Blinded By Destiny

Chapter 6

Ryan nodded in agreement.

"Colton," a breathy sigh sounded behind me. I knew that voice. I had been dreaming about hearing it all day.

I looked over my shoulder to see Emery's big, doe eyes staring back at me. Her lips were lifted in the corners at catching me by surprise.

"You came." I smirked.

I heard Ryan grunt from beside me. Whatever I was planning on doing before might as well have been forgotten.

Kennedy stood at Emery's side as she watched the party-goers dancing to the music around her. My gaze drew back to Emery.

"Yeah, well..." She shrugged. "I couldn't pass up the chance to get my hands on those reports."

I grinned. So she did take the bait. Emery was a tough nut to crack but slowly, I was starting to understand more and more about her. Piece by piece.

Ryan cleared his throat loudly, catching my attention. He nodded his head to the side, gesturing down to the basement.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Dammit.

Emery caught the movement with a narrowing of her eyes. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

The tone of Emery's voice drew Kennedy's attention away from the party and onto us.

"Yeah, of course." But I didn't sound so sure. The shaking of the walls rattled as what sounded like a body being thrown against it vibrated through the whole house.

Grunts sounded as the music skipped, alerting everyone to the commotion.

Ryan, without a second glance, threw open the basement door and slammed it behind him as he raced down the cobblestone steps. A crash sounded below, followed by yelling and more bodies colliding with the wall. Good lord, they were going to bring the whole house down if they kept this up.

Emery and Kennedy shared a look.

I lightly touched her wrist, gaining her attention. Sweat had started to bead around my brow. "Why don't you both go get a drink? I'll be right back. I just have to take care of something and then I can show you around."

I didn't wait to see if she took my advice as I raced down the steps after Ryan.

I ground my molars. Dawson picked the wrong night for this. There was never a good time for it but he was really pushing the boundary right now and taking it too far.

By the time I made it down the staircase, Dawson had already pinned a guy against the wall again and was letting loose.

I didn't know who he was sparring with, but the guy getting pummeled wasn't putting up much of a fight. His arms were laying limp by his side as if he no longer had the strength to hold them up.

Ryan was trying, to no avail, to pull Dawson off of him by yanking on his arms, but he was relentless.

I lunged forward to help by grabbing his swinging arm and with Ryan on his other side, we were able to push him back.

The guy pinned to the wall slumped forward on the cold tile.

Dawson heaved heavily between us. He was shirtless, his skin slick with sweat which did nothing to hide the many bruises, cuts, and scars littering his skin.

"That's enough Dawson!" Ryan harshly whispered.

I wasn't even sure he could hear over the pounding in his temples when he got like this.

Battered and bruised didn't even begin to cover it.

"What the hell is going on?" Emery cried out behind me.