Page 48 of Confessions of Pain

“Sitting there and doing nothing was driving me crazy, so I asked dad to stay at your place in case Kelsey showed up there. I ran over to his place, just to check things out. It’s weird here, Jax. Something isn’t right. Snowball didn’t want me to touch her and when I finally cornered her, it was easy to see why. She’s been injured. Badly. I think at least one of her legs is broken. I also found the pop cap to a needle in the entry hallway. Last time I checked, Kelsey doesn’t take any medication which requires needles. It just feels…off.”

“Any sign of a struggle?” I asked.Who would want to hurt Kelsey? I sure the fuck knew Kelsey hadn’t injured his own cat, even if he was intent on hurting himself?

“No, nothing like that,” she answered.

I could tell from the tone of her voice there was something she wasn’t sharing with us.

“What time did you get there, Evie?” Jax asked. “Maverick and I were there at around 8:45 this morning.”

“We missed each other by minutes, then,” she said. “I got here around 8:50.” She paused and then asked, “Did you notice any strange…smells?”

Smells? What the hell was she getting at? “Just spit it out, Evie. What are you getting at?” I demanded, ignoring the glare Jax pointed in my direction.

I watched as that glare turned into something else…something that terrified me. Realization caused his face to morph into something ugly.

“Daulton,” he muttered. “His cologne. It didn’t register with me until you said something. What would that fucker be doing at Kelsey’s house? I specifically made sure Kelsey never gave him any personal information. I’ve never trusted Daulton with Kelsey.”

“You…you said Kelsey called on this Daulton guy when he needed to, uh, feel pain. Do you think Kelsey reached out to him when he heard me say Gabe was going to see you?”

“Kelsey never has a scene with Daulton unless I’m there to supervise. Never. He wouldn’t.”

“So, you thought he would betray me by killing himself but wouldn’t dare betray you by having a BDSM scene without you there to babysit him?” I practically roared. The thoughts of another man’s hands on Kelsey was making my ability to think straight fly out the window.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Jax answered. “Kelsey trusts me. He knows I only want what’s best for him. The jury’s still out on you and what you want.”

Blind rage swept over me and I lunged for Jax. Ethan was there to jerk me back before we made contact. “Not now, kids. Hell, I’ll sell tickets so we can all watch the two of you rip each other apartafterwe get Kelsey back.” He jerked the back of my collar and made sure I wasn’t about to try to sneak around him and get to Jax again.

“Does Wayne know Daulton?” I asked Jax. A horrible thought crept into my mind. Wayne was the one person that had always been there to hurt Kelsey.

“Not that I know of,” Jax answered. “Why? What are you thinking?”

Terror washed over me. I knew exactly who had Kelsey. I also knew what Wayne was capable of and that my return…my takeover of Morganston Textiles had pushed him to his limit. He would hurt Kelsey just so he could hurt me. “Wayne. He’ll try to make it look like a suicide—that way nobody would point a finger at him. He’ll tell everybody about Kelsey’s other suicide attempts and thinks he’ll walk away without ever looking back.”

“If you honestly believe that, then Wayne wouldn’t be stupid enough to take him to the tree. He’d know that’s the first place I’d look. Knowing Wayne, he’d want to make Kelsey suffer as long as possible.”

I looked at Jax and memories of that night, our last night together, raced through my mind. I knew exactly where Wayne would take Kelsey. “Let’s go.” I started toward the door, my heart racing with the fear that I might be too late.

“Where are we going?” Jax asked, matching my steps as we both raced toward the car. I heard Ethan, Jeremiah, and Titus climbing into their own vehicle. I also knew their vehicle would be equipped with anything we might need to handle whatever situation Kelsey was in, whether it be a sniper rifle or medical emergency bag. They were always prepared…always there for me.

“Where does Wayne Jr. always go when he needs to borrow a pair of balls?”

Jax sat quietly for a second and then answered, “He runs to his daddy.”

“Exactly.”

Kelsey

The cold marble of Wayne Sr.’s tombstone ate its way through the thin fabric of my T-shirt. They’d propped me against the headstone of the only man I’d ever hated more than Wayne Jr. Whatever they’d dosed me with, it was doing the job. I couldn’t move. It was taking every ounce of my strength to get oxygen into my lungs. I had no idea how long I’d been unconscious. When I’d finally managed to pry my eyes open, I’d found myself on the grave, Jax’s bracelets cut off, and my blood already flowing freely from the brutal cuts on both my wrists. Fuck, but Daulton and Wayne had done a much better job of butchering my skin than I’d ever done.

Finally…something Wayne was good at.

My eyes rolled to the back of my head and I reprimanded myself for the sarcasm. Now wasn’t the time for dry humor, or any humor, for that matter. Wayne was about to succeed at what I’d failed at, ending my own life. There was a time when I would have been happy to see the end so near. Hell, I’d even prayed for it time and time again.

Not now, though. Not when Gabriel was finally back in my life. For the first time in ten years, I wanted to live and Wayne was taking it away from me. I really fucking hated my brother. It was him that had run Gabe off the first time, and after what I’m sure Jax told Gabe earlier that morning, Gabe wouldn’t have a hard time believing I’d killed myself. I loved Jax and Evie, but had no doubts they would describe me as the walking, talking poster child of self-hatred.

When he told me he loved me last night, had he meant it? I told myself he did.

“You made sure his fingerprints are on the knife, right?” Wayne asked Daulton as he paced around the gravesite.

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