Текст книги "Breaking a Legend"

Автор книги: Sarah Robinson

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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

Chapter 21

“Rory isn’t going to fall for that,” Clare spit out, seething with anger as she glared at Travis from where she was seated on the couch.

“Really? Because he just texted back Hurry up, I miss you.” Travis sneered, sounding disgusted as he read the message on the screen of Clare’s phone. She had only just gotten that phone a few weeks ago, hoping that having a new number would help keep Travis from finding her.

That didn’t seem to have worked.

“I need to go to the hospital,” Clare tried to tell him, but he just gave her a sinister scowl. She knew then and there that he wasn’t going to let her go.

“Have you forgotten who I am that quickly, Clare? I think we both know that that isn’t going to happen,” he told her, pacing back and forth in front of her.

“I don’t have anything you want, Travis,”

“That isn’t true. You have something that belongs to me.”

“No, I don’t! That’s my money, my inheritance, and you don’t have any claim to it,” she shot back.

“You think that the last six years were free, bitch?” He quickly became hostile, moving closer to her and glaring at her.

“I paid my fucking way and you know it.” And she had. Working two jobs, all her money going toward their bills, and Travis doing God-knows-what with the rest.

“Look at that—my little Clare has picked up an attitude on her little vacation away.”

It frightened her how unpredictable he was, that he could laugh one moment and stab her the next. Even though she’d known him for almost a decade, his behavior and mood were so unstable from minute to minute, he might as well have been a stranger. She stayed silent, opting to stare at him angrily instead.

“You think I kept you around because, what, I liked you?” Travis scoffed, shaking his head as he advanced on her again. “I never liked you, Clare, and I certainly never loved you.”

Clare bit down on her tongue, willing herself not to let his words get to her. Not to let him see her cry.

“I’ve been waiting until you turn twenty-five so I can get what you owe me. For years, I’ve taken care of you; I gave you everything you could ever have wanted. But now it’s time to collect.” His tone was sinister.

“You gave me nothing, and I owe you nothing.” She was seething.

“Most women would be fucking grateful for everything that I did for you. Fuck, they would be grateful just to be with me.” He narrowed his eyes and brandished the knife again.

“I didn’t need someone to take care of me, Travis. I can take care of myself. I just needed someone to love me,” she told him, holding her arm again as the throbbing increased.

“Love?” Travis scoffed, “You’re not worth being loved, Clare. Get used to that harsh truth now. I’m doing you a favor.”

Clare choked back tears. “You’re wrong.”

“Wrong to have put up with you for so many years. Turns out your trust can be liquidated early if you sign it over to someone else. Did you know that, Clare?”

She didn’t say anything, but the truth was that she had known. She just hadn’t known anyone whom she trusted enough to do that. She had used the excuse for years with Travis, that she couldn’t give him the money because she didn’t have access to it. It was the only way she knew how to protect it.

“I’ve had a new contract drafted—all you have to do is sign it.” He pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket and tossed it down on the coffee table in front of her.

“I’m not signing anything,”

“My fault—I must have made that sound like a question. So let me be very clear, Clare. You will sign it. You will sign it now or you won’t live to go to your lover’s stupid match tonight.”

Clare’s eyes widened, surprised that he knew that much about Rory or her schedule. She gulped, realizing that he must have been watching her for longer than she thought.

“You thought I didn’t know?” he asked, and she just glared at him.

“I know everything that you’ve been up to, Clare. You’ve turned into quite the whore, haven’t you? Cheating on me with that Irish Neanderthal?” He smirked, but disgust was evident in his voice.

“Then you know that if he finds you, he will kill you,” she threatened through gritted teeth. Travis just sniggered in response.

“I’m absolutely petrified,” he said sarcastically as he slid the tip of the knife down her cheek, paralyzing her with fear.

“Now sign it.” He drew back his knife as he pushed the envelope and a pen toward her on the coffee table. “After we finish this, I’ll go deal with your behemoth.”

“If you think I’m going to give you what you want, just so that you can hurt Rory, you must be crazy.” She folded her arms over her chest.

“You know, that’s something I just haven’t been able to understand.” He narrowed his eyes at her, but the lilt in his voice was mocking. “Why would a powerhouse like Kavanagh ever be with a little bitch like you? I barely tolerated putting up with you all this time, and I’m ten times the man he will ever be.”

“You could have let me leave six years ago if I was such a problem for you.”

“And miss out on my payday when you turned twenty-five? I don’t think so. Plus, you were useful—for a while at least.” Clare flushed with embarrassment at his words.

“For old times’ sake?” He pulled a small vial of white powder out of his pocket and held it up before moving over to the kitchen counter and pouring out a line.

“You couldn’t get me to do it back then. I’m certainly not doing it now,” she said, watching him snort up the powder through a rolled-up dollar bill.

“Suit yourself, but I wonder what your ogre of a boyfriend would think about your dealing history.” He raised one brow at her, as he returned to the couch where she was still sitting and clutching her arm.

“You wouldn’t dare.” Clare dropped her chin to her chest, feeling shame wash over her at the memory. Being dropped off on the side of the street with a pocket full of drugs in the worst neighborhoods of Los Angeles hadn’t left her a lot of choices. She had known that if she came back without the money, she would pay dearly for her transgression.

“What? You afraid he won’t want you anymore when he finds out who you really are, Clare? Hate to break it to you, but you can’t keep that ruse going forever, you know.”

She glared at him, but stayed silent. Self-doubt crept through her. Every negative thing about herself that Travis had convinced her of over the years was coming to the surface. She couldn’t forgive herself for what she had done, so she knew that no one else would be able to, either. The last thing she wanted was to hurt Rory that way. He didn’t need to know the dark details of her past.

“Maybe you should come back to California with me, Clare,” Travis started. “I was just going to come here and get my money and deal with your monster of a boyfriend, but now you’ve reminded me of a lot more.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about all the good times we had, Clare. No one knows how to provide me a believable alibi like you did. You were the best, back then.” She shuddered at the memory of all the times she had lied for him.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said, seething. “You should just kill me now and get it over with.”

“Tsk, tsk, Clare. Such hostility.” He picked up the pen from the table and forcibly put it in her hand. She gripped it tightly, as she considered if it were possible to jump up and stab him with it faster than he could swing the knife in his hand.

“I’ll leave Kavanagh and his family alone if you sign this right now.” He smiled wickedly at her. “Otherwise, I’ve got plans for them as soon as I finish with you.”

Clare could feel the color drain from her face at the thought. The family that had taken her in and accepted her, the man who had made her believe it was worth it to open up her heart again—all of them were in danger because of her.

Travis was right: She wasn’t meant to be here. She had done nothing but ruin other people’s lives by showing up here. She couldn’t be responsible for anything happening to Rory or his family. This was her problem, her past, and she was the only one who should have to deal with it.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” she said stonily as she opened the envelope up in front of her and pulled out the contract.

“Are you willing to risk that I’m not?” He glared at her and she slowly exhaled, then began flipping through the contract to the last page. She slowly put the pen down on the page and signed her name.

It was done. She had made her choice.

“Good girl. That wasn’t so hard, was—” Travis started to say as he picked up the contract and shoved it in his pocket, but his attention was quickly diverted as the apartment door jiggled with the sounds of someone putting a key in the lock.

Clare closed her eyes, her brows furrowed, and prayed that Casey wasn’t unexpectedly coming home early. Clare didn’t want anyone in harm’s way because of her.

“Clare?” Rory’s voice entered the apartment and Clare whipped her head up to see him standing in the doorway with Ace, looking shocked as he took in the scene before him. His eyes landed first on her, then focused on her bleeding arm, then finally settled on Travis, who was just as shocked.

“Well, looks like your ogre just saved me a trip,” Travis said, quickly recovering from the surprise as he stood poised to attack.

“Are you okay, Clare?” Rory spoke in a low, gravelly tone as he kept his eyes on Travis and stepped farther into the apartment.

“I’m okay,” she whimpered.

“The police are on their way, Creighton,” Rory told him as Ace began growling fiercely and lowered his head, staring Travis down.

“He knows my name? I’m flattered,” Travis goaded, “but there’s no need for your cop brother to come save the day.”

Rory narrowed his eyes at him, angry at the multiple points that statement implied. His fists were balled at his sides, and he still stood in front of the open doorway, his large frame almost entirely blocking it.

“I strongly suggest that you leave,” Rory continued, seemingly unfazed. Ace took a few steps forward, a low rumbling sound emitting from him, making him appear very menacing.

“We will, but you need to get control of your dog.” Travis nodded and motioned for Clare to stand up. Unsure what to do, she shakily rose to her feet, still clutching her arm.

Rory ignored his command. “She isn’t going anywhere with you.”

“Of course she is. She wants to go. Unless you’re planning on holding her hostage?” Travis leered maliciously at Rory, who looked back and forth between him and Clare in confusion.

“Go ahead, Clare. Tell him,” Travis continued.

“What is he talking about?” Rory asked her.

“I, uh, I want to go back to California,” she stuttered, feeling ashamed as she avoided eye contact.

She couldn’t bear to see Rory’s expression right now. She shuffled her feet and just kept reminding herself that it was better for him to hurt a little now than to hurt much worse when Travis took revenge on him and his entire family. She had to do this. She had no other choice.

The Kavanaghs had done so much for her; it was her turn to do something for them this time.

“Fuck that. You’re not going anywhere,” Rory said firmly.

Clare’s mouth fell open slightly in surprise.

“Too bad. She doesn’t belong with you.” Travis took a few steps toward Rory, dangerously holding the knife in front of him.

Rory kept his eyes focused on Travis. Ace was still snarling ferociously, hunched over, surveying the two men. It was clear that the moment Rory gave him the go signal, he would pounce. Clare was pretty sure she was going to pass out in a second from all the nerves racing through her.

“She may have come over here and played dress-up, tried out someone’s life for a while, but Clare will never fit in here. She is a criminal, nothing more. She sold drugs for me, she lied for me—it’s in her nature and you can’t change that.”

Clare felt her face flush in embarrassment as her secrets were publicly announced.

“If you say one more word about her—” Rory’s eyes flamed with rage.

He was warily watching the knife in Travis’s hand, and Clare hoped that he wasn’t thinking about rushing Travis. The last thing she wanted was for him to be hurt.

“I’m just telling you the truth, something she clearly never did. How do you think she even got here? She stole from me!” Travis was stepping closer to Rory now and the men were locked in some type of standoff.

“Creighton—” Rory’s voice was menacing.

“She always was, and always will be, nothing more than a common, lying, stealing, druggie street whore,” Travis hissed, inching closer.

That was the last thing he said before the entire scene changed.

Ace’s growling increased tenfold, turning into vicious snarling and barking as he launched forward at Travis. Clare gasped as the dog’s sudden attack caught Travis off guard, and he jumped back in fear. It was too late, though—Ace’s powerful jaw connected with Travis’s leg and he screamed in pain. The dog’s filed teeth did nothing to dull the ferocity of his attack.

Rory instantly moved to take advantage of the distraction, but the expression on his face went from fury to horror as Travis plunged the knife into Ace’s side. Screaming, Rory attacked swiftly, pummeling Travis with jabs and kicks, sending him soaring backward.

Clare shrieked and scurried away as Travis’s body flew back. She ran around the dueling men and dropped to her knees by the bleeding dog. Tears streamed down her face as she grabbed a throw blanket that had been on the couch and used it to press down on the dog’s wound. Ace whimpered softly, peering up at her, his eyes full of trust. Her own injured arm was in excruciating pain, but she didn’t care.

“I’m so sorry, boy,” Clare cried. “It’s going to be okay.”

Ace had been nothing but loving toward her from day one, and he had risked his own life to protect her. Just like Rory was doing now. She couldn’t believe that she had people, and now animals, like that in her life. She was touched and heartbroken all at the same time.

Shouting and cursing behind her grabbed her attention. She looked toward the source of the noise to see that Rory had knocked Travis down completely, only to jump on him and pin him to the ground. The knife had gone flying, skidding across the floor to the other side of the room. Rory’s fists weren’t stopping as he landed punch after punch across Travis’s face.

Clare’s entire body was shaking as she turned back to Ace.

“Break it up!” voices shouted as Clare saw Jimmy and several other police officers flying into the room with guns drawn.

“He’s trying to kill me!” Travis screamed from the floor as he tried to protect his face, his cowardice becoming evident to everyone.

“This fucker had a knife on her and he stabbed Ace!” Rory seethed as two police officers grabbed him by each arm and pulled him off Travis, dragging him out of the apartment as he cussed in protest.

“Rory!” Clare called after him, wishing they had let him stay with her.

“They just have to question him, miss,” another police officer assured her, but it didn’t make her feel any better.

“I was just defending myself!” Travis protested. “Didn’t you hear me? His attack dog and him tried to kill me!”

“Too bad we got here before they finished the job.” Jimmy proceeded to yank Travis up off the floor and handcuff him as he spoke to him.

“I didn’t do anything!” Travis protested.

“That’s not what the blood on her arm says, or the dog. Shit, Clare, are you okay?” Jimmy asked as he began dragging Travis out of the apartment.

“I don’t know—where’s Rory?” Clare sobbed, comforted that they were there, but devastated that the bleeding from Ace’s side was only growing more profuse. She wanted Rory there. This was his dog and he should be there.

“Fucking bitch” was the last thing Travis shouted before Jimmy successfully removed him from the apartment.

“Clare?!” Casey rushed into the apartment with several paramedics and tried to lead Clare back to the couch.

“No, don’t touch me—Ace needs help! Get Rory!” Clare shouted, not caring if she sounded rude. Her arm would be fine, she was sure of it. The wound on Ace seemed to tell a different story.

“Do you guys know what to do for a dog?” Casey turned to the paramedics beside her.

“We’ll improvise,” one of them said. They kneeled beside Ace and gently moved Clare’s hands and the blanket away as they took over cleaning the wound. Casey left the apartment, seemingly in search of Rory.

“It’s really deep. We’re going to need to take him to a vet as soon as possible. Is there an emergency vet around here?” one paramedic asked.

“Yes, call Dr. Prentiss. Rory has the number,” Clare told him, pointing to the hallway where she had seen Rory last.

“Yes, ma’am.” The paramedic rushed out of the apartment, only to return a few seconds later with Rory.

“Where were you?” Clare rushed to him frantically.

“The police were questioning me. I’m so sorry—are you okay?” He kissed her forehead and gave her a quick hug, and she nodded. Rory saw Ace and immediately rushed to his side. “Is he going to be okay?”

“We’re not sure—we need to get him to a vet,” the paramedic said as they gently began lifting the dog onto a stretcher that they had brought in with them.

“Call Dr. Prentiss. Tell him to meet us at his office,” Clare told Rory, and he nodded, pulling out his phone and dialing the number after instructing the paramedics on where to go. No one argued with a Kavanagh.

“Are you okay?” Casey had followed Rory in and was now standing by Clare, an arm wrapped around her shoulders, comforting her.

“My arm hurts.” Clare frowned, suddenly realizing that she had forgotten about her own injury.

Casey turned to the paramedics, who were holding the stretcher with Ace on it. He wasn’t moving or making any sounds now. “She needs medical attention!”

Another paramedic team entered the apartment. “We’ve got it,” they told the first team before leading Clare over to the couch and having her sit down.

Clare just nodded, following instructions and pulling her sweater up over her head. She was wearing a tank top underneath, which made it a lot easier for the paramedics as they set up shop next to her and began working on bandaging her arm.

Casey frowned, wrapping her arm around Clare’s waist again in a small hug. “I was so worried.”

“I’ll be okay. I probably just need a few stitches.” Clare tried to shrug, but pain surged through her arm at the motion.

The remaining police officers had left by the time Rory finally walked back in. Casey got up to let him have a moment with Clare. He was at her side in seconds, watching the paramedics carefully cleaning her wound. She smiled at him gratefully and leaned in to him, letting him kiss her forehead. Several more people entered the apartment, and Clare glanced up to see the rest of the Kavanagh family filtering in. She gaped, surprised to see them there—especially Kane, who was still dressed in the clothes he’d been planning to fight in. “What are you guys doing here? What about the match?”

“Clare—oh my goodness! What happened?” Alarm colored Dee’s face as she rushed over and kneeled in front of Clare.

“Paper cut?” Clare smiled, attempting some lighthearted humor that was quickly rejected when both Dee and Casey rolled their eyes at her.

“Take good care of that arm,” Seamus said to the paramedics as he leaned over them to peer at her wound.

“Yes, Mr. Kavanagh,” one of the paramedics said shakily. It wasn’t unusual for people to be intimidated by Seamus, but Clare had seen his soft side, so it always amused her when she saw people act nervous around him.

“I can’t believe you guys are here, that you forfeited the fight.” Clare felt guilty. Rory squeezed an arm tighter around her waist.

“Your boyfriend went tearing out of the gym like a crazy person, shouting that you were in trouble,” Quinn told her from where he stood next to Kane.

Rory rolled his eyes at his brother. “I did not.”

“Seemed more important to come check on you than to knock out some idiot.” Kane folded his arms over his chest.

“Don’t worry about it, there will always be other fights—and the charity still got their donation,” Casey told her.

“I know, but you guys didn’t need to do that,” Clare protested.

“The hell they didn’t, Clare. You’re part of this family now, whether you like it or not.” Rory kissed her softly on the lips, and she felt a tear moving down her cheek at the sentiment.

“The ‘or not’ part is true—we don’t let go of people easily,” Quinn goaded before his dad smacked him lightly on the back of the head and gave him a warning glare. Clare wondered if Quinn realized how often he got smacked on the head for his barbs.

“Anyone who can make Rory so happy is family to us,” his mother told her, cupping her chin affectionately.

“We’ve finished bandaging, but we really need to get her to the hospital for stitches,” a paramedic spoke up, glancing nervously around at the sea of Kavanaghs that had overtaken the small apartment.

“We’ll follow and see you there.” Seamus nodded to Clare.

“What about Ace?” Clare said.

Dee motioned to Seamus. “We’ll go follow him to the vet, then bring him back to Rory’s place after.”

“What if he—” Clare choked out a sob, terrified that Ace wouldn’t make it through the night.

Dee interrupted her, waving away the concern. “He’s going to be fine. That dog is a survivor.”

“The rest of us will come with you to the hospital,” Casey volunteered.

“No, I’ll go with her,” Rory told his family firmly. “Filling the emergency room with all of you is going to be too overwhelming.”

“I don’t mind,” Clare said, but truthfully some peace and quiet did sound nice. While she loved being around the family, there were a lot of them and they did get loud.

“That’s fine. Is she coming back here afterward?” Casey asked.

“No, my place.” Rory decided for her, and Clare just smiled and leaned in to him. As worried as she was right now, she appreciated a moment of downtime.

The family began shuffling out, and the paramedics followed closely behind Clare as Rory stayed with her.

“Come by the station anytime tomorrow and I’ll take your statement, Clare,” Jimmy told her.

“Take care of her, Rory,” Casey said as she followed the rest of the family out.

With his arm still wrapped around Clare’s waist, Rory had helped her stand up, but she continued leaning in to his side, mostly because the proximity and warmth were comforting. His body was firm and stable against hers, supporting her and guarding her.

She relished the moment, realizing that a short time ago she wasn’t sure that she would ever have these arms around her again. They had been apart for only a few hours, but it felt like a lifetime had gone by.