Page 41 of Lost to Thievery
My shaking hands gripped onto the side of the building, my fingers hooking painfully into the crevices of the stone. I climbed slower than usual, closing the window with my foot as I went. I willed my weak knees to just shut the fuck up and do what they were supposed to do—free-climb the building to the roof.
When I reached the top, I pulled myself over the ledge and rolled onto the roof, just lying there for a second, catching my breath.
If Hunt saw my weak ass now…
But fuck him too. This had been one of the worst days of my life. I was barely holding it together. My whole body was vibrating, even my teeth chattering like I was in shock. The sound triggered another memory, and I knew if I looked to myright, Ava would be lying there, shaking, curled into a ball in her sleeping bag.
I clamped my eyes shut instead.Get up, asshole. You’re not done yet.
I groaned and pushed myself off the floor. Could I even do the next part right now? I took a deep breath, hoping it’ll strengthen my muscles.
Fuck it. If I die, I die.
I broke out into a sprint, making sure I gained enough momentum before leaping off the roof and into the air. The next rooftop came up beneath me, and I rolled to break the impact as I hit it.
I panted loudly, the adrenaline shooting through my veins, giving my body the boost it needed.
My hoarse laugh filled the silent rooftop. I made it.
I ran across the roof to the fire escape and leaped down the metal stairs, fully using the adrenaline-high to get the fuck out of Dodge.
Crossing the street, I melted into the crowd that was rushing home. A woman gawked at me, and I smiled politely, keeping pace next to her. Two blocks further, I slinked into the shadows of an alley. I typed in the password on the keypad and the door to the warehouse clicked open.
I sighed in relief. Almost there.
I moved through the dark building by memory alone, until I reached my car.
I made it.
I collapsed against the side of the car, but pushed off it again, falling forward on one knee, just in time to hurl my guts out. Since when was I the type to throw up?
“Fuck!” I screamed to the heavens. I severely underestimated just how hard seeing her, touching her…breakingher, would be. Nausea rolled through my body again.
My girl. My princess.
I fell backwards, collapsing against the car, pressing my palms into my eyes.
I had just said the vilest things to my baby, and I could never unsee the utter devastation on her face. It was seared into my fucked-up head, to be played again and a-fucking-gain like a child’s favourite movie.
Breathe, Grayson. Breathe, you fucking prick. It had to be done.
At least I had something else to drive me crazy, other than the video of that piece of shit railing my Ava.
How could she do it? How could she stomach another man inside of her, when I still couldn’t even touch my own cock without seeing her face in front of me?
The anger came flooding back, replacing the burn in my chest.
She should be punished. For allowing another man to touch what I had made mine so thoroughly. I should have showed her just how easily her body could blur the lines between pain and pleasure. I should have made her cry and clench her teeth against the pain all while begging me not to stop. She was mine. He didn’t deserve to touch her!
The shit’s name wasKyle, for God’s sake!
I had to kill him for it.Kyle.For daring to lay his slimy hands on someone so perfect. Someone he could never be worthy of. Someone who didn’t belong to him in the first place.
Breathe, fucker.
I had killed him hoping to replace the image of them fucking on the beach with the sight of his blood pooling at my feet. A fucked-up coping mechanism I’d employed over the years to keep from going completely psychotic from my relentless, perfect memory. A strategy I’d used with that pig-faced Digger, too. The memory of his screams had drowned out the memory of Ava’s screams in the forest that day. The same went for Shaunand Wesley. Shaun’s lifeless, handless body beneath me, had replaced the endlessly looping footage of him hitting my girl.
Only this time, it hadn’t worked. The memory ofKyle’sblood all over my hands and shoes had done nothing. The moment I’d laid eyes on Ava again, all I could see was her desperate struggle to unbutton the bastard’s pants. His disgusting mouth all over her perfect tits.
