Little Dark One

16 - bourbon

Keira

I sat in the back seat, alone. The minute the threat disappeared, Tommy's protective hold dropped and he turned away from me without a word. He was furious, and somehow his silence hurt more than his wrath would. 

He sat in the front passenger seat, his entire muscular body on edge. I could feel the thick tension in the constricting cabin of the car and I would rather be anywhere else.  

I was beginning to develop a strong attachment to this mercurial man and it was causing me more pain than I could handle. His overprotective, dark, destructive personality was pulling me in harder than any man I'd ever known before, he was the devil and I wanted to dance in his darkness. 

I just watched him drop over fifteen bodies with no remorse. It was fucked up, he was fucked up, but the most fucked up part was that after tonight, my feelings for him doubled. Before a gun was drawn or a single bullet fired, he made sure I was safe and that was the only part I seemed to be able to focus on. Not the lives that ended at his hand, but his fierce protection of me. 

The leather was cold under my roaming fingers as I traced the seams of the back seat. I craved his touch so badly, but I was too afraid to ask for it, too afraid of the inevitable rejection. It's been at least thirty minutes and the silence was deafening. 

We had to be getting close to the compound. The anticipation was killing me. Besides understandable anger, I didn't know what he was feeling, or how he was going to react. We didn't know each other that well yet, and it terrified me. Six hours ago he was relaxing under my gentle touch, leaning in to touch his perfectly fucked up lips to mine for the first time, and now we couldn't be more distant.

I took a deep breath and dove in head first. "Tommy-" 

"Don't you dare say a fucking word." He interrupted, his tone lethal. 

Well okay then... I couldn't stop the tears that slid down my face. I was so overwhelmed and out of my comfort zone. Thank god it was dark in the back seat. I wiped them away quickly and glanced up at the rear view mirror to make sure no one saw, Blaze's sympathetic eyes flashed back at me briefly before returning to the dark winding road.

I leaned against the cool window and turned my head, shielding my damp cheeks from Tommy's view with my long hair— not that he was looking, anyway.

We pulled into the garage and Tommy jumped out of the car before it even stopped moving. He stalked off without a glance in my direction. He was mad mad.

Blaze opened the back door and helped me down, wrapping an arm around my small shoulders, like a big brother. It was unexpected, but I appreciated the comfort.

"He may not like how you did it, but I know you saved his life tonight. Any one of those snipers could have taken him out in seconds, it was a trap. The deal you made saved you both." he murmured gently, guiding me upstairs. 

His words triggered more tears as the shock faded and what happened tonight finally felt real. Every life Tommy took ruthlessly flashed in my memories, I'd never seen someone die before, let alone fifteen people at one time, by the hand of a man I was unintentionally falling for, in front of another man I used to have feelings for. 

I went from innocent dinner dates with men I struggled to even like, to being held at gunpoint by the two men that couldn't be worse for me. What kind of sick joke was this universe playing, and what have I ever done to deserve it. 

"Where can a girl go to get a drink around here?" I mumbled, done with anything and everything. I wanted to escape. 

Blaze chuckled. "Are you sure that's the good idea right now?" 

"Are you kidding? it's the best idea I've come up with since my thesis." I half-joked. 

Blaze led me into a dark, cozy den. He gestured to the bar on the far side of the room as he moved to light the fireplace. 

I picked up the first bottle my fingers touched—which happened to be an old expensive bourbon—and poured myself a double shot. I poured it down my throat in record speed, reveling in the warm burning sensation that flooded my chest. 

"Want one?" I offered Blaze as I poured myself another. He nodded so I poured another before deciding to just take the whole bottle with me to the large armchairs in front of the fresh fire. 

I flopped into the chair with a large sigh, already feeling a slight buzz, I've always been a lightweight. 

"Wanna talk about it?" Blaze asked, taking the seat next to me. Misery loves company, I appreciated that he stuck around, although it was probably his job anyway. 

"I wouldn't even know where to begin." I sighed again, pulling my glass back to my lips and downing it's contents again.

"Maybe you should slow down.. I don't wan't to give Knox another reason to go off the deep end." he warned.

"If you don't tell him, he won't even know. He can't even look at me, let alone care if I'm spiraling out of control." I rolled my eyes, forcibly holding back tears my own admission sparked. 

"He cares more than you think." Blaze countered.

"I don't think he's capable of caring for another person. All he cares about is his reputation." I scoffed.

"Keira, I don't think you realize the kind of man Knox is. If he didn't care, you'd be dead. Simple as that. It would be the best move for his reputation, I know because it's happened to countless others who knew as much as you. But you're alive and well, I've never seen him protect anyone like he's trying so hard to protect you."

I pulled the bottle off the side table sitting between us, skipping the glass entirely and bringing it directly to my lips. It hurt to hear Blaze's opinion, I couldn't handle any more hurt so I drowned my sorrows instead.

"After all this shit with Alejandro-"

"Don't say his name." I interrupted, tripping over my words slightly. The bourbon was getting to me, but not fast enough to bury the painful memories of Alejandro, and the hurt Tommy caused.