Page 57 of Ky

I don’t know how long I rode, but by the time I returned to the clubhouse, throwing my leg off my sled and locking myself in my room, my head was clear on what I needed to do.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Seraphina

I open my mouth to scream as I’m running through a maze, trying desperately to get away from Angelo. But he’s gaining on us, his voice taunting me as he gets ever so closer to catching me and Willow. I think I’ve got a firm grip on Willow’s tiny hand, but she’s suddenly not there. I look around desperately, but I can’t see her, and she suddenly morphs into my bloody, dead baby. But then Angelo is there, his face contorting into that of a monster.

As I shoot up, disoriented, the room filling with the piercing sound of my scream, a mixture of pain and anguish.

“Willow!” I call out, but she doesn’t answer, as pain spreads throughout my whole body; I look around me, expecting to still be stuck down in that godforsaken basement. But what I see is nothing like that.

I’m in a room, in a soft bed. But am I safe?

My anxiety builds, my heart pounding in my chest, urging me to flee. Something I cannot do, since the pain I was feeling was too great. A sense of relief washes over me as I finally remember where I am.

Suddenly, Ky bursts through the door, a look of worry on his still sleepy, but handsome face. He’s wearing blue pajama bottoms covering his lower half, but his tattooed torso is on full display. He strides further into the room, lowering down onto his knees beside the bed; softly talking to me, trying to calm me down, stroking my damp hair away from my face.

I wince as an unwanted whimper escapes my lips when I try to move, remembering everything that had transpired in the last weeks. The kidnapping, the beatings. Me losing the baby. Ending up in hospital. And now I’m staying with Ky in his home,but not in his bed. He’s put me in the guest bedroom, and that’s where I’ve been since we returned from Florida a few days ago. His large hands cup my face as he forces me to look at him.

“It’s alright. Sera, you’re safe. And so is Willow.” But I can't stop the tears, silently streaming down my pale cheeks, betraying my inner turmoil. He lets me stay like that for a few minutes, and as I calm down, the need to get to the bathroom takes over, but I ignore it.

“Where is she?” I demand, still disoriented, wrapping my hands around his wrists. Completely at a loss at how I got here.

“Our girl is next door with Zoe and Chains. We’re home. We’ve been home for a few days now, remember?” He soothes, and gently wraps his arms around me, I take a long whiff of his scent.

He smells like home.

Everything comes back to me after the fog of sleep and that too real nightmare has lifted. I shake my head and attempt to push him back. We’ve been good these last few days since leaving the hospital and coming home, though I can’t help but notice the distance he’s putting between us. My nightmares having intensified in frequency.

“How can you look at me after everything that’s happened?” I voice the words I’ve wanted to ask for a while now. “Where’s Ink?” I demand. I hadn’t seen him since I had been rescued. It looks to me as though he’s deliberately staying away. But seeing the hurt in Ky’s eyes, my self-preservation kicks in, and I harden my heart. If he’s putting distance between us, then so can I.

It’s difficult for me to believe that everything is going so smoothly that nothing will happen to ruin what we’ve begun building here. I’ve even refused to have my daughter at the house to see me the way I was when I arrived. The bruises have subsided, and I’m hoping I’ll get to see her soon. I’ve missed her something fierce.

I’m not thinking clearly right now, I know that, but I can’t seem to stop myself from plunging the proverbial knife deeper into Ky. He’s been so kind to me since returning to Briar Creek, attentive in every way. We haven’t been intimate, and I doubt he’ll keep me here much longer when he finds out another secret I’ve kept from him. The fact his girlfriend was the one who kidnapped me. All on Angelo’s orders.

“I can look at you because you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on. And Ink knows his place in your life, and it isn’t as your man,” he growls, shocking me into silence. “He filled me in on all the details of what went down between you two,” he continues, as if I hadn’t even spoken.

“Oh, really?” I snarl, anger and grief over losing my baby consuming me. I didn’t hold Ky responsible. Not really, but if he hadn’t just thrown me away and forgotten my existence for a woman who had already broken his heart once before, maybe none of what happened would have happened.

And that was my reasoning for what I said next.

“Did you know your little girlfriend was the one who kidnapped me and took me back to Angelo?” I bite out. With a swift motion, I snap my mouth shut, cursing under my breath for my momentary lapse. Nothing could be gained from accusing Mariah of kidnapping me. I know for a fact, he wouldn’t believe me, anyway.

I’m waiting for the denials from Ky, but when I don’t hear anything, I lift my head. He hasn’t walked out, and he’s not defending the other woman like I had expected. There is no look of incredulity on his face, nor that he doesn’t believe me. In fact, he doesn’t look surprised at all that I just accused her of kidnapping. His snort of derision surprises me.

“I had my suspicions about her; but no proof until you just confirmed it. Don’t worry, she won’t be hurting anyone ever again.”

“What did you do?” I demand.

But Ky quickly looks away. “Nothing you need to concern yourself with right now. Come on, I’ll help you to the bathroom.”

His words make me realize I was in bed, virtually naked. A quick glance down told me I was wearing a soft, oversized T-shirt. A shirt I put on the night before, a shirt that belongs to the man in front of me. Something I’ve gotten used to wearing at night in bed over the last few nights. It’s then my full bladder makes itself known.

Throwing back the covers, determined to do this on my own. Lowering my feet to the hardwood floor, I thought I was doing well, until I try to stand, and a sharp pain, unlike anything I have felt before, sliced through me, and I doubled over. I would’ve fallen, had Ky not grabbed me in time, my body colliding with his as he holds me up.

“Woah there, sweetness. I’m all for Miss Independent, but I think you need someone to look afteryoufor once. Especially with everything you’ve been through in the last few weeks.”

Unfortunately, I had to agree with him, because I was just too weak to do things on my own.