“You better not tell them a damn thing. I will hunt them and you down, and I will kill all three of you. But you’ll watch me kill Nash and Riker. You’ll listen to their pleas of mercy, and you’ll wish you were deaf. I’m giving you one last chance, Chastity. You either come with me when I return for you or watch those scumbags die.”
He shoved her to the side and smacked her in the back of the head. She fell to the floor crying and gasping for air as the emotions and the fear rocked her body.
She heard the door slam closed, and when she looked up, he was gone.
Chastity reached for her cell phone. She wasn’t sure who to call. She wouldn’t call Nash and Riker. She wouldn’t get them killed. Desi was crazy. She could call the police. Desi violated the order of protection, but what good had that done her? It was more like an order of illusion. Not even that could stop Desi from assaulting her.
She thought about calling Adelina, but she would tell Flynn and Jett. So would the detectives if she called them.
What about Colt? Colt will do what I ask of him. Colt can help me.
* * * *
Colt was shaking, he was so angry. He was pissed off at Desi and upset with Chastity for refusing to call the police, Nash, or Riker.
He used his key to unlock the door and nearly had a heart attack at the sight. The place was a mess. A broken lamp on the floor by the door. Blood on the rug, and Chastity, curled up in a ball, shaking.
“Oh Jesus, baby. Oh God, that son of a bitch. I’ll kill him. Fuck.” He fell to his knees and reached for her, but her hair was covering her face.
“Oh God, Colt. I hurt everywhere,” she cried.
He slowly pushed her hair from her face, and anger filled him to his core. He clenched his teeth and stared at her in shock.
“Is it bad? I didn’t want to look, and then everything started throbbing.”
He saw her shoulder, the gash and the blood oozing from there. Her cheek and eyes were swollen and black and blue. Her dress was ripped, and he feared that Desi had done worse. He pulled out his cell phone.
“Yes, I need an ambulance. A woman’s been assaulted, and she had an order of protection.”
“Colt, no! No, Colt, no police, no ambulance. Hang up the phone!” she yelled at him, her body shaking.
He hung up the phone and caressed her hair, as he held her gaze. The tears rolled down her cheeks. She was a mess, and this was unacceptable. Whatever she was afraid of, they would deal with it together.
“You cannot live in fear like this, Chastity. You cannot allow this monster to get away with this. It doesn’t matter what his threats were, or what he told you to make you so scared that you’re not even willing to seek medical treatment. It ends here. You are not alone.”
He listened as Chastity sobbed, and her words were mumbled between gasps and cries. “He’s going to kill them if I don’t leave them. He’s going to kill Nash and Riker. I can’t let that happen.”
* * * *
The entire crew was waiting in the visitor’s room. Cash, Zane, Hudson, Jagger, Emerson, Stone, Jett, Flynn, and Adelina. Nash and Riker were talking to the detectives who informed him that Desi was nowhere to be found. But then they had informed him they couldn’t do a thing if Chastity didn’t press charges.
“She’s scared. This son of a bitch scared her so much that she didn’t even want to get medical treatment,” Colt told them. Nash looked at Colt. He had blood on his shirt. Chastity’s blood. He had a horrible feeling inside, and he wondered how this could happen.
“We really need to talk with Chastity. We need to find out exactly what he threatened her with. That may help us to find out more about this shithead,” Cash said to them. They were all talking about it, and planning security for her, and for Nash and Riker.
“Colt Morgan?” The doctor emerged with a clipboard in hand.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Miss Malone placed your name down as family. I would like to go over her injuries with you.”
“Yes, of course. But these are all her friends, and these men are her—”
“I’m her boyfriend,” Nash stated.
“I’m sorry, sir, but she didn’t place your name down on this list. Just Mr. Morgan’s.”
“Bullshit. What room is she in?” Riker asked.