Temper Him by Caitlyn Dare

Chapter Twenty-Four

Conner

The second I wake up, I reach for my cell. I was expecting some messages from K after I left yesterday. She’d had the whole night to herself, so there would have been no reason why she couldn't have called if she wanted.

My stomach knots with the dread I fell asleep feeling.

Everything is okay,I tell myself. All of this is going to be over today.

I'm going to get my girl back.

I want to say the dread is replaced by excitement at that thought, but it's not. We've still got a long way to go until I can have her back here in my arms.

The knot only gets tighter when I see I don’t have a message or missed call from her.

Opening our conversation, I tap out a message.

Conner: Happy birthday, babe. I can't wait to celebrate with you later. Love you x

I stare at it, waiting for it to show as delivered. But it never does.

Finding another number, I hit call and lift my cell to my ear.

"Shelb, you heard from K?" I bark the second the call connects.

"Morning, Conner," she groans, her voice rough with sleep. "No, not yet. What time is it?"

"Almost lunch."

"Shit. I'll call her. Give me a few."

She hangs up on me before I can respond. The move pisses me off, but mostly I'm relieved that K has Shelbie in her corner.

I stare at the minutes as they pass on my cell, waiting for her to call back.

When her name appears, I'm so quick to answer it that I fumble and drop the fucking thing to my lap.

"Is everything okay?"

"I don't know. She sounded... weird."

"Fuck. I need to—"

"No, Conner. We've got a few hours until the party. Just sit tight and do what you need to do to get her back. You go running in now and you'll likely ruin everything and make all of her suffering pointless."

I nod, knowing that she's right despite how much I hate it.

"Conner?" she barks, reminding me that I didn't actually answer.

"Yeah. You're right."

"I know. Do you know what time you're going to be there yet?"

"No, we're going to get the lowdown later, apparently." Whatever the fuck that means.

"Okay, well you know where I am if you need me."

"Just... keep an eye on her... on them."

"You got it, Con. This is going to end today. Everything is going to be fine." Shelbie says those words like she's convincing herself more than she is me. I appreciate them though.

"I know. Thanks. I'll see you in a few hours." I hang up and throw myself back on my bed and let out a heavy sigh.

Please, for the love of God, let this come to an end today.

* * *

Dad paces back and forth behind his desk while the three of us watch him.

"I hope you know that if I thought there was a way to keep the three of you out of this then I'd be doing it."

"There isn't one. Tell us the plan," I damn near shout at him.

The party is starting in less than an hour now, and I'm starting to lose my patience and my grip on reality.

"Okay," he breathes, running his hand down his face. "In two hours time, you and some of my guys are going to gate crash that party."

"Your guys?" Ace asks incredulously.

"Just listen to him," I snap.

"My men are going for Warren. All you three need to do is get Kennedy out of there."

"Sounds simple enough," Cole says, rubbing his hands together as if he's more than ready for a fight.

"I wouldn't assume that. Warren is... smarter than he looks. He's found things out that most don't even know to look for."

"Are you going to tell us what this stuff is anytime soon?" I ask, getting more and more pissed off with all his secrets.

"I will tell you what you need to know once this is over."

"What we need to know? That's bullshit. We deserve to know everything."

"I can't put you all at risk like that. I need the three of you to trust me when I tell you that everything I do is to protect you."

"Whatever," I say, waving him off, already fed up with his bullshit secrets and excuses. "We leave in an hour, yes?"

"Yes."

"I'm going for a shower."

I storm out of Dad's office, ensuring the door slams back against the wall so they know just how fucking pissed off I am.

I go straight for the bathroom and lock the door behind me.

My chest heaves as my heart slams against my ribs. I need this fucking over now.

I strip down and stand under the shower before turning it on. The blast of water is the shock I need to drag myself out of my head and focus on what's coming.

I'm getting my girl back today.

With a towel wrapped around my waist and my clothes in a bundle in my arms, I make my way back to my bedroom.

I groan when I find Cole sitting in the chair by the window, waiting for me. Why am I not surprised?

"You need to trust him."

A laugh falls from my lips, but there's no humor in it.

"You're fucking kidding, right? You haven’t trusted him since the day we moved here, and now you're telling me to. Fucking unbelievable."

"What else have we got, Con?"

My teeth grind as I stare at him, but I don't have an answer.

I have trusted him. I've trusted him every second since K disappeared from that fucking hotel room. I've trusted that he's doing the right thing despite the hell she's living through right now. It would fucking help if he could give us some more fucking information. We might know that he's got intel on the fact that Cole killed Charlie, but there’s much more to it than just that.

"Get dressed, we're leaving in fifteen." With that, he walks out of my room. It hardly seemed worth him waiting for me just for that.

Rolling my eyes at his retreating back, I swing my door closed behind him and find something to wear. Something that's going to make it easy to throw my fist into that cunt’s face at the first opportunity I get. Fuck letting Dad's men go for Warren. That motherfucker is mine.

Twenty minutes later and we're in my car, music on full blast in an attempt to distract myself from what's about to happen as we fly toward the Heights, hopefully for the last time in a while.

This place might have been my home for almost all my life, but I'm beginning to hate the place more and more.

"Shit," Ace barks from my passenger seat, reaching out to turn my music down as we drive past the graffitied 'Welcome to Sterling Heights' sign.

I look in my rearview mirror to see what he's spotted, to find two cop cars following us. "Fucking hell. Now is not the time for this shit." I slow down a little, but after a minute or two, it seems that they're content on just following us to hell.

"They'd better not follow us all the way or they might get more than they anticipated," Cole mutters from the back seat.

But they do. They follow us the entire way to Joker’s.

Ace and I glance at each other when we pull into the parking lot and the two cop cars do the exact same thing.

"Do you think—" I start but am interrupted by Cole.

"They're to do with James. Yeah, I do."

The three of us watch as the officers get out of their cars, all of them fully armed, as if they're about to walk headfirst into a war zone.

I guess we are.

"So, we’re assuming they’re the backup then?" Ace asks as my grip on the wheel gets so tight my knuckles turn white.

Inhaling a calming breath through my nose, I blow it out past my lips as the image of my fists connecting with Warren's face fills my mind.

That motherfucker has played all of us for too long.

The fact that I once called him my friend has disgust filling my veins.

"Yeah. Let's end this motherfucker."

"Con, James said—"

"I don't give a shit what James said. That cunt is mine."

I push the door open and climb out. As predicted, the officers nod at me as I walk around the trunk and head toward the bar.

The party is in full swing, the music blasting out into the parking lot as I step up to the doors.

I glance back over my shoulder to find both Ace and Cole flanking my side, then the officers—who I can only assume are bent as fuck—behind them.

I suck in a sharp breath and reach out for the door. Ripping it open, I take my first step into the bar.

As if I'd timed it, the song that was booming comes to an end and the place falls silent as almost everyone in the bar turns our way.

Chins drop and eyes almost bug out as we step farther inside. I start to scan the crowd to find my target, but I don't need to look far because people in front of me part and Warren appears as if from nowhere, but I don't see K.

"Well, well, well, you took your time, didn't you?" he asks, looking down at his watch. "The party started an hour ago.”

"Where is she?" I growl, my eyes holding his and my fists curling at my sides.

"Why, you want to fuck her again? You might as well, it's not like I want to. She's used goods. Dirty," he spits, making me see red, but I keep myself locked in place for now, until I know where she is and that she's safe. "She's fucking useless too. It's only any good when I force her."

"You fucking cunt," I growl. "Where is she?" At my question, Kenny comes stumbling through the crowd as if someone just pushed her.

"Conner," she breathes, looking up at me with a wince.

My heart jumps into my throat, and my nails pierce the skin of my palms. The anger I've barely been managing to contain all these weeks bubbles over.

She’s got a fucking black eye and a split lip.

"You motherfucker," I roar, flying toward the cunt who thinks it's acceptable to put his hands on a woman.

My first hit feels just as satisfying as I hoped it would. His nose crunches against my knuckles as it explodes with blood.

"Conner," Kenny screams from behind me as I continue laying into Warren.

I get him to the floor, but hands grab both of my arms.

"Kennedy, we need to get Kennedy," Ace growls in my ear, but we're too slow, because some guy I vaguely recognize from Heights High steps to me as all hell breaks loose around us.

I shoot Shelbie a look. "Get her the fuck out of here," I shout before the guy lunges for me. Thankfully, Cole and Ace release me in time.

Men shout and grunt as they're all dragged into the fight, girls scream, and furniture gets broken as the brawl continues. I have no clue where my brothers go, and I have even less of an idea as to what the officers are doing, but more importantly, I've lost fucking Warren.

I try looking around as I push the guy away from me and into a nearby table before another comes at me.

Getting a few seconds of relief, I back away from the groaning guy at my feet and race toward the bar where Shelbie is. "Where is she? Where the fuck is Kenny?"

Tears are streaming down Shelbie's cheeks and my heart damn near stops beating as realization hits me. "I... I don't know, Conner. She was right beside me and then... and then she wasn't. I don't know," she sobs.

"Fuck," I bellow, running back into the thick of it to find Warren.

But as expected, he's nowhere to be seen either.