Page 40 of Collide

He led me to a door that was opened by the douchebag who hadcarried me up to my room back at the apartment, Hendrix I think.

“Boss. Ms. Bennett.” He nodded his greeting as we walked past himand into the empty warehouse.

I didn’t have time to take in my surroundings, Kai walked us throughthe warehouse floor and over to another door that led down a set of stairs. As we descended, our footsteps echoed in the corridor and an ominous feeling grew in my belly about where we were going and what in the world was going to happen next.

I didn’t have to wait long. Kai stopped at a door that had a fingerprintpad on the outside, much like he had in his apartment. As soon as he placed his thumb on the pad, the locks disengaged.

“After you,” Kai said and motioned for me to enter. I hesitated for amoment, not knowing what fresh hell I was about to face, after all the last time he let me into a room first, my sister was fast asleep on the bed.

Kai moved his hand to my lower back and gave me a gentle push.Reluctantly, I stepped into the room.

“Leandra!” My eyes widened in surprise at the sight of my colleaguetied to a chair in the middle of the room. To say she looked fuckingawfulwould be putting it mildly.

She was wearing the same clothes I’d last seen her in, a crop top andtiny shorts, and her pale skin was covered in dark, angry bruises all over her body. Her head lolled to one side but upon hearing me she managed to look up.

It was evident her nose was broken from the crooked angle it sat atand the black bruises around her eyes. Her hands were tied behind her back and my stomach churned when I took in her bare feet and the blood that caked them from where she was missing toenails. From the blood pooling underneath her hands, I guessed she was missing her fingernails as well.

To top it off, her collarbone was at a funny angle and it didn’t take agenius to figure out it was dislocated.

“Riley?” she croaked as recognition dawned on her face.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” I spun around to face Kai who wasglaring at Leandra, looking like he was seconds away from finishing her off.

“Don’t have any sympathy for her, Riley, your friend Blaze here knowswho killed my brother,” Kai said, his voice filled with pure and utter hatred.

What the actual fuck was happening right now?

Why did he think she knew anything about Theo’s murder?

Questions kept circling in my brain as I tried to take in the scene infront of me. This at least explained where she’d been this past week.

“I’ve told you everything I know!” Leandra choked out in despair. Hervoice was scratchy and her lips were cracked from dryness, I wondered when the last time she had something to drink was.

“Fuck, Kai, can she at least have some water?” I asked as I tookseveral steps towards her. I was not Leandra’s biggest fan, far from it, but she did not deserve to be treated like this.

No onedeserved to be treated like this.

Kai considered my request for a few seconds before nodding hishead to Hendrix who had followed us into the room. Hendrix disappeared back into the corridor but returned quickly with a bottle of water in hand. He unscrewed the lid and then stood over Leandra as he poured some of the liquid into her mouth.

She gulped it down, or at least as much as she could, Hendrix pouredthe water too fast, practically waterboarding her. The water spilled out of her mouth, onto her chin and down her chest. I never thought I’d feel sorry for Leandra, yet here I was, feeling sympathy for the woman who had been a complete bitch to me.

“What the hell are you doing here, Riley?” she asked, her throatseemingly less croaky, but still sounding as if she could do with a gallon of water before her voice would be anywhere near normal again. Drops of water trickled down her chin and I reached out and wiped her mouth with the palm of my hand. I don’t know why, it seemed like a decent thing to do.

“I made a deal with the devil,” I whispered to her, not loud enough forKai to hear.

For a second she looked horrified and then she burst into laughter.Wicked laughter aimed at my expense. Funnily enough, the sympathy I had for her somewhat waned.

“You stupid bitch, you’re so fucked,” she gasped through laughter.“You always were a stupid cunt.”

Before I had a chance to say anything, Kai strode into the middle ofthe room and smacked Leandra square across the face with the back of his hand. The slap echoed around the room as her head fell to one side, and her laughter immediately stopped.

“Do not fucking talk to her like that,” he roared.

Okay, so I don’t condone violence against women, but did the factKai standing up for me do all sorts of funny things to my insides?

Yes, yes it fucking did.

“Kai, don’t,” I warned, somewhat half-heartedly. Warned him againstwhat though, I’m not sure.

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