Page 97 of H E R

Charles chuckles, and when I look up, he’s still staring out of the window. Yet, somehow, I know he’s fuckinglaughingat me. Son of a bitch. I open my mouth to spit some obscenity at him when Jason’s trusty driver interrupts.

“We’re almost there. Want me to park out back?”

“It’s late. The bar will be mostly empty, with only their usuals present. I think it should be a simple recovery,” Charles offers. He inhales a puff of smoke and it seeps out of his nose in one long drag before he flicks his cigarette out the window.

“Out front,” I offer, but it comes out harsh and full of fire.

Niki turns to read my expression, and I lean my head back to hide my misplaced frustration. I don’t want to think about the men in her life and what they mean to her. I know what she feels for me, even if she doesn’t understand or fully accept it. My green-eyed monster has no place here. I force him to take a backseat and sneer from that angle–the possessive and overprotective discontent pours over me like a suffocating blanket of flames. Fuck.

It isn’t until Niki leans into me and lowers my shoulder to her lips, so that she may whisper in my ear, that I realize I was squeezing my eyes shut so tight, my eyeballs were beginning to hurt.

“What do we do once we’re there?”

Her eyes are full of fear, and she stares into mine in hopeful prayer. Their doleful look tug a desire in me to gather her in my arms and repair her dejected heart. I understand she loves Noah, he’s like family. But I’m also aware of the fact that she chose me and that she could never want him in the same way she needs me. I also knew his relentless betrayal wouldn’t win her hatred but only alert her to the inevitable truth–she couldn’tlove Noah the way he wanted. Regardless of Noah and whoever the fuck Charles is, her worry supersedes all of my misplaced emotions. I’ll do whatever the fuck she needs.

“We get him out,” I tell her.

The determination in my voice lights her eyes up and she breathes out a sigh of relief and smiles. It doesn’t reach her eyes, but I know I've offered enough comfort to ease some tension. Niki presses her cheek to my shoulder, and when I straighten to look forward, Charles is watching us. His brows knit together, and something about his look tells me he’s a man who both understands pain and love, yet it’s a vacant glance. It isn’t directed toward Niki, I realize.Interesting.

Charles was right. The bar’s interior is mostly vacant, aside from three patrons and a barman. Music from an old jukebox playing alternative rock from the nineties mixes with the noise from one of the two televisions playing a kickboxing match. Two men and the bartender debate on the match, enthralled by it, while another is passed out at a nearby table. Charles points toward a beaded curtain and we walk through it. The curtain separates the small and dark lounge area from another poorly lit backroom.

No one notices our entrance, which I wasn’t expecting. I’m not complaining, though, since I was unable to stop Jasmin and Olivia from joining us, and I don’t want to think about the hell I’m going to get from Jason. I motion for my cousin to stand guard near the doorway so that she may let us know of anyone entering the area, and I’m grateful she complies without a fight. Charles continues to lead us through until we hear another television playing the same boxing match.

A man with his back to us sits on a couch, eyes glued to the fight while Noah’s beaten body is strapped to a chair, slumped forward. He isn’t moving. Charles quietly walks up to the dumbass who’s supposed to be on watch and swiftly twists his neck in one silent motion. The guy immediately slumps down to his death.

Charles turns around and shrugs. “Seemed quicker.”

Niki rushes over to Noah, her hands hover over him, like she doesn’t know where to place them. His clothes are in shreds, he’s covered in blood, and in desperate need of stitches, and perhaps reconstructive surgery. He looks like he’s been through seven hells.He’s been stabbed in multiple places and beaten beyond recognition. Jasmin covers her mouth and stays frozen in place.

I’ve never seen Niki cry. Not when I took her home after she spent the night in handcuffs being ridiculed by cops, or when I found her in the warehouse, when she put Noah’s heart through a shredder, or even when I told her about her parents’ killers. But silent tears fall down her pale cheeks now.

“Noah,” she whispers, and the beaten fool groans, as if awakened by her voice.

Niki falls to her knees before him, and I walk over and take the blade Charles hands me. There’s a rope tugging his arms back and connecting them by the wrists, and when I cut them off, Noah slumps forward into Niki’s arms.

She falls back into a sitting position and holds him in a hug. The cry released from her throat shatters me into a million fucking pieces.

“Justice?”

Noah’s voice is weak and barely audible, but he unmistakably spoke. Niki sets him down gently and brushes his hair off his forehead.

“Yea, Noie, it’s me.”

Noah tries to look around, but he’s only got one working eye and it’s drowning in his own blood.Fuck, he isn’t going to make it. I don’t think Niki gets that yet. I pull out my phone and dial it in.

“Hey, Mike, send a bus to Time Out on Aberdeen Street.”

I hang up before he floods me with his curiosity, and when I look back down, Noah’s eyes find me. I think he rolls his one working eye, but he closes it instead and gasps before coughing and spewing up blood.

“I’m sorry,” he manages.

Niki shushes him and presses the back of her hand against his cheek. “Save your energy. Dylan called for help and they’ll be here soon. You’re going to be fine.”

“I’m not, but it’s okay. I'm as good as dead without you, anyway.”

“Noah, don’t say that—”

Noah nods in my direction. “He knows what I mean.”

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