With a savage smile, the man pounced on Gil as if they had a standing arrangement. Gil grunted as another blow landed.
I shouted, “Stop it!”
Neither man listened to me.
I tried to protect Gil, but I wasn’t quick enough as another punch landed on his jaw. He didn’t retaliate. Didn’t flinch. He stood stoic and broken even as fresh blood trickled from his cheekbone. He kept his head high as the man spun and kicked him in the stomach.
This time, he did fall.
“Stop it!”
Slamming to one knee, he looked like a knight waiting for a sword to complete the sentence. But even on the ground before his attacker, he was undefeatable. He might not retaliate with violence, but his entire demeanour shouted invincible.
Why is he doing this?
Tears once again burned my eyes as the guy bent down and grabbed a fistful of Gil’s unruly hair. “You have three days.” He spoke with anger, spraying spit over Gil’s face.
He flinched but didn’t try to get free. “Three days.” He nodded as if he’d struck a bargain written by the devil.
The guy let him go, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Don’t fuck up, Gilbert. You know what happens if you do.”
Gil shut his eyes as if the consequences were too much to bear. “I know.”
The guy sniffed as if annoyed at Gil’s obedience, swung another punch into his temple, and laughed as Gil crashed to the ground, unconscious.
Chapter Eleven
______________________________
Olin
-The Present-
I RAN.
The second the guy stepped away, I bolted to Gil’s unconscious form and fell to his side. “Don’t you dare come near us again,” I hissed, cradling Gil’s head on my lap, my knees on fire from skidding on gravel, my heart a drum in every extremity.
The guy shook out his sore knuckles from punching the one person I’d do anything for. “There’s that dangerous word again.” He grinned. “Us.”
“Fuck off,” I spat.
I didn’t care that he might try to kidnap me again. I didn’t stop to think about my safety. All I cared about was helping the boy I’d always helped. Patching up his wounds and repairing his injuries. The boy who’d always helped me in return.
This was a role I was used to.
This was a man I would defend until the end.
“I’d be careful if I were you, sweetheart.” The guy backed toward his vehicle. “Those associated with Gilbert always have a habit of getting hurt.” Blowing me a kiss and looking at Gil with a sneer, he chuckled. “I’ll be seeing ya.”
Turning his back on both of us, he swaggered to his van, slammed the door, and drove off with a squeal of tyres, kicking up dust and a swirl of exhaust.
I didn’t move until the van vanished at the bottom of the warehouse driveway, turning into traffic and leaving us alone.
Bastard.
My gaze dropped to Gil’s slack, blood-smeared face. “Gil.” Brushing his messy, dark hair from his eyes, I expected a fierce command to stop touching him. A snap to leave. A grumpy slur asking why I’d disobeyed him. Again.
But he didn’t move.
And that terrified me worse than any shout he could deliver.
I stroked his stubble-covered cheek. “Come on. He’s gone. Let’s get inside.”
Still no response.
His body lay sprawled on the ground. One arm covered his chest while the other lay awkwardly beneath him.
“Gilbert...” I rocked his shoulder gently, looking up to see if anyone working in the neighbouring warehouses had seen and could offer aid.
At no point did I think about leaving. I could never in good conscious walk away from Gil even if he didn’t want me in his life. Even if he’d told me in no uncertain terms to stay away.
I’d been the only one he’d trusted to nurse him.
That probably hadn’t changed.
“Why did you let him beat you up for goodness’ sake?” I brushed his arm away, exposing his throat, searching for a pulse. I struggled with unhappiness, not able to accept mindless violence or acts of stupidity.
And this was both.
Gil had been so stupid to allow such a thing. No reason on earth could justify letting someone beat you unconscious.
My thumb found his pulse, relief shooting through me.
“Why didn’t you fight back, huh?” I whispered, running my finger over his bottom lip, checking he still breathed, not quite trusting the throb of blood in his veins. “Was he the one who hurt you the first day I came here?”
I knew my questions would remain unanswered but my voice seemed to soothe him.
The tension in his body faded. His chest rose and fell with a deeper breath.
“Are you in some sort of trouble, Gil?” I kneaded his shoulder, doing my best to wake him gently. “What are you involved in? Why are you so determined to make me hate you, all while I know you don’t...not truly.”
If I truly believed in the icy monster he did his best to portray, my heart wouldn’t prod me to stay. It would accept the truth and move on. But Gil was hiding something. Something scary and secretive and the weight was too much for him to bear.
“Come on, time to wake up.” I bent and brushed away a piece of gravel on his forehead. “Please, open your eyes.”
He moaned under his breath.
My stomach knotted with heavier relief.
Once again, I felt that string. Knitting together, doing its best to tie its broken ends back together again.
As much as Gil would like to deny it, an unbreakable chain bound us.
It always had.
Ever since we’d stood in that school corridor and I’d told him the truth about my parents, I’d been tied to him.
He hadn’t judged me.
He hadn’t pitied me.
He’d just shrugged as if it didn’t matter. Like I was strong enough to survive without them because he was now my friend.
He’d saved me then.
And he saved me now.
If he hadn’t come out, I’d probably be gagged and trussed in the back of the van heading to who the hell knew where.
He’d rescued me reluctantly.
It was my turn to repay the favour and save him.
“I’ll give you another minute.” Placing his head carefully on the ground, I climbed to my feet and quickly gathered up my belongings scattered on the ground. Shoving them into my handbag, I used my phone to email myself the license plate of the van before my memory played tricks on me.
I didn’t care what arrangement Gil had with him. That guy was a menace and deserved to rot in jail.
With the email sent, I slipped my phone into my bag, checked that the envelope with Gil’s cash was still inside, and headed back toward him.
He didn’t move as I ducked to my haunches and pressed shaking fingertips to his temple, running my fingers through his hair.
So soft.
So warm.
So real and familiar and alive.
I swallowed back another wash of untenable heartache. I missed touching him. I missed having that privilege.
My touch roused him enough for him to groan. Licking his lips and the blood staining them, he moaned as pain took over.
“Hey, I’m here. You’re okay.”
He pushed off from the ground, his forehead furrowed. I helped him into a sitting position, wedging my shoulder under his arm. “Come on. We need to get inside.”