Page 17 of Wonderland Asylum (Wonderland Killers #1)

SIXTEEN

Basically I'm Fucked

Kai and Gunner have no right to tell me how to live my life. That stops tonight.

-Presley

The moon casts an eerie glow over the parking lot as we walk to my car. Leo rests his hand on my car handle. “When can I see you again?”

I smile up into his handsome face. “Minus work and school the next couple weeks for me are going to be pretty open. How about Friday like we originally planned?”

His returning smile is golden. “I’d like that.”

Headlights come towards us at alarming speed. Leo pushes me behind him, and I have to cover my eyes with my sleeves to shield them from the high beams.

Our intruder's voice is familiar yet remains lethally calm. “Who the fuck is this Presley Kate?”

I’m not stupid enough to make a sound. He’s a loaded machine gun ready to fuck up anything standing in his way to get to me.

Moving past Leo, I try to diffuse the situation. Kai’s truck still has the high beams turned on, but my eyes have semi-adjusted to the light. This is bad—real real bad.

My stepbrother casually walks towards us. My heart begs me to run into his arms, but I don’t dare move. I await his rage instead, and hope that this won’t end with Leo in a neck brace for the next six months.

Kai’s always been terrifying yet beautiful, and the fact that his voice is still calm by the time he speaks again, scares the hell out of me. "Get in my truck, Presley Kate."

"What? No. I'm on a date, Kai." I'm done with just lying down like a submissive dog and taking orders.

For a fleeting moment, surprise lightens his features, but all too quickly his face contorts in anger. It takes him a minute to gain a semblance of control.

His whisper is harsh and laced with venom when he bends down to deliver his message. "If you don't want your new friend to wind up in the hospital like Chad, you'll get your curvy ass in my fucking truck, Pres."

Leo's voice may not be as domineering as Kai's, nonetheless, it's just as much coated in steel. "It doesn't matter to me what you want. What do you want to do, Presley?"

My stepbrother's face is impassive, the only tell-tale sign that he's about to go bat shit crazy is the nerve currently ticking in his throat. Shit!

Kai's possessiveness has always been a turn on for me, I should be ashamed that he's once again turned my libido into a burning inferno of need.

Goosebumps form on my skin like they're begging him for just one tiny caress. I shouldn't, but I love that he does that to me. That they do that to me.

Looking over at my date, I contemplate my next move. Do I draw a line in the sand where they are concerned or go on living my life in limbo?

Placing my hand on Kai's shoulder does help ease some of his tension. My touch has always done that for him. I brace myself because he’s not going to like what I have to say.

In order to regain my sanity, I remind myself that it’s time to rip my heart out of their hold.

That first step involves separation. "Leo, I want you to open my car door and follow me back to my dorm. I don't want our date to end just yet."

Kai's nostrils flare in anger, and I prepare myself for the aftermath that my revolt will bring. Unexpectedly, his phone rings giving me a reprieve from the punishment that's coming.

A ghost of a smile flashes across his face when he sees who's calling him. He wastes no time answering the call. "Brother."

My entire body tenses at the mention of my stepbrother, Gunner. Even without my phone the fuckers have been able to track me. But how? It's not a coincidence that he's here, and now Daddy Dearest is calling.

The bright blue of Kai's irises bore a hole through mine as he weighs every sin I've committed against them tonight. His face lights up in excitement when he catches me staring openly at him. He likes my weariness.

His hungry gaze racks over my body leaving me feeling naked under the intensity of it all. "She's resisting, but in the end what does that matter?"

Black dots blur my vision, the audacity of his ego knows no bounds. Grabbing Kai's phone, I place it on speaker mode so everyone can hear. "No, I'm not going anywhere with him. I'm on a date, and it's time that the both of you stop with all your patriarchal bullshit, I! Am! Done!”

Gunner's voice is a low rumble of cold fury. "Care to bet?"

I wince as my voice comes out in an almost squeak. "Ye—S!" Regardless, I'm still not going with him.

He grunts. "Put Kai back on the phone, Pres."

My heart turns to mush as it always does when Gunner calls me by my silly nickname. He rarely does it, but when it happens, I'm convinced the feeling is equivalent to what I felt like the first time I ate chocolate.

Gloating, I return Kai his phone. However, my newfound victory is short lived, because nothing is ever easy when it pertains to the Donovan brothers.

"It'll be my pleasure." There is no warning before he pulls me up against his well chiseled chest. It's hard to be mad about him manhandling me, when this is something I've wanted him to do for years.

Even still, I won't let him win. "Kai, what the hell?"

He runs his hands up and down my back, before placing me back down on the ground. His show of dominance, makes my pussy light up like a Christmas tree. I hate him!

Kai looks from me to Leo, a self satisfied smirk firmly on his face. "Tell Leo, goodnight, Presley Kate."

I give him one last chance. "Kai, what's wrong with me going out with somebody? You go on dates all the time, do you not see the hypocrisy here?"

Kai levels me with a look that would make a lesser person faint, but I won't go down without a fight tonight. "I don't date. Ever. Get in the truck, Presley."

Confusion furrows my brow. "But you do, Kai."

"No! I don’t! Now get in my fucking truck, Presley." He yells.

Giving Leo a look, I hope he understands that I have a plan. I would rather pull out all of my eyelashes with tweezers than go anywhere with Kai tonight.

"I'm sorry, I'll see you later." I whisper, then give him a quick hug.

He shrugs with a promise. "I'll see you later, beautiful."

When Kai comes for him, I jump in my car. It's not going to take my stepbrother long to figure out that I've escaped, so that should break up this pissing contest he's created between the two. I draw the line at Kai messing up Leo’s pretty face.

Looking through my window in horror, I watch as Kai grabs Leo by the collar. He says something before letting him go. Leo makes a move to punch Kai, but he blocks it, then punches him twice instead. Fuck.

Starting my car, I hope that it will be a distraction enough to stop the fight, but Kai's solely focused on my date. Guilt maws at my heart, because I caused this. His poor nose looks broken and his left eye is beginning to swell shut.

Rolling down my window, I try to think of a way to cause a distraction.

I hate to admit that I'm too chicken shit to get back out of my car.

It's not the fact that Kai has anger issues either, because he'd never hurt me. Right now, he’s past the point of reason, and he'd be voted most likely to throw me over his shoulder and there'd be no getting out of his grip. "Kai! Stop it right now!"

Placing Leo in a chokehold, his face is contorted in fury. "If you come within a hundred feet of her again, you'll have to start eating your food through a straw."

Leo nods as I scream. "You're a damn psycho!"

Just like I planned, he drops his hold on Leo the moment he realizes I'm in my car. His anger goes from bad to worse when he puts together that I've tricked him.

"Run!" I shout as Leo stands there waiting to make sure I'm going to be okay.

He hesitates, but thankfully makes the decision that ultimately saves his life. Glancing one more time in Kai's general direction, I tear out of there like a bat out of hell!

As gravel flies, thunder sounds off in the distance. A storm is rolling in, and I'm truly terrified of what's going to happen next. Swallowing down the bile, I wipe my tears as they fall.

This is uncharted territory for us, how will they retaliate? I'm not foolish enough to think that Kai won't follow me, or that Gunner’s bossy ass won’t be involved in some way.

I'd hoped that my act of rebellion would help them to see my side of things, but I'm not sure they ever will see it. The lines between us are blurred at best, and I'm afraid I just threw kerosene on an already out of control fire.