Evan's Addiction (66 page)

     “The cops are on the way. We have very little time to figure this
out between the two of us before everything is taken out of both our hands and
they storm this basement with little care for anyone. Do you want to leave or
not?” Greg offered.

     A long, heart stopping pause ensued.

     “I’ll leave you Shaw, but I’m taking the other girl with me. She’s
my shield to get out of here.” He stated.

     “No! You’re not taking her.”

     My stomach rolled and constricted hearing Shaw’s voice…a voice
that sounded pain filled and weak. What was he doing to her down there? I was
about to shout down to Shaw when Greg held up his hand and shook his head
sharply.

     “Fine,” Greg agreed after a pause of his own. “I’m stepping aside
into the kitchen and when you come up you can use her as your shield to go out
the front door.” Greg pointed to me and Blake and motioned for us to back up towards
the kitchen. “When you’re set.” He then backed up around the corner of the
living room out of sight.

     After what seemed like forever, but was maybe a minute, we heard
footsteps trundle up the stairs, and then a girl appeared. Abstractedly, I
could see that she was beautiful, but what really caught my attention was the
fact that she was wearing a black teddy…
What the hell
...and she looked
scared to death.

     “What the holy hell?!” Blake whispered behind me.

     A second later a guy appeared with his arm wrapped around the
girl’s neck, a gun to her head, and he was hugging her into his body tightly. I
lowered my gun but kept my finger on the trigger, glaring daggers into him. 

     He stared at both Blake and I with anger and anxiety as he began
shambling backwards, dragging the girl with him. She gripped the arm he had
around her throat in both fear and for balance. Her wrists were duct-taped
together.  

     “Make sure that gun hand stays right where it is because my finger
is extra twitchy. I want to ask how the hell you found me but I just don’t have
the time. Don’t come out of the house until you hear me drive away, and don’t follow
me or this girls death is on your head.”

     As he moved backwards I had to force my feet to stay where they
were and not run down the steps to make sure Shaw was okay.

     The guy arrived at the corner Greg had hid himself behind, and
what happened next was almost too fast for me to follow. Greg’s hand flew out
and grabbed the guy’s gun hand pulling it from the girls head. The gun fired
into the ceiling. The girl screamed and threw herself away from the guys
loosened grip, falling to the floor. I raised my gun to cover Greg as Blake
flew around me to cover the girl, dragging her away as Greg wrested with the guy,
effortlessly subduing him. 

     “Don’t fucking move, asshole, or I’ll blow your fucking brains
out.” Greg had both the guys’ arms twisted behind him, cranked up high on his
back. The way the guy was howling said it had to hurt like a mother-fucker…the
mother fucker. 

     What Greg had done was pretty bad-ass and I would have loved to
join in the assholes torture but I raced down the stairs instead. “Shaw!” I
yelled.

     Skidding around the bottom bend of the staircase I faltered in
shock and fury, because Shaw was on the floor in a
fucking huge-ass box
.
She sat there, hands pressed against the front of the partition. Her head was
down but she raised it as I rushed forward and the expression of extreme pain
on her face had my alarm exploding all over the place.

     “Oh god, Shaw, what did he do to you?” At first I couldn’t see a
way into the box but then I found a door on the far side with a padlock.
Lifting my gun I shot it off. Flinging the door open I rushed in and scooped
her into my arms carefully.

      Shaw curled into my body with a pained whimper, clutching at my
shirt. “Gunshot…Elizabeth…is she okay?”       

     “The other girl? She’s fine, but what’s wrong with you?” I gently
stroked my hand over her pale, sweaty face that was pressed into my chest, so
damn happy to see her, but freaking out on what was wrong with her.

     “We think its appendicitis.” I tore my gaze from Shaw to find the
girl standing at the open box door with Blake hovering behind her. He’d given
her his light jacket to wear over the lingerie and she hugged it around her
like a shield. “She needs to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.” She
stared at Shaw with tear-stained concern.

     Shaw moaned and curled into a tighter ball in my arms.

     “Fucking hell!” Holding her firmly I rose to my feet and ran for
the stairs, hurried past Greg and the scumbag, and jammed out the door in time
to see a half a dozen police cars speeding down the driveway with their lights
flashing. Spotting Delaney and Case I headed straight for them. “Shaw needs the
hospital…right now.” I yelled as they skidded to a stop in front of me.

     Thankfully, they didn’t waste time with questions; just opened the
back door so I could fold her and myself inside. As we drove away I spotted the
rest of the guys at the end of the driveway staring after us, fearful
expressions covering all their faces. I was sure they’d soon be right on our
bumper.

     Officer Case called ahead to inform the hospital that they were on
the way with a possible emergency appendicitis. Shaw whimpered and her frame
was rigid with pain the entire drive there.

     I caressed her face gently with trembling hands, wishing I could
take the pain for her. “We’re almost there, Shaw. They’ll take the pain away.”

     She opened out-of-focus green eyes and squeezed my hand tightly in
her pain. “I can’t believe you found us.”

     “I’ll always find you, Shaw; no matter where you are.” Leaning
down I kissed her forehead, lingering there.

     “I was so scared, Evan.” Tears slipped down her cheek gutting me
completely. “Probably too late for me…Bad luck catching up with me…But at least
you saved Elizabeth.” She panted.             

     Her words had me swallowing painfully and I smoothed my hand over
her damp forehead. “Dammit Shaw, don’t say that. You’re going to be fine.”

     Her hand squeezed mine feebly. “When I saw you come down those stairs…I
thought I was dreaming…Best dream ever…Evan, I have to tell you something...I
lo...auhhh!” Closing her eyes she suddenly cried out in agonizing pain,
clenching my hand, her body contorting.

     Pulling her closer I yelled in frustration. “Dammit, hurry up!”

     “We’re pulling in right now.” Case proclaimed.

     The next second the car jolted to a stop and the door was jerked
open. Hands reached in trying to pull Shaw from my arms but I held onto her as
I climbed from the car to settle her on the gurney they’d brought out for her.
I then held her hand as they rushed her into the hospital and through the halls
to the emergency doors, where they separated us telling me I wasn’t allowed any
further.

     I stood there staring at the door she’d disappeared through feeling
like my chest was being ripped out…again. How many times could a person live
through this feeling? If Shaw didn’t make it then I guess I would find out. 

CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE

SHAW

     I swam out of the darkness slowly. Something was wrong with me? My
body felt really heavy, and there was an achy, twingy pain in my lower belly,
and what was going on with my arm? I tried moving it but it was like something
was attached making it difficult.

     Blinking my eyes open drowsily I tilted my head and frowned.
Huh
?
I was hooked up to an I.V. Why was I hooked up to an I.V.?

     Suddenly images and memories slammed into me and my heart started
thumping double time in my chest and I heard a beep…beep…beep to match it.

     “You’re awake.”

     Swinging my head the other way my heart continued its erratic
thumping at the sight of Evan sitting in a chair next to me. His hair was
mussed and he looked how I felt; tired, scruffy, and out of sorts, and I soaked
in everything about him.

     “What’s going on? What happened to me?” I blurt out perfunctorily,
and then winced at my croaky voice.

     Evan took my unhooked hand in his and stared at me with an especially
focused and relieved expression. “You’re appendix burst and you had to have
surgery. You’re okay now though, thank god.” He clutched at my hand and brought
it to his mouth kissing my knuckles.

     The gesture had my sore stomach clenching. “What happened to the
dick that kidnapped me? And what about Elizabeth?”

     Evan’s amber eyes darkened. “The dick is in jail, and Elizabeth is fine. She’s been in a couple times to see you but you’ve been out for almost
two days.”

     “Really!?” My heavy-lidded eyes strived to widen in relief and
surprise.

     They’d caught the guy, Elizabeth was safe, I was safe, and I’d
been sleeping for almost two days? There was a window behind Evan and I could
see that it was dark outside. I also noticed that there was a shit-load of
flowers and plants everywhere. Was I in a hospital or florists?

     Evan’s head dropped on my arm diverting me from the flora
overload. “Damn Shaw, these last three days have been the longest and worst of
my life.”

     “I may have been sleeping for most of them but they weren’t a cup
of tea for me either.” I shuddered in memory.

     He inhaled and exhaled deeply, and then surprised me by climbing
into the hospital bed with me. I could see that he was trying to do it carefully
so as not to hurt me. His large frame barely fit in the small bed as he lay on
his side next to me.

     His lips caressed over my jaw, down my neck, and then up to my
ear. His whiskers scraped at me lightly and I shivered, closing my eyes in
pleasure as unmanageable tears spilled down my face. His touch seemed so very
reverent.

     He must have tasted them because he lifted his head with an
anxious frown and put some space between us. “What’s wrong? Shit, am I hurting
you?”

     I shook my head as the tears kept flowing. “No, I…I never thought
I’d see you again. He wasn’t planning to give me back if you paid that ransom.
He was going to sell me off to some fat, sick pervert for sex.” I sobbed
softly…and crap, did that hurt my stomach. 

     The amber of his eyes seemed to burn with an unholy fire as he cupped
my cheek. “I know. Elizabeth told us everything that she went through and what
he had planned for both of you. It’s all my fault. I put you in that assholes’
sights. I’m so sorry, Shaw.” 

     I blinked through the tears. “It’s not your fault; it’s my
freaking bad luck, but at least it was me and not Maya. He told me at first he planned
to take her but decided against it because of Nola.”

     Evan’s gaze sharpened. “Landon’s going to flip his fucking lid
when he hears that. But in regards to your bad luck…” His thumb brushed away my
tears. “I want you to think about what it brought you; a scholarship, David…a
friend who was so concerned for you he got you a necklace with a tracker in it
making it possible to save you…”
Wait?!
What was that?
“Carrie
and a dozen other friends willing to kick-ass for you, and while I
hate
…
hate
…”
He spit out. “…that you were taken, the fact that you were saved Elizabeth and other girls from being shipped off as sex slaves for fat, perverted men. The
cops might even be able to find the other girls he sold. Officer Delaney told
me the filthy cocksucker kept records. So what you think is ‘bad luck’, I think
is destiny.” He exhaled and set his forehead to mine. “I know you’re my
destiny.”

     Each word out of Evan’s mouth got me more choked up, but the last
part wrung the breath right out of me. “What?”   

     “When you didn’t come back to the apartment that first night I was
freaking out, Red, and this was before I knew something had happened to you.
The next morning when you still hadn’t made it back I wanted to tear that
asshole Ford apart because I thought he’d done something to you. When that guy
called me and said he’d taken you it felt like my soul was being sucked from
me. Thinking about what he might be doing to you, that I might never see you
again, it was like a vice was squeezing the breath and life from me.” He set
his lips to my temple. “I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I don’t ever
want to imagine it again. I love you, Shaw.”

     If the heart monitor wasn’t still beeping I would have said my
heart stopped. Evan loved me!? That…that was impossible. I wished with my whole
heart, body, and soul that he did, but…he just couldn’t. I wasn’t that lucky. Love
wasn’t for me.

     “How…you can’t love me.” I shook my head in shocked disbelief.
“You probably just think that because of everything that happened. Sometimes
extreme situations…”

     Evan’s thumb gently pressed against my mouth. “Shaw, the first
time you sliced and diced me I was hooked. I thought I was perfectly content
with my life before you came along, but then you showed me I had no fucking idea
what that word even meant. When you gave me a second chance I let myself go
with the flow again, pushing all the emotions I was feeling for you to the side
to contemplate at a later date because I’m a dipshit and like to live in the
moment, but when you were taken those feelings rose up and punched me in the
gut. The fire in your hair may have first caught my attention, but it’s you
that’s been making me burn ever since. You’re everything I never knew I wanted;
a surprise gift from the universe.”