The asshole snarls. “You can’t just come into my house. Don’t you need a fucking warrant or some shit?”
“We heard suspicious noises. A women in distress.” Luke laughs. “You know, ‘cause your dick’s so fucking small. She sounded real upset about it.” Bending down, he grabs a white dress off the floor and tosses it onto the couch. “Get dressed and get out of here,” he orders briskly.
The woman quickly obeys. I step closer to Ben as a door closes in the distance.
My eyes flare with rage. “Where is she? Where’s Beth?”
Rocco turns his face so it’s flat against the wall. He laughs darkly. “Beth? Beth who?”
Ben grips Rocco’s dark hair and cranes his head back. Rocco winces through a moan. “Answer him.”
I step closer as Rocco shifts his eyes to me. He mouth twitches. “Ohhh, I get it. She came back ‘cause of you, right? My girl’s all sad and pathetic now. I should be thanking you. I like her better this way.”
My fist connects with his jaw the second Ben jerks him back.
“She ain’t your fucking girl!”
I get another hit in, this one to the nose. He groans as blood spills down his chin. Ben backs away and Rocco falls to his knees, cupping his face.
“Fuck!” he hisses. “You broke my nose!”
“You’re lucky I don’t fucking kill you!” A hand on my arm keeps me back when I try and lunge. I jerk my bicep out of Luke’s grip and loom over the prick on the floor. My chest heaves against my shirt. “Where is she? I won’t ask you again.”
“The bedroom.” Eyes watering over, he pinches them shut, still covering his nose. His head lowers with a strangled groan.
I make to turn and find a staircase, but I have more to say to this piece of shit. He looks up when I move closer.
“She’s leaving with me, and you’re to stay the fuck away from her. If I see you again, if you so much as think about my girl, I’ll put you in the ground. I will fucking kill you, you understand?”
He huffs out a laugh, gesturing to Luke with a bloody palm. “Hello? You hear him threatening me? Ain’t you gonna arrest him?”
Luke turns his head slowly. “Shut the fuck up. I didn’t hear shit.”
At that moment, Ben must kick against Rocco’s back, because he face plants on the carpet, bellowing in pain like a little bitch. “Oww, fuucckk. My fuckin’ nose. Christ!”
“Getting tired of seeing your pathetic excuse for a dick hanging out. Stay down.” Ben lifts his head, nodding at me. “Go. We got him.”
I find the stairs and take the steps two, three at a time. The upstairs is quiet. I pass a bathroom and an office before finally opening the last door at the end of the hallway.
The room is dark, compliments of the drawn curtains. My hand swipes along the wall in search of the light switch. A lamp in the corner sparks on, illuminating Beth’s small body curled up on one side of the bed. I cross the room hastily.
Stopping when I see her, I stare down at my girl. I nearly fall to my knees beside her.
She’s asleep in jeans and a faded concert tee, giant noise-canceling headphones covering her ears. I brush my fingers across her cheek and she stirs, her eyes fluttering open. A lazy smile pulls at her mouth.
“Mm. I don’t want to wake up this time,” she whispers, her voice thick with sleep, her eyes slowly moving over my face.
I sit beside her and slide the headphones off. Does she think she’s dreaming?
“Beth.”
She smiles again.
I fit her sweet face between both of my hands and kiss her soft mouth.
She inhales sharply, pulling back. “Reed?”
I move away an inch, nearly laughing at the shock blooming in her eyes. “Beth Davis. What are you doing to me?”
She touches my lips, moves her fingers over my jaw. “You’re . . . you’re here? How are you here? Why?”
“Why? That’s a silly question. You’re here.”
“But . . .”
I slide my mouth over hers. “I should’ve said it.” She goes perfectly still against me, her small hands circling my wrists as I hold her face.
Shaking her head, she sits up and pulls my hands away. Her touch suddenly feels cold. “No. No, Reed, it’s fine. You told me you couldn’t want me any more than you already did. I was stupid to forget that.”
“You were stupid to love me?”
She stares at me for the longest second, her hands tangling together in her lap. “I was stupid to think you could love me back. That anyone could.”
My stomach clenches as I look at her, as I reach for her again. “I want to get you out of here. I want to take you back to that hotel room and say everything I’ve always been meant to say to you. You weren’t stupid, Beth. I was. I should’ve said it.”