Page 104 of Protective Love

Dropping to my knees on top of him, I ball my hands into fists and rain punches down on him, one after another, enjoying the sickening sound each hit makes.

He punches me just as hard, my face, my ribs, my arms, but each hit he lands powers me on and gives me more energy.

Every time he hits me, I think about the time Aurora told me he hit her, and a ferocious growl rips out of me as I grab his head between my hands and smash it against the floor before pummelling my fist into his face.

"That's for ever laying a fucking hand on her," I spit.

"This is for making her want to give up!" I scream, lifting his head and slamming it against the ground again.

I don't pay attention to the fact he's stopped fighting back, or to the fact that there's a pool of blood surrounding us on the floor, I continue bashing his head against the cement and listing off every thing he's ever done to Aurora, hoping that he's feeling the same pain she felt all those times before.

I'm not sure how long has passed before Kaleb's arms are wrapping around mine as he yanks me off of Danny's lifeless body.

"That's enough, Jay," he says, patting me on the shoulder as I slump to the floor, exhausted. "You did good. You did real good."

"It'll never be enough," I mumble, staring at the mess I'd made with disgust.

"He's gone now, and that's all that matters, okay? Now come on, let's get out of here and get cleaned up before we go back home to our women."

I accept the hand he offers me, allowing him to help hold me up as I stand from the floor, caked in blood and grime.

"You did good," he repeats, patting me on the back.

Chapter Fifty-Three

Rory

It's the early hours of the morning by the time Leo shakes us awake on the sofa to tell us that the boys will be back home soon. My stomach's in knots as I await their arrival, worried about how injured they may be, and curious to know whether everything went to plan or if Danny somehow managed to get away.

"He'll be okay," Sophia says, grabbing my hand and squeezing it as we walk towards the front door where Leo's standing, watching Kaleb's car come up the drive.

Our interlocked fingers hold onto each other's tightly as we wait for the car to come to a stop at the top of the driveway.

I unintentionally hold my breath as one door opens, and when Jaylen steps out, his eyes instantly meeting mine, I almost choke on a sob when I see his hair and face caked in blood.

"I'm okay, darling," he shouts, weakly smiling at me as he waits for Kaleb to round the car and wrap an arm under his shoulders, supporting him as he walks towards us, a grimace on his face.

I hurriedly grab his crutches that are resting against the wall in the foyer and then I rush out the door and down the steps until I reach him.

He takes them from me without protest, groaning as he leans his weight on them.

"Are you hurt?" I ask, my eyes scanning his body head to toe, looking for any sign of injury through all the blood that's soaked into his clothes.

"Nah, I'm good. Just need my girl," he says, letting go of one crutch so that he can wrap an arm around me.

My hands grasp his face, and I carefully pull him towards me, giving him a quick kiss.

"Let's go get you cleaned up, yeah?"

He nods, pecking at my lips once more.

I pick up the crutch he abandoned and then help him slowly climb the stairs up to the house.

"Everything go okay?" Sophia asks, glancing between Kaleb and Jaylen.

They both nod in reply.

She frowns at Jaylen as he groans with each step he takes and once we're all inside, she rushes off, coming back a few moments later with a black plastic bag.