Knight in Shining Suit (60 page)

“
You thought you can fool
me for a second? Really, Astrid? Van Woodsen was never your type! I
know that! You never go for rich jocks! Even when you were in high
school, you steered clear of popular kids! You always wanted out of
the limelight. They all fell to your feet, but you never
entertained any of them! You didn’t want guys with big egos and
deep pockets! You have this stupid thing of wanting to be the
center of a man’s world. You wanted a man who thinks he has enough,
as long as he has you!

I struggled to get away
from him. But he leaned forward and pressed his body against mine
to prevent me from escaping.

“
I was that man, Astrid!
Van Woodsen is the epitome of the guys you were avoiding ever since
you were a teenager! You expect me to believe you are happy with
him?”

I took a deep breath.
“Ryder didn’t have to be rich! I would love him even if he were
poor because he is a hundred times the man you are,
Bryan!”

“
You whore! You made me
wait years for nothing! And what? Van Woodsen had to wait one night
to pop your cherry? You sold yourself to the highest bidder! How
much?”

“
You bastard!” I screamed
and then I gathered all my remaining strength to kick my knee up to
his crotch. He let go of me, backing away, feeling the
pain.

I pulled myself up and ran
to get some distance between us, but he was fast to recover. He
pulled my hair and I screamed from the pain.

“
You slut! You will pay
for that!” He screamed. “I’m not waiting anymore! I will take what
is rightfully mine! You don’t know how sorry you will be after I’m
through with you!” Without releasing my hair he pushed my head down
with intense force.
I had no way of escaping that blow. I felt my head hit the counter
top with a big thump. I wasn’t even able to scream.

I fell to the floor,
barely conscious. I wanted to get up and fight. I was afraid of
what Bryan would do to me and I wasn’t even awake to defend myself.
I felt a warm gush of hot liquid on my forehead. There was a sharp
pain on my wrist as I realized I landed on broken shards of
glass.

I tried to push up, hoping
that Bryan will not come for me yet. I needed a little more time to
get back on my feet and fight him off, or at least try. I waited
for him to haul me up, but somehow, he didn’t come for me again. I
heard his voice… shouting and cursing in the background. But my
vision was blurring. The noises around me were slowly fading. And
then I felt darkness taking over, and I realized in horror, that
this could very well be the end.

***

Ryder.

In less than ten minutes,
I reached our neighborhood. I was tempted to go home instead, but I
looked across the street and realized that I cannot chicken out
now. Every second I spend away from Astrid, just might be widening
the gap between us.

There was a car parked in
front of John’s house. A Boxster. I guess Astrid’s roommate is
home.

Great!

I didn’t make a good
impression on this guy a couple of days back. I doubt he would let
me through the door now. He seemed so protective of Astrid. And I
don’t know whether to feel good or bad about it.

Good, because somebody is
protecting her, while I was being an ass. Bad, because…
damn
! I’m jealous! The
reason why I didn’t like the idea of her living with her
good-looking friend is because I was so insecure and jealous. I
wanted to be the one protecting her. But I don’t know how to get
her back, after all the hurtful things I said and did to her these
past couple of months.

I took a deep breath and
stared at the skies.

Help me, God!

I was about to ring the
buzzer when I heard voices from inside the house.

“
Van Woodsen is the
epitome of the guys you were avoiding ever since you were a
teenager! You expect me to believe you are happy with
him?”

“
Ryder didn’t have to be
rich! I would love him even if he were poor! Because he is a
hundred times the man you are, Bryan!”
I
heard her shout angrily. My heart swelled at hearing
this.

But who was she fighting
with?

“
You whore! You made me
wait years for nothing! And what? Van Woodsen had to wait one night
to pop your cherry? You sold yourself to the highest bidder? How
much?”

His words boiled my blood.
I don’t care who he is. No one can talk to Astrid like that and get
away with it. I reached for the door and turned the knob, but it
was locked.

“
You bastard!”
I heard Astrid scream and I felt cold. I knew I
had to do something before she got hurt.

With all my strength, I
kicked the door. The lock gave. I immediately ran
inside.

The house was a mess, like
somebody played tag inside it. There were shattered pieces of
broken glass all over the floor. The furniture was in
disarray.

An unfamiliar man
registered in my brain. He had his back to me, and
he was holding Astrid in front of him.

“
I’m not waiting anymore!
I will take what is rightfully mine! You don’t know how sorry you
will be after I’m through with you!”

I went for him, but I was
too late, he banged Astrid’s head on the counter top. She fell to
the floor unconscious.

My heart pounded inside my
chest and I felt a sense of terror that I have never felt before.
The sight of Astrid, limp and barely breathing blocked me out. No
one can hurt her! Whoever does will pay! And I saw nothing else but
red after that.

I went for her assailant.
I pulled him away so he could not come for her again. My leg hit a
piece of furniture behind me and I slightly lost my balance. The
guy launched a punch at me. He got me straight on the side of my
head. I fell back. And suddenly, I felt dizzy. Like everything was
blurry.

But I knew I had to get
up. I had to protect Astrid. She has no one else but me. And I will
die first before I let anything happen to her. I stood up and went
for the guy blindly.

I didn’t stop to check who
he was and I didn’t care. I punched him and he fell over. I mounted
him, not giving him a chance to get back up, and I just kept
punching.

He already had scratches
on his face and his arms. It looks like Astrid put up a good fight
after all, but he was just too strong for her.

My blood froze at the
thought of what he would have done to Astrid had I not decided to
come back for her, and if Astrid was not able to put up a little
fight, buying me time so I could save her.

Wrath enveloped me at the
thought that he might have killed her had I been too late. I kept
punching, not caring about what part of his face would
break.

Then suddenly somebody
pulled me from behind, preventing me from throwing in more punches.
I struggled to get away. I struggled so I could come back and beat
the life out of the asshole that had hurt Astrid.

Then I heard a familiar
voice call out to me. “Ryder!” He was holding me on my shoulders
tightly, preventing me from moving towards the guy again. “He’s
out, man! He’s out! You could kill him!”

I looked up, and found
that it was John who was holding me back. I pushed him away from
me.

Then I remembered Astrid.
I pushed John out of the way and practically crawled to where she
was. She was still unconscious.

I felt her
pulse.

She’s alive.

Relief swept through me. I
gathered her in my arms and held her against my chest.

I stared at her beautiful
face. Her blush was gone; her skin was almost white, except for the
blood that is staining her forehead and cheeks.

She was so brave! She gave
Bryan a good fight! And I was so happy because if she didn’t, I
would not have made it in time to save her.

I leaned down and kissed
her bloodstained forehead. I held her to me. I closed my eyes and
remembered the first time I woke up in the hospital and laid eyes
on her. There was an unfamiliar knot in my stomach and my blood
heated up just at the mere sight of the woman I didn’t recognize
from my past. I have wanted her, but I didn’t understand those
emotions yet. So instead of exploring what I felt for her, I shut
her out. And I hurt her in the process.

Months before I returned
to Malibu, she had been living in my house because I asked her to.
My house has a central alarm system and panic buttons that would
immediately alert the authorities. She would have been safe
there.

But no! I pulled out my
investment in her business, causing her to move out of her own
place and finding friends who will be kind enough to take her in.
And that asshole ex of hers followed her here.

When we were fighting, she
was telling me that she doesn’t want to be my toy. And stupid me! I
could have kissed her senseless and told her that she was never a
toy to me. I could have told her that I remember even a little bit
of her. I should have told her that I loved her and I wasn’t
letting her go this time, no matter how many times she shut me out
or turn me down. I should have told her what I really feel… I
should have done everything else… except for walk away!

I looked at her almost
pale face, her bloody clothes, her limp body, and I knew I
shouldn’t put any blame on anybody. No! Her ex-fiancé didn’t do
this to her. I did! I can come up with a thousand excuses, but deep
in my heart, I knew… I did this to her!

From the moment I opened
my eyes at the hospital, all my actions were leading her to this
fate, this day. I know I cannot blame anybody else. It was all me.
I did this to Astrid… the woman I swore to protect, the woman I
would go to hell and back for.

And for the first time in
many months, I really cried. Tears poured from my eyes as I held
her to me and inhaled her sweet scent mixed with the rusty smell of
her blood. Her scent reminded me how much I loved her. And the
smell of blood reminded me of all the ugly things I did to
her.

I was only a couple of
minutes away from losing her. And I haven’t even told her that I
love her. I didn’t even apologize for everything that I did. She
didn’t even know that I have changed… that I was no longer the man
who woke up in the hospital not knowing who she was.

The ambulance finally
came. John tapped me on the shoulder. When I looked up at him, he
was beckoning me to let Astrid go and let the paramedics attend to
her.

I reluctantly let her go.
John pulled me up and pushed me to go outside the house. I caught a
glimpse of Bryan who was also unconscious on the floor, paramedics
already putting him on a stretcher.

“
You okay?” John
asked.

I raised a brow. “Are you
trying to be funny?” I snapped at him.

“
I guess you’re not,” he
whispered.

He took out his phone and
called some people, telling them what happened to
Astrid.

They carried Bryan out on
a stretcher. If he weren’t unconscious, I would have hit him in the
head once again. I can still taste bile in my mouth just by looking
at him.

I tried to calm my nerves.
I clenched my fists and I found that my knuckles were also bleeding
slightly.

“
You should let them
attend to that.” John said to me.

I took a deep breath. “I
will live. Not the first time I got into a fist fight.”

Finally, they brought out
Astrid on a stretcher. She had an oxygen mask on her
face.

“
Who’s a relative?” One of
the paramedics asked.

“
I’m her boyfriend,” I
replied, even before John could open his mouth.

“
We’re bringing her to the
hospital now.” The guy said.

“
I’ll come with
you.”

They let me ride with her
in the ambulance. I was still high on adrenaline. I couldn’t calm
down until I knew for sure that Astrid was going to be
fine.

I looked at her limp body.
I took her hand and kissed it. I couldn’t help the tears that were
pouring from my eyes again.

God, I love her!
I love her!

I always have. She was my
life. She
is
my
life. And now, I cannot believe that I came so close to losing her.
And it’s all my fault.

Bryan would not have the
guts to even come near her if he knew I was still protecting her.
He must have known that we were having problems. He must have
waited for me to drive away and then he saw an opportunity to
attack Astrid.

When we reached the
hospital, she was taken to the emergency room and I was asked to
wait outside. I didn’t want to. But some nurses pushed me towards
the waiting area.

“
We will take good care of
her, don’t worry,” somebody said to me. It was a nurse, I
think.

I was pacing back and
forth, praying to God that she would be okay, that her fall didn’t
cause any concussion or severe injury.