It takes another two hours of complete torment before Kris starts to regain consciousness. I get up and go sit next to her on the bed. I take her hand and hold it tight.
“Kris?”
She lets out a pain filled groan that makes me lean over her. I pull strands of her hair free from the plaster covering the gash. She needed four stitches! I pray it doesn’t leave a scar.
Her eyes flicker open and slowly the confusion in them fades. “What happened?” she asks her voice croaky from being out of it.
“You fell,” I whisper and lean closer still. “You scared the shit out of me.”
Her eyes slowly start to drown in horror and pain. “You killed Eric.” She pulls her hand from mine. “Leave, Garrett. I don’t want you near me. I’ll figure out a way to pay you the money back.”
I was hoping she would’ve calmed down by the time she woke up, but I’m out of luck. I feel my chest tightening. I can’t bring myself to leave. I need her.
“I love you,” the words fall from my mouth before my mind even realizes what it is I’m feeling for her.
“You don’t.” She turns her face away from me. “You love the idea of having me. You’re the same as them. You destroy everything you touch.”
I can’t stand to see the disappointment on her face. I get up and leave to go get some coffee. She just needs time. She’ll come around and understand why I had to kill Eric.
I decide to go home and change my clothes. I have her blood on my shirt. I take a quick shower and grab a few items for her. I also grab my phone on the way out. I left it when I rushed to get her to hospital.
I have a few messages. I open them as I walk to the elevator. One is from Mom to let me know everything is okay at Kris’s bookstore. The next is from an unknown number.
‘You fucked with the wrong person.’
My heart jolts. It was sent almost an hour ago. I quickly check the others.
‘Now I’m gonna fuck with you.’
‘Or should I say I’m gonna fuck with your slave.’
There are no new ones. The last one was sent twenty minutes ago. I slam the button and impatiently wait for the elevator to open. I need to get to Kris and make sure she’s okay.
I keep telling myself she’s safe at the hospital, besides, how will Warren know where she is?
“Simon, the hospital and fast!” I jump in the back of the car and read the messages again. The ride to the hospital takes forever. “Pull up the front, Simon. Don’t bother parking. I’m in a hurry.” He listens and as soon as he stops the car I get out and run. She’s on the third floor. I don’t have patience for elevators and take the stairs.
When I get to Kris’s room, that nurse, what’s-her-name, is in there fixing the bedding. “Is she in the bathroom?” I ask. I feel panic flare hot through me.
The nurse smiles widely at me. “Oh, hi there,” she says way too sweetly. I walk to the bathroom and open the door. I don’t care what Kris is doing in there. “Oh no, she left a few minutes after you.”
Shock vibrates through me. “What do you mean, she left? Did she leave alone? Was someone with her?”
There’s a flash of annoyance across the nurse’s face. “What’s up with you men today? She left with a man.” The nurse gives the bedding one last irritated yank and then walks to the door.
“What do you mean she left with a man?” I ask, highly irritated with her.
“I don’t know. She said she was going home, signed herself out and then the man left with her.” As the nurse leaves the room I hear her mumble, “What does she have that I don’t.”
I can’t believe Kris would just leave and with who? I’m about to go after the nurse for more information when my phone beeps. My stomach hollows out when I see it’s a message from the unknown number.
‘How much will you pay for her, Richie Rich?’ No, she wouldn’t leave with Warren. She’d fight him!
My phone beeps again. I open it quickly and almost go to my knees. It’s a picture of Kris, hanging from a hook. It looks like she’s unconscious, and she’s naked. That animal has my girl. I’m going to fucking kill him.
I press reply. ‘I’ll pay whatever you want. Where and when?’
The dumbass texts me an address demanding five million dollars. I go home to get my gun and tell Simon I won’t need him for the rest of the day. It’s time to settle this once and for all.
~*~
Chapter Forty Two
Kristine~
As I come to, I find my world spinning. I feel a hand on my side and pain shoots through my ribs as I’m pushed. And the world starts to spin faster as my body goes round and round.