Wild at Heart (5 page)

I brace myself for another hit, but it doesn’t come. Instead, he releases the bindings and sends me tumbling to the cement floor. Although two of his guys have their guns trained on me, I need to get a hit in before I die. But before I can get to my feet, my father slams something hard over my head, and my face kisses the ground.

“If you’re gonna kill me,” I shout through ragged breaths, “fucking do it already!” I shut my eyes and picture Ree’s face. She was the one who’d gotten me through the past three hours of torture. She’s the only thing still keeping me alive.

“Oh, I’m not going to kill you, son. If I was going to do that, you would have been dead hours ago.” He bends down to my level and pulls my right hand forward. “No, I’m going to do something much, much worse.” Realization hits me hard in the gut before he even raises the two-by-four he’s holding. “You took away everything. My freedom. My business. You turned my wife and kids against me. Now I’m going to return the favor.” The wood connects with the top of my right hand. HARD. “First, I’ll destroy everything you care about.” He hits me again and I feel my knuckles shatter. “Slowly.” Another hit. “Painfully.” Nausea washes over me as I begin to see white spots in front of my eyes. “Piece by fucking piece.” My hand is smashed to a bleeding pulp and I’m about to black out.

“You’re going to let him live?” one of his henchmen says. “He’s seen our faces! What the hell?”

My father turns his head and gives a curt nod. A single gunshot rings through the air, followed by a silence that’s only disturbed by my wheezing and the sound of a body hitting the ground. My ribs are broken, and I almost wish I could feel the pain. Feel fucking something other than terror and dread. But the next words out of my father’s mouth confirm my worst fears.

“I’m going to let you live so you can watch me destroy everyone you love.”

“NO!” My eyes snapped open. I was alone in my quiet hospital room—the noise of the ICU left behind. Dash, Dalia, and Dax had left days ago, my mom was out getting a bite to eat with Rex, and Ree was supposed to be back any minute.

My heart pounded as the memory filtered into my mind again, and I broke out into a cold sweat.

He was going to hurt everyone, including Ree.
Especially
Ree.

How much did he already know?

“I think my father’s people are tailing me.” Ree entered the room, shaking off rain from her long, red coat. “Either that, or I’m seeing things,” she said as she bent over to kiss me. “What’s wrong?” She stopped an inch away from my mouth when she saw my expression. “Oh, god. Does something hurt? Do you want me to call the nurse?”

I slowly shook my head, feeling the blood drain from my face. “What did they look like?”

“The stalkers?” She shrugged. “Like creepy assholes.”

“I’m serious, Ree.”

“I don’t know. Two bulky guys in a dark sedan who’ve been hanging around my hotel for the past week,” she said, frowning. “He’s done this before. Many times. He’s pissed I haven’t run back home and wants to keep tabs on me.”

“Maybe.” Or maybe it was my father who wanted to prove that he held the whole fucking deck in his hands now. Did he know about Ree? What was he going to do to her?

Shit. His words rang in my mind again. She wasn’t safe. I had to get her the fuck out of here and away from me NOW.

“Dare,” she was calling my name, her blue eyes wide with fear. “You’re scaring me.”

“You can’t come to the hospital anymore.” Every word cut deep into me like a fucking dagger, but I couldn’t risk her life.

Her mouth popped open in confusion. “What? What are you talking about?”

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said.

“Dare…” She gently touched my arm. “Where else would I be?”

Somewhere safe. Away from me. “Ree…you can’t—”

“I don’t understand.” She shook her head. “Did my father threaten you? Is it about the dirt he’s got on you? Because I can take care of that, Dare. He’s not going to hurt you. I swear. I’m strong enough to stand up to him this time.”

“It’s not your father.”

“Well, whatever it is, I’m not going anywhere.”

Goddamn it. That’s what I was afraid of most. “You’ve gotta leave, Ree.”

“You’re not making any sense,” she said. “Did they change your medication? Because you’re sounding paranoid.”

I shook my head. “It’s not the meds.”

“Well, then what the hell is going on, Dare?”

More memories came flooding back.
I loved your mother, you know. And you made her hate me. So now I’m not going to rest until I find the one woman YOU can’t live without and tear her apart. While you watch.

“Is it YOUR father?” She was staring at me, her hands on her hips, her cheeks flushed. She was so fucking amazing, and all I wanted to do was take her in my arms and kiss her until she couldn’t tell up from down.

And my father would kill her if he found out.

“Ree, you have to listen to me—”

“NO,” she said, her eyes sparking with anger. “You have to listen to me. I love you, and I’m not leaving you. We have been through far too—”

“
I’m trying to save your life
,” I yelled, and her eyes went wide. “My dad will kill you if he finds out about you.” His words echoed in my mind, over and over again.

“Dare, come on.” She was trying to comfort me, reaching for me, but I flinched away. “You can’t really believe—”

“LOOK AT ME, REE.” I held up my bandaged hand and waved at the rest of my battered body. “You don’t think he’ll do worse than this to you? He
told
me he would. As he was beating the shit out of me, he SWORE IT.” I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her, get her to understand how fucking serious this was. “You have NO IDEA what we’re dealing with, and I…”

My voice caught, and I couldn’t get the words out. Her brow was crinkled, her eyes filled with concern. Silently, she reached out for my hand. I held on like she was my fucking lifeline.

When I could finally speak, my voice was thick and raw. “I can’t stand the thought of losing you—I’d die if something happened.
Please
,” I said. “Please just go.”

“For how long?” She spoke quietly, her expression wary and unconvinced.

“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “Until I can figure out how to make him go away.”

“But maybe I can help. Maybe I can—”

“No.”

“But I might be able to—”

“NO.”

“We’re a team, Dare. You don’t—”

“No, we’re not. Not this time. This is my shit, and I have to be the one to deal with it.”

Her mouth snapped shut and she pressed her lips together. “
Fine
.” She yanked her coat back on, grabbed her bag, then stormed toward the door. It took all of my self-control to not stop her. At the last minute, she turned around and glared at me. “You know, once in a while you could actually accept some help when you really need it, and not be such a stubborn asshole.”

Then she was gone.

It felt like all the air was suddenly sucked from the room, like I couldn’t breathe, like a piece of me had been ripped from my body.

Rex came in a moment later, just as I hurled an empty tray across the room. He raised his thick gray brows, turning his head and looking down the hall after Ree.

“What was that about? Is Ree okay?”

I shook my head, grinding my teeth together until my jaw hurt. “I sent her away.” Fuck. What was this pain in my chest? Either I was having a heart attack at the ripe old age of twenty-five or my fucking heart was breaking.

“Why would you do that?” Rex looked incredulous. He pointed in the direction Ree had fled. “That girl is the love of your life. What are you doing, Dare?”

I told him what I remembered, and his face lost all color.

“Aw, shit.” He shook his head.

“Dad won’t hesitate hurting her. Hell, he would
kill
her if he knew how much she meant to me.” My throat closed at the thought of my father getting hold of Ree and punishing her to get back at me. “I can’t risk her life, Rex. I fucking love her.” I shoved my hand through my hair, and looked up at him. “Will you do me a favor and look after her? Keep her safe?” Goddamn, my fucking heart hurt even more than my hand. I rubbed my chest as if that would help. “Please, Rex? I need to know she’s okay.”

He nodded once, then jerked his head toward the hallway. “I better go after her.” He pointed at me again. “But we’re not done discussing this. You can’t do everything on your own, you know. You don’t have to. Not when you have someone who loves you as much as that girl does.”

Then he was gone.

I hated the thought of sending Ree away more than she could even imagine. She was the biggest part of me. But if I had to so I didn’t lose her forever…then the pain was worth it.

I just hoped I could get rid of the bastard. If I stood a chance at destroying him, though, my memory had to return.

Where the fuck was that card? Where the hell was my ace?

seven

I
made it all the way out to the elevators before falling apart. My chest split in two and I couldn’t breathe. I leaned against the wall, pressing my back into it as I stared up at the ceiling, willing myself to keep my shit together.

But my shit quickly shattered.

My knees gave out, and I slid down the wall as sobs shuddered from deep inside me, quivering through me as they spilled out. My butt hit the floor and I tucked my head in between my knees and cried. People walked by without bothering me—I was in a freaking hospital, a place where people got all kinds of bad news. I didn’t exactly stand out.

But then Rex’s hand lay gently on the back of my head. He didn’t say anything, he just sat on the floor next to me and stayed there. Which only made me cry harder.

I couldn’t believe this was happening.

Not again. Not like this.

Every time my life finally hit the right track, a huge boulder planted itself right in front of the fucking train and stopped me from moving forward. Over and over again. Sobriety wasn’t even my biggest issue anymore. Not when I was so close to losing my damn sanity.

What the hell was Dare doing? I didn’t understand why nothing was ever easy with us. I mean, we LOVED each other. We were freaking soulmates.

And, yes, I’d always thought that was a ridiculous notion—
soulmates
—because it sounded like some idiotic, over-romanticized, hearts-and-flowers bullshit.

But I’d been wrong. It was very real, and it was the reason my heart felt like it was being ripped right out of my chest as I sat there sobbing in the hospital hallway.

Rex passed me some tissues once I was all cried out and sniffling.

“I don’t get it,” I said. “Why is he pushing me away? Why won’t he let me help?”

He sighed. “He has his reasons—not that I agree that this is the way to handle things—but he’s trying to do the right thing.” His voice was kind and brimming with genuine concern.

“How can THIS possibly be right?”

“I don’t know what to tell you.” Rex shook his head sadly. “Just…give him time. Okay? If you can, don’t give up on him. I realize that’s probably asking too much of you right now, but…”

“No, it’s fine.” I scrambled to my feet, suddenly needing to get out of there. Hurrying over to the elevators, I pushed the down arrow, then turned to him. “Thank you, Rex. I just…I’m gonna go…”

Oh, shit. I had nowhere to go, no one to go to, no job, and I was running out of money fast. I couldn’t go to my parents. No. I
wouldn’t
go to them. Archer was on a business trip, so I couldn’t even crash with him. The city I’d been in love with for most of my life suddenly felt like a cold, uncaring stranger.

Rex noted the uncertainty on my face and said, “Do you not have a place to stay?”

I shook my head, my eyes filling with tears again. “I’m going to look for something first thing tomorrow.”

Rex rose to his feet. “There’s a little one-bedroom apartment over my studio. It’s yours if you’d like it.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. We can go there now, get you settled in.”

The elevator dinged, the doors opened, and Rex waved me in ahead of him. Just as they were about to close, Celia came around the corner.

“Rex!” she called, and he put a hand out to stop the doors.

He looked at me. “Give me a second, okay?”

Nodding, I stepped back out of the elevator, and walked over to the windows looking out over the city to give them some privacy. But even though they stood on the other side of the room, I could clearly hear their conversation.

“He’s going to be released tomorrow,” Celia said. “But we don’t have a place for him yet. Can he stay in your apartment?”

Rex paused, then said, “The space is already spoken for. And it wouldn’t be safe for him anyway. If Dare’s hoping to keep a low profile, he can’t be staying with me.”

“Oh, god,” she said. “I hadn’t even thought of that.”

“But I might know of a place. A friend of mine is looking for a new tenant. I’ll make a call.”

Watching their reflections in the window, I saw Celia shake her head. “I can’t pay for it,” she said. “And Dare has hardly anything left. After all these hospital bills…”