Lastly (L.T.)

Chapter 58

I had only managed to get a couple more words out of Andrea before she had fallen back asleep. She was weak. Much too weak.

And what had she meant by her kidnappers had a picture of Louis and I?

If they had been after Louis and I, then Andrea could have just been hurt to get to us.

The thought of someone hurting her to get to me made my stomach churn.

Because that would make this whole thing all my fault. She had been hurt because of me.

She had no idea who it was that had kidnapped her, they had kept a blindfold on her the whole time so she had never seen their faces but she knew from their voices that they were men. She hadn't been raped but she had been tortured for information. There were burn scars along her arm from where she had been prompted with a hot poker.

The sight of the wounds made me want to find and kill whomever had inflicted them.

She looked so peaceful, once she was asleep again. Her face was still gaunt and sallow, but she no longer looked like she was in pain.

I didn't know whether to cry or scream. My emotions were all over the place. I was so confused, and my vision was going blurry.

Someone said my name, it might have been Ducky or Jay, I had no idea.

I didn't know whether I was panicking or going into shock, I couldn't see or hear and no sounds were coming out of my mouth. Everything felt like too much, and I didn't know what I needed to fix myself.

I knew I was probably traumatized, I had no parents or biological family and had worked as a full time gangster and drug cartel manager since the age of twelve, but I had never had any issues with the trauma of it all.

Violence didn't phase me so I didn't know why I was falling apart now.

Was that even what this was? Falling apart?

Maybe I would just fall on the floor and shatter into a million tiny pieces.

The floor felt wavy, like I was standing on water. But at the same time it felt like my knees were curled up to my chest.

I felt small, so very small, this room was too big for me, I would be crushed with the weight of my own thoughts.

Out of nowhere, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me and a familiar sharp and musky scent enveloped my senses.

I knew who that was.

Safe.

"Kess?" He breathed against the top of my head, rocking me against his body while I breathed in his scent, my face in his black tee shirt.

Gradually, I began to realize that my knees were on the floor and Louis was kneeling next to me.

I didn't know how we had gotten down on the floor or when Louis had come into the room, but the scent of him and the knowledge that he was there was enough to slow my heart and calm my shaking body.

Gradually I recovered enough to pick my head up and look around, I was no longer in Andrea's room, and Jay, Dallas, and Ducky were nowhere to be seen. I had no memory of moving so I guessed that Louis had picked me up while I was busy tripping out in my own head.

"Lou?" I whispered, pulling my head back from his chest and it felt as heavy as a boulder.

"Hey, love," he swiped his thumb across my cheek, wiping away a cold tear.

I wasn't crying, my face was free of emotion, but there were broken tears running down my face. I didn't even have the strength to muster a sob.

"What happened?" I asked him, leaning back a bit, but not yet ready to let go of him or stand.