Quarterback Keeper (Fall Lake Ballers #1)

Chapter Thirty-Four

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

AURORA

T he first hit came out of nowhere. Dayton cupped the side of my head and slammed it into the wall as we descended into the sailboat’s cabin. I should have expected it, but I’d grown soft. The white-hot fear I’d lived with for so long had faded due to how safe I’d felt in Kylian’s presence.

I’d had a slight reprieve as darkness surrounded me. But I wasn’t unconscious anymore, and it wouldn’t be long before he realized that. I used the gift of time and cataloged my surroundings. My hands weren’t bound, and I was still wearing clothes—small favors. I ignored the intense pounding in my head and waves of dizziness.

The softness beneath me meant I was lying on a bed, but the sound from the TV told me I wasn’t in the primary bedroom. Dayton probably didn’t like the idea of Kylian and me sharing that bed. He wouldn’t go anywhere near it.

I didn’t hear Dayton—but I felt him looming over me. A fresh wave of terror washed through me. I opened my eyes, my fear realized when a slow grin curved Dayton’s cruel mouth.

“Welcome back to the living, my little fallen angel.”

He brushed some of my hair behind my ear, and bile climbed my throat. I lurched up and hurried to the far end of the bed.

Mistake. He despised rejection. With a roar, Dayton slammed his fist into my face. Pain exploded in its wake, and a metallic taste coated my tongue.

A whimper escaped my swollen, bloody lips. Dayton didn’t like it when I made a sound while he was punishing or “teaching” me. My cry of pain ignited another wave of fury. He grabbed me by the hair, yanking me off the bed. I scrambled with my hands and feet to stand or at least keep up with him to relieve the pressure on my scalp. I tripped and fell behind him as he dragged me into the main room before releasing me.

I hit the floor and swallowed the cry that stretched my throat to uncomfortable degrees. One second then another, and I flattened my hands on the floor and pushed myself up. On my feet, I held my position, waiting to see what he would do.

“Why are we here?” Bitterness coated my question.

I hadn’t expected to end up on Kylian’s boat. I’d surrendered to Dayton so he would take me far away from Kylian, back to where we’d come from—Dayton’s stomping grounds. It was where he wielded the most power. His money had a long reach, though. But for how long? He couldn’t have as many allies in Chicago willing to bend the law in his favor as he did in California.

I braced myself for whatever came next. He hated being questioned unless it was a chance to boast about his brilliance. And I suspected now might be one of those times, especially when the next hit didn’t come.

The blond Adonis swung his gaze my way—such evil lurking behind a pretty package. I hadn’t seen the rot he hid until it was too late, and I bet he’d fooled plenty of other unfortunate women. That was why it had taken me time to trust Kylian. But witnessing how he treated his mom had tipped the scale for me. It was a gift I didn’t think I could ever have again—trusting a beautiful man. But for the short while we’d been together, Kylian had shown me I could.

“Aurora?” Evalyn called from the deck.

No! She couldn’t be there. I took an unsteady step forward, and the room spun dangerously. “I’ll make her go away,” I told Dayton as I stepped toward the stairs leading above deck.

He yanked me close and whispered, “Call her down. We can use her.”

We? As if we’re on the same team? “No.”

A cruel glint flashed in his dark eyes right before he backhanded me. I crashed into the banquette, and I couldn’t swallow the cry of pain as my hip hit the corner.

“Aurora?” Footsteps hurried across the deck, then the door opened.

“No! Go away!” I shouted.

Dayton grabbed me by the throat, his fingers digging into already-bruised flesh. Cold steel pressed against my temple. “Shhh.”

I opened my mouth to scream another warning, but his grip stole my air just as Evalyn appeared on the stairwell, the door clicking closed behind her. Her deep-blue eyes, the same as Kylian’s, took in the situation within seconds. Her lips formed an O at the sight of the gun Dayton held to my head.

“Hello, Ms. Wilder. So good of you to join us.” Dayton’s fingers eased, and I gasped painfully for air. “Won’t you have a seat?”

I rushed forward to block her, but Dayton’s suddenly tight grip in my hair yanked me back. Evalyn closed the distance between us, her hands stretching toward mine, but he drew me to his side.

“This won’t solve anything, young man.” Evalyn’s voice was stern, her features shuttered.

“Oh, but it will.” Dayton laughed, the sound dark and disturbed. “Have a seat, or my sweet angel will suffer… more.”

Evalyn did as he asked, and fat tears rolled down my face. This wasn’t supposed to happen. They should have been safe. But I was a fool. I’d sacrificed myself for nothing. I should have called the cops then run. At least then he would have chased me, but the Wilders wouldn’t have been involved.

A drawer opened behind me, and Dayton shoved a thin rope into my hands. “Tie her up.”

I shook my head, tears coming faster, blurring my surroundings.

Dayton grabbed the back of my hair and pulled me close, his breath fanning the side of my face. “Do you need another lesson?” With his free hand, he caressed my wrist, the one he’d broken when I’d disobeyed him on another occasion.

I pleaded with my eyes for Evalyn to escape. I didn’t want her to suffer. She already had from her illness, so goddammed much. I hated what I’d brought to her and Kylian’s doorstep.

“Go ahead, Aurora,” Evalyn said. “It’ll be fine.”

Pressure circled my wrist until I cried out, and Evalyn half stood.

I held out my other hand to stop her. “Okay.” Stop. “I’ll do it.” I mouthed, I’m sorry , before gently wrapping the rope around her wrists. It wasn’t enough, though. I had to keep Dayton distracted so he didn’t see how loosely I tied it. “What do you want, Dayton?” I tried to infuse my voice with steel, but it was difficult. I craned my neck to look at him over my shoulder.

“I want what I always have—you. And to punish anyone who stands in the way of that.”

“Evalyn isn’t a part of this. And you’re way off the mark if you think Kylian cares about me. He won’t stand in your way. He’ll probably pay for the plane ticket to get me to leave.” I suppressed the shiver that threatened to broadcast my emotion. I hated talking like that in front of Evalyn, but I had to speak the same language as Dayton if I had any hope of getting him to listen. I needed him gone before someone, namely Evalyn, got hurt.

“She’s the bait to lure your mistake to us.”

I ignored what he said, needing answers and a little more time to make sure she could quickly get out of the rope without it being evident to Dayton. “How did you find me?”

“The picture online.”

“I blocked my face in those.” I knew I had. Could one of the reporters have gotten a picture I was unaware of?

“It was the daisy tattoo on your wrist. You showed it while trying to hide your face from the camera. When I saw that, I knew it had to be you. Your mom’s name, Gia, was done in script in one of the petals. Imagine my surprise when I learned that’s the name you were using.”

How had I not noticed that when I saw a picture of myself online? The answer was simple. I’d been complacent. Stupid. And look where that had gotten all of us.

I finished tying Evalyn up and turned so I stood in front of her. Then I heard the keypad beeping. Oh, God.

Dayton’s arm extended, the gun pointing at the spot where Kylian had to be standing.

“Duck!” I screamed, hoping he got out of the way.

The door swung open. Dayton fired a shot through it then grabbed my arm and pulled me in front of him. Time stood still as we waited. Evalyn whimpered behind me.

I couldn’t look away from the stairs. When Kylian didn’t walk down, I assumed the worst—he’d been shot. My entire body shook. I wanted to scream and cry, beat against Dayton until he was a bloody pulp. I did none of that. I had to think about Evalyn too. If I couldn’t save her son, I had to at least try to help her.

Before I could wrestle myself free, Dayton dragged me up the stairs and to the door, where Kylian stood off to the side.

“Don’t try to be a hero.” He shoved the door wide and pushed me to the side so his gun led the way. As I stumbled onto the deck, Kylian yanked Dayton away.

Our eyes met before Kylian wrestled Dayton for the gun. I knew what I had to do and raced back down the stairs as another shot rang out. Please, don’t let him get hurt. Dayton, I didn’t care about. I hoped Kylian had the gun and had shot him, but I was terrified it was the other way around.

My heart pounded against my ribs as I dropped to my knees and helped Evalyn get free. “Call 911.”

She leaped up, pulled open a drawer on the other side of the small fridge, and handed me a wrench with shaky hands before taking her phone from her purse. A steady stream of tears ran down her face.

“Be safe.” I didn’t wait for her to call the cops. I raced back to the deck with the makeshift weapon she’d given me. I stumbled up the stairs, my free hand slapping against the deck as I pushed off it and stood, wrench at the ready. My eyes swept the area then widened when I spotted Dayton sprawled at Kylian’s feet, unconscious. Blood trickled from a cut on his lip, and redness along his jaw appeared to be a bruise forming.

The wrench slipped from my grasp and clattered to the deck. Then I was face-to-face with Kylian, cataloging him for injury. A sob of relief breached my lips despite how hard I tried to keep it in. The sight of him made my knees weak. As they buckled, he grabbed me. Steel banded around my waist, holding me against his solid strength.

Rage lit a fire in his eyes as he gently touched my cheek. It didn’t hurt too badly. “I want to end him for what he did to you,” he said.

I shook my head, my grip tightening on his shirt. “I’m fine. Promise.”

“You’re not fine.”

“I never meant for him to hurt you or your mom. I was leaving.” I needed him to know I’d never meant for that to happen. It was my fault he and his mom had been in danger.

Evalyn appeared, and Kylian’s eyes flared with fresh fury until she told him she was okay. Then I felt the full force of his focus, and nothing else mattered.

He touched his forehead to mine and took several deep breaths. When he got control, the fury was banked in his gaze, and a slow, wicked grin curved his kissable lips. “You can’t go. You’re still under contract.”

My brows furrowed. “I don’t understand.” And I didn’t. After everything—Dayton, his injury, and even his dad’s manipulation… how could he want me anywhere near him? “I only complicate things.” That was putting it mildly.

“I’ve kept my end of the deal”—he spoke as if I hadn’t brought up a valid point—“but I would like to propose an addendum. We date for real this time.”