Can't save me

Chapter 7

Now

I look at Niko as his phone rings; he moves his right hand from the steering wheel and reaches for it. Then, replacing his hand with the other, he holds up his phone in front of his face, "Drake" flashes on the screen. He slides his finger on the screen to answer it and holds the phone to his ear.

I look ahead of me as I listen to him on the phone,

"Yeah, I just picked up B. Nah, he's not out yet. Alright, see you in twenty." I look at him again as he hangs up and puts the phone back in a cup holder. "What'd Drake want?" He looks over at me, "See where I was at. Everyone isn't back yet. So he's trying to get a count." Nodding my head, I look forward again, "What were you doing at the warehouse tonight, B?" I feel his eyes on me, causing me to sigh and put my head against the seat as I look at him, "For the bash tonight." He sighed, shaking his head as he reached over, placing his hand on my thigh and squeezing it. I look down at his hand on my thigh, his skull and snake tattooed knuckles facing me.

"You were supposed to stay back at the house until I got home." I cover his hand on my thigh with my hand and frown at him, "I'm sorry, but I got bored, and I figured you'd end up going there instead anyways."

He nods before looking back at the road, leaving his hand on my thigh. I look back at the road ahead, "What'd they want to know?" As I chuckle, I look ahead, "They wanted to know what I knew about Mitchell." He yells next to me and hits the steering wheel with the hand he'd been driving with. I jump in my seat and look over at him, "What?!"

He turns the wheel to the side, and I look back towards the road to see us pulling over. "What's wrong, Niko?" He takes his hand off my thigh and parks the car; turning to look at me, he points a finger at me, raising his voice.

"What the fuck did you tell them, B?" The anger in his voice makes my body shiver, and I put my hands up in defense, "Nothing, Niko, I swear. I told them I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I acted like I didn't even know Mitchell. I swear!" He glares at me as he reaches across, grabbing my throat, and causing me to scream as I'm pushed into the door next to me. My head smacks against the window from the force, and he holds me hard against it. "I SWEAR TO GOD, B! IF I FIND OUT YOU'RE WORKING WITH COPS!" Crying out, I put my hand over him on my throat, "I swear I didn't, Niko!"

He yanks me to the side and throws me back against the door when he lets me go, causing my head to hit the window again. Crying out in pain, I move away from the window and hold the side of my head with my hands. "You better not be fucking lying!" He yells before driving again; I stay quiet, holding my head.

We pull up to Niko's house, and he parks in the driveway; I put my hand on the handle, going to open the door, but he stops me, "I'm sorry, Babe. I'm just stressed out with how much shit Mitchell brought us. I know you didn't talk to any cops." I keep my eyes on the dashboard and my hand on the handle, waiting. Finally, he sighs and gently puts his hand on my head before he opens his door and gets out. I whimper as he shuts his door, and my body shakes slightly as I open my door and get out, following him into the house.

We walk inside and see a few guys sitting in the living room. Fiona's sitting on Patrick's lap; she jumps up as we step inside, and Niko walks towards the bar up against the wall. I watch him as he grabs a bottle of whiskey and pours it into a glass. As Niko's eyes focus on me, Fiona walks up to me as he throws back his drink, "You okay?" I take my eyes off Niko and look at Fiona, whose looking at me, worried. Nodding, I head towards the stairs that lead to the bedroom Niko and I share. "I'm fine; I just have a headache; I'll be down in a bit." Fiona goes to say something, but Patrick yells her name. She looks over her shoulder, then back to me; faking a smile, I put my hand on her arm and squeeze it softly, "It's fine, I'm fine. Roll me a blunt for when I come back down, alright?"

She smiles small before nodding and turns around, walking back towards Patrick. I watch as he yanks her back onto his lap; looking from them to Niko, I see him still watching me. Frowning at him, I head up the stairs and into our room, shutting the door behind me. I head into our private bathroom, put my phone on the sink counter, and strip off my grimy clothes. I scoop them up and throw them into the basket as my phone vibrates. Groaning, I pick up my phone to see a text message from a random number. "The fuck?"

Opening the message, I read it a few times as my heart races,

"If you change your mind about actually listening to me, you know where to find me." Shaking my head, I delete the message and put my phone back on the counter before turning on the shower and letting it get hot enough. Once it's hotter, I step in and let the hot water wash over my shoulders. I turn toward the water and close my eyes as I put my face under—my mind races as I think back to the night that changed everything.