Kinsley ~
My eyes fluttered open as the credits rolled on our movie. Dane must have been just as tired as I had been because he was still sleeping soundly next to me on the massive couch.
I sat up and pressed play for the next movie in the trilogy we'd decided to watch. The surround sound boomed around me causing Dane's eyes to open slightly.
"You okay?" He asked in a groggy voice that was thick with sleep.
"Yeah, I'm gonna run to the bathroom before the second movie starts." I said quietly.
"Okay baby." Dane mumbled, closing his eyes again and raising his arm, releasing me from his hold.
The tiled floor was cold on my bare feet as I made my way to the small bathroom next to the media room, grateful for a break from the sound of the movie that Dane had cranked up ridiculously loud.
I stood and washed my hands, but jumped when I heard a muffled scream echo from down the hall.
What the hell was that?
Opening the bathroom door slowly, I peeked my head around the door frame and listened through the quiet. Another scream.
"Dane?" I called out quietly, but got no response.
I reached out and pushed the media room door open, revealing Dane still sound asleep on the couch.
Another scream bounced off of the tile floor and hit my ears, causing me to whip my head to the right.
It's not Dane and it's not the movie. Is Tyson home? Is he screaming?
My feet moved quickly and silently down a hall that I'd never explored before until I followed the sound to a door.
Another scream.
My curiosity was overpowering my fear and I quietly grasped the handle and turned it, revealing nothing but a staircase.
The basement. Someone's screaming in the basement.
Tyson kept his word and must have been in the basement with the men who had trashed my apartment. I felt my heart rate pick up as another loud gut wrenching scream floated up the stairs.
I knew I should have gone back to the media room. That I should have shut that door and walked away, forgetting I'd ever seen it, but I didn't. I was too curious. I wanted to see what Tyson was doing. I wanted to see the faces of the men who had tried to hurt me and most of all, a part of me wanted to see what Tyson was capable of.
Deep down I knew I wasn't going to like what I was about to see, but I needed to see every part of Tyson, even the parts that were difficult to witness.
Before I could reason with myself, my foot extended down onto the stairs and I quietly tip toed my way down to a second door.
Holding my breath, I twisted the handle and opened it as silently as I could, letting a sliver of light escape the room as I peeked through the crack.
My eyes went wide and my breath hitched in my throat at what I saw. Multiple men were beating and two people that were chained to the floor. They were mercilessly beating and cutting the men as they begged for their lives, groaning and screaming between blows.
There was blood spraying and the sound of thudding of fists and crunching bone.
My eyes searched the room until they landed on Tyson. The leader, who was leaned against a counter that was full of weapons, watching the beating take place with a sadistic expression on his face.
I watched him check the magazine of the gun in his hand before snapping it in place and waving at the men which caused them to stop the attack.
Oh my God I'm about to witness Tyson kill someone.
I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move, I was frozen in place watching Tyson's massive muscular body approach the two bloodied men on the ground. His shoulders were pinned back and his expression was hardened and furious with eyes that were hollow and lifeless, like an animal.
Tysons lip snarled up in disgust at the men in front of him before he spoke.
"You attacked my girl's home, scared her half to death, and destroyed her possessions...I'm gonna end your life for that."
Before you could process his words six shots rang out. They were so loud it made my ears ring and my body jump as my hands flew up to cover my ears.
Tyson stood there with his shoulders rising and falling with angry breaths, surveying his kills as silence consumed the room.
I took a few steps back, away from the door and felt like I was going to hyperventilate at the sight of the two dead bodies, staring sightless or at the ceiling.
There's so much blood.
A small gasp escaped my lips before I could stop it, causing Tyson to whip his head in my direction.
No, no, no.
He charged toward the door and flung it open as I pressed my back against the wall.
"What the fuck are you doing down here Kinsley?" He yelled, causing my jittery body to jump in response to the volume of his deep voice.
"I'm s-sorry." I stammered.
"I told you I didn't want you to see this shit!"
He was furious and screaming at me, but I knew he wasn't going to hurt me. Tyson would never hurt me.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
"I...I was just...I heard..." I couldn't form a complete sentence as my body started to shake and my eyes darted toward the two dead men on the ground.
"I asked you a fucking question!" Tyson roared.
The door at the top of the stairs flew open and Dane's eyes grew wide at the sight of me and Tyson at the basement door.
"And where the fuck were you? You had one fucking job, to keep her out of the goddamn basement!"
"It's not his f-fault. We fell asleep and I got up to go to the bathroom and heard screaming."
"Shit." Dane muttered as he squeezed his eyes shut and ran his hand through his hair as he came down the steps.
"What did you see Kinsley?" Dane asked.
"She saw be pump Franky and Massimo full of lead that's for damn sure." Tyson growled.
"I'm sorry." I whimpered.
"This can't happen again. Something needs to be done" Tyson said in a cold voice that made my heart sink.
What if they send me away?
My heart started to hammer against my ribs and the thought and panic completely consumed me.
"Please! I...I'm so sorry!" I said loudly.
"I told you I didn't want you to see this shit. That I never wanted you to be afraid of me." Tyson said with a hint of pain in his voice.
"I'm not!" I pleaded.
Tyson studied my cowered posture, my shaking body, and my wide eyes before he tipped his head up with a sadistic laugh.
"Oh you're not?" He said almost maliciously before he grabbed me harshly by the arm and led me into the basement.
"Everyone get the fuck out," he snarled at his own men, who left in a hurry.
"Tyson what the hell are you doing?" Dane asked in a cold voice with his brows furrowed into a hard line.
"She said she's not afraid of me. So let's just see about that shall we."
Tyson left me standing in the middle of the basement, just a few feet from the tarp that held the dead men as he turned and grabbed a clean knife from the counter in front of him.
My eyes darted toward the knife in his hand then back to his eyes that were darkened and predatory.
"How about now little Kinsley? You scared of me now?"
This is some sort of fucked up test, but I know you'd never hurt me Tyson.
"No." I said in a shaky voice as I swallowed hard.
Tyson huffed out a breath, taking several angry steps toward me, grabbing hold of my neck with one hand and pressing the tip of the blade against my throat.
"And now? What about now?" Tyson growled against my hair.
"What the fuck Tyson!" Dane screamed, charging forward to intervene.
"Back the fuck up Dane, let her answer me!" Tyson yelled over his shoulder.
"You know I hurt people for a living. I'm pretty skilled with these." Tyson said maliciously with the point of the blade against my throat.
"I'm not afraid of you, Tyson." I said, looking him in the eyes.
"You should be." He growled.
I felt a tiny sting at my throat and knew he'd broken my skin, but didn't react.
"Tyson." Dane warned in a deep voice, taking a step forward.
"I know you'd never hurt me Tyson. I'm not afraid of you." I said again with growing confidence in my voice.
"Why not? You just watched me kill two people and I've got a knife to your goddamn throat!" He screamed.
I know you're trying to convince me that you're unworthy of love and trust, but I'm not buying it.
"Because I trust you." I said, watching his expression soften a fraction.
"Why would you trust me? You know what I'm capable of."
He pressed the knife harder against my flesh.
"Because I love you."
The words escaped my lips before I could stop them, but once they were spoken into the open air I felt relief and satisfaction that I had finally said them out loud.
"What?" Tyson asked as his hold on me loosened and his expression softened.
"I love you. I love you both and I'm sorry. Please don't send me away."
Several tears escaped my eyes at the thought.
Tyson lifted the blade from my throat and dropped it on the ground as if it had burned his skin.
"Send you away?" Dane asked, moving in to comfort me.
My subtle tears started to turn into sobs as my shoulders rose and fell with every raspy breath I struggled for.
"I know I messed up. I did exactly what you asked me not to do and I'm sorry. Please let me stay." I sobbed.
The anger in Tysons eyes was now gone and he used his strong arms to pull me against his chest.
"Shhh. I'm so sorry Kins. We're not going to send you away baby." Tyson soothed in my ear.
I felt Dane close in on me from behind until I was wedged between them.
"I'm not scared of you Tyson. The only thing that scares me is the thought of losing you - both of you...I love you." I sobbed and hiccuped the words that were so very heavy on my heart.
"We love you too Kinsley." Dane said.
"So fucking much." Tyson confirmed.
It wasn't the way I had imagined that conversation to happen, but despite the extreme circumstances that surrounded them, those words couldn't be unsaid - they couldn't be unfelt. Those words fed my soul and spread warmth through my entire body. I was theirs...and they were mine.
*****
Thoughts or theories? ❤️