Temper Him by Caitlyn Dare

Chapter Two

Conner

The note flutters from my fingers as disbelief washes through me.

No.

I'm dreaming. I have to be.

My fists curl, my nails digging into my palms, but the pain shooting up my arms tell me what I don't want to accept.

I'm awake, and this is real.

"NOOO." The roar that rips from my lips doesn't sound like my voice as it echoes around the empty room.

Reaching out, I wrap my fingers around the first thing I can. I pull at the lamp on the nightstand so hard that the cable rips from the back seconds before it shatters against the opposite wall, the ceramic base falling to the floor into jagged shards, just like my fucking life.

It does fuck all to help the crater of darkness that's opened up inside me. The nightstand is next, followed by every piece of furniture in the room that's not nailed down.

My chest heaves and my breaths race past my lips as I continue to rain havoc down on the room.

I don't stop until there’s a knock at the door.

"Sir, is everything okay?"

I ignore them. Instead, I reach for my boxers and sweatpants and pull them up my legs.

Blood drips from my knuckles from where they collided with the wall, but I don't feel the pain. All I can feel is my heart ripping in two.

After last night, how could she just walk away like that? How could she...

"Warren," I breathe, realization slamming into me.

There's no way she'd have walked away from me. Not while we're here. She wouldn't.

I fall down on the edge of the bed, surrounded by destruction as all my concerns from yesterday come rushing back.

She was so distant, so... not herself.

This was why. She knew she was going to do this.

My fists curl once more.

I'm going to kill that motherfucker. Blood roars in my ears so loud that I don't hear the hotel room door open or people rush inside.

"Sir. Sir. Sir..." It's not until someone waves in front of my face that I realize there are people standing before me.

Two security guards and a sheepish looking hotel worker stare down at me as if I'm about to explode any second.

"We need you to come with us, sir."

The two massive guys take an arm each and I'm practically dragged out of the room and toward the elevator.

"You can let go, you know," I seethe, ripping my arms out of their hold.

They're both silent behind me as we descend through the hotel, heading for wherever the fuck they're taking me.

The elevator doors open and I'm pushed out.

"What the fuck?" I look up the second the voice hits my ears to find Cole and Hadley staring at me with their chins dropped. "What the fuck have you done?" Cole asks, stepping forward and releasing Hadley.

"Let's go," one of the security guards bark. "Officers will be here shortly."

"Officers? Conner?"

"Just leave it," I growl at him, allowing the guards to pull me down the hall.

"Cole, do something," Hadley shrieks before his footsteps follow us.

I fall down into a chair in an office and immediately drop my head into my hands.

"Call off the police. We'll cover the cost of whatever he's done." Cole says more, but I tune him out, preferring to drown in my own misery.

The door eventually closes before I feel Cole’s stare turn on me.

"Talk."

"Fuck you," I bark.

"Nah, you're good. I'm kinda worn out from last night, if I'm honest. Thought you would be too after a night with your girl."

My teeth grind as his attempts to get me talking begin to work.

"Shut up, Cole."

"No can do, motherfucker. I need to know why James is going to have to dig you out of this shit."

"She's gone, all right?" I shout, standing with such force that the chair clatters to the floor behind me. "She's fucking gone."

I look up at Cole as the color drains from his face.

"Gone? Gone where?"

"Back to him," I seethe.

"Fuck off, no she hasn't. You're jumping to conclusions."

"Am I? She left a fucking note. She's gone."

"A note telling you she was going back to that fucker?" Confusion clouds his eyes.

I think back to the words on that piece of paper and my stomach turns over. "Basically."

His shoulders tense and his lips press into a thin line. "Well, let's go and fucking get her back."

"I..." I trail off, the realization slamming into me that going back might be what she wants.

Staggering back, I collide with the wall and slide down until my ass hits the floor.

My world spins.

She's gone.

The one thing—the one person—I've wanted more than anything has just walked away like what we had meant nothing.

"You're giving up?" Cole asks, disbelief coating his words.

"I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, Cole. Everything since she turned up has been fucked up beyond belief. She didn't even want to be in the Bay. She was only there because Jay thought it was the best place to leave her after what happened to her on New Year’s."

"You really think she didn't want you? You're fucking delusional, man. That girl loves you."

"Does she?" I ask, jumping to my feet and stepping into his space. "Does it fucking look like she loves me?" My voice is so low that I'm not even sure if he hears it.

"If he's involved in this, then she didn't go voluntarily, and you know it."

"Well, it doesn't look like she tried to fucking stop it." My hands slam against his chest, and he takes a step back, but I don't allow him any space. I need this right now. I need to fight to help numb the pain.

"I know what you're doing."

"Yeah? So give me what I need."

He shakes his head.

"You're different, you know that? She's turned you into a fucking pussy," I seethe, getting so close our noses are almost touching.

"Jealous?"

That one word is like fuel on the fire already raging inside me. Wrapping my fist around Cole's shirt, I pull my arm back. I'm just about to throw my first of many punches when the door opens.

"Conner," Hadley gasps, her soft voice the reality check I need. I release Cole and turn my back on both of them. "It's okay. Conner's just venting."

"It's James. He says it's urgent."

Tension crackles around the room before Cole's voice cuts through the silence.

"Yeah. Yes. Yes. Okay. We're coming back now. Okay."

Spinning on my heels, I pin him with a look. "What the fuck was that?"

"We need to go home. Shit's going down."

"What shit?"

"I don't know, he refused to tell me until we're there."

"This to do with K?"

"I assume so. He's paying for your damages. Get fucking dressed and meet us at the car."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, I'm walking toward Cole's car. He already has the engine running and ready to leave. I throw my bag across the back seat before falling down and tipping my head back.

"Everything's going to be okay, Con," Hadley soothes.

"Shut up."

"Conner," Cole growls.

"What? You wanna get back out and teach me a lesson on how to talk to your girl?" I ask, lifting my head and locking my eyes with his. "Then let's go, motherfucker."

He shakes his head at me, looks back to the road, and floors the accelerator. "You're a prick."

"Fuck you."

The drive back to the Bay is silent and tense as fuck. My fingers drum on my knee the entire time with my need to do something to expel the energy that's buzzing inside me.

I need to break that motherfucker's neck.

The second Cole's car rolls to a stop outside the house, I jump out, jogging up the stairs and ripping the front door open.

"He's in his office. What the fuck is going on?" Ace asks the second I step inside, as if he was waiting.

Ignoring him, I storm past, my shoulder colliding with his as I pass.

"I'll ask Cole then, eh?"

Two sets of footsteps follow me up the stairs, but neither of them says anything as I swing Dad's office door open without knocking.

"Son, thank you for—"

"Where the fuck is she?"

He looks at me from his desk, his face as always a mask of calm. How can he always be so unaffected by everything?

"Take a seat, all of you."

"What the hell is going on?" I demand, refusing to follow orders when the other two drop to the couch on the opposite side of his desk.

"I received something this morning. Something of concern." Dad's eyes flick to Cole for a beat before coming back to mine. "It seems someone has been looking at us a little too closely. They know... some things that I'd rather they didn't."

"You want to stop talking in fucking riddles?"

Dad's eyes once again find Cole. "I'm sorry, Son. It's time."

Cole nods once, swallowing almost nervously before he looks at Ace and then me. "I killed Charlie," he blurts.

I take a step back. "You what?" I ask, not believing what I'm hearing.

"After we found out what he'd done to Remi and Sarah. I… I killed him."

"But you came home with us," Ace says, staring at Cole like he suddenly doesn't recognize him. "You went to bed,” he adds.

"I went back out. Donny tipped me off as to where he was, and I put a bullet through the cunt’s head."

My lips part, but I find I don't have any words. Instead, I back up until I find a chair.

"You killed him?" Ace repeats.

"He touched your girl, Ace. He ruined our lives. Fucker deserved it."

"I can't deny that. But you fucking killed him. You risked everything for that cunt."

"Yeah, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Okay." I hold up a hand to cut them off. I can't deal with the fact that my twin brother killed the man we thought was our dad but was actually our uncle right now. It's too much. All of this is too fucking much. "What the hell has this got to do with Kennedy?"

“What I received this morning was a threat. A threat which I believe came from Warren."

My chin drops once more.

"I'm going to fucking kill him." I'm at the door in a heartbeat.

"Conner, no," Dad's voice booms, halting my movement. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, Son."

"Why the fuck not? He doesn't get to blackmail us. He's nothing but a fucking rapist. Scum like him don't deserve to breathe our fucking air."

"I couldn't agree more. But it's not just Cole's... indiscretion that he knows about."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you can't go in there all guns blazing, because we're likely to be the ones who lose. He knows too much."

"Too much of what?"

"Things I can’t tell you right now."

"But it was okay to tell us that our brother is a murderer,” I snipe.

"You need to trust me."

"Trust you? He's got my fucking girl, and the last time she was anywhere near him, he..." My stomach turns over before my fist connects with the wall. "I won't let you stop me from protecting her."

"Conner," he breathes. "Trust me when I tell you that your safety is at the top of my priority list right now. Yours and hers. If you go storming in there, you're going to cause more harm than good."

"So what am I meant to do? Wait for her to be delivered here again, black and blue? Or worse..." I shudder, not even wanting to think about it. "He needs to be fucking taken down."

"He will be, Conner. But it needs to be my way."