Page 30 of Vendetta

My voice came out hoarse, my throat raw from either the screaming or strangling as I eventually forced out the word “What?”

The knife still shook in my hand as I lifted it higher between us.

“Which one of them touched you?”

It wasn’t as much of a question as it was a demand.

Our eyes stayed locked, the calmness in his causing goosebumps to raise across my skin. I swallowed a breath, forcing a gulp down my throat as the silence in the room became deafening. His gaze hardened as he seemed to read something in my eyes.

“Or did they both?” He asked, his voice low and menacing.

I was unable to speak, the breaths coming through my nostrils growing hard once again as I clenched my jaw and cursed the tear that slowly escaped, wishing that I could brush it away before he could see it. But his eyes finally broke away from mine, tracing the droplet as it followed the path down my cheek.

Hands not leaving his pockets, he turned his body, blocking me in the corner as he gave me his back and faced the two other men, shielding me from their sight.

“Look man, we didn’t do shit. She said she needed to use the restroom so we were going to take her, being good hosts and all, and she attacked us and tried to get away. We were only trying to keep her from escaping.” I heard Connor say, and my entire body went cold. Of course they would turn this around. It was two against one, and I was the one holding the knife.

More tears came down as I realized how this was going to go. They were going to shove me back into that crate, and I had no fight in me left to stop them.

“Thank you.” Cashton finally spoke, taking a step away from me. I threw a hand over my face to muffle the sound of my sobs as he made his way to Connor.

Cashton turned to trifle through one of the kitchen drawers before grabbing something and turning back to Connor, grabbing his wrist and slamming it down on the counter withexcessive force before muttering “For giving me a reason to do this.”

He slammed the hammer down on Conner’s hand in the next breath.

I had never had the stomach for gore, but it all happened so fast that I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away from the disfigured hand that now hung limply from Connor’s wrist, his screams ringing through the apartment before Cashton grabbed him by the nape and slammed his already bleeding face down into the marble island.

I spotted movement to my right, turning to see Levi slowly backing away, his hands up in surrender as he watched his friend now lying motionless on the ground.

Cashton’s eyes snapped up, immediately locking in to his next target as he made his advance, the hammer in his hand and the considerable difference in size making it clear who would be walking away from this fight.

My knees shook as my legs threatened to give out, forcing me to lean my weight into the counters behind me to keep myself standing. I watched a wet patch grow between Levi’s legs before he turned to run, Cashton grabbing his shirt and yanking him back onto the living room floor hard enough that buttons ripped.

I continued watching as Cashton proceeded to shove a knee into Levi’s back, keeping him planted firmly in place as he yanked his wrist forward and slammed it onto the ground by his face, swinging the hammer down and obliterating his hand.

Levi screamed, thrashing underneath him in an attempt to get away and scrambling across the floor to the far end of the room as soon as Cashton removed his weight.

He let him go, standing up straight as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and pressed a single button, bringing it to his ear. What was happening? I didn’t know what to do, my mind racing in every direction as I kept the knife up in front of me, making sure I was prepared for anything.

“What apartments do you have available in the building at the moment?” Cashton demanded, foregoing any sort of greeting as someone picked up the other end of the line. A few beats passed as he listened to the person on the other end of the call. “I’ll take it. I’ll be needing it until Friday morning.” he eventually said, Levi’s crying growing louder in the background. A few more beats passed before he spoke again.

“Great.”

His back stayed turned to me as he listened to whoever was on the other line, my hand clenching and unclenching against the knife. My arm would probably go numb at any point now, but my body remained in fight mode and I wasn’t letting my guard down until I was out of this damn apartment.

“I have a few belongings that I will need moved there tonight.” Cashton said, letting the person speak before following up with “Yes. I’ll send them down right now. Please go ahead and lock them in the spare bedroom for me, you can leave the keys on the counter. I have a few things to take care of here and then I will head down to take care of any paperwork.”

Cashton still hadn’t spared me a single glance as he grabbed Levi by the collar, dragging him to the elevator and throwing him inside, leaving him there as he came back for Connor and did the same. Hitting a few buttons on the panel by the elevator, he brought the phone up to his ear one last time, telling whoever was on the line “They’re on their way down aswe speak. Thank you.” before hanging up and shoving the phone back into his pocket.

Neither of us moved, him still facing the elevator until a text pinged and he typed out a quick response, then placed it back in his pocket.

The tears had stopped falling at this point, the shock from what I had just watched having replaced the desperation from earlier. The seconds that passed seemed like hours before he finally turned around to face me, his eyes to the ground before making their way up my body so slowly that I could barely bear it.

His muscles still held tight, our gazes locked back on each other, and I could have sworn I saw worry laced with the anger in his eyes. My muscles hurt, and everything in my body ached as he stalked towards me, stopping right in front of me once again. But now, he seemed almost exhausted, his gaze peeling away from mine as his shoulders slumped and he looked away from me.

I didn’t have it in me to try to figure him out at the moment. I was completely drained, not to mention traumatized, the last few hours catching up to me and hitting me like a freight train.

He took a step closer, still not meeting my eyes, and the blade in my hand rose up to his throat. My height barely reached his collar bone, and I had seen enough of this man between tonight and the boxing sessions that I sometimes slowed my runs to observe to know that he could be lethal if given the opportunity. And I was not about to give him that opportunity. He may have saved my ass, but he was also the reason that I hadbeen in that situation in the first place. I wasn’t naive enough to believe that I was safe in his presence.

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