Lady Balls (Itty Bitty Delights)

“You need to calm down, Addison,” I tell her, trying to inject as much coolness in my tone as possible.

“You can’t fucking have him!” Spit flies from her mouth with her screamed words. “He’s mine!”

Before I know what she’s doing, her hand darts out and she grabs a fistful of my hair. She yanks, hard enough that I fall back on to the bed. She tries to climb on top of me, but I stop her by clipping her jaw with my fist. Unable to put any force behind it, the hit is weak, but it’s enough that she lets my hair go, so I can scramble backward on the bed.

I expect her to come for me again, so I’m surprised when she slowly gets to her feet. She grins, showing off her teeth, and I notice a little blood between them. I guess I hit her harder than I thought.

She looks deranged as she stands at the end of the bed, her feet planted apart and her chest rising and falling with her quick breathing. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out the smallest gun I’ve ever seen. Even her small hand looks too big for it.

Fear sends chills down my spine as I stare at the gun before darting my eyes up to her.

She brings the gun up and points it directly at me.

“I wanted to do this with my hands,” she says in a deceptively calm tone. “It would have been much more satisfying, but of course, you’re a bitch and are making it difficult for me.”

I watch her finger move to the trigger, and I close my eyes. I brace myself, expecting at any moment the loud blast of a gunshot. The only thought in my head is my regret at never seeing Brady again and how much this is going to hurt him. I may not know the extent of his feelings, but I know he cares about me.

The loud blast doesn’t come. Instead, three knocks come from the door. My eyes snap open, and I jerk my head in that direction.

“Housekeeping!” A woman with a slight accent calls out. “May I come in?”

I dart my eyes back to Addison and notice the color has drained from her face.

“No!” she yells out.

Just as Addison lowers the gun to her side and begins to frantically look around the room, looking for I don’t know what, the door is suddenly busted open. I yelp in surprise and huddle against the headboard. An officer rushes inside, gun raised, followed quickly by Brady, his enraged gaze going straight to Addison.

“Drop the gun, Mrs. Masters,” the officer says loudly.

Brady stands behind him and off to the side, his shoulders rising and falling like he’s having a hard time breathing.

I look back at Addison just as she screams, “He’s fucking mine! She can never have him!”

“Addison!” Brady’s booming voice bounces off the walls of the room. He waits until her attention shifts to him before he continues in a lower voice. “Put down the gun and we’ll talk.”

Her bottom lip trembles and tears pool in her eyes. “You were supposed to love me. After everything I did for you, why couldn’t you just love me?”

“If you’ll put the gun down, we can go somewhere quiet and discuss it.”

Despite the calm way he’s talking, I can see the barely controlled rage rolling off him from the way his hands are balled into fists and the slight shake of his legs.

Addison shakes her head so hard I’m surprised she doesn’t get whiplash. “You’re lying!” She’s back to screaming again. “You hate me!”

Fear squeezes my lungs in an iron-tight fist when the crazed look in her eyes intensifies.

The next minute seems to move in slow motion. Addison lifts the arm holding the gun in my direction. Brady roars her name at the same time the officer yells at her to put the gun down. Two loud booms fill the room at once, right as I’m roughly shoved to the side and pushed onto my stomach. My breath gets knocked out of me, so I’m momentarily stunned immobile.

Pushing against the weight on my back, I try to scramble up, but a rough voice meets my ear.

“Stay still.”

I close my eyes and sag into the mattress, never having felt such sweet relief at hearing someone’s voice.

After what seems like forever, I’m finally flipped around, and I’m met with a pair of worried, gray eyes. After they run over my face for a moment, he gets to his elbows and begins checking the rest of my body. It’s not until he pulls me to a sitting position and I’m wrapped in his arms, does his body relax.

“Fuck,” he mumbles into my hair. “I was so goddamn scared.”

I look over his shoulder, spotting the officer down on his haunches beside a deathly still Addison.

“Is she—?” I trail off, unable to finish my sentence.

Brady pulls back, cupping my cheeks and bringing my gaze back to him. His jaw clenches when he grits out, “Yes.”

My eyes slide shut, guilt weighing down my shoulders at the relief I feel. I shouldn’t be relieved Addison is dead, but a small part of me is. It’s obvious something was seriously wrong with her mental state, and she should have gotten help. Unfortunately for her, she went off the deep end before that could happen.

Brady lets my head go, and I drop it to his shoulder. His arms go back around me, and I lean into his warm and comforting embrace.