Black Thorns: Chapter 43

My eyes slowly creak open.

Pain assaults the back of my skull and black dots form in my vision even as I slowly get used to my surroundings.

Where the fuck is this place?

The last thing I remember is writing that text to Naomi, the last one as Akira, then I headed to the parking garage because my headache was getting strong and I needed to sleep it off before meeting her later. But when I got there some sort of a bag was thrown over my head.

After that…nothing.

There was absolutely nothing.

I blink a few times and inhale deeply, only to be assaulted by the stench of piss. Grunting, I place my palms on the ground and sit up.

My head pulses with pain and my tongue feels too big for my mouth. A bitter taste floods my throat with each swallow.

The gray walls circle around me and the world spins. Or maybe I’m the one who’s spinning.

I shake my head, closing and opening my eyes a few times so I can focus better.

The blur covering my vision slowly disappears and the place I’m being kept in comes into focus. My memory kicks in with a vengeance.

I couldn’t forget this hellhole even if I lived a thousand years.

This is where Naomi and I were kept and emotionally tortured. This is where they broke her so she’d play into their hands without any second thoughts.

The metal door that she walked through stares back at me with the same sturdiness as before, as if it’s mocking me.

As if telling me it’s happening again.

Or maybe it’s already happened.

I search my surroundings, but there’s no trace of my Naomi.

Did they take her, too? Is she being kept in a separate place?

Using the wall for balance, I stagger to my feet and walk to the door.

I bang on it the hardest I can. “Open up! Open the fuck up!”

There’s no sound or movement from outside, but I kick and punch it with both hands until I bust my knuckles.

I don’t stop to think about the pain.

Or the grogginess.

I don’t stop to consider anything but my Naomi. There’s no way in fuck I’ll stand by as they torture or threaten her.

Before, I believed the facts instead of believing in us.

I let my insecurities take control and wholeheartedly thought she’d left me.

Not now.

Now, I’ll fight for her.

I’ll be there if it means my fucking death.

The door creaks and I jump back, ready to punch whoever is coming in. Either I save her or I die trying.

A man with Asian looks steps in. He’s tall and has long hair, and sharp eye contact that only people in a high position of power, such as my grandfather, possess.

He stares at me for a second and I stare back, my hands balled into fists.

He doesn’t have a weapon or any guards with him, so I could possibly overpower him and step past him—

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” he cuts off my train of thought. “If you touch me, I’ll cut you, and even if by a miracle you manage to move past me, this place is full of guards. Armed guards.”

“What the fuck do you want? Where’s Naomi?”

“My name is Kai and I will be your host for the day.” He slides his attention to his watch. “Or for the next few minutes, anyway.”

I walk closer, squaring my shoulders. “I don’t care who the fuck you are.”

“You should. My name will be engraved in your memories, because that’s what will come to mind if you think about hurting Naomi. If you look at another woman, I’ll be there. If you make her cry, I’ll also be there. The glint of my sword will be the last thing you see before life leaves your miserable limbs.”

“You don’t scare me.” I stare at him square in the eyes. “How Naomi and I treat each other is only up to us.”

“It’ll be up to me, too.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“The one who saved her from assault when you weren’t even in the picture. I killed for her once and doing it again will be my pleasure.”

“You…killed Riko’s boyfriend, Sam?”

“Ex-boyfriend, since he’s rotting as we speak.”

So the reason I haven’t been able to find the miserable bastard isn’t because he moved to another country, but because he’s already dead.

He was killed by this man. Kai. Somehow, that makes me see him in a different light. He’s the reason why she wasn’t scarred to the point of no return and I can’t help but respect him for that—regardless of his reasons for doing it.

“While I’m grateful for what you did for her in the past, she’s mine and I won’t allow you to get near her.”

“I’m not interested in her that way. She’s our princess and I’m merely her guardian angel—a fallen one, at that.”

“Where’s is she? Take me to her.”

“No need.” He sighs. “She went through all this trouble to get you out. First, she figured out Akira’s bids for his next business venture by playing that fool, Ren. Then she took it to your grandparents with the help of your uncle.”

“Naomi went to see my grandparents?”

“Yes, and she begged them to help you by blocking Akira’s investment from behind the scenes. Of course, your grandparents weren’t thrilled to have to pull out the big guns and wanted her to end your relationship, but she didn’t agree. Instead, she told your grandmother that they won’t lose you like they lost your father, and that was the deciding point for them. Once Akira’s plots were halted, he lost it and might have taken it out on Ren.” He pauses and smiles as if reliving an image. “Anyway, in exchange for her to stop blocking Akira’s projects, she made him agree to divorce her while remaining an ally to her father. She’s currently threatening Abe that if he uses her or you—or her sister—she’ll make Akira withdraw the alliance and all his funds. Among other things that she now has over him.”

My lips part as I listen to Kai’s retelling of the events. I can’t believe she did all of that on her own.

Naomi isn’t the same, after all. She was always strong, but she’s now a force to be reckoned with.

“Speechless? Good.” Kai grabs me by the shoulder hard. So hard that it feels like he’ll break my bones, then whispers in a low, calm but threatening tone, “You’d better remember her sacrifices until the day you die. Or I’ll be there to make sure you take your last breaths.”

“Sebastian!”

My gaze snaps to the flash of movement behind Kai. Naomi runs toward me, her fair cheeks flushed and her red lipstick making her appear paler, softer, and so fucking beautiful.

Her black hair flies behind her as she rushes forward and physically pushes Kai out of the way.

“Go away, Kai,” she tells him impatiently.

He steps back, then gives me one final warning look before he turns around and leaves.

Naomi grabs me by the arms, her gaze searching everywhere, for a wound, I suppose. The last time we were here, I nearly died. But I didn’t, because of her.

Seven years later, this one hell of a woman saved me for the second time. And I will make sure she doesn’t have to do it again for as long as we live.

“I’m okay,” I say softly, my voice full of emotion.

“Oh, thank God. When I saw you through the footage, I thought the bastards hit you or did something.”

“I’m really fine.”

She doesn’t stop touching me—running her fingers over my bicep, then up my side, chest, and shoulder as if she needs to make sure for herself.

“Nao.”

She’s focused on my torso, my hand, my arm. Anywhere but my face.

“Baby, look at me.”

She finally lifts her eyes and they’re filled with tears. They blur the dark color of her irises and then cascade down her pink cheeks.

I reach a hand out and wipe them away with a thumb, my palm lingering on the swell of her cheek. “Why are you crying?”

“Because you’re okay. Because it’s finally over.”

“Kai told me. I can’t believe you went to my grandparents and did everything in between. You’re so strong, so goddamn beautiful.”

“It was all scary, but I would do it all over again for you, Sebastian. I would go to hell if it means I get to be with you.”

“Good because I have a special spot in there.”

She smiles through her tears and it’s the most beautiful fucking smile I’ve ever seen on her.

“I’m free,” she whispers as if not believing the words. “I’m free of Akira. I’m free to be with you…I mean, if you…want to.”

“Of course I fucking want to. I needed to be with you a lifetime ago.”

Her own palm grabs my cheek, a whirlwind of emotions darkening her gaze. “Seven years, Sebastian.”

“Seven fucking years.”

“Promise me we’ll never be apart again.”

“Oh, I promise to chase you to the end of the world, baby.”

“Yeah?”

“Fuck yeah. Also, you’ll keep the promise you made seven years ago in this same place.”

Her breath hitches. “What…promise?”

“You’ll marry me. For real this time.”

She bites her lower lip, staring at me from beneath her lashes. “You still want to marry me?”

“I never fucking stopped. You’re the only woman I ever wanted to be my wife and that will never change, not even when you had a bastard for a husband before me.”

“Akira never counted for me.”

“As he shouldn’t. Fuck that guy.”

“Fuck that whole marriage. If it were up to me, you would be my only husband.”

“Well, it’s up to you now.”

“Oh, Sebastian. Of course I will marry you.”

“Good. Because that wasn’t a question.” And then I’m kissing her—savagely, wildly, like the animal I actually am.

And Naomi kisses me back like the prey she is.