"The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace." — Mahatma Gandhi

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Chapter 56

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I wasn't sure how long the door rattled with that same force.

"Open the door or I will!" the voice belonged to a male, and a very, very angry one at that.

Somewhere in the midst of my fear, I felt the vibration of my phone against my leg. With shaky fingers, I yanked the phone from my pocket.

I didn't bother checking the name. "H-hello?"

"Kimberly?" Kade's voice answered back.

I clenched the phone tighter, shutting my eyes as the man's fingers squeezed the top of the door.

"Kade," I rushed out. "Someone's trying to get in. They started shaking the door, and I don't know..." My lips shut. I was far too shaken to continue.

There was no pause. If I weren't frozen with terror, I would have moved the phone away from my ear as I heard him curse.

"Kimberly, where are you?"

I swiped my tears. "I'm at Jax's soccer game, I-I went to the bathroom alone and—"

I heard the revving of an engine in the background. "Levi didn't come with you?" he exclaimed before rushing out a raging breath. "Shit, you were supposed to go home, Kimberly!"

I squeezed the phone tighter. "I know! I'm just..." I palmed my burning forehead "I'm scared, Kade."

"I know," he muttered into the phone. "I know, baby."

"I'm driving as fast as I can to you," he reassured, words almost jumbled. "Don't move."

I couldn't say anything. In that moment, I regretted even considering this game. As badly as I wanted it, I couldn't be the normal my friends wanted right now. Not without endangering myself, or someone else.

Somewhere in the squall, I realized.

Silence.

"Kimberly," Kade said my name with an urgency.

I blinked past my tears to look up; the hand was gone. "They...they stopped."

"Kimberly, don't you dare step out of that stall," he demanded. "I texted Levi, he's header straight to you."

I said nothing. I didn't even think I was capable of doing so.

I wasn't sure how long I sat in that same spot. I felt like a turtle hiding in its shell, praying that the danger would clear.

"I'm gonna kill him," Kade mumbled through the phone. "I'm going to rip his tongue from his fucking throat. He should have never left you alone."

I shook my head, though I knew he couldn't see it. "No, no...it was my fault. I should have never went out knowing the dangers. I just didn't think that anything would happen in such a public place."

"They don't care where you are."

I sighed, laying my forehead against the sweaty palm of my hand. My body jumped when I heard the slamming of the bathroom door.

"Kimberly?!"

I didn't hesitate to unlock the door. Levi stood in front of me, eyes wide. "Are you okay?"

Before I could answer, he bombarded me with another question. "Did you see anyone?"

I shook my head, my voice shaky. "I heard a man's voice."

Levi raked a hand through his hair. "Fuck. Kimberly, I'm so sorry." I was surprised when he embraced me, his hand wrapped tightly around the back of my head. "I'm so fucking sorry."

"There was no way we could've known," I mumbled into his chest before stepping back. "Do you think he followed me?"

"Most likely, yeah," Levi responded, his eyes falling to the phone in my hand before a look of caution followed. "Kade knows, doesn't he?"

I nodded. "I had to call him, Levi."

He swore under his breath, cupping the back of his neck. "He's going to fucking kill me."

I shook my head to soothe his worries, though I completely agreed.

He turned to face me again. "Come on," he said, stepping closer to me. "You can stay at my house until Kade comes."

My head could have snapped off from my shoulders as I nodded in agreement. I was far too shaken up to stay in my house tonight.

I stepped closer. "Okay." Levi's arm went around my shoulders as he pulled me closer.

The crowd had grown a little bit thinner since the game was reaching its prime. Everyone was too busy watching the game to notice our ordeal. That didn't stop me from searching the crowd for anything suspicious.

Levi noticed my wandering eyes. "Hey," he cooed, pulling me closer to him. "Don't worry."

We finally reached the parking lot. I stepped out of the way as a group of children ran through us. "That's far more easier said than done."

"I'm not leaving your side, Kimberly," he reassured, before point ahead. "My car is right behind the blue one over there."

I didn't say anything. I knew that for now I would be secure and safe, but what would happen when I was alone, again? If Kade doesn't pick up? If no one is near me?

The car was a glossy black Mercedes. He opened my door for me before doing the same for himself.

"Nice car," I mumbled.

Levi chuckled, starting up the engine. "Yeah. I wish there was a Raven insurance for my other one. I'm borrowing this one until I find another next week." 

Borrowing.

I allowed my head to prop against the window. I was far too exhausted from the day to even entertain the thought.

"I don't live too far from the school," he said minutes into the ride. "I think my sisters' clothes should fit you if you want to get a shower."

"Thanks, Levi," I managed a small smile. A shower to help calm me does sound pretty good right now.

"You should text Kade and tell him where we're headed. He's probably near townby now."

I nodded. "Agreed."

I picked up my phone. I hadn't even realized that Kade was still on the line. "Shit," I cursed.

I placed the phone to my ear. "Kade."

"Damn it, Kimberly. Don't do that." was the first thing he said. "Please tell me you're safe."

"I'm with Levi," I reassured him. "We're headed to his house now."

"Good," he mumbled into the phone. "I'm going to kill that fucker."

I wasn't sure if he meant Chivo or Levi.

"I'm just a half hour away, but I'll half that," he reassured me. "I'm heading straight to you guys."

"You shouldn't be on your phone while you drive," I tried to laugh, but my voice came out as weak.

Kade didn't laugh. I could practically see him now. Hands ghost white around the steering wheel, his jaw ticking hard.

Just as the image passed my brain, I felt my phone vibrate in warning before turning off. I held down the power button to no avail. The battery was drained.

"We're here."

I looked up at Levi's voice. "Whoa."

The house had to be three stories. I was sure neck pains would follow from staring at it too long. The house was white, though a brown, almost black shade lined the windows. Many, many windows. In front of me, was a locked garage door. From what it looked like, no one else was home. The only car here was his.

Sometimes, I was confused about why Kade and Levi didn't somehow attend private schools.

Once again, he opened the passenger door and stepped in front of me to unlock the door to his home. The entire setting of his home was elegant.

"It's so quiet in here," I mumbled more to myself than anyone.

Levi glanced at me. "Yeah, I'm usually alone here if I'm not at one of the guys' or Raven's house."

I frowned. "That must be lonely."

He shrugged, though I could see it still affected him. "It's whatever." He sucked on his bottom lip as he motioned for me to follow him.

We passed so many doors, I had lost count by the time we stopped. Levi pushed open the door. "You'll be in good shape for the night. Riley's not coming home until God knows when."

"The bathroom is right over there," he pointed in the corner. "There are fresh towels, and toothbrushes under the sink. You can go ahead and just get something out of Riley's closet. It should fit you."

I nodded with appreciation. "Thank you, Levi."

He waved my thanks away. "Just let me know if you need anything." He turned away from me, beginning to walk away until I heard him speak again. The guilt in his eyes was evident. "And, Kimberly. I really am sorry." With that, he turned and left me to myself.

I sighed, and sat down on the large bed. I could make a guess Riley was his sister. She had a nice room.

A large flat screen television faced me on the gray wall. Her king-sized bed was in the center of the room, a desk being beside it. Two wine-red dressers were on either side of the room, both with different items atop.

I finally got up when I decided that I wanted a get my shower. I needed the peace for a minute. My nerves were on edge.

After opening up the drawers, I decided on a tee and a pair of jeans.

My legs felt like jelly as I walked into her bathroom. I glanced at the large bathtub before moving to the spacious shower.

The controls weren't too hard to figure out. I allowed my hand to glide through the water to get a perfect temperature. When the water was perfectly lukewarm, I undressed and set my clothes on the rack.

When I looked at myself in the mirror, an unrecognizable version of myself stared back. I looked like a shaken bird with very pale skin. My roots were damp with the nerve-wracking sweat I had produced all night long.

I shook my head to break out of the trance. I stepped into the shower, and allowed the water to relax my bones. I scrubbed every single part of my body clean, though it did very little to erase my memories from today.

"Damn it," I mumbled to myself.

While I lathed myself up, my mind began to wander. The questions came in abundances, and without any moral.

Was this going to be the rest of my life? Being chased by people because of...

I shook away the thought. No. This was neither of our faults. Not Kade's. Not mine.

Tonight had been on me, though. I should have stayed home.

I just wanted normal. A normal childhood. A normal mother and siblings. A normal home. A normal relationship. A normal life.

I wondered. Was I a bad luck charm? Was I destined to live a horrible life until it ended? A lost case. A sinking ship. Destined to sink lower and lower until I plummeted...

Bang!

I shot up from my thoughts like a firecracker. Instinctively, I searched the room for the source of the sound. My eyes were screaming from the pain, but I could still see that no one else was in here.

I stepped out of the water, and dried my body with a quickness. I dried my hair to my best ability, then felt my heart fell back into a regular rhythm. It seemed I had just imagined the sound.

After dressing, I stepped out of the bathroom.

When I raised my head, I nearly screamed at the figure on the bed.

Luke was on his back, phone in hand. "Hello to you, too," he announced.

My eyes were wide with shock. "What are you doing here?"

He shook his head. "Making sure that you don't do anything stupid to get hurt," he chuckled. "Nah, though. I decided to accompany Kade on his ride here."

My mind was playing tricks on me. Last I remembered, Luke hated me. I didn't care about his dislike for me, but I just wondered why he would willingly come with Kade.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "That's pretty new of you."

An ounce of confusion passed Luke's face as he looked past his phone to make eye contact with me. "Feisty, now? Sweet."

"Not feisty, just confused," I corrected, still in my spot. "You hate me."

Luke swung his legs over the bed, placing his phone down beside him. "You're right, I do. And, don't you forget it."

I rolled my eyes before he followed up with, "I didn't want to miss the show, though. Plus, I figured someone would have to keep Kade and Levi apart. But, he's obviously not listening to me so I thought who other than his little 'sweetheart' to stop him." He used air quotations to add to his point.

My eyes squinted as I thought on his words. "What are you—" I was interrupted by the same bang from earlier, except this time, it was much more harder.

I ran out of the bedroom before either of us could blink. The sight waiting for me in the kitchen wasn't what I'd expected.

Levi's nose was leaking with blood. Kade had him pinned against the wall, both of their expressions filled with rage.

I hurried down the stairs. "Kade," I warned. "Put him down."

Both of their heads snapped to me. Kade's expression softened as he released Levi, who pushed Kade away from him.

"Shit," he cursed, marching over to me. "Baby, are you okay?"

My heart skipped when I heard that word. Baby. But, with the situation, it didn't last long.

My eyes flickered over to Levi, who was swiping at the dripping blood. I looked back to Kade. "What did you do to him?"

"Punched the shit out of me, that's what," Levi snapped, glaring at his friend.

Kade glowered back at him in response. "Why the fuck did you let her out of your sight? Or, at least text me that she wasn't home! She could have gotten hurt because of you!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Levi yelled in response, storming our way until Luke grabbed his arm. I never even realized that he had came downstairs.

Luke clapped a hand on Levi's shoulder, a smirk pulling at his lips. "How about we go outside? I'll get you some ice, pussy." He chuckled afterwards.

Levi nodded his head in agreement, glaring daggers into Kade. "You only had one free punch, bitch. Remember that shit."

I gripped Kade's arm as his body twitched with movement. "Don't," I warned him. With a never-ending glare at Levi's back, he did what I said.

After the front door shut, he and I were left alone. The silence was infuriating, but I believed that our heightened emotions did the speaking for us.

My lips upturned slowly as he grabbed my hand. His thumb caressed a certain spot on the back of my hand.

"Fuck," he sighed. "You're shaking."

I didn't even realize my body still trembled from the shock. "I'll be fine."

Kade shook his head, his remaining hand swiping away the strands of hair from my face. "I should have been with you. I'm sorry."

"It was my fault; I should have went home but I didn't..." I paused to grab his hand. The guilt in his eyes remained. "Kade, I'll be okay. I'll take your advice, and be more cautious. This wasn't your fault, okay? We had no idea of knowing what would or what will happen."

His expression darkened as he glared at the carpet. "I do. I'm going to kill the fucker in the match," he mumbled more to himself than anyone.

I said nothing. I knew that no matter what was said, he would get very close to murdering the man, nonetheless.

My hand fell from him. "I need to go change back into my clothes before we leave," I told him. I didn't feel comfortable walking away with Riley's clothing on.

Kade nodded, but I could see the trouble brewing behind his eyes.

I walked back up the stairs to redress. By the time I made it back downstairs, Kade was sitting on the barstool, his head in his hands. His eyes were shut, so my presence hadn't even been acknowledged just yet.

My heart began to sink seeing him. The guilt he carried struck deep.

Before I could speak, the front door opened again. Levi entered the house, flicking his head at us before walking into another room. Luke followed behind him.

"We need to talk," he announced to Kade, whose expression was blank. His eyes jerked up to mine before falling to his friends. "Alone."

Kade glanced at me,, the concern in his eye evident. "Will you be okay?"

I chuckled with a nod. "Go. I'm sure I'll be fine."

I stared at their backs as they walked to the living room. I was curious as to what could be so secretive, but it wasn't too hard to guess that it was about the events of tonight.

Screw it.

I felt my toes screaming from the uncomfortable position I was in. I moved as quietly as possible to the nearest wall near the living room.

"I don't wanna talk about this right now," Kade said with an annoyed tone.

I couldn't see their faces, but I knew he was growing quite aggravated.

"Too bad," Levi replied. "The cages are tense, man. And, tonight... tonight was personal."

"Don't you think I'm aware?" Kade hissed in response. "It wouldn't have been if you—"

Luke's voice cut into the conversation. "For right now, that conversation can wait and we can focus on this one. We need to catch up on our trades."

Trades?

"Me and Luke managed to break down four good ones," Kade replied. "The transactions are going through as we speak. Nearly ten thousand a piece."

The air caught in my throat. What the hell was he talking about?

"We were about to try getting to eight, but then we were interrupted," Luke said with an undertone of annoyance.

I rolled my eyes. It wasn't too hard to place why, and who it was there for.

"Whatever, though. We'll have more hands tomorrow. All Kade needs is one more 2019 model to be done for the month," Levi added. "That'll leave you time to train. You'll need every second."

Hearing this squeezed at my brain. I remembered months ago when Kade was sick. He mentioned car theft.

"Yeah, if his soft ass ribs aren't still fucked," Luke chuckled before his voice fell. "Those pills working?"

"Hell if I know," Kade responded. "I can't risk them fucking with the ones Aunt Caylee gave me."

"You started taking those?" I could hear the surprise in Levi's voice. "Since when?"

"Since Kimberly."

The only thing I could think of were his bpd pills. The fact that he'd been taking them since he and I started up caused my heart to twist and turn.

"Well, whatever you say, man," Luke dismissed. "What are you going to do about today?"

"I don't know, yet," His words intertwined with frustration. "But, something will be done. And, soon. I won't let them hurt her, and I won't let them think that they can."

"Agreed," Levi responded. "Just tell us when you wanna make the move. You know we'll be right there with you."

"Listen," Luke drew out a sigh. "I'll finish your last truck for you tonight so that you can stay with her."

"You serious?"

"Yeah, yeah," I could practically hear Luke rolling his eyes "Don't suck me off or anything for it though, bitch. You still owe me."

Kade chuckled. I was shocked to witness Luke's kindness, but I guessed that was how it worked between the three musketeers. His, Levis, and Kades, friendship seemed to be more like a brotherhood.

When I heard their footsteps retreating, I practically sprinted to my original spot. I tried to maintain a calm composure even after the all of the information I'd just digested.

Luke said nothing to me as he walked into the room. Instead, he nodded at Kade and Levi, then shut the door behind him.

Kade stepped to me, immediately. "Ready to go?"

My smile was shaky. "Yes," I accepted.

My head began to hurt with the uncertainty. From what I had heard, questions needed to be asked.