“You weren’t answering your phone last night,” he scolds me without greeting. I smile like an idiot. I was deep in Kris last night. “It’s Brad,” the tone of Justin’s voice gets my full attention. “He’s dead. Warren phoned me from Brad’s phone to tell me how he took pleasure in killing our guy.”
Icy chills spread through me and my eyes instantly search for Kris. When I don’t see her downstairs I run up to the room. She’s on the bed reading and looks up at me with a smile.
“Did you fucking hear me?” Justin shouts. “Warren knows!”
“I heard you.” The smile falls from Kris’s face and she scoots to the edge of the bed, her eyes questioning me. “I’ll deal with it. Don’t worry.”
~*~
Chapter Forty
Kristine~
I knew it was too good to be true. They should’ve left Warren alone but no, why listen to me?
Garrett just told me that Warren killed their private investigator and I’m slightly freaked out right now.
He crouches in front of me and places a hand on my knee. “I’ll fix this. I won’t let him close to you.”
“How, Garrett? How are you going to fix it? You can’t fix everything!”
He stands to his full length and grips his hands behind his neck. He’s deep in thought when he whispers, “The same way I took care of Eric.”
He took care of Eric? All my muscles tense as I ask, “How did you take care of Eric?”
He drops his hands to his sides and the look in his eyes tells me I’m not going to like what I hear. “He killed Cathy, I had to.” I start to shake my head in denial. He lunges forward and grabs hold of my shoulders, yanking me up. “Kris, you know I did the right thing. He would’ve come after you or the other girls. He was a monster. I had to kill him to protect all of us.”
I still held out a flicker of hope that I was wrong, but then he said it. “You killed a man!” I cry out.
Anger flashes over his handsome face. “For you! For everyone. He beat you, Kris. Did you forget that? He would’ve come for you, raped and killed you. That’s the type of monster he was.”
“And you?” How could I have fallen for him? He’s a killer! Fear and disappointment soaks deep into my bones. “What type of monster are you? And what does that say about me. I must be totally fucked in the head. I’ve been fucking my kidnapper. Who does that?”
Garrett steps forward until his body is flush with mine. He takes my face in his hands, his eyes burn into mine. “Don’t say that, Kris. Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?” I hiss. “Like you’re a killer and it scares the shit out of me?” I shove hard against his chest and run for the door.
“Kris, come back!” I hear him behind me and take the stairs as fast as I can. “Stop!” He shouts. I feel him breathing on my heels and I panic. I lose my footing and a scream rips from my throat as I start to fall. “Fuck!” I hear Garrett, and then I slam down and roll down the last stairs.
Pain lances through my shoulder. When the side of my head slams into something, it feels as if it’s going to crack open. I land at the bottom of the stairs in an aching heap. Dizziness blurs everything around me.
“Kris!” I hear Garrett, but he sounds far away. “Fuck, you’re bleeding. Hospital, I need to get you to a hospital!”
One minute I’m on the floor in pain and the next I’m floating, still in pain. Everything aches. It feels as if I’m moving and then I hear Garrett’s voice right above me. “Stan! Get a cab.”
“Oh dear,” the doorman squeaks. I hear lots of people. Colors blur and the world distorts until everything is black.
~*~
Chapter Forty One
Garrett~
My fucking heart! I can’t believe she ran from me. I thought she knew what happened to Eric.
My eyes are burning but I can’t take them off her. She looks so small and vulnerable in the hospital bed. The doctor said she should be fine. They’re keeping her for observation. The doctor gave me the evil eye, as if he knows what happened and that it’s my fault Kris is lying here.
A nurse comes in to check on Kris. I sit forward in the chair, watching her move around the bed.
“She should wake up any minute now,” the nurse says. I squint and read her name tag, Britney.
“Thank you, Britney.” I take in Kris’s pale complexion. “You’re sure she’s going to be okay?”
Britney smiles brightly at me. “She’s gonna be just fine.” She stands around for a few more minutes, doing absolutely nothing before she finally leaves.