"Excuse you, sir?" He barks back, trying to assert his dominance over the situation.
"I didn't stutter. Someone went into her room while I was gone and left a threat. They had to know I was no longer here, meaning they could have been here. I don't have time to swing dicks with you. Now pull up the damn footage and find out who the fuck went into that room with black and red roses!" My yelling subsides, and my tone is a low growl as I slam my hands down on the counter.
It's not in my nature to be aggressive, but switching it off is hard once I get to this point.
The man hesitates for a moment, but after turning my words over in his pea-sized brain for a bit, he nods and pads over to his laptop.
"Time frame?" He asks simply.
"The past forty minutes." The words cause my stomach to turn into knots as they slide off my tongue. That asshole slippedthrough with my family right down the hallway. The balls of nerve on that fucker. He must think that he's fucking invincible.
Fuck his threats against me.
Not only did he put his hands on her, but he hurt her. Really hurt her this time.
He's a fucking dead man. He should have been a long time ago.
The guard takes his time scrolling through the footage and then finally shouts out, "There!" as he waves me over to look at what he sees. It's not like I needed the proof; I already knew.
Sure enough, there's the little weasel.
He came up through the back entrance, going unseen by my family in the lobby down the hallway, walked into the room, and walked right back out with a wicked smile plastered on his face.
After throwing my fist into the wall beside me, I pull away, grabbing my keys, and without hesitation, I retreat toward the parking garage.
"Ander, you can't leave!" My mom screams after me.
I stop in my tracks, taking a second to think, but then I start walking again. This fucker wants to hurt my girl and now threatens me and has the nerve to think he's untouchable. Everything we've gone through, our years of separation, it was all at the hands of his doing. The years of torment he put Via through. . . My firsts clench at my side, and I swear, I see nothing but red.
I yell over my shoulder, "Please make sure all of you stay with her and in the room this time. If she wakes, promise her that I will be back. Just make sure that she knows I am coming back!"
Chapter thirty-three
Via
Iwake up in a haze, my head pounding like a drum, holding on to a small hand that feels unfamiliar.
My eyes open, and everything is blurry. I take a few seconds to blink the sleep away as I hear whispers fill the room, and the small hand clasping onto mine gives me a gentle squeeze.
"It's okay, Via. You're safe, and we are here."
I'd know that voice anywhere.Ander's mom, Mrs. Kristen. She's always calm in the storm, and her presence brings immediate peace to me.
I sit there for a second, and slowly, everything and everyone in the room comes into focus. Mrs. Kristen, Abbie, Izzy, and Dessa fill the rooms, and their sympathetic, worried expressions all flash my way as I look over the room.
It's the one person I want to see whose absence hit me like a ton of bricks.
Where is he?
Then it hits me.I needed space, and he gave it to me.Judging by the lighting peering through the window, hours have had topass. Maybe he also needed space and time to think and process everything.
Is he safe?
I clear my throat and try to speak, but my words come out strangled. "Where. . ."
Everyone in the room's face falls in unison, and Mrs. Kristen forces a grin that doesn't meet her eyes, not in the least.
My stomach curls into knots, knowing that my suspicion is correct and something isn't right. Panic quickly sets in as Mrs. Kristen pats my leg to calm me, and my girls rush to my side.
