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Marcus’s head jerked to the side before he surged up to his feet and rushed Rain. But Rain was ready for him, and he’d expected the move.
Rain stepped to the side at the last second and struck out with his foot. Marcus flew face first toward the dirt and landed with a heavy thud. Rain wasted no time. He drew back his boot and kicked Marcus in the side. Marcus groaned as his middle lifted off the dirt before dropping back down.
Rain landed kick after kick to Marcus’s sides and his back. Every time Marcus attempted to curl in on himself to protect his body from Rain’s vicious attack, my dad would kick him in the side of his head or between his legs, and Marcus would move to protect those places instead of the rest of his body.
It was horrible to watch, but I knew better than to step in and attempt to stop Rain. It was like he’d unleashed a demon he kept locked away inside of him, and it wasn’t going to be put back in its box until he let its rage burn out.
I wanted no part of this. I thought some sick part of me would get relief or joy at experiencing Marcus’s demise after waking up in that hole. But boy had I been wrong. This was not bringing me anything but pain.
Why wasn’t Marcus fighting back? I hated that as well.
I was a mess of emotions, and I wished I’d felt empty on the inside again, because I couldn’t handle the way I was feeling. The last thing I wanted to do was break apart because of this man. Not after everything I’d gone through to get here.
“You should take her out of here,” Dash said, and I found him and Romero standing off to the side, watching Rain beat on Marcus. Both of their faces were carefully blank, and I couldn’t read either of them.
“She’s fine,” Romero murmured quietly to his son. “She’s the least fragile woman I’ve ever met in my entire life. If anyone can hack it, it’s her. Leave her be. She’s far from stupid, and if she can’t handle it, then she’ll remove herself from the situation.”
I blinked slowly at them, still processing Romero’s words. Those were quite a compliment coming from him. He hated women, all women.
Oh, and I hated to admit this even to myself, but he was wrong. I was stupid and wouldn’t remove myself from the situation if I was uncomfortable with it. I wasn’t leaving until the rest of them left, and that was that.
Rain didn’t give me the chance to walk away, and I knew he did it on purpose. He wanted me to see this. It wasn’t to be cruel, but he definitely wanted to make a point.
He climbed onto Marcus’s back and wrapped his hands around the underside of Marcus’s jaw. I didn’t look away as he cranked Marcus’s head, twisting it a certain way. There was a horrible cracking noise, and then Rain let go. He stepped back, and Marcus fell face first into the dirt.
And he didn’t get back up.
He’d never get up again.
Because Marcus Cole was dead, and Rain Kimber had killed him.
18
“Did you meet Brighton?” I asked as Tyson wrapped his hand around my thigh and squeezed.
I knew Brighton was the very last thing he wanted to talk about, but I wasn’t about to let him poke at me right now. He wanted me to talk about my feelings, they all did.
Avoidance was key here, and I had every intention of working at it until I was forced into facing reality again.
They’d all tried to corner me and get me to talk. All except Romero and Rain. They had fallen into the roles of leaders, and they were too busy bossing everyone else around. They’d taken charge of all the boys and the cleanup.
I didn’t want to be around for any of that, and when I said so, Tyson had wasted no time in scooping me up, putting me into his car, and driving out of there like a bat out of hell. I thought he was worried that someone else would have tried to step in and take me home before he could, and he really wanted to be alone with me right now.
I understood his need. He’d left me in a tent like I’d asked him to even though that had been the very last thing he had wanted to do. When he came back to the tent to find me missing, it had really messed with him. Now he felt guilty and desperately wanted to make sure I was okay.
I wasn’t okay and likely never would be again after tonight, but I would never tell him that, and I certainly didn’t think any of it was his fault.
“Brighton is…” His voice was full of awe and pain.
I understood both emotions. It was the same way I felt when I had first met Rain and found out who he was.
“What did Quinton say when he met him? I’m really sad that I didn’t get to be there to see you both meet him for the first time. He reminded me a lot of the both of you, the little amount of time I got to be around him. He was very sweet but full of attitude. And incredibly stubborn.”
His grip on the steering wheel tightened to the point his knuckles turned white.
“He gave them Brighton knowing exactly what they were like. He gave them his son and then never looked back. He’s been with these evil people his entire life, and we never even knew he existed.” His voice got choked up, and he stopped speaking.
I hoped like hell he didn’t start crying, because I knew if he did it would set me off and I’d be bawling like a damn baby. I didn’t want to cry and had promised myself I wouldn’t until I was all by myself and could really just let go. No one needed to see that shit show, it would probably scare the life out of them.
