Room One Hundred & Twenty-One: Kiss of Fire

Chapter 16

16

SELENA

“ W hy are you not coming home with us?” Brody pouts, clearly not liking the idea of leaving me alone in my apartment.

It has been weeks since I’ve had a moment to myself, and as much as I love sleeping in their arms, I need some space to process everything that happened today. Stan really got to me, but I can’t decide if he was serious or just blowing off steam because he was mad that things didn’t go his way. I want to wait to talk to the guys about it until I have a clear head and can ensure they won’t do anything rash.

Noah holds my stare for a long time before he nods. “I’ve been wondering if you needed a break. If this has all been too much too fast.”

“I don’t need a break.” I step toward him and he draws me into his arms. “Just… maybe a good night’s sleep, where I’m not dicked down into the mattress?”

Chance barks out a laugh, but Noah merely smiles. “We could just… cuddle.” His mouth pinches as if the words taste bitter on his tongue.

“It’s just one night,” I promise. “And who knows? Maybe this is just what I need to prove to myself I never want to be away from you again.”

Chance pulls me into his arms and wraps me up in a tight embrace. “I’m banking on that,” he says and kisses my forehead. “Besides, this’ll give us time to make some plans.”

I lean back to look into his eyes. “What plans?”

“Just something I’ve been thinking about. And I’ll bet these two are on the same page.”

I narrow my gaze at him, wondering what he’s up to.

“Don’t worry, beautiful. I think you’ll like it.”

“I’m sure I will. Now go, and I’ll see you in the morning,” I urge.

They each take a moment to kiss me goodbye, and as soon as they leave, I’m dying for more. Guess it didn’t take long for me to realize how much I want them, or to recognize my deep desire to be near them. But I decide a night alone will do me good.

I close the door and head toward my room. Exhaustion weighs heavy on my shoulders as memories from today flood my mind. Stan’s words play on repeat even though I’m far away from his scathing stare, and I’m starting to regret that I didn’t tell the guys what happened right away.

The fact is he blames me for what happened, and I’m not sure what he plans to do about it.

Dismissing the worry for now, I pull off my clothes and toss them into the hamper before walking toward the shower. I stand under the scalding-hot spray, allowing the stream of water to wash away all my thoughts and concerns. After drying off and thoroughly moisturizing my skin, I zip through the rest of my skin care routine and dress in a long satin nightgown that Chance bought for me. He’s always spoiling me with luxurious gifts.

I retrieve my Kindle from my nightstand and turn down the covers, deciding that reading a smutty romance novel will do just the trick to clear my head. But when I start to crawl into bed, there’s a knock at my door. Just two subtle raps against the wood, but for whatever reason, it shoots a chill down my spine.

I check my phone to see if perhaps I’ve a missed call or text from one of the guys, but there are no notifications on the screen. I still and wait to see if it happens again.

Knock… Knock.

They’re louder now, but slow and steady. Not urgent, as if to get my attention, or the thunderous thumps you’d expect from the police.

Knock… Knock.

The sound comes again, taunting me while my heart bangs against my rib cage and my breaths come more rapidly.

I’m waiting for someone to announce themselves, but nothing comes. Only eerie silence and no more knocking. My immediate thought is to call the guys, but reason convinces me otherwise. It’ll take them too long to get here, and if it’s truly an emergency, then I should call 9-1-1. But what would I say to the dispatcher? Can you send the police? Someone’s knocking on my door? I can hear the laughter now, along with a stern warning about prank calling the authorities.

Clutching my phone in my hand, I decide to tiptoe to the front and double-check the locks when?—

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

A fist pounds on the door and I almost jump out of my skin. I instantly pull up Noah’s number from my list of favorites and press send .

Please pick up. Please pick up, I chant in my head when someone bursts inside my apartment.

The call connects, and I hear Noah’s voice. “Change your mind already?”

The one sentence is all I hear before the device is snatched from my hand and tossed to the floor. It’s dark and I have no idea where my phone skidded off to, but it’s pointless to look for it after the door is slammed shut and two arms wrap around me like a vise.

“Who were you calling?” Stan’s tone is sinister when he whispers in my ear. I elbow him in the ribs and he shoves me hard to the floor. I scoot back on my ass, trying to get away while he scowls down at me with eyes full of fury.

“H-how did y-ou…?” I stammer over my words, barely able to get them out.

“How did I get inside?”

I blink rapidly, trying to adjust to the darkness.

“Through the front door, of course. For someone who’s seduced three of the richest men I know, you sure aren’t too bright,” he sneers, and I swallow hard. “Then again, they aren’t using you for your intelligence, now, are they? I wonder if you’ll suck my cock as good as you suck theirs?” His dark chuckle makes me sick to my stomach.

“Stay the fuck away from me, Stan. I mean it,” I bark, while discreetly sweeping my hands over the hardwood to search for my phone. I heard the call connect, so I’m hoping like hell Noah is still on the line and can hear everything. “If you come near me, I’ll scream.”

He shakes his head with amusement. “I want you to scream. Not like anyone’s gonna come to help you anyway.”

I hate that he’s probably right. My neighbor moved out last month and the only other tenant on this floor is a sweet old grandma, who sleeps like the dead with her TV turned up too loud.

He jerks me up by my upper arms and the smell of alcohol wafts off him and burns my nose. He huffs in my face and is about to speak when the toe of his shoe bumps against something and scoots it a few inches across the floor. Pushing me down on the couch, he picks up my cell and looks at the screen.

“Selena? Selena, answer me!” Noah yells.

Stan disconnects the call. “Oops,” he says before throwing down my phone and crushing it with his heel. “That’s better. No pesky calls to bother us.”

“They’ll come for me and they’ll kill you if they find you here.”

“You know, you have a good point… for once,” he growls. “Maybe we should take this party somewhere else.”

“I’ll never go anywhere with you,” I snarl, and my head whips to the side when he smacks me hard across the face. Heat and pain bloom on my cheek as I gingerly cup it with my hand, trying to soothe the sting.

“Whores like you are nothing but trouble. Worming into a man’s world and fucking your way to the top.” He grips my jaw and forces me to hold his stare. “You ruin everything. The whole lot of you. Good for pussy and nothing else.”

A fresh wave of terror rips through me when I see the unhinged look in Stan’s eyes. “Why are you doing this?” I plead. “It’s not my fault!”

“It’s all your fault!” he screams and shakes me violently. “You fucked with my money. Money I desperately needed because I have debts and my father has cut me off!” Spittle flies from his mouth as he yells.

“That’s a personal problem and has nothing to do with me,” I snap.

“It has everything to do with you! I had to prove to the old man that I’m just as good of an attorney as he was and he would’ve restored my trust. But you fucked that up for me. You fucked everything up!” Stan grabs a handful of my hair and slaps me again, causing me to cry out in pain. “Keep quiet or I’ll make it hurt more,” he warns.

Seems like he’s been losing it for a while now, and if I had to guess, he’s been drinking a lot more and that hasn’t helped anything. I try to keep my head together, thinking of ways to get out of this mess. My gaze darts around the room, looking for anything I can use to incapacitate him long enough for me to get away. But everything seems too far out of reach and panic is starting to set in.

“I was gonna make double the broker fee on this deal until you ruined everything for me. You owe me, and I’ll take my payment from your cunt.” He pins me against the couch and shoves his tongue into my mouth. He tastes sour, like cheap whiskey, and I’m two seconds away from gagging.

“I’ll be long gone before your boyfriend gets here.” He licks the side of my face and acid churns in my gut. “Noah Kincaid thinks he’s some kind of god. He’s a piece of shit, you hear me? You all think you’re better than me. We’ll see who’s better now.”

I press myself farther into the cushions as I struggle against his weight. But no amount of thrashing seems to help when his angry grip is like steel. His hard length rubs against my thigh and bile begins to rise in my throat. My heart beats painfully and the tears flow freely while blood rushes in my ears. Dread courses through me, yet somehow, I can still hear pounding footsteps running in the hall.

Are they here? Did they come for me?

An inkling of hope pierces my chest as the front door springs open, banging against the wall. Stan’s head whips in that direction before he climbs off me and scrambles for the exit. But he doesn’t make it far with three hulking men blocking his path, all seething with rage.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Noah howls and punches Stan in the face.

He falls to the floor and Brody descends on his former attorney, wailing on his body as Stan yells in pain. “How dare you fucking touch her? Touch what’s ours?” Brody continues his assault until Chance pulls him off, then kicks Stan in the ribs.

The two of them stay with my attacker while Noah rushes over to me. “Are you hurt? Please tell me you’re not hurt, because I couldn’t live with that?” His eyes are filled with pain while he searches me for injuries.

“I’m okay. Just scared.” I swipe at my tears, not wanting him to see how shook up I am. I know if he did, he’d march right over there and kill Stan with his bare hands.

“The police are on their way. You’re safe now.” He pulls me into his arms and gently rocks me while I cry.

“He said it was my fault and?—”

“Shhh. Don’t worry about that now. We’ll get this sorted once the police get here.”

Emotions overwhelm me and I can’t hold back my sobs. “I’m sorry, Noah. I didn’t mean?—”

“Hey. I don’t wanna hear that. You have nothing to be sorry for.” He holds me close and kisses the side of my head. “We never should’ve left you tonight.”

“How did you get here so fast?”

“We actually weren’t that far. We were at Salvatore’s. It’s only about twenty minutes away from here,” Brody answers from across the small room.

“We were hoping if given a little time, you might change your mind and come home with us. So we decided to have a drink while we waited you out, beautiful.” For once, Chance’s smile is bashful and it might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

Noah lifts my chin and gazes into my eyes. “If anything ever happened to you…”

“I think it’s safe to say nothing like this will ever happen again.”

“Just to be sure, I’m not letting you out of our sight.”

I nod my head slowly while considering his words. “I’d be okay with that.” I give him a watery smile, and he holds me until the police arrive.