The fucker had more chances than any abusive guy deserved, and he blew each one. Nadia was too weak and too selfless to put a cap on her own suffering. It was my job to draw the line she couldn’t draw herself.
This was it. Today was the end of Adrian’s involvement with Nadia. Either he would give up and walk away, or I would make sure he would be sentenced to jail, his sins tattooed on his back for the inmates to see.
He wouldn’t come out of there alive.
Nadia opened her mouth to protest, but one look into my eyes changed her mind. I knew she wanted to check if Adrian was mentally stable, but more than that, she wanted to show me he was truly just a ghost from the past, that he wasn’t more important than me.
“I trust you.” She pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “And I love you.”
She walked around me, careful not to glance at Adrian. Scorpio draped his hand over her shoulders, leading her back inside the building. My muscles relaxed just a touch when she was out of view, nowhere near the scumbag that still laid on the ground, unconscious.
“It didn’t take him long to get here,” Nick said, grasping a fistful of his hair. “Did he say anything? I mean… How the fuck did he know where we were tonight?”
Good question, although it was irrelevant. He was here, in London, and he almost cornered Nadia. It was a close call, a near miss that was never supposed to happen.
“Call Ty,” I said. “And maybe an ambulance.”
Movement behind my back threw me right back into combat mode. Adrian opened one eye, coughing and gasping for air while trying to pull himself up enough to sit. All I thought about was punching his face to keep him on the ground. I didn’t move, though, watching as he sat on the curb. He spat blood on the ground and cracked his neck while I cracked my knuckles, ready to land another series of precise punches if he would take as much as half a step forward.
Adrian wiped his face with the sleeve of his jacket and his one working eye looked to me.
“You should’ve killed me, man.”
It wasn’t a threat. It sounded like a plea; like a cry for help. Murder lost the appeal. I wasn’t going to do him any fucking favours, even if it meant watching him die.
“That would mean twenty-five years behind bars, and you’re not worth it. But you get accustomed to that idea.”
“You want to turn me in?” He scoffed, wiping blood off his face with the sleeve of his hoodie. “Have you thought it through? You think Nadia will handle the pressure of giving detailed statements?”
Nick jumped forward, hitting Adrian’s face twice, but it did little damage. Adrian remained in place, sitting on the curb, his knees bent, arms resting on the ground for support.
Nick’s sudden outburst was overdue, but his courage took me aback.
“I fuckingtrustedyou,” he seethed. “I thought you’d put a ring on her! How can you live with yourself?!”
“I can’t,” Adrian said in a brittle voice. “There’s no living with that.”
Nick stepped back his fists clenched at his sides.
“I love her more than life, Nick. I’d give up everything to turn back time and never start using… One night. One mistake.” He roughed his hair. “I lost her that night, but I didn’t want to accept it.”
Blood thickened in my veins again. It was a fucking torture to stand five feet away from the guy and hold my rage on a leash.
“If you loved her, you wouldn’t be here. You’d do whatever it takes to stay away,” I hissed, glaring into the one eye he held open.
“I came to apologise and say goodbye. Where is she?” He cringed, trying to stand. “I need to talk to her.”
Nick scoffed. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You’re delusional if you think either of us is letting you see her.”
Adrian pulled himself up and rested against the wall. “I don’t want her to remember me the way she saw me last time…”
“Drugged and battering her?” I asked. “It’s been a month since she came back, but she still wakes up gasping for air. You don’t deserve a chance to apologise. You don’t deserve a chance to right the wrongs and believe me—I’ll make sure you won’t move your hands for the rest of your life if you show your face around here again.”
“That won’t be long,” he scoffed. “You know what the worst part of all this is? She already forgave me. After everything I did, she still cared enough to make sure I agreed to get help.”
“Looks like it didn’t fucking work,” Nick seethed. “Leave, Adrian. Leave and don’tevercome back.”
He took a small envelope out of the back pocket of his jeans. “I didn’t think you’d let me talk to her, but I want you to give her this when you feel it’s time.” He waited until I took the envelope. “For what it’s worth, I really am sorry. Take care of her, Thomas. She’s the best that happened to the both of us.”