Break My Heart (The Heart Series Book 2) (25 page)

Shit.
Tommy ran into Will.

I guide her back to her door and walk her inside the apartment. Muffled grunting leaks through the walls, noisy thuds still pounding.

“Listen, just stay inside, I’ll come get you once I check it out, okay?”

She’s worried sick. I’m going to kill them for scaring her like this.

“Should I call the police?” she asks, little frame tense with worry.

“No need, I’ll take care of it.” I try to reassure her with a tight smile.

“Five minutes, Ileana. You’re not back in five minutes, I’m calling the police,” she warns while shaking her crooked finger at me.

“Fair enough. Now lock the door behind you,” I order, and she gives me a determined nod.

Once her door is shut and locked, I curse myself for not having my weapon. Thuds, growls, and flesh-pounding noises fill the hallway.

I rush over, and open my front door. Nothing could have prepared me for the scene before me.

Will and Tommy are but a heap of scratched and bloody limbs, full on brawling. They’re rolling, punching, crashing all over my apartment.

Broken glass and furniture are strewn all over the place; my new coffee table is in splintered shards scattered on my area rug. Our flat screen TV is barely hanging on the wall, knocked off its mounting. And my books…what the fuck!

I don’t even try to pull them apart; they’re like two very large, very powerful, rabid dogs. My only hope is to reach Tommy.

“Tommy, stop it!!” I scream, but he’s a goner.

He’s a mass of red, flaming skin, murderous eyes fixed on his target. There’s no reaching him, swaying him from his mission, which at the moment, seems is beating the piss out of Will.

Blood covers Will’s face, Tommy’s knuckles are raw. I need to break this up.  

I run into the kitchen to grab a jug and fill it with cold water while they continue grabbing and tackling each other. By the time I return with the jug, there isn’t one piece of breakable material in my living room that hasn’t been obliterated.

I get as close as I can and dump the cold water over them. They break apart, coming to, eyeing me with identical scowls as if
I’m
the one with the problem for interrupting. Unbelievable.

“What. The.
Fuck
!" I yell.

They spring up, facing each other, and Will starts to speak, but I’m watching Tommy. His hand is on his holster, his chest heaving, eyes trained on Will. 

Will is trying to explain himself, but Tommy’s expression gives me pause. I haven’t seen him like this since the Army. His intent is clear as the light of day outside.

“Tommy?” My voice wavers, but he hasn’t so much as glanced my way. He’s still focused on Will.

“He hit me first—” Will starts, but I’ve had it.

“Shut up, Will,” I grit between my teeth, my eyes still on Tommy. He’s eyeing Will like a panther ready to pounce.

“Tommy. Look at me.”

His expression remains murderous, teeth clenched, jaw pulsing. Will and I exchange a nervous glance, and then my eyes go to Tommy’s right hand, sitting on his weapon. Water drips from his face and hair. He doesn’t even blink.

Oh God, I have to reach him. I try a different approach.

“Sarge, hand over your weapon.”

Again, nothing.

My heart is sprinting inside my chest. I know Tommy. He’s all instinct. Act now, think later. I need to bring him back before it’s too late.

His knuckles are white with restraint. It is taking immense willpower on his part not to pull his weapon out. What the hell happened to bring him to this point?

I can’t lose him like this. I quickly glimpse at Will, worry growing in his blue eyes. He doesn’t move a muscle, trying to keep the wild animal from pouncing.

Whatever happened between them, it’s my fault. I brought Will here.

“Tommy.” My voice is raspy, my throat thick with emotion. Slowly, I approach him, until I get as close as I can. Close enough to see his bloodied knuckles, his scratched neck, his torn t-shirt. His cheeks are burning red, his pale lips pressed in a thin line, those emerald eyes a thousand miles away.

I stand in front of him, never taking my eyes away from his right hand, as I cover his left hand with both of mine. Ever so slightly, I bring my lips close to his ear.

I softly call him back to me. “Tommy? It’s me, Lil…please.”

My eyes are tearing up. Shit. I swallow down my panic. If he doesn’t respond—

He blinks quickly, as if coming out of a spell, and looks at Will like he’s seeing him for the first time. He squeezes my hands. His eyes, near black from his dilated pupils, finally find mine. His breathing slows, and his entire body relaxes. Finally, his right hand leaves his weapon.

His gaze morphs from confusion to realization. Eyes wide, he shakes his head apologetically.

“Lil, I...I’m sorry.” He hadn’t even registered my presence.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.” I softly caress his cheek with my thumb as I cradle his stubble-covered jaw.

Turning, I glare at Will. He didn’t throw the first punch, but I know Tommy. Will must have said or done something pretty intense for Tommy to get this worked up.

I keep my voice steady while addressing them both. “Okay. I have to go check on Mrs. N. before she calls the cops. Will,” I order, signaling toward the back of the apartment, “you go and clean yourself up. There’s a first aid kit under the sink.” I then turn to Tommy. “Why don’t you take a walk?”

“I’m not leaving.”

Shit. I can’t leave him here alone with Will.

“Then go out into the hall. Please.”

He glares at Will for a good five seconds. “Fine.” he spits.

I take a deep breath, looking around my apartment to take stock of the damage.

Jesus. They trashed my place.

“By the way,” I add coolly, “you’re both cleaning this mess up.”

Grabbing Tommy, I step out into the hall.

قلب

While checking on Mrs. Nuncio, I leave Tommy standing outside my apartment.

Right as I raise my fist to knock, she opens the front door. Her frail eyes are filled with concern.

“Just as I thought, Mrs. N., Tommy knocked over some of my dishes.” There. Not entirely a lie.

“Oh, is he okay?” she asks, looking down the hall and spotting Tommy.

He’s shifting around on his heels and clenching his fists.

“Tommy!” I call, and as soon as he sees our sweet neighbor, he relaxes and waves.

“Sorry, Mrs. N.” He raises a hand apologetically, a tight smile on his lips.

“Well, I have to tidy up, so I’ll come over tonight, okay?” I reassure her, trying to get her back into her apartment.

“No need to, Ileana, I’ll be watching
The Bachelorette
and turning in early.” She smiles her sweet smile and I relax.

“All right then. Lock the door behind you.”

She shakes her head, rolling her eyes. I shoot her a stern look. This is non-negotiable.

She makes a point of turning the deadbolt loudly enough for me to hear it.

I let a loud sigh escape me. Now I have to deal with Tommy and Will.

Heading back to Tommy, I notice how his comforting smile for Mrs. N. is gone, and a scowl directed at me has replaced it.

“I gotta get out of here,” he sneers in disgust.

“Tommy, you can’t leave like this.” Like a reflex, I reach out to cradle his face and he reels back, avoiding my touch. He pushes himself off the wall and faces me instead.

“You broke your promise,” he says, dejected. He must notice my confused expression. “You told me you wouldn’t talk to him just yet. I thought we were in this together.”

My chest hurts. Promising on a technicality was a low blow, and I knew it. Biting my lip, I try to muster some courage. “I promised I wouldn’t talk to him at the hospital. I didn’t say anything about—”

“Dammit, Lil!” His strong chest heaves. “Don’t pull that bullshit on me and tell me what the
fuck
is going on!” His lips press into a thin white line of fury.

“I should ask you the same thing. Why would you talk Nelson into—”

“
That
motherfucker”—he jabs his finger toward my place—“is involved in your disappearance. I’d bet my right nut that his blood matches the killer’s,” he hisses through his teeth, his jaw rigid. “And for me to find out that you not only vouched for him, you brought him home with
you
?” His growl carries down the hall, making me wince.

“He’s not involved. If anything, he helped me come home. To you.” The words are out of my mouth before I have time to process them, shooting through the air like daggers and puncturing Tommy’s fighting spirit. His stance falters, his eyes blinking in hurt at some dawning realization.

“It’s not what you think. If you’ll just let me explain—”

He chuckles incredulously. “Explain?” he taunts. “Fine. Explain away, Lil.” He squares his shoulders in challenge. “Start with his name. Go on,” he coaxes, “I want to hear you say his name while conscious.”

My lips part, but nothing comes out. He knows he’s Will. What am I going to say?

Will helped me bring the killer home. He helped me realize how I truly felt about you, but it was seventy years ago. Now he’s here from the past?

He cups his ear and leans in mockingly, like he’s listening but can’t hear me. I hate this.

“That’s what I thought. We’re not done, Lil. I want him out.”

My mouth opens, but he silences me with a scowl.

“Don’t. I mean it, Lil. Get him out. I’ll be back tonight and we’re gonna talk. I wanna know what the ever-loving fuck is going on, ‘cause we can’t go on like this.”

Without waiting for my reply, he marches down the hall toward the elevator.

Realization of my predicament squeezes my temples like a vise.
I’ve lost him.

Something has to give. As the elevator doors close, a roar echoes through the space between us, along with the muffled thud of a punch.

قلب

“You have to go.”

Will stops tending to his injuries in front of the mirror. His clean shirt is stained with blood again.

“I heard him yelling out in the hall.” He shakes his head in disappointment. “What happened to you? Where’s the girl that wouldn’t take any lip from me?”

My eyes close and I want to wither in defeat. “She’s here.”

He doesn’t understand. There’s no making a choice. There’s Tommy, and that’s all there is to it.

I assert myself. “I’ll find you a place to stay for now, but you can’t stay here. It’s for your own safety, believe me.” I walk around him, gathering my first aid kit supplies.

“I don’t like him.”

I look up to find Will regarding me. His split lip has stopped bleeding, but the cut above his left eye is still oozing a bit of blood.

“Well, he doesn’t like you either, so you have that in common.”

“He’s not good enough for you.”

Glaring his way, I shove the cotton balls and bandages against his chest. I don’t need this. Not now, and especially not from him.

“Why are you
really
here, Will?”

He averts his gaze back to the mirror. “I can’t—”

A loud knock on the door interrupts his sentence. I don’t move, waiting for his response. We stand in silence in my cramped hall bathroom; Will’s frame morphs any space he enters but this is beyond ridiculous.

The knocks get louder and faster. There’s only one person that pours their essence into everything, including knocks on doors.

“Open up, Ileana, it’s me!” Chris yells from the hallway; she’s so loud, might as well alert the entire neighborhood.

I still haven’t even had a chance to change out of my running clothes, let alone take a shower. Nelson’s the only person in my life that’s about Will’s size, so I texted her before I went running in hopes she could bring by some discarded outfits of his.

I peel my glare off Will and go to the door. It’s barely open before Chris saunters in, her chocolate eyes darting everywhere. The little Tasmanian devil scans my apartment.

“Here are some spare clothes. Where is he?”

She shoves the clothes my way and scurries down the hall, leaving me in her wake. She stops in the bathroom doorway while I stand behind her, looking at Will apologetically.

“You must be Ileana’s mystery friend,” she says with a huge grin. “And I see you’ve met Tommy.” She gestures with her chin at Will’s battered face.

Frowning slightly, Will grimaces. “I have. I’m William. And you are?” Will reaches to tip his hat, except he’s not wearing one. He nods at Chris instead.

“I’m Christina but everyone calls me Chris. Very nice to meet you.”

Chris extends her small hand, and it takes Will a few seconds to comply. Cautiously, he surrenders his large hand into Chris’s making hers disappear in his grasp. Chris shakes his hand animatedly, darting her eyes at me. Her fine ebony eyebrows almost reach her hairline, giving me the “
You’ve been holding out on me
” look.

“Chris is married to Agent Nelson, she’s the girl from the wedding photo,” I chime in. Will’s blues go from curiosity to realization.

“If Ileana brought you home, it means you’re good people. She never has people over.” Will stares at Chris like she’s an ambassador to our planet. “Except me and Brad.” He just nods, mimicking Chris’s enthusiasm. “But we’re not people. We’re family.”

Will’s amusement is replaced by confusion.

“She doesn’t mean like blood relatives. She just means good friends,” I amend.

Chris’s head snaps my way so fast, she may get vertigo. The contempt on her face is instantaneous; if looks could kill, I’d be six feet under already.

“He’s confused. He’s from out of town, okay? Cut me some slack, Chris,” I plead with her apologetically. I’m tired of being on everyone’s shit list. First Nelson and then Tommy. Now her.

“Fine.” She turns away like a scorned cheerleader. “William, do you mind if I take a look at you? I’m a nurse.”

Will’s deep blue eyes appraise Christina for a beat. No way is he going to say he doesn’t trust her. I’ve yet to meet a human being that doesn’t love Christina Reyes.

“Yes, ma’am.” His smile makes an appearance, shining down on her.