Page 75 of Loving Trent
“Yes, thank them. Sammy, you were right. There has been something that I’ve been keeping from you guys, and it’s because of this fucker here.” Shawn pushes the table out of the way, steps out of my arms, and pulls his fist back. When he snaps it forward, it connects with Steven’s temple. “That I finally found the courage to stop the unhealthy cycle. Every single relationship I’ve been in has eventually turned abusive. There was always verbal abuse, but Steven here and the two beforehim took the abuse to another level. They tuned it to physically abuse.”
Sonny growls low in his chest and steps closer to Steven, but I grab his arm and barely shake my head. “What the fuck?” Sammy yells and goes to launch herself at Steven, but Zak grabs her first. “I’m going to kill you. You hurt my brother, and now it’s going to be my pleasure to hurt you.” Spit flies from her mouth, landing on the back of Steven’s head.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Parker asks Shawn. The deadly tone of his voice sends a shiver down my back. He’s glaring at Steven like he’s holding back, and I have no doubt that he is. Adam and Levi look seconds away from their control snapping as well.
All of their rage is building tension in the air and my beast inside is eating it up.
Uncle Joey steps up beside me and whispers, “Did you know?” I nod but refuse to answer because I don’t want to miss a single word that is about to come out of Shawn’s mouth. He needs to let this weight go and finally be free.
“Because I was embarrassed that I allowed it to come to that. I’m the first to step up and protect anyone I love, but I couldn’t protect myself for some reason. I’m not proud to say that I never got out of my other relationships. It was the other guy who eventually left me, but not when it came to Steven. I don’t know what came over me that night, but I had had enough and finally stood up for myself.” Shawn bends forward, grabs Steven’s hair, and raises his head. “That’s why I’m thanking you. You showed me how I shouldn’t be treated and made me appreciate the little things Trent does for me. Plus, your little stunt with the fire might have been meant to harm me but it didn’t. Instead, it brought the love of my life back.”
Shawn drops his hold on Steven, turns around, and walks straight to me. I wrap my arms around him and hold him to me. He doesn’t break down, but I can tell he’s close because his bodyis starting to tremble. I kiss his shoulder and whisper, “I’ve got you, Baby Boy.”
Nathan’s eyes darken and narrow, giving away that whatever comes next is going to piss me off. He doesn’t like how things are playing out, so he’s going to try to piss all of us off. Trying to make us slip up, but it won’t work.
“You stopped the unhealthy cycle?” Nathan throws his head back and laughs. The butt of one of Adam’s guns comes out of nowhere and connects with Nathan’s nose. His laugh gets cut off, but he doesn’t scream, no, he groans, but looks right at me with blood running over his lips. “That cycle will never be broken.”
“What the fuck did you just say?” I let go of Shawn, walk around him, and head straight for the fucker. No one stops me, but then again, I didn’t think they would.
“He,” Nathan’s eyes glance over my shoulder, and I swear I’m going to rip them out of his head before I’m done with him. “Knows that the cycle will never be broken because he de?—”
My nails dig into his cheeks as I grab his face with one hand. Bending down so we are eye to eye as I growl, “Finish that fucking sentence and I will not only end you, but I will end anyone you love. I will slowly rip your skin from your bones as you scream for mercy, but I won’t give you any.”
Nathan’s light blue eyes lose the evil glint and widen. He hears the truth in my threat, which makes it easier for me, as I hate to repeat myself. “No one deserves to be abused. Especially someone like him, and if you think for a second that any of us is going to allow you to sit here and spew your hatred all over him, then you must have been dropped a few too many times as a toddler. We all know the real reason you have a chip on your shoulder. You wanted him, and when he turned you down, your ego took a hit.”
Blood trickles down his cheeks, but I don’t release him. Instead, I tighten my grip. “But I get it. I want you to hear me when I say that and believe it. Because I really do understand why you became obsessed with him. I mean, who fucking wouldn’t? But the mistake you made… it really isn’t your mistake… is that you became obsessed with something that’s mine. That man and everything about him. From his massive dick—that by the way feels amazing inside me—to his kind heart belongs to me and you tried to take that away.”
“He wasn’t yours when?—”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I let go of Nathan and backhand Steven across the face for daring to speak. “He has been mine for a lot longer than you thought he was yours.” I stand up, step back, and cross my arms. “Everyone here,” I nod at the people standing around me, “said that we should give you a chance to explain yourself. We should listen to you and scare you into leaving town. Not before we torture you a little, but I’ve already tried that. Haven’t I, Steven?” I don’t give him enough time to answer me before I continue. “And you didn’t listen to me. Instead, you stuck around and kept stealing from him?—”
“That’s not all they have been doing,” Demon speaks up from his vantage point against the wall. He throws a bag across the room that I didn’t notice he was holding. The zipper is open, and from here I make out a heavy-looking chain, a couple of knives, a pair of gloves, and two guns. He also holds up a cell phone and says, “According to everything on here, after Shawn called Nathan, they started?—”
“It’s not what it looks like,” Steven cries, and I’ve had enough.
Turning to look at Zak and Parker, I tell them, “Shut them up. I don’t want to hear another word.” They move instantly, and with a bit of help from Adam and Levi, they stuff rags in Nathan and Steven’s mouths, then duct tape over them. After they’redone, we all turn back toward Demon, and I motion for him to continue.
“It seems like the ruse of selling the restaurant spurred them on. They have Tory tied up at an abandoned farm a couple of miles outside town. They planned on kidnapping Shawn today and taking him there. They were going to torture him until he signed over the restaurant to them, along with transferring all his money over. Then they?—”
I hold up my hand to stop him as everyone voices their disgust. Someone, or maybe a few individuals, throw a punch because I hear the sound of a fist hitting flesh. That red haze is back, and it’s consuming my vision. Rage is the only thing pumping blood throughout my body, keeping me alive. My need to eliminate any threat to Shawn keeps my knees from buckling.
“Stop!” My shout rips out of my throat, leaving it raw and sore. Instantly, the room falls silent beside muffled groans and sobs coming from the tied and gagged men behind me.
I focus solely on Demon as I ask the only thing that matters right now. “Will anyone miss them?”
With a shake of his head, I grab the pair of black gloves from the open bag and put them on. I ignore the questions being thrown my way by everyone. The words bounce off me and don’t even register in my mind. Next, I grab the handgun sitting on top. Spinning around, I see no one but Steven and Nathan. They are surrounded by the red haze that makes everything but them shimmer. Stepping up to Steven, I place the gun against the left side of his head, but a hand comes down on my shoulder. Turning my head, I find dark green eyes staring right at me. Eyes that show how hurt Shawn is right now.
They are watery and begging someone to take away the pain. The beast inside me roars a response that no one but me can hear. Shawn looks at the gun and says, “Other side.”
Stepping around Steven, I press the gun against his head and pull the trigger. Without a second thought, I spin around, point the gun at Nathan, and fire one shot. A shot that hits him right between his eyes. My lungs burn like a fire is inside them, my heart is beating loudly in my ears, and the room starts to fade around me. I don’t fight it. I let the darkness consume me.
Thirty-Eight
SHAWN
“Trent!”
Goosebumps break out and cover my whole body. I feel every little hair stand up on my arms… Hell, I swear I feel the stubble on my face trying to stand up. Time is slowing down as I watch Trent’s body slowly fall toward the floor. The air becomes thick. Too thick as I try to move toward him. It’s like it has become Jell-o… no, honey… because it sticks to me and pushes me back. I’m not going to get to him in time. One second later, it all changes.
