Page 46 of Before the Fall

The giant man picks Kaia up chair and all and carries her out of the room unconscious. I can’t stop myself from crying at the thought of what he’s going to do to her before she’s released. Oh, God. Please let her remain unconscious if it’s something truly terrible. I don’t want her to have to live with the memory of him raping her.

Alone with Victor, I hold my breath in anticipation of what he’s going to do next. Whatever it is, at least Kaia isn’t trapped in this room with him anymore.

I can only pray she’ll be safely back with her husband and little boy soon.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Jaxon

Our plan set, the four of us and a handful of Ryker’s men prepare to move on Victor’s house as soon as we can. The goal is to get there just after sunset, but I know that means Tia and Kaia will be alone with him for hours at that rate.

God help Victor if he hurts one hair on either of their innocent heads. Ryker’s going to do what he needs to, but I plan to make his brother’s passing from the Earth as painful as possible.

“Make sure you have enough ammo,” Kane says as he sets a box of bullets on Ryker’s desk. “We’re going in hot, and I’m expecting some serious power to greet us.”

Cason begins to say something about the best way to breach the estate when the guard at the front gate of Ryker’s estate interrupts us on the intercom. “Is anyone there? I’ve got an emergency!”

Ryker runs over to the speaker on the wall. “What is it?”

“Mrs. Varens is out here, sir. She’s in bad shape. Someone’s roughed her up but good. I’m going to run her up there right now. She’s going to need a doctor, though.”

I hurry over to where Ryker stands and ask, “Is she alone? Isn’t there anyone with her?”

“No. Just Mrs. Varens. I’m bringing her up now.”

My heart sinks at hearing the news that Tia isn’t with Kaia anymore. Victor’s killed her. He followed through on his threat, and she’s dead.

I stumble back into Ryker’s desk, knocking over the box of bullets and sending them all over the place. Stunned for a moment, I don’t know what to do. With Tia gone, I’m lost.

Then my anger wins out over my sadness, and all I can think about is smashing his head with a cinder block. That fucker took the only woman I’ve ever cared about, and now he’s going to fucking suffer. If it’s the last thing I do in this world, I’ll see him beg for mercy as I pound his skull into mush.

The guard hurries in carrying Kaia in his arms, and every one of us in the room stare in horror at how bad she looks. Blood seeps from cuts on her face, and where she isn’t covered in blood, dark bruises have started to form. Her clothes are torn to shreds and barely covering her, and her legs have cuts and scrapes that make it look like she’s been dragged behind a car.

When he sets her down on the leather couch, she lets out a moan that makes my chest ache. I can only imagine what Ryker’s feeling at this moment seeing the woman he loves like this.

Her husband rushes over and falls to his knees next to her. “Kaia, I’m here. You’re home, honey. You’re safe.”

She smiles and reaches out to touch his face. “Ryker? Is it really you?”

“Yeah, baby. I’m here. Nothing is going to hurt you now.”

“Where’s Jaxon?”

Everyone looks at me, so I walk over to stand behind Ryker. “I’m here.”

I brace myself for what she’s about to tell me. Tia’s dead. I know it. She’s dead, and for whatever reason, Victor didn’t want to kill two women today.

“Jaxon, Tia made this happen. I’m alive and here because of her,” Kaia says, barely getting the words out she’s in so much pain. “She bargained with Victor to let me go. He wanted nothing to do with me, so she told him she’d stay and do whatever he wanted if he let me go. She saved me.”

With a lump in my throat, I ask her the only question I care about now. “Is she still alive?”

I wait for the answer as my chest feels like someone’s crushing it in a vice. All I want to hear is Tia’s still alive. I can hope she’s okay if I know he hasn’t killed her.

Kaia smiles and slowly nods her head. “She was still alive when they took me out of there. She’s so brave, Jaxon. She didn’t fall to pieces or anything, and when she saw a chance to convince him to set me free, she took it. He likes her, so don’t wait to go rescue her because I don’t know how long she has before he does something to her.”

She’s still alive. That’s all I needed to hear. Tia’s alive, and she’s waiting for me to come get her and take her away from that place.

“We need to go now!” I announce as I stuff my gun in my waistband. “She can’t wait.”