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Rescue

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Chapter 32: Rescue (Rhys's POV)

Unexpected was the only word I could think of to describe the side of me that Stella brought out. It was one kiss, just one little act, the first of many instances where we would have to pretend. It couldn't be special. 

I didn't feel confident watching Stella walk away tonight, knowing she was going to see her father. He was already furious with her for no particular reason. It seemed like he never thought one was needed. It was almost as if no matter what Stella did and no matter how hard she tried, it was never good enough for him. 

I almost regretted becoming the cherry on the cake today. Ignoring him these past few days would have enraged him, no doubt. 

And now, Stella has to face it... 

Dropping my towel into the laundry basket once I dried my hair, I pulled on a black half-sleeved v-neck and matching sweatpants as I got ready for bed. It had been a while since I texted Stella and she hadn't replied. Swiping my phone off the bed, I checked again and again, and a few more times. 

Should I call her? 

Before I could dial her number, the echo of my doorbell reached me. I dropped my phone on the bed and made my way downstairs, possible scenarios of tonight playing on a loop in my mind. 

What if they fought? What if he said something to her? What if he... 

No. Even Damien Russo wouldn't be that foolish. If he so much as laid a finger on her, I would kill him myself. I could burn him alive and he knew it. 

As I unlocked the front door, I grew still as I saw her standing before me. "Stella." 

She looked disheveled and lost and... hurt. Her hair was just a bit tousled with her trench coat merely hanging over her shoulders. An obvious bruise had started to develop where her left cheek was stained red and the small cut on her bottom lip was still bleeding. 

For a second it felt like she saw right through me; she was too deeply lost in her daze. It wasn't until I took a step closer that she inhaled sharply, snapping back into reality as she met my gaze. "I..." she began quietly, even her voice sounding fragile. "I had nowhere else to go," she whispered softly, her eyes glazing over. 

Slowly, I took another step nearer, cautiously lifting my hand to her cheek, brushing her hair back before running the pad of my thumb across her cheek, barely touching her. "Who did this to you?" I asked, my jaw clenching while every nerve in my body grew rigid at the sight of seeing her in pain. 

It didn't seem like she wanted to believe it but before I could press further for answers, grabbing ahold of my arm, she pulled my hand down and came closer, her arms slipping around my torso as she turned her head the other way, resting her cheek against my chest. I stood still, almost stunned. 

My hold on the door transformed into a death grip as my knuckles turned white. I would have dug into that door if it wasn't for her body right against mine. "You don't want to talk about it?" I questioned, glancing down at her. 

Shaking her head against me, she mumbled, "I don't want to talk at all." 

"Okay," I replied, clenching my hand into a fist before I put my arm around her, pulling her inside the apartment before pushing the door shut. We stayed right there for a very long time. 

Regardless of how desperately she tried to hold it in, I felt the tears slowly soaking into my t-shirt, the sharp movements of her entire body when she struggled to breathe properly, and the shake of her shoulders whenever she silently cried her heart out. 

"Stella," I finally called out when she had calmed down a little. 

Sniffling, she drew back and looked up at me, blinking with teary eyes, her lashes damp and her skin still glistening with fresh tears. With another sniffle, she glanced down at my shirt while I brought my hands to her cheeks, resting my palms there while I wiped her tears with my thumbs. "I ruined your shirt," she pointed out, frantically wiping it with her sleeve. 

"I'll manage," I told her, pulling both her hands into one of mine and holding them down as I wiped her eyes. "Can you tell me now, who did this to you?" I asked. I just wanted to hear her say it, utter that monster's name just once so I would have a good enough reason to storm out of these doors and not return until I'd put a bullet in his head, but not before burning everything he owned to the ground, destroying him completely. 

"My father," she said, breathing shakily. My jaw ticked. 

"I'll fucking kill him," I mumbled, prepared to leave and end this right now. 

"Rhys," Stella called out, frantically grabbing my shirt before I made it even a few feet away. "Don't go." 

I stared at her. 

"I know this isn't part of our deal and this isn't in the contract," she groaned softly, "but can I please stay here tonight? And can you... stay with me?" 

Releasing a sigh of defeat, I agreed, "Okay. I'll stay if you want me to." Tilting her chin up, I took a proper look at her cut. "Come here," I demanded, tugging her into the kitchen with me. Opening the freezer, I grabbed an ice pack and a napkin, wrapping it up. "Sit," I told her, glancing at the counter pointedly. 

She hesitated but pulled herself up. A pained wince escaped her as I held the ice pack to her cheek and it was almost her instinct to push my arm away but I took her hand in mine quickly and pinned our hands down to her thigh. Squirming, she tried leaning back. 

"Stella," I warned. 

Closing her eyes tightly, she sat still, her hands squeezing mine tightly. Every few seconds I'd adjust the ice pack, my eyes holding hers. 

"What happened?" I questioned. 

"Exactly what I thought would happen," she grumbled with a slight pout. 

I'm surprised all she's doing is pouting. 

"He heard about us from Alana and then saw us today. He kept demanding that we stop," she paused, "he doesn't want me seeing you." 

"Why not?" 

"I don't know. At first, he was going on about how being with me would distract you from the case," she groaned in frustration, annoyance, anger... all of it. 

"Well, I have my culprit right here," I said, tilting her chin up so I could focus on the cut on her lip. 

"Then... he said something about how I would get in the way of... him keeping you... under him? And controlling you? I don't know," she huffed, "it didn't make any sense to me." 

It's making perfect sense to me.

Damien Russo was ridiculously stupid but he wasn't a total idiot. Of course, we knew each other before I came to New York. Damien knew I was the same kid he sent away years ago. He just never realized I came back with a vengeance. He might have made sure that Stella forgot me, but I never forgot her. Most importantly, I never forgot what Damien Russo did to me. He brought me to ruins. 

I came back to burn him to the ground. 

"Is that all?" I asked warily. 

She seemed to contemplate it before finally telling me. "He said if I didn't stop seeing you, he would have to take care of it himself." 

"Of course, he did," I muttered, "he knows exactly how to take care of things that don't go his way." 

"He did it to my Mom," she mumbled faintly. 

"What do you mean?" I questioned, lowering the ice pack as it warmed up in my hand. 

Her gaze dropped to her lap as she fidgeted. "He killed her," she whispered, "I saw him." 

"Stella..." 

"I swear, I saw it, Rhys. I know he told everyone that her cause of death was an accident but it wasn't. I saw him, he..." She inhaled shakily before throwing her head back, blinking a few times. "He strangled her," she mumbled, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. 

"I wasn't supposed to be there in his study but I watched it happen through the door with my own eyes. I was so scared," she sniffled, "I even ran out of the house in the pouring rain. I spent that whole night out in the woods, but I promise, I saw him do it. But he..." She blinked in confusion. "I don't know how he convinced me to believe that it never happened. I remember the story he fed me. He even... threatened me." 

The memory that dawned on me matched Stella's story perfectly. 

The entire family had gone on what used to be their annual trip to their lake house in The Hamptons. All of a sudden, when they returned, everything was different, Damien, Alex... especially Stella. When they returned, Isabella didn't come back with them. They came bearing the news of her death, claiming that an accident took place in the lake, something about an unknown drowning. 

I don't even think they found the body... 

She shook her head frantically. "He's horrible, he's always been horrible but that night changed everything. I still feel like I'm stuck at that moment, watching it happen over and over again. I fucking hate him for it. 

"He should be punished but in this city, he could get away with just about anything. He paid his way out of it then, he'd do it again too. And I... I couldn't even tell anyone. I should have, I should have told someone, the authorities, anybody! I failed my Mom, Rhys. How could I do that to her? How did I—" 

"You didn't do anything," I cut her off. 

"But I—" 

"Trust me," I tried again, taking her hands and looping her arms around my neck slowly. "You didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't your fault." I... admired and adored Stella's strength. Even as she told me everything, reliving that torturous story in her mind, she held herself together more than anybody could, more than I was capable of doing. 

"He should be punished," she mumbled with a soft sniffle as I held her in a hug, listening to her. "He should be killed," she said, her voice stern and rigid and simply cold. 

"He will be," I reassured her, "I promise." 

Pulling back, she met my gaze while wiping her cheeks. "Are you going to kill him?" she asked bluntly. 

I stared back at her. 

There won't be a time more perfect than this to tell Stella the truth. To admit everything, to save her from the pain that would come with knowing that I lied. I should come clean, I should be honest with her. 

But I couldn't. I was too much of a fucking coward to risk losing her now. 

"How about this?" I paused, wiping a stray tear. "I'll let you pull the trigger, hmm?" 

She nodded almost instantly. 

At the moment, even I wasn't quite sure how serious our words were, but figuring that out wasn't important. I should have listened to my instincts and gone to dinner with her tonight. 

If I did, I would have been there to rescue her when things got ugly. But I wasn't there. And I couldn't rescue her. 

If there was anything I knew for certain, it was this: Damien Russo would fucking pay for his sins. I'd make sure of it.

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Chapter 32

I always love this moment in books when the fmc shows up at the mmc's house in a moment of weakness and says she had nowhere else to go

it's even better when it's enemies to lovers *ahem* wait for the next book *ahem*

;)

next ch: untouchable

untouchable, untouchable