Blake.
The vehicle jerks to a stop, and he’s out and running to the stairs. He’s dressed like me: suit pants, button-up shirt, and dress shoes.
I run to catch him. “Blake!”
He freezes, and I flinch at the mix of anger and self-hatred I see in his eyes. “Killian, what’s going on up there?”
“I don’t know. Raven and Jonah went up, but they made me stay down here. I don’t know, Blake. Something’s not right. Axelle didn’t sound right when she called me. I just… She wouldn’t admit it, but something’s wrong.” I press my hand to my heart as it splinters behind my ribs. “If something bad happens, I… I can’t lose her. What if he takes her back to Seattle? What if he takes Layla and they—”
“Not gonna happen.” He hooks me around the neck and makes me meet his eyes. “I’m going up there to get my girls, and no one, especially not some piece-of-shit, abusive ex-dick will stand in my way.”
My eyes widen and my hands shake. “Abusive?”
His mouth opens and his eyes soften, but he slams his jaw shut and races up the stairs. “I’m sending Axelle down now. Be ready.”
It doesn’t take long, and before I know it, she comes bolting down the stairs with a trail of chestnut hair whipping in the wind behind her.
I’m breathing so heavily I’m practically panting with relief. She’s okay.
“Killian!” She launches herself off the steps and into my arms.
Raven’s standing at the top of the steps, and with a satisfied nod, she turns back to the apartment.
“He has my mom. He’s not going to let us go, Kill. We’ll never get away.” Her body jerks with the force of her sobs. “Why…why won’t he let us go?”
I bury my nose into her hair and breathe deeply, reminding myself that she’s here and safe in my arms. “Shhh…he’s not taking either of you anywhere.”
“I was so scared.” Her arms grow tighter around my waist, and my arms shake with pent-up rage and relief. “I was so afraid no one would be able to help us. Blake left, and I thought you bought my stupid excuse for not being able to go to the dance.” The more she talks, the harder she cries, as if she’s been holding it all back for days.
“It’s alright. I knew. I heard it in your voice. I knew something wasn’t right.”
“Thank you. Thank you, Kill. You saved us. God, what if you guys never showed up?”
“We’re here; that’s all that matters.” Is this what Superman feels like when he saves Lois Lane?
Her body freezes in my arms and she pulls back. Her eyes are red and puffy, but she still takes my breath away. “I have to go back up there.”
I hold her tighter. “No way. We’re staying down here. Let Jonah and Blake take care of—”
She breaks free and starts running up the stairs.
“Shit! Axelle, wait!”
It takes a fraction of a second for me to realize she has no plan to stop, so I race after her and reach the front door just behind her.
Axelle’s dad is in a standoff with Blake, and Jonah is at his friend’s back. Not good odds for Daddy Dearest, but he doesn’t seem the least bit concerned.
“Did she tell you how many guys she slept with the night she got pregnant with Elle?”
Oh no.
Axelle gasps and covers her mouth.
“Oh, come on! Look at me.” He points to his face. “She looks nothing like me.”
He’s right. His blond hair and dark eyes don’t match Axelle’s coloring at all.
Axelle seems to follow my line of thought and bursts into silent sobs. Raven wraps her arms around her, and I simply stand there, totally stunned and completely useless.
“Me and the boys had some fun that night. Hottest chick in school was drunk as hell at a party.” The man’s words take up all the oxygen in the room, and the tension thickens with unbridled hostility. “Didn’t take much to get her so drunk she passed out. Shit, she probably weighed ninety pounds back then. We had our fun with you, taking turns, filling you up.”
“Get Axelle the fuck out of here.” Blake’s command snaps me out of the horrific story being told.
I grasp at Axelle, but she shoves me away.
“Axelle, please,” I whisper. “You don’t need to hear this.”
Tears fall freely down her cheeks, and she peers over at me with bloodshot eyes. “Yes, I do.”
Her father sneers at Layla. “You and your bastard kid.”
I watch with revulsion as every word he says chips away a piece of the girl I love. Her shoulders cave, and her face pales with each verbal blow.
“I married you because I thought you were Axelle’s dad. If you weren’t, why didn’t you say anything?” Layla’s face is white, her lips quivering.
“What was I supposed to do? Admit that I roofied the hottest chick in school so the boys and me could gang-bang her? I’d end up in jail.”