CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
TAYLOR
I wake to darkness. And the first thing I notice is how my body aches and my head pounds. I’ve only ever been hung over three times since I’ve turned twenty-one, and one of those times was just days ago after Case and I went to that club. This feels kind of like that but worse.
I sit up and place my hand on my forehead. Did I drink last night? I think back to what I remember and my fight with Case comes to mind. Then snapping at Rachel. My brother showing up. Another fight with Case. Then me walking out the back door …
I shove the covers off me and try to run to the bathroom, but I gasp at the pain that shoots through my body. I quickly look over at the bed where Case sleeps and let out a shaky breath when I see I didn’t wake him. I quietly and slowly finish making my way to the bathroom. I turn on the light as I shove the door shut. I gasp when I get a look at myself in the mirror. I have a bruise under my right eye and a white bandage on my neck. I pull up an overly large shirt that I know must be Case’s and my eyes widen as I take in the bruise on my side. That’s where the guy kicked me. I drop the shirt and my hands start to shake. I remember Case showing up and lifting a gun … did he shoot that guy? The man had asked where his friend was. Case had said dead … Did he kill him too?
I reach up and softly touch the handprint mark of the man who wrapped his hand around my throat. I swallow thickly. For as bad as I look, I don’t feel as bad as I should. I’m lucky. I’m very lucky Case saved me.
“Taylor?”
I look over to my right and hiss in a breath at the pain that shoots up my neck. I moved too fast.
“Taylor?” Case’s voice is frantic. “Where the hell did she go?” he demands.
“I’m in here,” I say, reaching up to touch the white bandage on my neck as it pulls at my skin.
He comes barging into the bathroom making the door bang against the wall. I flinch. “Jesus Christ,” he hisses, jaw tight and standing there in his boxers. “You scared the fuck out of me.” He walks over to me. “What happened?” he asks as he watches me grab my neck.
“I’m fine.” He pulls my hand away and examines it. “I just moved it too fast,” I inform him softly.
He lets out a heavy sigh as he stares down at me, his eyes softening. “Why are you out of bed? You need to rest.”
“I had to use the restroom,” I lie softly.
His dark blue eyes look into mine, and I look away. For some reason, I feel ashamed of last night. He saw me shirtless with another man. He stood there, staring at me with hatred in his eyes. He had lifted a gun …? “Case.” I lick my lips nervously. “Did you shoot that guy?” I need to know what happened because for some reason I don’t remember.
“Yes,” he says with no hesitation.
I lower my eyes to look down at my hands. “Is he dead?” I whisper.
“Yes.” No hesitation again.
My head snaps up to him, and I hiss in another breath at the movement. “You need to take it slow,” he orders through clenched teeth.
How can I think about taking it slow when he killed a man? I narrow my eyes on him. “And the other one? You had said you killed him too?”
He runs a hand through his hair, and it makes the muscles in his arms and stomach flex. I can feel the tension rolling off him. “No. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t deserve death as a punishment.”
He saved me. He killed another man in order to save me, yet I don’t feel happy about that. “I need to leave,” I state.
“You need to stay here with me.”
“I don’t want to stay here.” All of a sudden, I don’t feel safe here. I don’t want to walk around a packed and noisy club tonight and wait on people while they get shitfaced. The bruises and cuts on my face are enough to scare them.
He hangs his head, and after a few long seconds, he lifts it back to look at me. “Do you want me to take you home?”
I turn to face myself in the mirror and sigh. “I can’t go home.” If Blane sees me like this, he will freak.
Case comes to stand behind me. He gently wraps his arms around my waist as he sets his chin on my shoulder and looks at me through the mirror. “Let me take you away from here.”
“You don’t have to do that …” He’s done enough for me.
“I want to.” He pulls away from me and slowly spins me around to face him. It’s as if I’m all of a sudden made of glass. He reaches up and places his hands on my hips. “I wanna be alone with you. Not here at the club. Not where others can find us and bother us. I want to be alone with you. Just you and me.”
“Where would we go?” I question confused. “We can’t go to my house. Blane doesn’t know about us,”
He gives me a big smile. “Let me take care of it.”
“But I don’t have any clothes …”
“Trust me.” He leans down and kisses my forehead gently. “You don’t need any clothes.” And with that, he pulls away and walks out of his bathroom. I take one long last look at myself in the mirror and sigh. What have I gotten myself into?
Case called Brecken and asked him if he could take care of the club for a couple of nights without him. Brecken sounded offended he would even ask and told him to get me away from here and get some rest himself.
Case had some guy by the name of Doc come into his room and check me out one last time while he packed us a bag. He said I didn’t need to get any of my clothes, but he had packed me a few pairs of his sweatpants and a couple of t-shirts for me to lounge in for the next couple of days. Doc examined me and asked how I felt. I told him that other than being a little sore, I felt pretty good.
We were walking out of the back of the club within thirty minutes. “Where are we going?” I ask as we pull out of the parking lot of Seven Deadly Sins.
“I’m taking you downtown. We are going to spend a few days in a hotel.” He looks to the side and throws me a soft smile.
I return it with a small smile of my own and then lie back in the passenger seat and enjoy the ride to downtown.
***
He holds the door open to our hotel room for me and I walk in with a mumbled thank you. I take a long look around at the suite he got us. I tried to tell him downstairs that we didn’t need anything special—just a bed—but he wasn’t having it. So I’m not surprised to see a large living room with a couch and loveseat, a small kitchenette to the right, and a hallway leading to the master suite.
I walk into the bedroom and look over the king-size bed that sits back against the far wall. The white comforter looks as white as snow with the rich purple pillows. I look to the left and see a big window with the same color of purple drapes pulled open. I walk over to it and look down over the city. It’s almost frightening how high up we are. It also doesn’t help that I’m afraid of heights.
“Taylor?” I turn around to see Case standing in the doorway of the bathroom. “Would you like to take a nap?”
I shake my head, wrapping my arms around myself. “I wanna take a bath.” I feel so dirty. The thought of those men having their hands on me makes a shiver run down my spine.
He nods once and then turns around to go to the bathroom. Moments later, I hear the water come on. I take a deep breath as I walk into it. He sits on the side of the Jacuzzi tub in his dark blue jeans and a simple white cotton t-shirt as he leans over to check the temperature. “How do you like your water?” he asks not turning around to face me.
“Hot.” The hotter the better.
He reaches up, adjusts the knobs, and then places his hand back under the water. Once he is satisfied, he turns to face me. Without a word, he reaches for the hem of his shirt that I’m wearing and starts to pull it up. I slap his hand away from it and take a step back from him. My heart now racing.
“What’s wrong?” he asks with a frown.
I look around the overly large bathroom quickly to avoid his eyes. “I … I wanna be left alone.” I swallow nervously as I feel the tears start to sting my eyes.