone,” I tell him.

“I got it.” He continues to pull me along. A weird sensation creeps up my spine as everything West told me about staying away from Derrick floods back to me. It slipped my mind for a second when I was searching for my phone. I try to tug my hand back, but his grip only tightens.

"Let go." I jerk, but he's stronger. "Stop!" I scream louder, but the crowd is roaring as Derrick drags me toward a door, no one else seeming to notice.

Chapter Twenty-One

WEST

The fact that I’m parked down by the docks because I tracked Teddy here probably makes me a huge asshole, but I don’t care. I need to know she’s safe at all times. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to her.

Not only did I track her here with GPS, since I found out what’s going on with Derrick, I’ve had someone keeping a close eye on her for me when I’m not personally available to. He alerted me when Teddy and Willa left the diner and didn’t head in the direction of the house.

I immediately got in my car and made my way toward the direction they were headed in. Now I’ve been waiting in this damn car, torn whether to go inside whatever this place is and drag my girl back home or let her be.

I only last a few minutes before I exit the car and head toward the warehouse. I’ve known about Rich’s extracurricular activities from day one. It was one of the first things I did when I found out about the twins and did a deep dive.

The kid is good. I’m not sure why he does it. Either he enjoys it, or he only wants to beat the shit out of people. It’s not about the money. He has a trust set up for him. Both Willa and Rich are set for life for the most part. As long as they don’t go crazy.

I rap my knuckle against the door. It swings open. The man at the door looks up and down at me.

“You got any weapons on you?”

“No.”

“All right.” He nods for me to enter. I was entering one way or another.

Security isn’t stellar, but then again, all of this is illegal, but I’m wondering if King, as everyone calls him, has the police in this island town paid off to not pay attention to the dock.

When I pressed Zero about finding out more about Vasily King, he told me no. This leads me to assume that Vasily King is among Zero's numerous clientele. That gave me some level of reassurance that the man wasn’t utter scum, but that doesn’t mean he’s on the up and up. Everyone has their own set of morals.

Down the long entryway hall, I can hear the chanting of the crowd. My phone goes off in my pocket, and I pull it out, seeing a message from my security saying they lost the girls in the crowd. That King had taken a shine to them and was leading them toward the front of the ring.

The fuck. I pick up my pace, a sense of unease gripping me. When I get to the end of the hallway, my eye catches on dark chocolate hair being pulled into a room. Hair that I would know anywhere.

No one is paying attention; the crowd is focused on the ring. I sprint forward, adrenaline coursing through me. Thoughts of my mom fill my head. I found her after she committed suicide. At least that is what they said happened.

I will never know the truth. That died with my father, but either way, if it wasn’t him and she’d taken her own life, he’d driven her there. It was still blood on his hands. I know the cruel things men can do to women, and anything happening to Teddy,the only other woman in the world I have loved, getting hurt, would destroy me.

When I get to the door, it’s locked, but I hear a small scream. A chill runs through me, knowing Teddy is on the other side of that door. Instinct takes over, and I lift my foot and kick as hard as I can. The door bursts open to reveal Derrick with his hand over Teddy’s mouth as she fights him. Derrick's eyes widen when he sees me standing there, and all I see is red.

I lunge for the asshole. The next thing I know, two people are pulling me off Derrick from the floor, where I’m still landing blow after blow. My back hits a wall as each man has one of my arms, but I’m still trying to get back to Derrick, far from done with him.

“Teddy! Help us here,” I think I hear Rich shout.

“West.” Teddy appears in front of me, her hands coming to my face. “Let him go.”

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