Unwanted Heat

He storms back into the room, shoving the phone back in his pocket and pulling the gun from his waistband. I don’t know if he knows that I heard the end of his call, but I panic at the thought of him moving me. I don’t know where Nicholas and Carter are, or how they’ll find us, but if he keeps moving me, I know they’ll never find me. I need to do something; I take a deep breath and think back to the self-defense classes I took when I first moved to New York. I took them several times a week, for nearly a year, before my schedule finally made me stop. I loved those classes; they made me feel more confidentthat I could take him if I ran into him on the streets.

I discretely test the bindings on my ankles and wrists as I formulate my plan. I say a silent prayer that this plan doesn’t back fire and that I get to see Nicholas again. I close my eyes for a brief second thinking about all the things I still want to do with him. The second wedding where we exchange our vows for real, the snow falling at his place in Vermont, Christmas in our new home… the list goes on.

With a new determination that and strength, I formulate a plan. One that hopefully keeps me here long enough for Nicholas and Carter to find me. Or for me to get to his phone to at least call for help before whoever is helping him comes along. I can’t risk him taking me somewhere else.

I wait for Richard to make his move, to give me a chance to get to him. I know he’s not expecting me to do anything, because he still sees me as that naive twenty-year-old I was when we first met: who never questioned him, never argued and never fought back. He has no idea how much I’ve changed; how much stronger I amthat I’m no longer the girl he thought he knew, the girl that he tried to break.

When he suddenly turns around to grab a water bottle off the box acting as a makeshift table, I take a deep breath and force myself to a somewhat standing position. The ropes on my ankles have loosened enough that I’m able to get my feet on the ground. I can’t stand up completely, but at least I can somewhat move. Before he can turn around, I rush over and forcefully throw myself at him, chair first. We both tumble to the floor, the chair breaking in the process as we fall. The break allows me to pull my feet free from the legs of the chair before he gets up.

“You fucking BITCH! You’re going to regret that!” There’s blood pouring from his forehead-he must have hit it on the table when he fell into it.

I quickly get to my feet, just as he does the same. My hands are still around the back of the chair, but that’s not going to stop me from trying to fight him off. The gun went flying across the room and is now behind me; Richard’s eyes go wide looking for it, but I don’t think he can see it from where I’m standing.

“I’ll never be yours,” I grit.

“You’ll always be mine. I was your first love, I took your fucking virginity for Christ sakes! You’ll never be able to forget me!”

His eyes go to the floor behind me and I know he’s found the gun; I wrap my hands around the wooden spindle of the back of the chair, gripping it tightly, as he approaches me. The look in his eyes tells me what’s coming before the punch connects to my stomach; even though I was expecting it, the force still knocks the wind out of me. I bend over, focusing on my breathing but keeping my eyes on his feet. When he moves toward me again, raising his knee as if he’s going to kick me, I swing my back upwards, twisting so the back of the chair catches him in the face.

“BITCH! I’m going to fucking kill you!” He grabs his nose as blood spills from it, as his eyes try to focus on me.

With the back of the chair now broken, I’m able to pull off the rope from my wrists. We’re both standing there, waiting for someone to make the next move as the gun lays waiting. I know this is it-if he gets his hands on the gun, he’s going to kill me. I don’t know what to do; while the gun is closer to me, I have no doubt that the moment I move, he’s going to be on top of me. But, if I don’t move and wait for him to make the first move, odds are against me: he’s stronger than me and probably faster. I have no choice. I refuse to wait for him to kill me. If he kills me now, at least I’ll know that I tried to fight him, unlike all the other times.

I’m sorry, Nicholas.

When he glances at the blood in his hands, I dive for the gun, but I’m immediately tackled by him as I expected. We roll on the hard, cement floor. I feel punches to my ribs, my jaw and knees to my stomach as we fight for control. When the opportunity finally presents itself, I raise my knee, hard and he immediately loosens his grip on me, as the pain takes over. I push him off of me, he rolls on the floor his hands cradling his dick. I don’t hesitate, I reach for the gun, wrapping my hands around the handle and aiming it at him.

“I’m going to fucking kill you,” he groans, as he rocks back and forth on the ground.

“Try, and I’ll fucking shoot you,” I promise.

Apparently, he thinks now is a good time to call my bluff, as his hand reaches out to grab my ankle, I suppose thinking he could pull me to the ground and knock the gun loose. I don’t hesitate-I pull the trigger and hit his arm. He howls in pain, immediately bringing his injured hand to his chest. I move closer to his legs, my eyes never leaving his body as he grunts in pain.

“Move and I’ll fucking shoot your dick off,” I promise, taking aim.

There’s a commotion behind me, but I don’t turn away. If this is who he’s been waiting for with the new car, I’ll kill Richard and then hope like hell the guy behind me doesn’t have a gun. I’m not taking my eyes off of him for a moment-I’m not giving him a chance to do something, even as I hear footsteps running towards me.

“Mrs. Parker… Kenzie… Kenzie!” Carter’s voice finally forces me to look away from Richard on the floor. His hand is wrapped around my wrist, keeping the gun pointed at the floor. I look at Carter, relief floods me seeing that I’m no longer alone. My eyes immediately look for Nicholas behind me, but it’s not until I hear his voice that I realize he’s actually in front of me.

“You fucking bastard,” he’s kicking Richard in the face, the chest, his stomach anywhere that he can get him as Richard rolls on the floor trying to protect himself.

“Can I have the gun, Kenzie?” Carter’s voice is demanding, but at the same time cautious. Part of me doesn’t want to let it go, knowing that without it I have nothing to protect myself. But, knowing that they’re here, reassures me that it’s highly unlikely that I would need a weapon. I slowly and somewhat reluctantly, loosen my grip on the gun letting it slide into Carter’s hand.

“You’re bleeding,” he points to the dark stain on the sleeve of my jacket. “Did he shoot you?”

“No,” I shake my head. I don’t know where the blood is coming from, but it’s not from a bullet, that much I know. The room starts to suddenly spin and I feel weak, sort of disoriented.

“Nicholas! NICHOLAS!” Carter screams as he wraps an arm around my waist holding me up.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“WHAT!?!” Nicholas snaps.

“Kenzie needs you, she’s going to pass out,” Carter says.

“Baby? Are you okay?” He’s immediately next to me, his arm wraps around my waist before he lifts me and carries me across the room.

“I’m okay,” I smile weakly.

“Where are you hurt?” he asks.

“I don’t know.”

“Make one move and I’ll fucking kill you,” we hear Carter threaten Richard.

“Someone’s coming, he’s waiting for someone to come with a car to take us…” I remember.

“The police should be here any minute, Kenzie, they’ll find whoever it was who was helping him. You’re not going anywhere except to a hospital once the paramedics get here.”

He slowly slips off my jacket, I groan in discomfort when my arm moves, but I don’t pay it much attention to it, instead my focus is on Richard who continues to groan on the floor across the room with Carter standing over him a gun.

“It doesn’t look like you were shot,” Nicholas says pulling my attention back to him.

“I think it’s from when the chair, I was tied to, broke.”

“I’ll fucking kill him,” Nicholas mumbles as he checks over the gash on my arm.

“It’s fine… I’m fine-”

BOOM

The sound of a gunshot makes us both jump, Nicholas’s body quickly surrounding mine, as we both look toward Carter, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Richard remains on the floor, no longer moving as blood slowly spreads from underneath him.

“He moved,” Carter explains simply.