Chapter 2

I kneeled on the cold, hard sidewalk, frozen with fear, waiting for the men to hold up their guns and kill Brax and his friends. They had no trouble killing the other man, so why would they care about ending three more lives and then mine.

"move! This has nothing to do with you," one of the men yelled at Brax. 

 One of Braxs friends placed his hand on his back. As he did, he lifted his shirt, revealing a gun. He didn't pull it out; instead, he just stood there ready. 

"This has everything to do with me," Brax said as he stepped closer to them. "you're on my father's streets harassing a young girl that I've already told you is with me", his voice was filled with confidence. He stood centimetres away from one of the men. "I'm sure my father would be less than impressed to find out you were on his territory."

The men hesitated, unsure of what to do next. They exchanged uneasy glances before finally backing away, muttering curses under their breath.

I let out the breath I had been holding, thankful that Brax and his friends hadn't ended up dead because of me. Brax turned around to face me holding out his hand to help me up. "Are you alright?" he asked, concern in his eyes. "it's not safe out here at night".

I stared at his hand for a second, trying to decide whether to accept his kind gesture or not. The idea of touching his hand made me feel sick, so I pulled myself up off the ground. "Thank you," I said as I did. I pushed past him and his friends and started to walk back the way I had come and the way the four men had gone. The only thing that was going through my head was that i had to go back and get whatever i was meant to collect for my stepfather or he would beat me when i got home. 

brax grabbed my arm, stopping me. "what the hell do you think you're doing? We just saved you from them killing you, and you want to go following after them".

I looked up at Brax, feeling a mix of fear and frustration. "I have to go back," I muttered, avoiding his gaze as I tried to pull my arm out of his grip. "I have something to pick up. If I don't, i can't go home"

Brax's expression softened. I think because he realised that I wasn't a stupid little girl out here getting myself into trouble but that I was scared and being forced to do something that endangered my life. Still holding on to my arm, not risking letting me go and having me run back into the arms of the four men who wanted me dead. He turned to his friends.  "go get it for her." 

Without any words spoken or questions asked, his two friends walked off doing what Brax had asked of them. "Dillion and Kasey will handle it", he said as he turned back to me.

I avoided looking him in the eyes; instead, I stared at his hand, still gripped to my arm. He noticed that I was staring and let me go. I took a few steps back, keeping my head low. Brax was much bigger than me, which intimidated me. I could feel his eyes studying me carefully as he took a step closer. "What's your name?" he asked softly.

I hesitated for a moment before finally answering, "Willow." My voice was barely above a whisper, but Brax heard me loud and clear.

He took another step towards me, making me step back and dump into the wall behind me. As I did, I looked up, my eyes meeting his as he stared down at me, his face softening more."You don't have to be scared of me. I'm not going to hurt you." He reached his hand out to brush a piece of hair from my face, but I shied away from him.

"I don't like being touched", I blurted out. 

"I understand," he said softly. "I won't touch you if you don't want me to." 

I was taken aback by the way he spoke. I stood there staring at him, not sure what to do from there. Butterflies were growing in my stomach as my heart raced. I couldn't work out what I was feeling. I'd never felt like this before, but I'd also never had someone be nice to me. We stood there in silence, staring into each other eyes. The sound of his friends coming towards us snapped me out of it, my eyes falling down to the ground as I felt my cheeks burning red with embarrassment. Brax took it from them and handed it to me. "Here," he said gently.

As I was taking it from him, one of his friends whispered something in his ear. With each word, Braxs face became harder. "who is your father?" he asked me his voice filled with anger.

Clinging onto the bag he had just handed him, I felt tears started to come into my eyes. "my father's dead." my voice filled with pain, but as I stood there looking at him, something came over me. I felt anger boiling inside of me. I went to walk past him, but he stopped me. 

"Who is the man you're taking that bag to?" his voice was softer, and I could tell he regretted asking me about my father.

I was so filled with anger that I ripped my arm out of his grip and turned to look at him. "it's none of your business," I spat at him. "just leave me alone." I didn't dare turn around as I stormed past him.

I could hear them talking as I walked away, but I ignored them, picking up my pass, the cold night air burning my face. I made sure I walked the long way around the building the men were in, not wanting to have to face them again.

The walk home seemed to take forever. My legs were burning from all the running that I did tonight, and I think that I'd grassed my knees when I fell over. As I got to the front door of my stepfather's house, I paused as I went to knock. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest I didn't want to face him, but I knew that I had to so i took a deep breath and knocked, taking a step back, the door opened a few seconds later, but i was greeted by nat, his daughter she stood there looking at me confused with what i was doing coming to the house i never came to the house. I cleared my throat. "I have something for your dad" I held out the bag to her.

She looked at it and said, " Ew, I'm not touching that. Give it to him yourself." She turned around and said, " Dad Willow has some gross-looking bag for you."

I stood there, not sure what to do. I didn't dare step inside, as I knew I wasn't ever allowed in the house. 

My stepfather appeared in the doorway, a scowl on his face as he took the bag from me. He looked at me, his eyes burning with anger, and walked closer to me; I closed the door behind him before grabbing me by the throat and lifting me off the ground. My hands came up, trying to lose his grip as I gasped for air. 

"if you ever bring my daughter into this again, I will make you pay", his voice burnt through my ears like a hot knife.

I struggled against his hold, gasping for air as panic set in. I could feel tears streaming down my face as he tightened his grip even more. "I-I'm sorry," I managed to croak out, my voice barely audible.

He finally released me, causing me to fall to the ground as I coughed and gasped for breath. He towered over me, his eyes filled with fury. "You're lucky I don't do worse to you," he growled before turning and walking back inside, slamming the door behind him.

I lay on the ground, shaking with fear and anger. How could he treat me like this. Why did I have to endure this treatment from someone who was supposed to care for me.

Slowly, I got up and wiped away my tears, making my way around the back of the house to go to my little flat. As I came inside, my body slowly started to relax now that I was alone. But as I turned on the light, I was met with Brax sitting on my bed, a look of concern on his face.

"Why wouldn't you tell me who you were giving the package to?" he asked, his voice soft.

Panic overtook me; if my stepfather found him here, he would kill us both. "you can't be here," I finally managed to say, my voice filled with fear.

"Who is he to you?" Brax stood up, coming towards me. His face no longer cared, and his eyes burned into me. I started backing up until my back was pressed against the door. Brax stood inches away from me, giving me no way to escape his tall frame towering over me. "Answer me!"

A wimper left my mouth i could hold my fear in any more. Unable to speak, I felt like all the air was being sucked out of me. His hand came up to my neck i closed my eyes tight scared of what he was about to do to me. 

"Who did this to you?" His voice was softer now, and I could feel his finger tracing. What I could only guess was a handprint wrapped around my neck. As his hand gently traced around my neck, the fear left my body. His hands were rough but gentle at the same time. I opened my eyes to meet his gaze, seeing a mixture of concern and anger in them.

"He's my stepfather," I whispered, barely able to get the words out.

Brax's expression hardened as he processed what I had said. "Is he the one who did this to you?" His eyes came up from my neck, and he stared deep into my eyes as though she was waiting for them to tell him a story. 

I swallowed down the butterflies that were going crazy in my stomach, trying to hold myself together and not melt into his touch. i couldn't let him know that it was my stepfather hurting me i knew what would happen. I shook my head. "the men earlier tonight did it," I lied, hoping that he would believe me.

Brax's eyes darkened with anger for a second as he pictured the men hurting me, but they soon softened as his hand came up, cupping my face. "Those men are going to pay for what they did to you," he said. His finger softly dragged across my lip, and for a second, I thought he was going to kiss me. A smirk came to his face as he pulled away from me. It was like he knew the effect that had on me right now. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he walked out, leaving me standing there feeling hot and bothered and disappointed that he hadn't kissed me.