Page 51

He mulled that over for a moment, his gaze dropping to the photos in my hand. I tucked them into my back pocket quickly, but he’d already seen them. Seen every bruise and cut Caleb and his friends had put on my body, none of them pretty.
Kian shoved off the wall abruptly. “Come with me.”
Without waiting for me, he strode purposefully out of the room and down the hall.
Curious, I followed, jogging to catch up to his long, determined strides. “Where are we going?”
“To the shed.”
I frowned, not exactly sure what was so exciting about a shed, presumably filled with tools and lawn-mowing equipment.
Kian led me out of the house and around the side, where a large metal shed was hidden from view of the pool and entertaining area. It wasn’t locked, and he let himself in, going straight for a drawer on the right of the neatly organized space. “I know they’re in here somewhere. Aha!”
I tried to peer over his shoulder, but he was so much bigger than me and there was a lot of stuff in the way. Bags of fertilizer. Something called Oxyanedride, that was probably a pool cleaner, judging from the other equipment around it. A lawn mower and a rake. “I can’t see. What is it?”
He ignored the question. “Grab my drill, would you, please? It’s just on that tool bench.”
I grabbed the power tool in question and followed him back upstairs to my room. He waited for me to enter, then kicked the door closed, his big body blocking the exit.
A flicker of fear almost instantly exploded into a firestorm of terror.
It was just like that night all over again. I was trapped. Men blocking the exits. Not letting me leave until they got what they came for.
My chest tightened in panic, and I darted for the bathroom door, the only unblocked exit.
“Rebel,” Kian barked. “Wait. Stop. Look.”
Despite the adrenaline rushing my body, I did.
Two small silver slide locks sat on Kian’s palm. “One for this door, one for the bathroom door. I swear to you, Vaughn and I won’t ever lay a finger on you. But I thought you might feel safer anyway if you could lock yourself in here when you feel like you need to.”
The pounding of my heart slowed, the fight or flight response dying off as Kian turned back to the closed door and measured where the lock would be installed.
I moved to sit on the bed, tucking my knees up and wrapping my arms around them while I watched him work. “Thank you.” It was barely more than a whisper, easily lost in the noise of the drill.
But Kian nodded. “You’re welcome. If this is going to be your home, you should feel safe here.”
I wanted that. So desperately. I wanted to feel like I didn’t have to sleep with a gun under my pillow. I wanted to feel safe walking the streets again or having a drink with a man I found attractive. I wanted to be the woman I’d been before Caleb had stolen that sense of peace.
I couldn’t let him win. Right now, Caleb was walking around town, powerful in the knowledge he could do what he liked and face no repercussions.
While I’d become some scared mouse I barely recognized.
“I’m going to kill them.”
Kian paused in his drilling and looked over at me.
I waited for his shock. His judgment. Some sort of reaction. But he just put the drill down and picked up a chisel. “Okay. How?”
I blinked. “How? That’s what you’re asking me when I say I’m going to kill three men?”
He put the tool down and turned to give me his full attention. “I saw those photos, Rebel. I saw what they did to you. They don’t deserve to breathe.” He shrugged. “And better to have a plan than to just do it in the heat of the moment. That’s sloppy and a surefire way to get caught. So yeah, I’m asking you how?”
“Something painful. Brutally painful.”
He chuckled. “Okay, okay. I like your style.”
The corner of my mouth flickered but then died. “You probably think I’m some weak little girl who can’t stand up for herself, huh? I swear, I’m not. If you’d met me before, you’d have a very different opinion. I’m not the girl in those photos. I work at Psychos. You probably don’t know it. It’s a bar in Saint View. Rough as guts.”