Shouts went up and two more gunshots rang out, but I didn’t look at what was happening, I didn’t care because in that moment all I could see was Jacob’s precious blood pumping from his chest, its sticky warmth coating my hands. The burn of heartbreak razed through my lungs, and I screamed again, my wail filling with heart-shattering agony as I sat, looking on helplessly while the love of my life bled to death in my arms.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
HENDRIX
The scream sent a chill down to my bones.
It sounded like an animal’s wail, and I shivered because whatever helpless creature was out there, it sounded like it was in pure agony.
Anna’s face whipped to face me as we walked past reception, and she asked, “What was that?”
My body jerked as two gunshots exploded from outside, and I froze for a split second before turning to my woman and resting my hands on each side of her neck, angling her face so she looked me directly in the eyes.
“Go get Sophie and Atlas,” I ordered, injecting urgency into my tone. “Then go to Dad and whatever happens, stay upstairs with JT.”
“Jamie—” she began, but I cut her off with a shake of my head.
“Don’t argue with me, Freckles. Just go.”
She jerked a nod and turned away to rush down the corridor, where thankfully the guest rooms were situated.
I headed for the doors, and taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders, preparing myself to walkoutside, all the while telling myself to brace for what I was about to see.
The last time there was a shootout here, Daisy and Ace were involved, and my heart began to pound at the prospect of seeing his smug face again. When it came to that asshole, anything was possible, and although I didn’t think he’d have the guts to show up at my place and say his shit with his chest, he was usually involved when trouble came knocking.
I was so convinced I’d see Ace that when I got outside, my body locked when I was confronted with the absolute fucking bloodbath on the steps of my hotel.
Sam Grady, the bass guitarist for Saint’s Rapture, and a client, lay on his back with half of the skull he had left tilted at an angle, with the one eye that hadn’t been blown off staring vacantly at the moon.
Another scream went up, and my head jerked down the steps to see Diablo trying to drag Saint away from Jacob, who lay on the floor, unmoving.
“No!” she shrieked. “He needs me. Let me go!”
“I need to see to him, Saint,” Diablo bellowed. “I need room. Let me help him.”
My throat closed up from the lump that formed there, and my brain short-circuited, my mouth opening in horror as I suddenly clocked the pools of blood dripping from the steps. There was so much that it had left a metallic scent hanging in the air, and it made my stomach churn. Even Saint was covered in the stuff. It was on her clothes, her face, even in her hair.
Diablo suddenly spotted me, and he bellowed, “Sam shot Iceman. Get help.”
My chest twisted.
What the fuck did he mean, Sam shot Iceman?
What the hell was going on?
At that moment, Saint managed to wriggle from D’s hold, and she raced toward Iceman, skidding ontoher knees and throwing her body on top of his, chanting, “No. No. No. Baby, please wake up, please.” She lifted his head so gently and so reverently that I could’ve cried. Instead, I gulped as she cradled Ice in her hands, sobbing, “Jacob, baby. Please wake up. Please don’t leave me, baby. I need you.”
“Jesus,” I rasped. My mind began to race, and I knew I had to pull my shit together, I just didn’t know how. I’d been to war, and I’d witnessed shit like this before, worse in fact, but seeing my best friend so unexpectedly laid out like that was screwing with my mind.
My fingers clenched and my jaw locked as I strode toward my brother with my heart in my mouth and my thoughts in tatters.
By the time I got to Ice, Diablo was already there, pulling Saint off him again.
She screamed again, but then suddenly, all the fight left her, and she turned and buried her face in Diablo’s chest, sobbing her grief out.
Horrified, I stared down at my brother’s dark blond hair, which, by that time, was stained with his own blood, and I just wanted to puke.
A familiar voice suddenly barked, “What the fuck?”
