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Author’s Notes…
There’s been an additional companion novel to add to the list. Let Me Love You. If you don’t know El Olorun, you should meet him there.
His business is mentioned in this chapter, but I don’t know if that will be the extent of his involvement.
This was a pivotal chapter because Zuri discovers a lot and is deeply conflicted. I loved putting her in danger and just getting her to understand the violence she’s involved herself in.
Should she walk away? Would you walk away?
And then I think it was a cherry on top how I ended this chapter.
What do you think?
Enjoy. Happy Reading. Your author, Sylvia Hubbard
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…Enjoy. Happy Reading. Your author, Sylvia Hubbard
Chapter 24 – What’s in the Box?
Fear gripped her heart. Her mind raced with disconnected thoughts as if trying to outrun the reality closing in on her. A quick flash of the knife’s glint seemed to reflect her fate, and she felt a cold sweat trickle down her spine, her skin prickling like icy needles. Her pulse pounded relentlessly in her ears, drowning out everything else. Rodney could kill her. She might not survive once he got what he wanted. Desperation clawed at her insides, helplessness seeping through every fiber as she realized there was nothing she could do.
Rodney ripped the turtle neck, squeezing her breast with his free hand until she cringed and cried out from the pain.
Seized in fear, she could only whimper as Rodney rubbed his grubby, oil-coated face against her cheek and moved to her neck. His saliva felt like wet sandpaper as he pressed his lips against her collarbone. “Mmmm, you smell so fucking good, Zuri. You always smelled so good.” He murmured with a chilling tone of possession before he licked up her shoulder and then salivated into her ear.
The disgusted bile gurgitating in her stomach was even more than earlier as his breath reeked with alcohol, old food, and excremental-smelling spit. At the same time, his grimy hand moved down into her pants, yanking at the folds of her womanhood and trying to stick his fingers in.
She began to squirm, but he pressed the blade harder, and she felt a sharp sting and gasped.
“You always tasted good, Zuri. Damn, I miss your taste, but you were so damn tight.”
He was breathing his soiled breath all over her face, and Zuri was increasingly becoming more bilious by millisecond from his touch and words.
Deeply engrossed in touching her with his back to the door, Rodney was consumed with trying to rip her clothes from her body. A distant pounding began to echo, barely perceptible through the haze of the grotesque moment. In the vulnerable quiet between each impact, Zuri’s heartbeat quickened, each beat louder than the last. Her mind spun through urgent thoughts—was there someone coming, or was it just her imagination, clinging desperately to hope? The pounding grew more insistent, a grim countdown towards something inevitable. With a sudden, jarring clarity, the noise finally culminated in a shattering crash, slicing through her fear and filling the air with anticipation.
Rodney swung her around to the desecrated door barely hanging on the hinges, and Zuri was sure it would be Lucas coming to save her, but instead, FT was ripping the door off the hinges, throwing it to the side, and coming into the doctor’s office.
“You motherfucker!” FT raged with a murderous glare on his face.
Damn! Why was she relieved to see him of all people? He was dressed in a black dress shirt and black jeans, with that damn hat low on his head so she couldn’t see the top of his face, but she knew it was him.
Rodney backed away, dragging her with him, still keeping the knife on her throat. “Get the fuck out of the way, bitch, or she dies.”
“You sure about that?” FT smirked as if Rodney had promised him a good time.
Before she could blink again, FT had pulled a slim ballistic knife from behind him, and it shrieked past her head. It must’ve hit Rodney because her ex-fiancé released her and howled in pain. For a moment, a cocktail of fear and awe rushed through her veins as she witnessed FT’s deadly precision. The knife was an instrument of dire consequence, and Zuri’s immediate instinct was both one of distress and a strange, unwelcome reverence for his skill. It was a moment that hinted at a complex bond forming in the depths of her consciousness, foreshadowing a tangled allegiance that would challenge her understanding of loyalty.
FT yanked her to him and nearly dragged and carried her out to the parking lot. Lucas was running up to them with his gun drawn as FT shoved her towards the bodyguard. “Get her the fuck out of here,” FT ordered and started to head back to the doctor’s office.
“Don’t you kill him!” Zuri shouted to him as Lucas dragged himself to the safety of his vehicle.
“I’m going to get my favorite knife out of his shoulder, little queen,” FT said over his shoulder, almost skipping back into the doctor’s office.
Why’d he sound like he was about to have a lot of fun?
And why would Zuri care if Rodney lived or died?
Next thing she heard was maniacal screaming coming from Rodney as Lucas dragged her to the vehicle, got her inside, and took off. Dread filled her, and she wanted to scream for Lucas to turn around and help Rodney. There was a part of her that couldn’t stand the thought of him suffering, even despite the hell he put her through. Maybe it was the memories of their happier times or some twisted sense of loyalty that lingered from the past. She didn’t want his death on her hands, but she had a feeling FT would tear the man up just like he did Richie.
Zuri looked back at the doctor’s office, just in time to see Magnum jump out of a large SUV and run inside. How’d he know to get over there? He was wearing the same clothes he’d been wearing the night before, looking like he’d just been in the fight of his life.
“What the fuck, Zuri?!” Lucas charged as he dipped and dived through traffic as if fire was on their ass. “Oh fuck! Oh fuck! I gotta call Mr. Black!”
Feeling slightly safe, Zuri put her face in her hands and cried. What the hell was happening? How could some small amount of money cause so much trouble in her life? And had Rodney been with her the whole time because of the money? And had Zuri moving out and not supplying her mother with ‘loans’ provoke Brenda to act a fool and want to kill her daughter?
Since Mr. Black’s office was only downtown, Lucas headed there and then escorted her up the back entrance, but they didn’t get off on the lawyer’s floor. They went up two floors, and Lucas opened another office door. The room was dimly lit, with a higher view of Detroit stretching out beyond the window. A single, low steel desk stood out, its surface barren save for the glow of a desk lamp. Behind it, a well-worn leather chair slouched like a forgotten relic. Across the room lay a simple love seat, but it was the wall that drew the eye, laden with an impressive selection of liquor. This vivid contrast gave the space an unsettling feel, as though it was simultaneously sparse and indulgent.
“There’s a private bathroom over there that you can use, and Mr. Black is delivering some clothes up in just a moment,” Lucas said, moving very close to her.
Her trauma made her step back and protectively cross her arms to hold her torn turtle neck together and pants up. She hadn’t looked down to see the damage Rodney had really caused to her clothes until then. What was once pristine was dirty and ripped. She looked like what she felt on the inside, and this brought more tears to her eyes.
She needed another moment, and without another word, she turned around to go into the bathroom to lock herself inside. Dirt was all over her face, and she needed to wash herself up because all she could do was smell Rodney’s nastiness on her.
There was a small shower available, and Zuri took advantage of it. There was a sealed guest bag in the closet where the towels were kept, and she used that. The bag held a new toothbrush and toothpaste, a bar of vanilla soap, and a bottle of vanilla lotion. While she was in the shower, letting the hottest water run over her, she heard Lucas knocking on the locked door. Tensing up, Zuri did not respond to the knock, only listened.
“I’m leaving your clothes outside the door,” he said.
She didn’t relax until she heard his footsteps walk away from the door. Quickly, she finished up and stepped out of the shower. Just as she opened the door to grab the clothes, she heard another door open. Zuri couldn’t see around the corner to the office area from the bathroom door.
“Where the fuck is she?” Magnum demanded.
“She’s in the shower,” Lucas answered quickly. “She’s really fucked up, sir. I think we should take her to the-“
Magnum snarled, “OUT!”
Zuri closed the bathroom door quietly and took a deep breath. Quickly, she put on the lavender long-sleeved, ankle-length maxi dress and a light pink cardigan, the sleeves reaching the floor. There was a brand-new pair of white underwear and a matching tank top with a bra. She used the scarf she had used as a belt on the pants she’d been wearing to tie around her neck and cover her bruises.
She had her purse with her to touch up her makeup, and once she felt ready to face the world, she left the bathroom to find him standing by the window. He was holding a drink in his hands, and she could see a slight tremble that he was trying to hide. She still had the powder in her purse, but she knew it would be difficult to sneak anything into his glass right now.
You’re going to have to distract him, she determined. That is, if he hadn’t already downed several before she’d come out.
He’d removed his jacket and tie, but she was still sure those were the same clothes he’d worn last night, with lots of wear and tear. Had he wrestled with Rodney and FT before getting there? There was a thickening of his facial hair, and she saw him quickly put the drink down on his desk. As he did so, she noticed bruises and scars on his knuckles and wrist before he shoved his hands back in as if hiding something.
They stared at each other for a long moment as they stood only a couple of feet away from each other.
Zuri wasn’t sure what to ask first, but she knew she wasn’t afraid of him. Not like she had been scared of Rodney.
“Did FT hurt you?” Magnum asked.
That was not what she was suspecting he’d ask first. “No, but I kicked him out of my room last night as soon as I knew it wasn’t you. I would have called you, but you never gave me your direct number. I did let Lucas-“
Magnum cut her off. “I wasn’t talking about last night, Zuri. I was talking about today at the doctor’s office. He was pissed as hell seeing that ex-little shit touching you. I probably would have hurt both of you, too, trying to get that filth off of you.”
As Magnum spoke, Zuri felt her shoulders relaxing slightly, an involuntary response that marked her growing comfort in his presence. Despite the chaos, a subtle sense of security was forming around him that didn’t exist when FT was near. Zuri was starting to like how Magnum refused to use people’s names once he couldn’t stand them.
“No, FT actually saved me. Although his methods were cruel and dangerous, they worked in making Rodney let me go. How’d you know to come to the doctor’s office?”
He moved to her, smooth yet kept her gaze like a lion hunting his prey, and she noted that the familiar scent of alcohol that was usually on his breath wasn’t there.
Was she already a distraction for him? Would he rather have her over a drink?
“I was alerted,” Magnum responded as his eyes looked her over, lingering over her lips and then moving to her neck.
The scarf didn’t match what she was wearing, but she didn’t want people to ask questions about the bruises.
Worriedly, she asked, “Did FT kill Rodney?”
“No, I stopped him in time,” Magnum said as his eyes returned to her lips.
Gawd, she wished she could know what he was thinking or feeling.
The air in the room felt heavy and sharp with unspoken words. Zuri could barely make eye contact under Magnum’s intense glare, which he seemed always to have. Yet, she still wasn’t afraid of him. In that charged pause, she couldn’t help but hope for a moment of connection, a silent understanding that might bridge the chasm between them. She longed for reassurance, something that would anchor her amidst the chaos of emotions swirling around her.
“How do you know us apart?” he asked.
She looked up and frowned. That was a weird question to ask. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Zuri, we’re twins. No one’s ever been able to tell us apart.”
Stepping away, she was mentally bowled over by this revelation. “Twins? You don’t…” She fumbled to explain how she could tell them apart, but realized how Lucas had assumed Magnum had been there last night, and she hadn’t said anything.
Of course, that’s how FT had probably been stalking her around Lucas because…
You didn’t see our nuances, our connection? How are we built alike?” He questioned as if he didn’t believe her. Zuri opened her mouth to respond, but something made her hesitate.
Suddenly, she realized that FT’s smile tilted slightly differently from the way she remembered Magnum’s. It was subtle, but enough to disturb her sense of familiarity. A familiar gesture now seemed foreign, like a missing puzzle piece that barely shifted but derailed the entire picture. It was this realization that planted a seed of doubt in her mind, prompting her to step back mentally. “I didn’t put it together. I never saw his face all the way with the cap… and the way you two hate each other.”
“That further bothers me,” Magnum grumbled. “All our lives, people have done things to try to separate us so that they could tell us apart, but it’s never worked. And you’ve been the first to distinguish us.”
Zuri was very aware that he was moving towards her, and the lower baritone in his voice sent hot chills up her spine and made her brain cells tingle. She knew she didn’t dare make eye contact when she felt like this, but she was fascinated by how he could charge her body without touching her, just as he had when they first met. Something familiar about him pulled at her, a deep-seated craving for his touch, his proximity, and more.
But there was a momentary pause, a fleeting whisper of caution in her mind. She weighed her attraction against the fresh memory of Rodney’s violence, a mental calculus that balanced desire against self-preservation. Her heart raced, torn between the thrill of what Magnum represented and the fragile echoes of trauma yet to be silenced. This internal debate did little to dim the sharp intensity of her feelings, but it acknowledged the complexity of wanting so soon after what had happened.
Rodney had never done anything like this to her, and Zuri was mentally and physically in flux about how to feel and what to do. She wasn’t used to handling sexual intensity from a real man.
“I can tell the difference from the way I feel,” she tried to explain. “FT doesn’t make me feel safe.”
Magnum moved even closer, where he could slowly touch the opening of her cashmere jacket.
Zuri gasped, seeing how his hands looked like he’d been punching concrete. “What happened? Did you guys kill Rodney?”
Magnum rolled his eyes. “No, but we should have after what FT said that piece of shit did to you. I’m glad you washed that filth off of you before I got here. I stopped FT so the police could collect the body and not the morgue.”
Suspiciously, she looked at him. “But?”
Grounding his teeth, he admitted, “That shithead won’t be able to breathe right for a couple of weeks. He avoided the police when they came to raid your mother’s house. They were trying to pick both of them up after that coworker’s confession, but the fucker used your mother as a shield and was able to evade the police. He must’ve been following you in a stolen car from the hotel. And with his knowledge of getting in and out of doctors’ buildings, he slipped through the medical center too easily. Although the smell of him should have alerted someone.”
She almost became nauseous remembering Rodney’s smell.
His hand returned to her cashmere as his fingertips grazed the soft fabric, the sensation tingling against her skin like static electricity. As his fingers continued to ascend to the scarf, she caught a faint whiff of leather, as if his presence carried the essence of danger and allure. Why did she desire him to push it off her body and pull her to him? With a flick of his wrist, the garment unraveled and fell away.
“Now finish telling me how you know the difference between me and FT?”
Meeting his eyes, feeling a fire in his glare that brought a flash of heat all over her, she admitted, “With you, it’s different, Magnum. I feel safe, but reckless.”
“How reckless, Zuri?” he inquired, his voice soft but much deeper.
Fuck! She would do anything he damn well asked for with that tone of voice. Before she had a chance to tell him that, the side door she’d come in burst open, and Zuri jumped forward pressing herself to Magnum for safety.
His arms came around her, holding her as they both watched FT walk in with a large white bag. He’d change into a light green dress shirt, matching shoes, and black dress pants. He wasn’t wearing his hat, and she gasped, realizing FT looked exactly like Magnum. From the way the hair on his face and head was cut, she could see why no one else could tell the difference between them.
FT’s eyes licked up her body and then cut cruelly with his shoulders stiffening imperceptibly, seeing her pressed against Magnum.
Was he jealous?
The revelation that Magnum and FT were twins hit her like a sudden crackle of static from a broken radio, distorting her thoughts into a mad dance of disbelief.
Sucking on his teeth, FT dropped the bag on the desk extra dramatically to make a thudding noise. His eyes flickered briefly, a shadow of something raw and unreadable, before he spoke with envy woven into his words. “Did I interrupt the party? Or can I join in?”
It was challenging to put into words what she was thinking, and she couldn’t stop staring wide-eyed, fascinated by FT.
“What the fuck is wrong with her?” FT snarled, looking at Magnum as if his brother had done something.
“Most likely getting over the shock. She still didn’t know we were twins,” Magnum said calmly, with a hint of disappointment, but he tightened up his arms. “And that’s a no about joining because I know you’re dead serious. She has an appointment to get to.”
FT’s eyes narrowed as if he were trying to see something they were hiding.
Zuri pushed softly away from Magnum, but didn’t move too far from him as she faced FT. “What did you do to Rodney?” she demanded.
“Mag, you didn’t tell her?” He addressed his brother, but his eyes never left her.
“I told her enough,” Magnum admitted. “She’s just recovering, FT.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Magnum. She’s tougher than she looks, trust me.”
Zuri felt they were having some secret conversation about her. “I’m better,” she responded, yet she stayed at arm’s length from Magnum.
Again, FT sucked on his teeth as if he were deciding between killing someone or being cordial. “I damn near tried to cut that fuckers fingers off for trying to hurt you, Zuri.”
Zuri hissed in terror, “I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t have to,” FT retorted. “It was going to be done for touching you.” He shrugged and nodded to his brother. “Magnum broke two ribs, punctured a lung, and damn near tried to put his fist down your ex’s throat to snatch out his heart.”
She looked at Magnum accusingly for leaving out those details. As the violence against Rodney was recounted, a moral dilemma churned within her. Zuri questioned herself, ‘Is this kind of brutality justified in the name of protection, or do I become complicit by accepting it?’ The thought of allowing such brutality weighed heavily on her conscience, defining the boundaries of her tolerance. It was becoming increasingly complex to tell which brother was worse, prompting her to reflect further on where she drew the line between protection and savagery.
A knock suddenly came to the main door of Magnums’ office.
“Are you in there, Mag?” a male voice said.
Magnum went over to his desk and pressed a button on his phone. “What?!” he snarled.
The voice on the other side of the door said on the phone’s speaker, “Do you know why a Bianchi’s law firm and Olorun Investments would be inquiring about our books?”
“Don’t care!” Magnum hung the phone up and looked at FT, cracking his knuckles. “Shut the fuck up. And if you didn’t come here for something other than fucking up the rest of my day, you can fucking leave. I’ve cleaned up enough of your mess.”
The animosity between the brothers was like a gut punch to her. Zuri was in a state of emotional flux, trying to figure out their relationship. Did they want to kill each other? Or work together? There was an unspoken tension that hinted at a deeper wound, a shared past trauma that neither seemed ready to confront. The silence between them was thick with unresolved issues, as if a history were begging to be unraveled.
“And did you tell her how you cleaned up my mess so cleanly to the police?” FT asked with a bit of humor glinting in his voice. “Wouldn’t it seem strange he could get away with the damage they think he did to Rodney all by himself?”
Again, she looked at Magnum for an explanation.
“Why would she need to know what I do in my free time?” Magnum asked his brother. “Or I could gladly show you, FT, if you’re looking for some entertainment.”
“What do you do?” Zuri asked.
“He likes to punch people in the face to stop his hands from shaking,” FT answered.
At the same time, Magnum shoved his hands in his pants again.
“The underground fighting,” she said, remembering what Tyler had said about Magnum.
FT wickedly smirked, but then his eyes found her again. “Little queen, come here.”
“Wait,” Magnum interjected. “Weapons, first, FT.”
“I’m not in a killing mood anymore, and she’s not leaving until I get what I came for, Magnum,” FT said.
“On the desk, FT,” Magnum pressed.
Reaching behind him, FT withdrew a three-inch knife and then took two other ballistic knives from his left sleeve.
“All of them,” Magnum snipped.
“I’m not going to bend down to grab a knife from my leg to stab her, Mag.”
Magnum hissed, “I’m not asking you twice.”
FT pulled up his pants leg and removed a five-inch titanium double-edged hunting knife strapped to his leg. “Happy?” he sneered, dropping it loudly on the desk.
Zuri looked at Magnum at first; he ground his teeth but reluctantly nodded, giving her permission. Deep down inside, she knew FT wasn’t going to hurt her, but she liked getting Magnum’s permission before doing what this other brother said.
The disapproval was clearly etched on FT’s face as she approached him, bravely looking up at him. Zuri was still fascinated by the fact that they were twins, but even when they didn’t speak, she could tell them apart. FT gave off malicious, deathly vibes while Magnum had a dark presence that drew her in. Both spoke danger to her soul, but Magnum pulled at something raw and wild that she wanted more of.
Curiosity was killing her to know what FT needed from her to leave, and she was turned on that Magnum had given her permission. Zuri moved past the desk, its top filled with weapons within arm’s reach of the very dangerous brother.
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He Touched Me (c) 2026 Sylvia Hubbard All Rights Reserved
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- Companion Books
- Stealing Innocence 1
- Black’s Innocence
- Sin’s Iniquity
- The Other Side of Love (WIP)
- Tanner’s Devil
- Dreams of Reality
- Emperors Addiction / Heart
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