Chapter Fourteen

Cliff

Everything feels wrong as I head up to my floor. My fists are torn and bloody, but Arlo looks worse. The hammering pain in my hands is overshadowed by that tickling sensation that nags at me.

Something is wrong.

The elevator stops at my floor, and I head to my door, gun drawn and at the ready. The door is open, and I hear voices.

“Give him a fucking chance.” I recognize that voice; that’s Dakin. What the fuck is he doing here? And did he hurt Addie?

Everything in me wants to burst in. But the smart side of me tells me to wait, gather information. Until I hear a soft whimper that could only be Addie.

With a roar of pure fury, I burst in and body slam smash into Zac. Addie is on her feet, her hands cuffed behind her back, her head hanging in defeat.

Zac hits the ground and slides as Dakin takes a step back. He lifts his hands in a sign of surrender.

Dakin is quick to speak. “I tried to keep him out.”

I walk over and kneel next to Zac and grab his cuff key. Next, I’m unlocking her wrists and turning her to face me. She refuses to meet my gaze.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Zac asks, slowly rising to his feet.

“Addie,” I say softly, taking her chin in my fingers. She pulls away and refuses to look at me.

Fuck.

“Your hands are bleeding,” Dakin says to me before walking over and closing the front door. I hear the snick of the dead bolt, but all of me is focused on Addie.

Like I give a fuck about my hands while such bigger things are broken. “I shouldn’t have left,” I say softly for her ears only.

Still, she stares at the floor. All the fight is gone from her shoulders. “What did you do to her?” I ask Zac, who’s finally on his feet.

“Told her she’s under arrest. Cuffed her.” He’s cold, and I sense our friendship is officially over. Good fucking riddance.

“Guys, let’s sit down and talk like men instead of raging like beasts,” Dakin says. “And ladies,” he adds, but there’s not even a flicker of recognition from Addie. She’s totally shut down and unresponsive. It’s fucking scaring me.

“I’ll start,” Dakin says. “I came over and sat outside to keep this idiot”—he punches Zac’s shoulder—“from doing something stupid.”

I listen to him while focusing on Addie. Taking her shoulders, I guide her to the couch and have her sit. Like a rag doll, she merely does as I push her to.

Dakin continues talking. “Clearly I failed. Anyway, I heard a thud inside and a short, sharp sound like a scream.”

I look down at Addie, worried.

“I went in and she’d fallen and hit her head. So I put her on the couch. She woke up and ran. And we talked.”

I look at Dakin, knowing something isn’t quite right. Addie jolts a tiny bit, furthering my belief that what he says isn’t exactly true. He’s protecting her. He’s trusting me.

“And while we were talking, Zac showed up and I tried to tell him to fuck off. Didn’t work.” Dakin shakes his head.

“Cute story,” Zac says coldly. “Doesn’t explain why she had a gun.”

Her gun. Fuck.

“She was scared of people. I assume she had a good reason to be. She must have grabbed it when I answered the door.” Dakin is daring Zac to call him a liar with his totally plausible explanation.

“So, Cliff, we’re waiting.” Dakin turns to me, his icy eyes warning me this better be good since his ass is on the line.

“Her ex doxed her and posted naked pictures of her online. He’s got a rap sheet a mile long for domestic abuse, assault, breaking and entering, stalking, and rape. I doubt she assaulted him.” I glare pointedly at Zac. “Which is why she’s here, not in your station.”

He looks away, furious.

I continue. “I’ve got proof he was frothing people up, telling them she had rape fantasies, that anyone who saw her should rape her since it’s the only way she can get off.”

I feel her stiffen and begin to shake. She didn’t know. I wasn’t sure. I hadn’t wanted to tell her in case she didn’t.

I turn to Zac once more. “I’ll gladly turn my evidence over. However, if it gets out that she’s here, you’re putting her life in danger.”

Silence.

Dakin lets out a low whistle and walks over to kneel before Addie. “I’m sorry. Please know you’re safe to call on me if you ever need help.” I sense something else behind his words, and it raises my hackles.

“Why don’t you get home to Camille,” I say, bristling.

Dakin looks at me, his eyes missing nothing. And I know I’m made. “I will. Call me later, Cliff.”

He hesitates before talking to Addie once more. “Your secret is safe with me.” With that said, he turns and leaves.

Zac rises to his feet, and I stand. We stare each other down, and I wait.

“I won’t say anything.” He still sounds furious, and I nod.

“Appreciated.”

But he’s not done. “Next time you fucking do something stupid like this, call me.”

I nod, and he turns and leaves, closing the door quietly behind him. With them gone, I rush over to Addie and drop to my knees before her. Shoving her hair out of her face, I cradle her cheeks in my hands.

“Are you hurt?” I ask, feeling around the back of her head.

She finally looks at me, her eyes filled with tears. Her pupils spasm just a bit and tell me she’s not concussed. But there’s something wrong, clearly.

Her brows meet over a wrinkle. The expression is all sorrow, and her voice tears at the very fiber of my being.

“You told them about me.” It’s an accusation.

I nod. “I’m sorry. I had to. Zac was going to just come here. You’d have killed him.”

“I almost killed Dakin,” she whispers, her voice broken, and my chest aches for the decisions she’d almost had to make. “Why did he protect me?”

“Because he trusts me. He’ll do anything to protect you now.” He’s a good fucking friend, and I’ve been a shitty friend to him. He’s a better friend than I deserve.

“How can I ever trust you again?” she whispers, twin tears slipping down her cheeks. I wipe them away with the pads of my thumbs, but she pulls back out of my grasp.

And I know what I have to do. As much as it hurts, I need to leverage this wedge to put distance between us. My voice is harsher than usual. “I told you I’m not a good guy.”

“You told me I was safe with you,” she says, anger coloring the words.

“You are.” I wasn’t here. “I shouldn’t have left.”

She’s so angry she’s shaking. “I’m leaving.”

I grab her wrist, and she fights back. But I double my hold and wrestle her to the couch. “I’ll fucking tie you down if I have to,” I say. Didn’t she hear me? She knows there are people waiting to destroy her the second she’s spotted. I’m not going to have that on my conscience.

I can live with her hating me. Hell, that’s better than her falling for me.