Page 37 of Breaking the Limits

“You made it!” I hear to the left of me. As I look over, I see a shirtless Enzo walking toward me with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. The all-knowing smirk on his face makes me wish I hadn’t come. “Oh, come on don’t look so disappointed babe.”

I roll my eyes, “Don’t call me babe, Enzo.”

Enzo holds his hands up in surrender, “Okay then,Kynleedoesn’t like the pet name babe, noted.”

“I don’t like any pet name from you. Where’s this agent?”

He smirks again. “All business and no play makes Kynlee a sad girl.” Enzo runs a fingertip over my shoulder and down my arm. I grip his hand in mine and squeeze it while glaring at him.

“Touch me again and I’ll rip your damn finger off. Got it? I came because you told me you might be able to fix the problem you created. That is theonlyreason I came,” I tell him in a dead serious tone.

“Okay, Mr. Olden is out here,” Enzo says, motioning toward the back of the house. He turns and I follow after him. I say aquick prayer that this will work out. Once we step outside, I gasp in shock at the beauty that lies behind the house. A large deck takes up a lot of the backyard but there is also an infinity pool and built-in barbeque pit. However, it’s none of those things that make me gasp. It’s the fact that this house sits right on the beach. I can literally see the waves meet the shore from where I’m standing. This is my dream house. “Great, isn’t it?” Enzo asks, looking over his shoulder to gage my reaction.

“It’s beautiful,” I whisper.

“That it is.” Or at least that’s what I think Enzo whispers in return. He clears his throat then motions toward a man in his late forties’, possibly early fifties with gray hair and brown eyes. When he smiles, I notice the small lines that form around his eyes and mouth. He’s not much taller than I am and his suit oozes wealth. “Mr. Olden, this is Kynlee Adams, the model I was telling you about,” Enzo says, as he motions toward me. I step forward and shake Mr. Olden’s hand, by the look in his eyes I’d say I might just have a new agent.

****

I don’t know how long I’ve been here but I know it’s been a while when my phone begins to vibrate in my back pocket. I ignore it not wanting to be rude and step away from Mr. Olden while he’s in the middle of a story. By the time he’s finished his story my phone has been vibrating back-to-back. “Excuse me,” I tell Mr. Olden then meet Enzo’s eyes. “Where’s the restroom?”

“I’ll show you,” Enzo says, as he leads me back into the house and up the grand staircase.

“What? You don’t have a bathroom on the bottom floor?” I ask him sarcastically.

He chuckles. “I do but I figured you wouldn’t want to waste the time waiting in line and this will be quieter so you can call Ace back.” Enzo comes to a stop in front of a door and slips a keyinside. I follow him into the room. The moonlight coming from the back wall of floor to ceiling windows is amazing. I’m gawking at the view when I realize that I must be standing in Enzo’s bedroom. A part of me grows angry but the other part is relieved that the noise and commotion from the party downstairs won’t be overheard in the bathroom here. “When you finish just make sure you lock the door before closing it.”

“Okay. Thanks,” I tell him, as I hear the door shut behind me. I find the bathroom and flip on the light. Pulling my phone from my back pocket I see that it isn’t Ace whose been calling incessantly, but Bowie. Why would Bowie be calling me?

I quickly dial his number back and he picks up on the third ring. He’s either outside or in the car because the wind makes it difficult to understand him. “Finally! I’ve been trying to call you for the past thirty minutes.”

“I know I’m sorry. I was…busy.”

I hear the blast of a car horn and hear Bowie let out a string of curses. “Bowie is everything alright?”

“No! It’s far from alright. Kynlee, Ace was jumped and beaten outside of Red Hott.”

I stand there stunned for a moment completely unable to pull air into my lungs. The large bathroom now feels like a four-by-four box to me. I back up against the wall and slide down until I’m sitting on the floor. When I finally manage to speak my voice is thick with emotion. “What was he doing at Red Hott?”

Bowie scoffs, “Hell, if I know. All we know right now is that he was jumped, beaten, and stabbed. We don’t even know how long he was in the parking lot before someone found him. I’m heading to the hospital now.”

“Stabbed? But who? Why?” I cry out as a sob escapes me. My last words to him filling my head and shredding my heart. I fist my hand into my shirt over my heart and begin to rock back and forth as if that will somehow fix all my broken pieces right now.

“Kyn, I don’t know everything right now. Meet us at the hospital,” Bowie tells me before the line goes dead. I continue to sit on the floor sobbing. My last words to him haunting my head. I hadn’t meant those words. I had just been mad but what if I didn’t get to take them back? Another sob wracks my body at the thought that he might never know how sorry I am, how I didn’t mean those words or how much I love him. If I had just called him when it had crossed my mind but I hadn’t because I had been busy with Enzo, busy trying to make a career for myself, too busy to call Ace and tell him.

I had asked why he was at Red Hott, but I already knew. He had gone there for me. This was all my fault. Blindly, I make my way back to my car. I don’t speak to anyone as I exit. I don’t even remember the walk to my car. I’m on autopilot. Once I’m in the car, I pull away from the sidewalk and turn my car towards the hospital. Tears continually leak from my eyes; my breathing is labored and my heart is shredded into pieces that I’m certain can never be mended.

I love Ace with everything I have and I know he loves me even if he can’t say the words. I feel it coming off of him just like the waves of the ocean. I know it’s there yet I’ve been running around making a mess of things all because I’ve doubted it. I’ve been foolish, selfish and look what it caused. Once my Jeep is parked in a space in front of the hospital, I let the sobs escape me, wreak havoc on my body and soul. I have to cry it all out now because once I’m inside I need to be strong for his brothers.

When I enter the waiting room I take in a sharp breath as I see the stress, worry and distraught etched on each of Ace’s brothers’ faces. I grind my teeth together to keep from letting more tears fall. These strong, badass boys will be lost if… No! I can’t think like that. I scan the room but don’t see Jagger anywhere. I know that Jagger and Ace have a unique bond. Ace has spoken about it in the past. Where Axell and Bowie had togrow up and help raise Ace and Jovi, Jagger stayed in limbo, brother, friend, and parent figure. Ace always felt like Jagger was the only one to try and understand the loss of their mother on his level.

If the situation with Ace is this bad for Axell, Bowie, and Jovi, I dread to see the look on Jagger’s face once he arrives. Sadie notices me and quickly wraps me up in her arms, always the mother to this lost group of boys and Axell’s strongest support system. Her emotion ridden blue eyes stare into mine and I swear Sadie can see through to your soul. “I’m here if you need me, “She whispers. I make the round hugging each of them.

Finally, I take a seat and wait. The guilt begins to cover my body like a blanket. Every time I catch a glimpse of one of their faces, the blanket tightens around me, suffocating me, trapping me. I caused this. I caused the look on all of their faces. This is my fault. Sadie’s phone rings and she disappears down the hallway. When she returns Jagger is with her. My breath hitches at the pain that is clearly present in Jagger’s eyes.

It’s like someone has punched me in the gut. Tears sting my eyes and burn my throat at the thought of what Jagger must be going through. He’s already had to endure so much pain and loss and to now be faced with losing his brother. It’s too much to bear. Jagger takes a seat beside me after talking with his brothers.

Jagger reaches out and wraps an arm around my shoulder. “It’ll be okay Kynlee.”

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