Hush - Fighting Fate #2 (45 page)

I turned back to see Isaac’s gaze trained in the direction Kaeli had gone. Growling, I punched him in the arm. “Stop fucking staring at my girlfriend, douche.”

Isaac rubbed his arm and grinned. “She’s pretty damned hot though,” he said, earning himself another jab.

“You’ve done pretty well for yourself there though,” Adam said, a little bit of pride in his eyes.

I was pretty damned proud of myself too. I knew she was a catch. That was why I was determined to not let her go.

“I w
ould ask if she had any friends, but I sure as hell saw her friends the other day,” Isaac said. “I’m fucking positive girls didn’t look like that when I was a senior.”

I shrugged. Other than noting they all had their swimmers on, I didn’t really pay attention to what they looked like.

“Don’t fucking tell me you didn’t notice,” Isaac said incredulously.

“All I saw, dude, was the puddle of drool at your feet.”

Micah and Adam laughed.

“I was waiting for his tongue to roll out to the floor,” Adam said.

Eli nudged Isaac with his shoulder. “I’m with Isaac on this one. Those chicks were hot. Especially the red head.”

“I don’t think I really saw the red head,” Isaac said. “That tall blonde one had most of my attention.”

I shook my head at them. I was never going to be able to bring them around Kaeli’s friends again. Especially when the guys from the band were around. That would definitely not end well.

“Hey, you guys heard of that band Fighting Fate?”

Eli nodded. “Yeah, they’re pretty awesome. I saw them play at The Crypt a few months back. Why?”

“They’re friends of Kaeli’s. Her best friend is the bassist’s sister, and she goes out with the lead guitarist.”

Eli looked impressed. “Awesome. I heard they’re going on tour with The Dark Hybrid.”

“Yeah, they leave in a couple of weeks.”

I saw Isaac’s gaze snap up to the house then he frowned. “Did you hear that?” he asked.

“What
?” I strained, listening.

“I thought I heard something break,” he said, looking confused.

Before I could even comprehend what he’d said, I heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.

My body froze for a total of one heartbeat before it leapt into action. Dropping my drink onto the table, I turned and bolted for the back door.

The first thing I saw when I ran inside was a scattering of things over the kitchen counter and broken bits of glass over the tiles. Rounding the corner to the dining room, I froze, trying to process what I was seeing.

Aaron
was hunched over by the dining table, his hands clasped over his chest and blood oozing between his fingers as he staggered backwards, and Kaeli was half crumpled on the floor, her back leaning awkwardly against the cabinet.

Her hair was a complete mess, as was her dress, and she had red marks on her forehead and cheek. Her face was as pale as I’d ever seen someone, and she was breathing like she was
having trouble getting enough air.

And in her very shaky, very unstable hand
s, was my Glock.

Fuck.

I heard my brothers behind me, heard Adam telling Eli and Micah to keep everyone out. I heard Dad’s voice in there somewhere too, but all my focus was on Kaeli, and making her safe.

Aaron was stumbling, trying to get himself to the front door. As I slowly moved towards Kaeli, Dad, Adam and Isaac moved towards Aaron. When I was within touching distance of her, I crouched down.

Knowing not to touch her, I softly called her name. “Kaeli…”

She looked up at me, confusion and shock everywhere. The gun waivered, still pointing at Aaron, but Dad and my brothers were there too.

“Can you give me the gun, baby?”

She looked down at her hands and her eyes widened like she had no idea how it got to be there in the first place.

Dad had Aaron face down on the ground then, and he was howling in pain as he cuffed him. I wanted to be the one to inflict the pain, but I couldn’t. Kaeli needed me.

With slow movements, she brought her hands closer to me, still pointing it at Aaron. Gently, I placed my hand over hers, encouraging her to release her grip. “It’s okay. I’ve got it. You can let go now.”

As she withdrew her hands, I quickly released the magazine and emptied the chamber before tucking it all away in my pants. “Weapon’s secure,” I said quietly so Dad would hear.

Gently, I touched the side of her face. Her gaze flickered between mine and where Aaron was pushed to the ground.

“Noah,” Dad barked. “Now.”

I knew what he was saying. I needed to clear the room before Aaron saw me. It was important he not make any connection between me and Mitch.

But I couldn’t leave Kaeli. I was happy to leave the room, but only if she came with me.

Ignoring Dad, I kept stroking Kaeli’s face. “Baby?” I said in a soft voice. “I’m going to pick you up now, okay?” Her gaze snapped up to mine and she stared deep into my eyes. “Do you trust me?”

She licked her lips and after a moment, she nodded.

Scooping her up, I tucked my arms under her and lifted her up against my chest, then with sure feet, I headed towards the lounge room. We were just about through the door when she wriggle
d urgently.

“Wait.”

I paused, not sure what she was doing. She wriggled again until I let her feet down to the floor, and then she stepped away from me. I reached for her arm. “Baby, we need to go in here for a bit.”

“Wait,” she said again, this time more forcefully. “I just need to do something.”

Then she was striding away from me, too fast for me to stop her. Isaac frowned as she stepped around him, his gaze darting to me for answers, but I had none. Adam looked up from where he was trying to stem the flow of blood from the fucker, and frowned at her.

Then she kicked Aaron
in the gut. Hard. The dude screamed.

“I fucking hate you!” she said through clenched teeth. And then she kicked him again.

I was pretty sure that had been the last thing any of us had expected her to do, so she got in a few good kicks before Adam’s brain clicked into gear and he pulled her away.

To be honest, I would’ve just let her go for a bit longer. I was sure it would’ve been good therapy.

“Come on fire cracker,” Adam said, leading her over to me.

Isaac gave her a pat on the head as she passed.
“Nice one, Lina.”

As soon as she was close enough, I pulled her back into my arms.
I really just needed to hold her right now. I needed to feel her for myself. Needed to know she was safe.

Leading her over to the sofa, I sat down and pulled her onto my lap
, hearing the sound of sirens in the distance. She tucked her legs up and curled into me, burying her face in my chest. I didn’t know what had happened to her shoes. Hopefully one of them was imbedded in Aaron’s body somewhere.

“I should’ve just let you come with me to the bathroom…” she muttered.

The trembling in her body tore at me. “I’m so sorry, baby,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say. I’d failed her.

“No,” she murmured against my chest.

No? What was that supposed to mean? Pulling back a little, I lifted her chin so I could read her eyes.

“It’s not your
fault so stop blaming yourself,” she said.

“Baby, I should’ve-”

“No,” she said again. “Did you teach me how to shoot?” When I didn’t answer, she narrowed her eyes. “Exactly, so stop it. It might have been inadvertently, but you still protected me. I’m safe because of you.”

I wasn’t sure if I could agree with her, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to argue with her
right now.

“Are you okay?” I asked, brushing the hair off her face so I could inspect the bumps on her forehead and cheek.
Seeing them made something inside me hurt. I didn’t know what I would’ve done if anything had happened to her.

“I think so,” she said, although her gaze seemed anything but sure.

I was glad when Adam came in a couple of minutes later with his paramedic’s bag in hand. I needed to know she was really okay and not just saying it.

“Let me take a look at those bumps,” he said, sitting on the sofa beside me. “Dad called Walt,” he said to me as he touched Kaeli’s face. “He’s coming
to take the statements.”

“Good.” At least I knew it’d be done properly.

“Does it hurt anywhere else?” he asked Kaeli.

“Mmm,” she murmured. “
The back of my head.”

“What happened to it?” he asked, his tone all business.

“I head-butted him. Twice,” she said, sounding quite proud of herself.

Adam’s lips curled up as his fingers ran over the back of her head. “You did a good job of it. You’re going to be sore tomorrow. Anything else?”

She sighed, her hand reaching up to caress her arm. “My shoulder.”

Adam’s gaze fell to her hand. “How did that happen?”

I clenched my jaw, knowing I wasn’t going to handle hearing the reason very well at all. She shifted uncomfortably, and I knew she was thinking the same thing. “Aaron pushed me against the wall.”

Motherfucker. I just wanted to go out there and shoot him myself.
I really had to restrain myself from clenching my hands into fists.

Adam
made Kaeli lift her arm a couple of times and move it around. “Anything else?”

She
shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Adam let his eyes travel over her a little, a tiny smile appearing on his lips. “I actually think you did more damage to him than the other way around. And that’s without the bullet.”

I gave him a confused look, needing him to explain.

“He has a broken
nose, a broken finger and a torn ear drum, not to mention some pretty wicked scratches on his face that’ll leave scars for sure.” He gave me an intent look that told me just how proud of her he was. I was fucking proud of her too. “I think you just need some ice packs on those bumps,” he said, patting her knee.

His smile dropped as he looked at her and then, startled, he glanced at me.

When I looked down at Kaeli and saw the tears brimming her eyes, I understood why. “What’s wrong, baby?” I said, worried she was in pain.

“I’m so sorry, Adam. I ruined your engagement party. Kara’s going to hate me.”

Adam’s eyes widened and then he looked at her like she was crazy. If he was going to say something to make her even more upset, I was going to punch him. “No way. Most. Memorable. Party. Ever. No one’s ever going to forget this. They’ll still be talking about it when Kara and I are grandparents. It’ll be like folklore.”

I couldn’t help laughing. The picture he’d painted was just too funny. Then Kaeli laughed, thankfully finding the funny side of it too.

Adam grinned. “I’m just going to go get some ice packs. Stay here.”

But it was Kara that brought the ice packs, not Adam, and when she saw Kaeli, she pulled her into a hug. “Thank god you’re alright,” she said.

“I’m so sorry, Kara,” Kaeli said sadly.

“Don’t be silly. The party was more or less over anyway, and as long as none of my family is hurt, it’s all good.” Kara frowned as she gazed at her. “You’re not hurt are you? I mean, I know you need the ice packs, but you’re okay, right?”

Kaeli was quick to reassure her. “I’m fine. Just a couple of bruises, that’s all.”

Kara exhaled with relief. That was why she fit into our family so well. She cared about every one of us as though we were blood.

Kara left not long after that so she could go reassure everyone who was waiting anxiously outside, and then Walt came and took her statement. I had to hold myself back from wanting to put my fist through something yet again when I heard everything in detail. I think I secretly wished she’d made a kill shot, but I wouldn’t have wanted her to live with that either.

When Walt and the others finally left, and Aaron had been carted off to hospital under maximum security, Kaeli then had to face my family.
I didn’t have the patience to share her for long though. Just enough to make sure she knew no one cared about the party being ruined - which it wasn’t. That all we cared about was that she was safe and well.

As soon as she knew that, I was taking her home.

Chapter 7
1

Kaeli

As soon as we walked in the door to Noah’s apartment, everything caught up with me, and I was suddenly exhausted.
It’d taken forever to get out of Alli and Luke’s house. Everyone had been doing everything they could to make sure I was okay, fussing and doting all over me. Even Mom had shown up. By the time Noah had dragged me out of there, I could barely stand on my own two feet.

Dropping my shoes to the floor, I didn’t even care I was messing up his space, I just trudged towards the sofa
, ready to drop and stay down. But right before I was about to fall, Noah grabbed me and started steering me towards the bathroom.