CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
GRAY
The weather was absolutely beautiful and perfect for the race, which I took as a good omen. My body and mind were also in their best condition, and I knew it gave me a fighting chance to easily win this thing. It wasn’t being cocky—it was me being realistic as I took in the odds and analyzed them thoroughly.
Steve seemed to think so, too. In fact, he’d been so pleasant and accommodating lately that I couldn’t quite comprehend if this was even Steven or some alien that took over the real Steven. Mark seemed to think it was weird, too, but he simply told me to go with the flow and enjoy the new change, no matter how obviously forced it was.
I did enjoy it, more because of amusement than anything. While Steve raved on and on about how he thought I had a high chance of winning and made me promise to take as many endorsements as I could (because of course he had a cut), I scanned the work the crew was doing on the car. The crew chief, Roger, looked pretty revved up as he made some last-minute instructions and strategic planning with the team on how to handle the gear change. I then took a peek at the crowd outside, scanning for Kate but not finding her. She should have been here by now, and I wondered what the delay was.
But then again, maybe she was already here, and I hadn’t spotted her at all. I took out my phone with the intent to call her. But to my surprise, there was already a text message there from Paul.
Call me when you’re available.
I excused myself from the still-talking Steve and found a quiet spot to call. The race wouldn’t start until forty-five minutes later, giving me plenty of time to get ready as I was already in my driving gear. Paul picked up on the third ring, and the first words out of his mouth had me realizing how much he already knew.
“You bastard.”
That was all he said, and I knew he was trying to control his anger in. I did my best to stay calm. “I can explain.”
“I never thought you’d play with my sister like that, Gray. I trusted you.”
“As well you should,” I said before he could continue.
“Why the hell should I trust you?”
“Because I love your sister and I’ll do my best not to hurt her.”
Silence filled the line. It was one full of shock, and I could practically feel that emotion vibrating in the air. Finally, Paul cleared his throat.
“Jesus.”
“And I want to marry her someday.”
“Fucking hell.”
“Language,” I corrected before I could stop myself.
A choked sound came out of Paul’s throat. “Hell. You sound just like her.”
“I meant every single thing I said.”
“I know that,” he snapped. He grumbled on the other line. Then he sighed gravely. “We’ll talk about this when I come there. I demand an explanation.”
“As you should.”
“Stop being so damn cheeky,” he warned. My mouth quirked, but it disappeared almost instantly when he kept talking. “I’m calling for a reason. I want you to know that Kyle works in an electronics shop. He fixes televisions and radios.”
Kyle, aka Kate’s bastard ex.
“So?”
“So your face and hers have been splashed all over the news since yesterday. How do you think I found out?”
“Right. I’ll keep her safe.”
“You’d better. I know him. He’s bound to follow her there if he finds out she’s with you.”
“I’ll run that bastard straight to the ground,” I promised.
“You’d better,” Paul agreed.
We hung up on a slightly positive note, and I knew Paul would come to accept me and his sister together. As for the sister…well, I was just going to have to seduce her more to get her to agree. I grinned at the thought, the prospect of getting her in already making me excited. I dialed her number to check up on her but was redirected to voicemail almost immediately.
I left a message and went back to the garage. Steve was still there, and he got to talking to me once I was back. Something niggled at the back of my head, and it wasn’t until a few minutes in that I realized what it was.
I used to take it for granted before, but now it was the biggest alarm there was. Kate always replied almost immediately to any of my messages, as being prompt was part of her nature.
But now it was twenty minutes since my voice message.
Unable to stand still, I called her again. Then, again. I kept getting redirected, and the alarm inside me rang louder and grew red. I knew I should stop over-worrying and focus on the upcoming race, as was proper.
But my instincts were telling me that something was wrong. Really wrong.
I called Paul again.
“Has Kate ever been late in responding to your messages or calls?”
There was a very heavy pause on the other line. “Never.”
I cursed. Paul didn’t, but his next words might as well have been. “He’s there.”
“I’ll check on her.”
“But your race—”
“My damn race doesn’t matter,” I snapped. I hung up on him immediately and started removing my outfit, but decided against it as it was going to just waste my time. I made a move to go back to the building and exit, but a hand on my wrist suddenly stopped me.
“Did I just hear that right?”
I turned and looked at Steve, who was gripping me tight and frowning at me. His brows were furrowed, and I realized that he must have heard my part of the conversation. I nodded.
“Kate’s in trouble. I need to get to her.”
Steve’s mouth flattened. “You don’t need to. You need to stay in here and win me that cup.”
I didn’t like his tone—in fact, I thought he was pretty much dropping the façade as he started showing me his true colors. I shook my head.
“What’s going on?” Mark asked, approaching us.
“Kate’s in trouble,” I said flatly. “Her ex is in town. I need to go.”
Mark’s brows furrowed with worry, and he opened his mouth. He was already taking out his phone. “Okay, I’ll call the polic—”
The hand on my wrist tightened further. “No one’s doing anything,” Steve growled. “You’re getting in that car and winning this thing, or else I’m going to kick you out for good.”
Anger surged inside me. Before I knew it, I was placing my other hand on top of his and yanking his hand off. Steve glared at me and began to call me names, and I took a step backward, even though all I wanted to do was punch him.
“Be on standby, Mark,” I said.
“I will.”
“Now just wait a damn minute,” Steve practically roared.
“I quit,” I snapped at Steve as he got in my face. I pushed him off, ignoring the eyes staring at us in the garage.
Then I was out of there, walking as fast as I could.
*****
The car ride back to the hotel was the tensest one in my life as thoughts of Kate and where the hell she could be filled my mind. I kept calling her on the phone, but she still wasn’t picking up. It only confirmed the fear that something was wrong, and I was pretty sure I passed by so many speed limits on my race back there. I didn’t care.
I put the car in emergency parking and was practically flying towards the hotel. The elevator was full, so I used the stairs and ran up, ignoring the way my legs burned as the suite was located at the very top—the tenth floor.
The first thing I noticed was that the door was open, though inside was eerily quiet.
I slipped in. I took a quick look around, expecting to see nothing—but my heart jumped in my throat and my blood froze at the sight of Chuck lying limp on the floor. I leaned down to check his pulse and found a faint one. I dialed Mark and asked him to call the police, giving him the address and room number. I could have called myself, but I didn’t have time to be put on hold and answer questions right now.
There was only one place here that wasn’t open, and that was the bathroom. I turned the knob and found it locked. I knocked. There was silence at first—but then I heard the commotion, and my fear escalated when I heard a male voice telling her to shut up.
And I heard her cry of pain.
Rage flew in me, hot and vicious. I was pounding on the door, then forcing my body against it. It was heavy, and I realized belatedly that I wouldn’t be able to break it down with my strength alone. I took a chair and started using that to pound. Then I ran to the door and grabbed the fire extinguisher.
When the door finally gave way, I found Kate in the bathtub, her eyes closed. There were bruises on her face, and she was semi-unconscious. A hand came out to throw a punch at me, but I evaded it and watched as a man charged at me with a knife.
“You fucked my girl!” he screamed. “You’re going to die!”
I punched him in the belly. He swiped at my arm and drew blood, but I ignored it and kept punching. We struggled in the bathroom, with Kyle managing to get a few swipes in before I finally slammed his wrist on the sink and got the knife from him. It clattered on the floor, and we were fighting hand to hand, and he almost got the best of me as he managed to roll me down and straddle me, where he proceeded to punch me repeatedly. He threw out words about how Kate was his and I had no right, and how he was going to fuck her brains out until she was screaming for him.
I saw red.
I pushed at him. I kicked. I managed to get him off and instantly straddled him. This time, it was me punching him in the face, and the red roared inside me as I hurt this man as much as he hurt Kate, ignoring his grunts and struggle. Dimly, I felt him go still below me, but I kept on, my frustration and fury melding into one and urging me to kill him.
I managed to pull myself back before I could deal the last few blows that would end him. The haze cleared slowly, and when I stared down at him, I found his face bloodied and his eyes closed. He was still breathing, but he was unconscious.
My body ached, and I slipped back and gritted my teeth against the pain. Then I was crawling towards Kate, panic gripping me like a vice as the first thought that came was that she was dead.
I took her wrist and felt around, and the panic increased when I couldn’t feel anything. I checked her neck, and the relief that flowed through me was so intense when I finally felt a very faint pulse.
Still ignoring my own pain and the blood flowing from my arm, I took her as gently as I could and carried her to the bed. I took Chuck too, put him in bed, and then checked to make sure that Kyle was still unconscious.
Carefully, I gathered Kate in my arms, feeling some dislocated bones and not wanting to damage it further. I inwardly wept at how much she suffered before I came. Dimly, I heard footsteps and heard Mark’s voice as he came in, along with what had to be police.
I closed my eyes as I realized it was over.