Chapter 51

Kelly

I ran into the house as my heart beat out of my chest and gunshots rang in my eardrums. It had all happened so fast. One moment I was lying in my bed with Hunter, and the next there was a gang war exploding in front of my eyes. I couldn’t catch my breath and my legs felt like they were about to give out. I turned to run back to the porch, but heard more gunfire and sounds of fists against flesh. I felt like I was being pulled in two directions and before I knew it, I had collapsed against the wall and was sitting on the ground. There was nothing else I could do. Hunter was outside, fighting for his life, fighting for my life. I put my head in my hands and rocked back and forth to the sound of the mayhem that surrounded me. Then my head shot up.

“Lucas,” I gasped.

Where had he gone? I could barely register how he’d escaped. I had turned my head for a second and then all I saw was Hunter’s father gushing blood and Luke running full speed around the house.

“Lucas,” I cried desperately. “Lucas, Lucas.”

I pulled myself up and ran through the house, looking in every room. There was no sign of him.

Dear God, please, please let him be okay.

I moved down the hall, holding myself steady on the walls as I fumbled toward the kitchen. Oddly, it reminded me of the first time Hunter and I were together. The confusion, the anticipation, the fear, all of it leading down a hall and into a kitchen. The feeling in my stomach this time was one of sickness though. Violence and evil poured in from all around me and I felt weighed down by the horror of it all.

I finally burst through the door to the kitchen.

“Lucas?” I screamed, hoping against hope to find him hiding in a corner. But I did not. I felt my heart drop and it was as if the room was tilting back and forth before my eyes.

“Kelly. So lovely to finally and officially make your acquaintance.”

My heart sank. Hunter’s evil father sat at a table. I could see his hand bleeding through a piece of fabric he’d wrapped around it. The other gripped a pistol that rested on the table in front of him. I backed away as fast as I could, but ran into the wall behind me, sliding down to the floor.

“Well, well, well, I see why the boy likes you. You’ve got a real shape to you, girl. I bet that pussy is nice and tight, isn’t it? Barely felt the touch of a man before.”

I looked down and realized my house coat had fallen open and left my body exposed. I quickly covered myself up and turned my head to look away from him.

“Oh, no, baby, don’t do that. Give an old man a thrill. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a pair of titties like that.”

I could hear him walking toward me and I did my best to stop the tears from coming. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me weep. I was beyond scared, but I wasn’t about to let him get that from me.

“What do you say, sweetie? You going to let me rub this Irish cock between those fat titties? I’m sure young Hunter broke you in nice for me.” He paused for a moment and listened. “But, by the sounds of it, he won’t be sticking that dick of his in you anymore. He’s a stupid fuck. Was useful, but never the smartest.”

I could smell him as he stood in front of me and ran his fingers through my hair. His cheap cologne, whatever grease he wore in his hair, it nauseated me. I felt his fingers slide down my face and then pain rushed through me. His ring cut my cheek as he backhanded me and sent me crashing to the floor.

“Look at me, you little bitch. Look me in the eyes and see what a man is.”

I looked up at him from the floor. He was repulsive. He was no man. The sick smile that crept across his face, his bloated belly that hung over his pants, the aura of entitlement and cowardice that surround him. He truly wasn’t Hunter’s father. He embodied everything that Hunter was not. They may have been in the same business, but they were not the same. You could see that as clear as day just looking at him.

“Oh, look at those pretty eyes,” he said as he leaned down and stroked my cheek. “Well, feast them on this, you little bitch.”

He started to undo his zipper.

Goddamn you. Goddamn you, don’t do this.

I could hear his perverted laugh as he was getting ready to violate me, when all of the sudden the front door came open with a crash. Footsteps began to make their way through each and every room. I could feel my stomach flutter and I looked up at the old man. He knew as well as I did who it was, coming through the house.

“Hunter,” I whispered in relief.

I could see the old man start to sweat.

“All right, you motherfucker, come to papa. I’m going to put a fucking bullet in your brain like I should have done the day I set eyes on you.”

He looked back down to me and pulled me up by my hair. I let out a scream.

I heard a furious roar from the hall as the footsteps began to stomp toward us. It was Hunter, and he was coming for me.

Like he always did.

“Come here, you fucking bitch,” the old man said. “Let’s get you in front of me just in case that boy comes in charging.” He held me tight and ran his hand between my legs as he pulled me back. “I really wish I could have tasted that pussy, sweetie. I bet it’s like a ripe piece of fruit, isn’t it?”

I could feel his hot breath on my ear as he panted heavily and waited for Hunter to come through the door.

“I’m going to kill you right in front of him, bitch,” the old man hissed.

I moved my head away as far as I could and then I saw a gun barrel slowly edge out from behind the wall and into the doorway, followed by the familiar tattooed arms of the man who loved me.

The old man cocked his gun. He pressed his face to mine as we both waited for Hunter to show himself.