Page 124 of That Sik Luv

You could hear a pin drop with the way the silence fills the room. The only sound is the echo of a floorboard cracking beneath one of Cal’s bodyguards as he shifts uncomfortably on his feet, all of us waiting for someone else to move.

The eerie stillness is almost deafening. Briony’s finger rubs softly against mine behind her back, the stroke against my flesh sending a distinct sensation through me. Not one of pain. Not one of an ugly past. But a sensation that connects heartstrings, bonding her soul to mine.

I drop the gun from her temple, tossing it onto the wood floor with a dramatic thud before pushing her into the arms of Baret. And it’s on.

A piercing cry stings my ears, making its way deep into my blood. The same blood pumping through my veins, filling my raging muscles as I take a swipe at one of the approaching men. I put up the best fight I can, knocking one man to the floor, tearing through the flesh of another with my hidden switchblade, and successfully stabbing another in the thigh, before I’m simply overpowered.

“Teach him. Show him what happens when you fuck with the powers that be,” Cal murmurs before turning and leaving the room with Saint in tow.

They grip my arms, pushing me to my knees as they take turns punching me. I laugh like a madman in their faces, spitting at their attempts to ruin me, even as my eye swells and my wet hair slaps across my forehead, blood pouring from my face.

They desperately needed a villain, and now I gave them one.

The last sight I see before my lights go out is Baret’s arms wrapped around a screaming Briony, clinging to the door frame with a white-knuckled grasp. Her fingers slip off the wooden frame one by one until she’s pulled from my sight.

My doll.

My queen.

My everything.

I’ve done everything her pleading eyes asked. I’ve put my entire forgotten faith in the only one who’s ever seen me for who I am. Someone worthy of everything they’ve stripped me of.

I’ve given myself over to save her. My fate now rests entirely in the hands of the only one I’ve ever loved.

And I haven’t even had the chance to let her know.

Chapter fifty-four

Vengeance Unleashed

Myheartisrippedfrom my chest. The bloody, beating organ lies before me, thumping and bleeding out as I feel it tearing into pieces with every strike to his face. A hole resides where it once sat, aching with an internal torture I’ve never known as Baret drags me from the scene.

I’m already lost without him.

After witnessing the bodyguards take the consciousness from him, they tied him up, dragging his limp and bleeding body across my living room floor before my eyes, and into the awaiting vehicle.

He’s alive. They want him alive.

I had to keep reminding myself of this fact as I watched on in horror, clutching to Baret’s shirt while tears flooded my vision and one of the guards stood watch.

He sacrificed himself as the villain they wanted him to be so he could spare me time. A beneficial story, as Aero knows well, goes a long way in this world of looking good on paper for the public. A chess move for those who play the grimy game of politics. Saint, the hero who saved the sweet innocent Briony from a despicable act of violence in her own home. It was the perfect setup. The attention, the blame, the accusations, it all had a purpose. It all came to a point.

Callum Westwood had everything under control and in his back pocket.

Or so he thought.

“You came for me.” I cling to Baret, holding his tattered and torn college shirt in my grasp, his dried blood smeared across the heathered gray.

“As soon as I saw that message, I knew. I just fucking knew something was off. I don’t trust these people.” He shakes his head, glaring towards Cal as he continues in a whisper, “Never have.”

“What message?” I ask in a hushed tone, my eyes following as Cal and Saint walk towards the back of the house.

I haven’t seen my phone since being locked away with Aero at his place.

“The one you sent me,” he says pointedly.

My brows draw together as I wipe some of the blood from his chin.

---