Pulse (Collide) (18 page)

Blood. Fucking. Red.

With one hand gripping the wheel, he used the other to yank the tie from around his neck. As he pulled into the garage below Dillon’s building, he shrugged out of his suit jacket, paid the parking fee, and shot into a parking spot. After swinging open the door and slamming it closed, Gavin made his way to the elevator and hit the button to Dillon’s floor.

Gavin was no longer fighting a fucked up battle in his head. He rolled his sleeves up and sank deep into an eerie sea of calm. He was feeding his body what it craved, what it needed, and because of this, he felt high. Drugged. As he rode up to the fifteenth floor, specks and shadows of Emily’s face curled through his thoughts. His heart sank as he glanced at his watch. The thought of her sitting at the café waiting for him, completely unaware of what he was about to do, bothered him. However, he couldn’t stop.

Gavin broke from the elevator when the doors opened, stepping out into a shitload of commotion. It was something he was used to seeing. Wearing cheap suits from eBay and ties their grandmothers had bought them for their twenty-first birthdays, young, money-hungry cubs paced the bullpen in front of their cubicles. With Bluetooth receivers in their ears and polished wealth on the other end of the line, they talked fast, attempting to rip a piece of meat from a portfolio holding more cash than they’d make over the course of a lifetime. They jutted their chins up in greeting and Gavin knew a couple of them recognized him when he breezed through the chaos. He simply nodded back. None of them would end their calls from the potential stack of money they were trying for. Considering he’d only shared a beer or two with them through the years when Dillon invited him out, Gavin really didn’t give a shit if they ended their conversations to stop and say hello or not. His focus was on the door in the left corner of the massive office. Behind it was the piece of meat Gavin was about to tear into. No longer calm, the closer he got, Gavin felt his unfed hunger splitting his stomach in two.

“Hey, Gavin,” a familiar female voice purred.

He dragged his attention from the door holding his lunch beyond it, but his feet never stopped moving. “Hey, Kimberly. Is he in his office?”

The busty blonde nodded. “He sure is.”

“Good,” he clipped, rounding the corner of her desk.

As he approached Dillon’s door, Gavin ducked his towering six foot three inch frame in an attempt to see below mini-blinds covering up half the glass. Gavin’s eyes landed on Dillon’s back. He stood in front of his desk, his arms crossed. In one swift motion, Gavin swung open the door and closed it. In another, he twisted the lock, sealing them off from anyone who might try to enter.

Let the motherfucking games begin.

Without turning, Dillon blew out an annoyed puff of air. “Kimberly, how many times over the last few months have I told you I’m not fucking you in here anymore? Go back to your desk, and I’ll call you later if I feel like it.”

“It’s not Kimberly, asshole,” Gavin growled. His eyes zeroed in on Dillon when he turned around. “I told you I’d kill you with my bare hands if you ever touched her again.”

Narrowing his eyes, Dillon opened his mouth, but before words could tumble out, Gavin charged him, tackling him onto the desk. Though mammoth, the solid piece of cherry wood screeched a few inches from the weight of the two men landing on it. With Dillon pinned beneath him, Gavin curled his hands around his neck, barely noticing the blow from Dillon’s fist slamming against his mouth. Blood from his split lip dropped onto Dillon’s cheek, sliding down to his chin. As Gavin stared into the soulless eyes of a man he’d considered a friend at one point, flashes of Emily receiving his brutal treatment made adrenaline spike through Gavin’s veins. His anger simmered, and Gavin had no intention of stopping it from erupting.

Hands wrapped around Dillon’s throat, Gavin lifted up his head and shoved it back down against the desk. It hit the surface with a hard thud. Gavin was sure he’d cracked Dillon’s skull open. “You pussy!” Gavin spewed, his body shaking. “I told you I’d fucking kill you if you hurt her!”

“Fuck you and her!” Dillon choked out, squirming under Gavin’s weight.

Gavin squeezed harder, his grip tightening to the point he could feel Dillon’s pulse hammering against his thumbs. At this, Dillon brought his arms up and circled his fists around Gavin’s forearms in a lame attempt to pull Gavin’s hands from his neck. It didn’t work, and it only pissed Gavin off more. Gavin slammed his head against the desk again. After the second, possible skull-cracking blow, Gavin heard Dillon inhale sharply as he fought to breathe. Gavin also heard his own blood rushing through his ears. Dillon released his hold on one of Gavin’s arms and swung again, but this time there was no speed in it. It was easy enough for Gavin to dodge. Gavin could feel him weakening beneath him. Felt him slipping away as he stared into Gavin’s eyes. Gavin watched Dillon’s capillaries pop to the surface, turning his face a light shade of blue.

And then it hit him.

“Gavin Blake, you’re more of a man than any man I’ve ever known.
You have a heart you wear on your sleeve, and you couldn’t do a thing to make me fall more in love with you. Not a single thing.”

Now, Gavin found himself fighting a completely different battle brought on by Emily’s words. Something inside him twisted, a debate on whether or not to stop. The sick bastard below him might own his emotions in this very moment, but the woman he was willing to kill for would own his heart forever. Choosing love over evil, Gavin pulled in a steeling breath, released his hold from Dillon’s neck, and stumbled away from the desk.

Fisting his hands in his hair, Gavin paced and watched Dillon’s close to lifeless body slither to the floor, dragging stacks of paper, pens, and a telephone with it. Choking, Dillon rolled to his side and clawed to his hands and knees, his chest heaving up and down for air. A barrage of chills overtook Gavin’s system as he witnessed Dillon trying to stand. It was no use. He couldn’t. Gavin had stripped him of any and all energy he had. Gavin tore his attention from Dillon and latched onto the deep voices and banging coming from behind the door. Gavin didn’t know if they’d just started or if they were trying to get in the whole time. As Dillon’s life was slipping through his hands, time seemed to slip by, blurring from one second into the next. Swallowing hard, Gavin stalked over to Dillon and grabbed him by his hair.

Kneeling beside him, Gavin yanked Dillon’s face within inches of his. He shook as he spoke, his breath a vicious whisper. “You better listen to every fucking word I’m about to say to you.”

“Fuck off, asshole,” Dillon grit out, staring into Gavin’s eyes, his breathing still labored. “You’re going to jail for this, motherfucker.”

Gavin quickly elbowed Dillon’s mouth. Trying to jerk away, Dillon winced. Now Gavin wasn’t the only one with a split lip. Gavin gripped Dillon’s hair tighter, a sick smirk twisting his mouth. “If you report this, sure, I might go to prison. You’re lucky I didn’t fucking kill you. But just know this”—Gavin paused, trying to tamp down his sudden urge to once again choke Dillon within inches of his life—”I’ll get out one day. Oh, you bet your ass I fucking will. And when I do…
nothing
will stop me from killing you. Not even the insane love I have for the woman you threw away will keep me from making sure you never take another fucking breath. So, consider this bit of information before you go running to the cops. If you know me at all, then you’ll know this isn’t an empty threat from a pussy who likes to knock women around. This is coming from a man. A man who’ll laugh all the way to the gas chamber as your mother cries all the way to your fucking grave. Do you understand me?”

Breathing hard, Dillon stared at Gavin and remained quiet. Simple resolution to the unanswered question. Another elbow to Dillon’s mouth.

“Do you fucking understand me?” Gavin snarled, his face curled in anger.

“Yes!” Dillon replied through clenched, bloodied teeth.

“Good,” Gavin replied mildly, standing. He started for the door, but before unlocking it, he turned, his eyes narrowed. “And if I find out you showed up to her job again, I’ll make sure it’s a closed casket funeral.”

With that, Gavin unlocked the door and pushed through the crowd. Without looking back, he heard the clamor of commotion taking place in Dillon’s office. Strike that. He heard Dillon yelling at everyone to get
out
of his office. The edge of embarrassment in Dillon’s tone carried through the air as Gavin stepped into the elevator.

On his way down, Gavin checked his watch. With less than five minutes to make it across town, he whipped his cell from his pocket and shot Emily a text to let her know he was going to be late. By the time he made it to his car, she’d replied.

Emily: I’ll be here waiting for you. Please be careful. No speeding! I love you.

Gavin pulled out of the garage. As he crawled through traffic, he couldn’t help but flick his gaze down to his cell. He reread Emily’s text over and over. Emotions flying high, Gavin was aware he had to walk into the café holding some semblance of normalcy. He just wasn’t sure he’d be able to. Thirty minutes later, he was about to be put to the test.

After finding a parking spot, Gavin stepped from his car, slid his hands through his hair, and made his way in. He hadn’t taken but three steps into the café when he spotted Emily. His breath faltered as it always did when he saw her sitting at a table and reading a book. It was then Gavin knew he was bound to her. He knew there wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t give up for her. Hell, as long as he was inhaling the air around her, every day would feel complete. Today, he knew he would give up his freedom for her. His life. She was in his bloodstream, and he didn’t care if he spent the next twenty years behind bars, shackled in chains for what he’d done to Dillon. Gavin only hoped he could remove the shackles around her heart Dillon left behind, because no amount of kicking Dillon’s ass could rid her of the scars she had from him. Gavin knew he’d always wipe away her tears, but he desperately wanted to be able to wipe away her painful past.

As if she had sensed him, Emily lifted her head, a beautiful smile crossing her face when her eyes met his. Clichéd or not, her smile lit up the room like a ball of fire in a darkened sky. Clichés were created for her. End of story. Again, Gavin felt as though the breath had been sucked right out of his lungs. He watched as her smile fell away, her face becoming troubled as she stood. Damn it. Gavin shot a glance down at his clothing. Stuck in his head on the way over, he’d forgotten to fix himself. He knew he looked like a disheveled mess. He wasn’t wearing his suit jacket, and his shirt was untucked. Forget about his missing tie or the tiny specks of blood dotting the front of his crisp white button-down.

As Gavin moved toward her, raw power flowing from his body, Emily swallowed back the sick feeling seeping into her stomach. Meeting him in the middle of the crowded café, inches apart from one another, the voices surrounding her faded and figures blurred. His face blinded her to everything else. His breath was all she could hear. Though he wore a mask of cool passivity, his blue eyes said more than they should. They spoke volumes, inspiring an ache within Emily’s heart. She knew what he’d done. She didn’t need to ask.

Emily dropped her gaze from his swollen lip dappled with blood and stared at his shirt. Lifting her eyes, she met his steady gaze, and she could tell he was waiting for something from her. An approval possibly, words that would let him know she was okay with what’d happened. Not knowing how to begin, she simply looped her arms around his neck and brought his mouth down to hers.

Gavin pulled her into him, his hands gripping her waist and molding her body against his. “I had to do it, Emily,” Gavin breathed, kissing her softly. “I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I didn’t.”

Threading her fingers through his hair, Emily choked back a threatening sob. “I know you wouldn’t have, and I’m sorry I expected you not to.”

Gavin went to speak, but Emily kissed him harder, guilt flowing through her body. As her senses spiraled into his touch, Gavin’s blood rolled around on her tongue, the taste deliciously intoxicating because she knew why it was there. She knew he’d been wounded defending her. The one thing she thought she knew was all wrong. For a brief moment, she was sure Gavin couldn’t do anything to make her love him more than she already did. This proved to be false as she stood in the middle of a packed Manhattan café, kissing the man that’d forever changed her world. Her life. The man she loved a million times more than a few minutes earlier. Blind to further evil and deaf to the sound of ever crying again, Emily sank, crashed, and fell deeper in love with Gavin than she thought was humanly possible.

“I’m pretty sure if you squeeze my hand any tighter, I’m going to lose circulation.” Gavin looked at Emily’s sweating hand intertwined with his as if she were on a roller coaster ride and holding on for dear life. He knew she was afraid of flying, but shit, considering she was half his size, he couldn’t believe the grip on her. “What good would I be to you if I lost a hand? I’m extremely talented, but only having one to work with might prove difficult during foreplay.”