Six(24)

He’s angry when he finally turns around. The look of rage reminds me of him so many years ago. He should've frightened me that night with that look, but he didn't. I knew he was there to protect me. I could tell it was safe to go with him then, just like it is tonight.

"Kyle wants us all to go in for questioning. I tried to get us out of it, but he's not budging this time. I don't see any reason for us to make a break for it on this one, so I guess we'll spend the fucking night answering shit at the police station."

"Doesn't he realize the girls have been through enough shit the past few fucking nights?" Switch sounds shitty as he releases me from under his arm to move toward Blade. I feel the cold return almost instantly.

"Tell his ass he's welcome to come to the club to talk all fucking week, but we're not going in. Better yet, I'll tell his ass. I need to remind him of a little something I saw a week ago." Switch walks away, and Blade follows.

I finally see Tori, like really look at her. She's a mess. Damn it, this shit has to quit happening to her. I keep bringing the bad shit into her life.

"I'm so sorry. This is my fault." Wrapping my arms around her, I squeeze her before we both start to cry.

"I thought they were going to kill us. I kept kicking and trying to get him away from me, but he was all over me. He just wouldn't stop." She's frantic as she starts talking about it. "Tori, they knew you. He was talking about you."

"I know. I just don't know who they are. They know about the night my mom died."

"We need to tell Evan everything. He needs to know anything we can remember from tonight and everything from that night years ago, Tori. He will find these fuckers and he won't sleep ‘til he does. I know my brother."

I decide to hold back telling her that he was the guy to save me that night. She knows the story, but I didn't tell her every detail of that night, but everything she's saying is true if that night was any indication of who he is.

I'll never forget him squeezing that man's neck until he died. I watched as long as I could, wishing I would've had the strength to do it. That disgusting man had taken me from my mom's car, while she was being drug out by so many others.

I didn't get to see them all, but one of them sticks in my mind. He talked to me like a child, even squatting down to my level, and told me everything would be alright. Then he ordered the slug, that Blade killed, to take me back to my dad.

"Tori. Did they hurt you?" Piper stops my memories from haunting me.

"I don't even know what's going on, Piper. They knew my mom. It's just bringing back so much shit for me right now and I'm trying to process it all."

"Kyle will meet us at Blade's. It's time to get you two out of here. I'll have a doctor come in tonight too. "



I don't ask questions about how they managed it. I just follow. The flashing lights in the alley aren't mixing well with the darkness in my past that has definitely come crashing forward tonight.

Blade slides his hand into mine as we begin to walk toward the side of the building. I stop walking to look over at him. He runs his other hand through the longer hair on top of his head and turns to face me just slightly.

"You comin'?" He gives a slight tug on my hand to urge me forward, but I don't move.

He steps in front of me. "Can I just get you to my house? I need to feel like you and my sister are safe and right now, I know there are at least three mother fuckers out there that would hurt you both." He slides both of his hands down my arms before he tucks a piece of hair out of my face. I just watch while his strong physique displays some of the most caring gestures I've ever felt. No one has ever made me feel like he is right now. Of course, I rarely let anyone get this close to me in the past.

I watch his eyes move over my face, slowly touching my skin without even really touching it. The grip of his hands on my wrists, tugging again slightly, moves me forward to follow him once again. I have so much to tell this man. So much I want to do with this man and I just really met him. How do I keep myself from falling for a guy who has captured my heart so many times over the past fifteen years without even knowing he was making me fall?

He reaches for his pack of cigarettes and lights up another as we continue to walk.

When in the hell did smoking become sexy to me, but this makes twice that he's made me think this way?





Chapter Ten

Blade



How in the fuck did I not know it was her? Now everything she does reminds me of that little girl that night. It must be her vulnerability. She didn't act like that before tonight. In fact she was quite the opposite, strong willed and independent, so I know she has some spunk left in her. That fucker fifteen years ago may have tried to kill her inside, but I'll be damned if she didn't prove he had failed miserably.