Page 58 of The Redemption of Alex Cade
“I know you spent all day yesterday with Parker, wasting all that time. Because you know, I know, and now little Kitten knows, that there’s no skipping off into the sunset for the pair of you. What you do, whatwedo, it’s a job for life, not just for fucking Christmas. Got to hand it to your precious Kitten. He’s got you buried so deep in him you’ve forgotten who it is kept you alive and safe all these years.”
“Don’t you dare?—”
“Don’t I dare what?” He was around the desk in an instant, in my space, close enough that I could see the vein pulsing in his temple. “Talk about your little boyfriend? The one who’s making you forget where you came from? Who you belong to?”
“I don’t belong to anyone. I’m not a possession.”I’m notyour possession, not anymore…“It’s over Kel. Accept it.” It was time to go, to not look back. I never even got near the door.
“But it’s not over, because it never can be. We keep building the wall higher and stronger until we’re totally untouchable.”
“I don’t want to be untouchable.” I swung around on my heel. “I want to feel something real.”
“And he makes you feel, does he? He makes you feel real?” Kelvin grinned. His eyes were bright and feverish. Blood smeared his lips, his teeth.
“Yes,” I said simply. “He does.”
Kelvin went very still, his breathing heavy and wet through his broken nose. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped to a rough, guttural whisper. “I would have killed for you.Havekilled for you.”
The admission hung in the air between us, confirming what I’d always known but had chosen not to confront.
“And now you think you can just walk away? Sorry to tell you this, babe, but the story doesn’t end like that. There’s no happy ever after for you and Kitten.”
I turned my back on him, only wanting to be gone.
That was when he lunged.
The impact was brutal, his shoulder slamming into my back like a battering ram, sending us both crashing forward into the wall. My head snapped forward, smashing against plaster. Pain exploded across my ribs, all the air in my lungs squeezed out of me as his weight crushed me, pinning me in place, his breath hot and ragged against my neck.
“Get off me,” I snarled, twisting violently, driving my elbow back. It connected with a solid thud into his ribs. Kelvin grunted, but his grip tightened, relentless as iron.
“You’re mine,” he growled, his voice thick with bloodand warped obsession. “You’ve always been. Since that first day in the foster home. Mine to protect. Mine to keep safe.”
Fear burnt through me, sharpening into fury. My limbs moved on instinct, powered by desperation. I bucked my body violently, throwing my weight backward, using Kelvin’s momentum to shove him off balance. The moment his grip faltered, I twisted sharply. Breaking free, I turned to face him.
His fist came fast, too fast for me to react. Pain exploded across my jaw, white-hot and blinding, sending stars bursting across my vision. The force knocked me off my feet, my knees hitting the floor with a jarring thud. Blood filled my mouth, metallic and bitter, as I struggled to push myself up.
But Kelvin was already on me.
He dropped his full weight onto me, forcing me down onto my back. His hands clawed at my shoulders, his fingers digging into my arms like iron clamps. I fought back on pure instinct, thrashing beneath him, my body twisting wildly in an effort to break free. My knee shot up, striking between his legs with brutal precision. Kelvin howled, his grip loosening as pain overtook him. I shoved him off with all the strength I could muster, scrambling to my feet. My head throbbed, my jaw ached, and my vision swam, but I stayed upright, my body fuelled by adrenaline, coiled and tense, ready to fight to the bloody end.
Kelvin didn’t stay down for long.
He surged to his feet, a man with nothing to lose, his eyes dark and wild, his face twisted with rage.
“You think you can just walk away?” he spat, his voice raw and venomous. “After everything I’ve done for you? You don’t get to leave me, Alex. You don’t get to leave me forhim. Not for your fucking Kitten. Not for anybody.” He lunged again, before I could even think to move, his bulk slammed into me.
We crashed into the desk, the edge digging sharply into my lower back. Glass shattered as the whisky bottle toppled to the floor, shards scattering across the floorboards. Papers flew into the air, raining down around us like ash.
“Fuck you, Kelvin,” I roared, twisting in his grip. My arms screamed in agony as I fought against his strength, his fingers digging into my biceps like claws. “You don’t own me.”
“I gave you everything,” he screamed, his face inches from mine. Blood laced spittle flew from his lips, hitting me in the face. “Everything!”
We grappled, locked in a vicious, desperate struggle. Kelvin was stronger—he always had been—but I was faster, fuelled by a raw, primative need to survive. I bucked sharply, breaking one arm free, and slammed my forearm across his throat. The force drove him back, pinning him against the wall.
For a moment, we froze there, both of us panting, my arm pressing hard against his windpipe. “Let me go,” I ground out, my voice hoarse and shaking with rage. “Just fucking let me go, Kelvin.”
His eyes met mine, dark and wild, filled with fury, devastation, and obsession. “I can’t,” he croaked, his voice rasping against the pressure on his throat. “Don’t you get it, Alex? There is no me without you. There never has been.”
My grip faltered at the naked desperation in his voice. It was all he needed.
