Page 2 of You Are My Every Reason

I’m only here because it’s a release. The rage inside of me needed a way to escape, and I get that here. Or I used to. It doesn’t seem to be working anymore. Not now that my old man is dead. I loathed that man, and now he is gone. He didn’t suffer enough, if you ask me. I’d been the one that wanted to end him. To watch the life drain from his eyes. That opportunity had been taken from me. Now I feel like I’m spiraling.

Needing to clear my head and wanting away from the noise of the warehouses, I move down toward the docks. The fights are done, but people are milling around and collecting their money. I should go home, but I’ve been avoiding it.

The dock is filled with boats; the ferry to Lighthouse Landing has slowed down since it’s so late. The only way on and off the island is by air or boat. A lot of rich people like to come over from the city and make their bets on the underground fights. It’s easier to host them here because they have fewer eyes on them. The cops on the island turn a blind eye if it means a little extra money in their pockets.

The man in charge of the fights is Vasily King. People call him King. He has the cops-part taken care of. The authorities are bought and paid for. Everyone knows they’re safe here. At least with King in charge, anyway. He makes sure things never get out of hand.

King, the same fucking man that went off and married my twin sister. The one that is still in high school. She may be eighteen, but she’s still my innocent sister, and now she’s someone’s wife. I can’t even make this shit up. My whole world has been changing since my father died. It started with a surprise uncle showing up, then one of my closest friends, Teddy, fell in love with him, and now this shit with my twin sister marrying King.

My eyes roam across the ocean as I come to the end of the dock. There are a handful of boats that I can see out there tonight. The lighthouse shows them in the distance. I’m sure some of the owners are in the warehouse right now. They keep their yachts out at sea and ride a small boat in.

The sound of splashing draws my attention. It was way too loud to be a fish leaping out of the water. I search the surface, waiting for the light to circle around again when I think I catch sight of something in the near distance that I can’t quite make out. When the light hits it, I see that it’s a person.

The fuck? You don’t swim here. You’d go to the other side of the island for that. This is all docks for travel and shipments. No one would be in the water this close to the island here. For a second, I think that blow to my head rattled my brain, and what I’m seeing isn’t there. Then the light hits it again, and I know for a fact it is a person. One who looks like they are in need of help.

A tiny one that goes under. Is it a damn kid? Have they fallen off one of the boats?

“Fuck.” I kick my shoes off as I pull my shirt and hoodie off at the same time before I dive into the water. I come back up, searching around me when I see a splash. I'm stretching my arms and swimming faster toward it as they start to go under again. I follow suit, extending my hands and making contact with skin. I grab hold, pulling them into me as I push back up, breaking through the water. I hear them gasp, but their body goes lax in my hold, thankfully.

You never know what you might get when someone is drowning. It can be a fight, but I heard a breath. I swim with one arm, keeping the other wrapped around them as I draw closer to the dock.

"Rich!" I hear my name shouted. "What the hell are you doing?!" my sister screams. I don't bother responding. I keep swimming. "Holy shit, Vasily!" my sister shouts to King.

"Back up, princess," King tells her when I'm almost to the dock. He doesn't need to be asked. He leans down, reaching his arms out to take the person from me. I have the urge not to hand them over, but there isn't a choice, so I let go as he pulls them from the water.

I reach up, grab on to the dock, and pull myself upright as King is laying them down. I practically knock him out of the way to get to them, checking for a pulse.

"She's breathing," my sister says. Her hand lies on the bare stomach of the girl. I push her wet hair aside to reveal her face. It’s a punch to my gut when I see her for the first time.

Her skin is almost porcelain, her lips full and red. She might be tiny, but her cheeks are full with a slight dusting of red. Thick lashes lie on those cheeks. I need her to open those eyes for me.

“She looks like a doll,” I say more to myself.

“Should we call someone?”

“No.” Both King and I speak at the same time, for once agreeing on something.

“Open your eyes, dollface.” I stroke my finger across her cheek. “Willa, get my hoodie.” I nod to where I’d pulled it off. My sister jumps up to go get it.

“Are you okay?” King asks, dropping to a knee next to me. “Your hands are shaking.”

I pull my hands back and fist them a few times. I know it's not the cold that's making me feel this way. It's her. I never get shook. I'm always calm; every move I make is deliberate. It's how I’ve trained. Why I have always been so good in the ring.

When my sister makes it back, I take the hoodie from her, laying it over the girl. I thought at first she was in a bikini, but I quickly realized it’s underwear she's wearing. Then I scoop her up into my arms, her head coming to rest against my chest.

I ignore everything else, making my way back toward the warehouse. A girl in only her panties out in the middle of the ocean means something is amiss. I want her out of sight until we can figure out what the hell is going on.

King motions for the side door of the warehouse that will lead us into the back and not near the crowd of people still lingering inside. When we enter, I head to the office King has set up.

"Open it," I bark, not giving a shit that it’s not my office.

The man that is always stationed at the office door when fights are taking place actually listens to me. The girl in my arms flinches, her eyes tightening, and I know she's awake but purposefully not opening her eyes. She must realize her error because she quickly relaxes her body again.

"I need a minute," I tell my sister and King, who have been right behind me the whole way. The protectiveness I have felt since the moment I had her in my arms intensifies.

"But—"

"All right," King says. My sister presses her lips together. King pulls his wife back. I don't wait for my sister to agree; she's been running around doing what the fuck she wants without question. I can do the same. Willa can give me this one. Besides, the girl in my arms doesn’t need a million people around. She is already hiding. That’s what my instincts are telling me, anyway.

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