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I shook my head. “I can’t say I have, but there’s no reason to kill the whore. Just let her go and we can talk about this.”
Every time I called her a whore, I would see the pain intensify in her eyes. I had no idea what she was thinking; I only hoped she knew the reasons for it. Nothing mattered more to me in this moment than saving her, even if it was at the expense of my own life.
Ever since she was torn from my arms that fall afternoon, my life had been empty. No amount of parties, money or women fixed that. The fact that I remained so angry over her supposed betrayal only proved how much I still cared for her.
I still fucking loved her, and when there was a possibility of getting a second chance, there was now this. It hurt me to know she couldn’t confess to me what had truly happened, but it didn’t mean she needed to keep being punished either. In fact, that was the last thing I wanted to do.
Instead of fight or allow the bitterness to pull us down, I wanted to make love to her like I should’ve last weekend. I needed to atone for my behavior, and I just hoped she could forgive me. If I stood any chance of making that happen, I needed to come up with something quickly.
I was unarmed and too far away from Harper to be able to save her if Jayson decided to make his little threat a promise. I had years of martial arts training, but he still had the upper hand. If I could find a way to distract him, maybe I could strike. My reflexes were quick, and although I hadn’t actively participated in any competitions in years, I still kept up with all of my former training.
My father had worked in the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Internal Revenue Service, and he had many friends in other branches of the government, especially the FBI. It was where he had learned the hybrid form of martial arts taught at Quantico back in the day.
It was a combination of Krav Maga, Muay Thai, and Judo. I excelled in hand to hand combat, but again, Jayson had a gun and I was unarmed. If I could eliminate the immediate threat to our lives, I knew I could take down this punk. He would pay for everything he’d done to Harper from the time she moved to Oregon until now. Especially now.
“What is it that you think I have?” I asked him, making sure to keep my voice even and low.
“Don’t play stupid with me. She’s here in town with you, so you already know.”
I heard his response, and I almost wished now that I paid more attention to what she’d been trying to tell me. I’d ignored her warning, treating it as some flimsy-ass excuse to weasel her way back into my life.
“Like I said, she’s a whore. It’s hard to hear her talk when she has a mouthful of cock.”
“Don’t play dumb with me,” Jayson warned.
He then stepped away from Harper, and I quickly devised a plan. I wasn’t even sure she would know what I was saying, but when our eyes met, I closed one eye while keeping the other open, then I alternated. My head moved ever so slightly and I saw the moment recognition dawned in her eyes.
When we were younger, she would often butt me with her body to move me. It was similar to a nudge, but with more force. If she could rock side to side, she might be able to at least fall over in the chair which would hopefully distract Jayson enough for me to spring into action. This had to work because I was running out of options.
She gave a slight nod just as Jayson reappeared. Keeping the same bored expression I had tried to maintain since arriving here, I sighed. “Believe what you want. You can have the girl. She’s used goods anyway.”
I didn’t know if it was my words, or if she had finally found her strength again but the moment I turned to walk away, I heard the crash of her chair and a string of curses coming from Jayson. I turned and just as I’d hoped, the commotion had dislodged the gun from his hand.
It was now a fair fight so I lunged at Jayson, eventually slamming him against the wall. I grabbed him by the windpipe and applied pressure. He began swinging wildly, only landing one or two blows as I twisted my body to block them.
Jayson gasped for air as my grip got tighter. There was a small amount of panic in his eyes, but still way too much arrogance. I wanted to strangle him where we stood, and I might’ve had I not thought about the consequences.
I raised my knee, then brought my foot down hard on his own just as I released my hold on his neck. When I elbowed him in the face, I heard the cracking of bone as I connected with his nose, and I reveled in his bellow of pain.
He swung at me and missed, the pain from the blow and previous lack of oxygen slightly impairing his equilibrium. I delivered another few punches before using a leg sweep to bring him to the ground. He moved onto his stomach and tried to hoist himself up, but I was on him before he could be successful. I was now straddling him as I sat on his back, keeping him pinned to the ground.
Remembering how he used Harper’s head earlier to hurt her, I grabbed his dark man bun, and I pulled back before slamming his face on the concrete. I did that a few times as he tried valiantly to fight me off. Deciding to end this now, I found the exact spot in his lower neck and applied enough pressure to it to render him unconscious. Once his body went limp and still, I checked for a pulse, which he still had.
A muffled cry beside me had me getting up. Harper was still on the floor, but I needed to make sure I completely neutralized the threat to us before releasing her from her binds. I saw more duct tape, the same kind used on her, and I made quick work of binding his hands and feet, then I crouched down beside Harper.
HARPER
Every bone in my body ached, even in places I didn’t know could hurt. Ever since Jayson had lured me into his web, I knew Gabriel would die. I would too and unable to give in so easy, I forced myself to stay lucid, even when Gabe walked right into the same trap I had.
Adrenaline was one hell of a drug, but as I now lay on the floor and watched the man I loved actually slaying my demon, I realized he had changed over the years. The boy I once knew used to compete in different martial arts shows, but he never used those moves outside of class or those competitions, but I was actually glad he was now.
Hearing Jayson grunt in pain, then watching his blood spill managed to fill me with an innate sense of satisfaction. This monster deserved to die and if I had been free, I would’ve taken the same gun he’d pistol whipped me with and blown his fucking head off. It’d be self defense and I didn’t think a jury in the country would convict me once they found out what he’d done to me. Only, I couldn’t tell anyone. I had never wanted those shameful secrets to come out.
Gabriel. Oh God. He now knew the man in those pictures had been my cousin. I’d wished for the floor below me to open up the moment he realized it. I wanted to not only save myself from his disgust, but I wanted to avoid the questions I knew would soon come.
Another loud grunt pierced the air and I winced as Gabe slammed Jayson’s smug face into the concrete a few times. His nose would be the least of his worries if he survived this, and I honestly hoped he wouldn’t. As quickly as the fight started, however, it ended and Gabriel quickly neutralized him before coming over to me.
“Don’t worry,” he implored as he crouched down in front of me.
