“Hand me my phone.”
“Where is it?” she asks, standing.
“On the countertop.” I lift my hand to my head again, and it comes back bloody. I rub it between my fingers.
She looks around then shakes her head. “No, it’s not.”
I release a long breath, closing my eyes and trying not to vomit. My head pounds like a drum, and I feel dizzy. “It’s too early to just show up at her house. I’ll give it a couple of hours.”
I wake up to voices coming from downstairs in the clubhouse. When I sit up, my head still pounds, and my eye is swelling shut.
I should have kept my mouth shut. I thought telling them that I had proof on them would make them back off, but I should have known it wouldn’t work with Kellan. The bastard.
I get out of Cole’s bed and stand. A wave of dizziness hits me, but I manage to wait it out.
“Why are we here, man?” I hear Bennett ask.
“I’ll let you know why when everyone has arrived,” Cole tells him.
I pick up his black zip-up hoodie from the end of the bed and put it on because I’m cold. Then I make my way down the stairs, needing a drink.
I notice Cole sitting in one of the lounge chairs talking to Deke who sits in the one next to him.
Shane sits on the couch, and Bennett stands by the table. Cole looks up as I hit the last stair, and he stands when his eyes meet mine. “Hey, sweetheart,” he says softly.
I swallow nervously as he walks over to me.
“How do you feel?” he asks, pushing hair behind my ear.
“Fine,” I lie, taking a step back from him. I’m still mad at him. I’m still so confused about what I do now. There are so many questions I want to ask him, but I know I’ll never get the answers.
He sighs. “You’re lying.”
“I’m thirsty,” I admit.
He nods and pulls away from me to go over to the little bar area.
“What the fuck, Austin?” Bennett snaps. “What the hell happened to you?”
“I’m fine,” I say, waving him off. Maybe I should have stayed upstairs.
“Here.” Cole hands me a bottle of water.
He cups my face as he leans down to kiss my forehead gently, and my chest tightens. I’ve held in so much anger for the past two weeks that it’s emotionally and physically exhausted me. My eyes start to fill with tears, making his figure blurry, and I hear him sigh.
I refuse to let them fall. To show him that I feel anything for what he has done to me. What he has kept from me.
“What’s up, fuckers?” I hear Kellan’s voice as the door opens, and my body stiffens, remembering what he did to me this morning. What he could have done to Becky. The commotion woke her up, but Kellan was able to escape before she noticed him. I’m thankful for that. I’d hate myself if he hurt her too.
Cole spins around. “I’m calling it off,” he says.
“Calling what off?” Shane asks slowly.
“All of it,” he says.
Kellan snorts. “So your ex-plaything informs us that she has insurance on us, and you call it off? I say she’s bluffing.”
That’s because the bastard thinks he has the proof. He doesn’t. I made sure to delete that shit off my phone for good reasons. He’ll never find where I backed it up.
Cole steps to the right, and Kellan comes into view. His eyes meet mine, and a slow smile spreads across his face when he sees my face.
“You know … there’s a battered woman’s shelter at the edge of town who will take you in.” He smirks. “Unless you’re into that kind of thing. Then by all means, let him beat you.”
The room falls silent, and I swallow nervously as I see Cole’s body tense. He glares at Kellan who sits down on the couch. Kellan lifts his chin to me. “I still call bullshit. But if you wanna turn us in, then go ahead.” Kellan shrugs. “I dare you to.”
I go to open my mouth to tell him that I know what he did, but Cole speaks.
“Fuck it.” Then he storms out of the clubhouse.
Deke is the first one to jump up and follow him. I don’t want to be left alone with Kellan, even if Bennett and Shane are in here, so I follow them too.
I shove open the door and walk outside. The sun is starting to set. I must have slept the day away. I needed it.
The door opens behind me, and the guys walk out as well. Cole pops open his trunk and reaches in. I take a step back when he pulls out a black and white baseball bat.
“What are you doing, Cole?” Bennett asks him.
I look over at Deke as he comes to stand next to me. Normally, I would take a step back, but I feel like he’s getting close to protect me from Kellan. Not harm me.
Cole doesn’t answer. Instead, he walks over to Kellan’s blue Corvette and lifts the bat over his shoulder, his grip tightening. Then he swings. It hits the driver’s side window, and it shatters into a million pieces.
“What the fuck?” Kellan roars, running over to him.
Deke goes after him and pulls him back.
“What the fuck are you doing, Cole?” Bennett demands.
Cole reaches in through the now busted window and opens the car door. He leans inside it and starts opening and closing compartments. Seconds later, he stands and faces us with my cell in his right hand.
“This your cell phone, sweetheart?” he asks me, but he’s staring at Kellan. The bat hangs down by his side.
Kellan breathes heavily as he glares at Cole.
“Yes,” I answer.
“Why is her cell in your car?” Shane asks in confusion. “And why is it busted?”
Cole places my crushed cell in the pocket of his jeans and walks over to Kellan and Deke. “You went into her home after the party this morning. Put your hands on her and stole her phone.” He arches a brow. “You wanted to delete what she had on you. But you couldn’t get the phone unlocked, could you? So you busted it.”
“Is this true?” Bennett demands.
Kellan takes a step toward Cole. He raises his hand, stretching out his arm. Kellan comes to a stop when the end of the bat presses against his throat. Kellan fists his hands down by his side as his eyes shoot daggers at Cole. “Go ahead. Beat me with the bat.”
Cole smiles, and it’s not friendly. “I don’t need a bat to hurt you, Kellan.” He lowers it and takes a step toward him. “I’m gonna kill you with my bare hands.”
Kellan swallows. “She is gonna turn on you.”
“I deserve that,” he says without hesitation. “And you, you will get what you deserve for touching what is mine.”
“You did that to her, Kellan?” Shane asks, pointing at me as if there’s another girl here with a black eye.
He smiles. “I did what you all were too afraid to do.”
“Jesus!” Bennett hisses, grabbing his hair. “What the fuck were you thinking? You could have killed her.”
Kellan laughs darkly. “All of a sudden we care who lives and who dies?” He shakes his head. “We knew going in that we all weren’t going to make it out. We started with eight, and already, we’re down to five.”
“That wasn’t Cole’s fault.” Deke snaps.
He smirks and looks over at me. “Right. It was Bruce’s. The man who raped his mother.”