“She’s in here!” Pete says over his shoulder, before slipping through the door crack and stepping through the puddle of blood straight to me.
His brows are pinched in determination as he wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me. I squeeze his neck tightly as my legs try to wrap around his waist, my dress hindering my movement a bit.
“Fuck, angel. You have no idea how worried I’ve been,” he says as a loud bang has my head lifting to watch Dex push the door open further, letting his large body enter.
His eyes meet mine, and I see the relief there. Sly enters behind him, his eyes boring into me, right before Jagger enters. Even his normal control cracks as relief floods his gaze.
“Thank you for coming for us,” I whisper to Pete, and he squeezes me tighter.
“I’ll always come, angel.”
“I know.” I pull back a bit so I can grip his face in my hands as I whisper, “I love you.”
I press my lips firmly to his, and he returns the action, his lips moving over mine before Dex breaks us up. “Let me have her.”
Pete lowers me as I unhook my feet and set them on the ground. I don’t even have a chance to turn before I’m lifted up against Dex’s large body. I hug him the same way I did Pete as he rocks me back and forth. “Stop leaving me,” he tells me. “I can’t take it.”
“I didn’t exactly do it by choice,” I tell him as I pull back to kiss him.
“I know, baby. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
He sets me on my feet as Sly grabs my hand and turns meto face him. He doesn’t pull me close; instead, he looks me up and down. “You are okay, aren’t you?”
My eyes dart to Carlos' dead body, one of many in the room, and Sly follows my gaze. “What happened in here?”
I look to Elias for help in answering, not sure I can even process what’s happened, let alone get the words out.
He points his gun at Carlos as he explains, “He tried to rape her, so I killed him.” Four sets of alarmed eyes swing my way.
I squirm, feeling a lot of emotions I can’t even seem to nail down as those words sink in.
“Elias stopped him before anything bad happened,” I reassure them.
“I barricaded the door, but Robert and three men eventually got in. He admitted to killing their parents because he was jealous of her. Then Wren pretended to go with her brother, and killed him while I took out the other three.” Everyone looks around in silence, taking in the story. “That’s pretty much it. What about you? Were you fighting Robert’s men?”
“Yes,” Sly says, returning to business as he steps forward and hugs me into his chest. “We killed quite a few, but there are probably more of them around. We need to be on our guard.”
“We'd better get out of here before Ivan or the feds show up,” Elias agrees.
Jagger pulls me from Sly’s hold and cups my face. His eyes bore into mine as if he’s checking that I’m really okay. I grip his wrists and give him a tight smile as I whisper, “I’m okay.” He nods once, and my smile relaxes. “I missed you.”
He bends down and presses his lips to mine, kissing mefiercely before picking me up, holding me tight as I wrap my arms and legs around him.
Elias leads the way, the barrel of his gun steady as he steps through the pools of blood soaking into the floorboards. The smell of it hangs in the air, metallic and suffocating. Jagger shifts me higher in his arms, careful with each step so he doesn’t slip.
The dresser that had once blocked the door sits shoved aside, the splintered door frame evidence of how hard Robert’s men forced their way in. Elias moves through the narrow opening first, Sly right behind him, scanning the hallway with quick, practiced sweeps.
Jagger follows, carrying me tight against his chest as he steps over the bodies that still lie where they fell earlier. I keep my face pressed to his shoulder, letting the steady rhythm of his breathing ground me.
Dex and Pete close in behind us, their boots heavy and tense on the floor as we finally move out into the hall. The house is eerily quiet now.
We only make it a few steps before two of Robert’s men burst out of a side room, their boots pounding the floor and their guns already rising. The sudden movement slams my pulse into overdrive. I jolt against Jagger’s chest, fingers digging into the back of his shirt as a startled gasp escapes me.
Elias reacts first. He pivots hard, body angling in front of us as his gun flashes. The shot cracks through the hallway, deafening in the tight space. It hits the first man square in the chest, stopping his momentum mid-stride. He falls backward, hitting the wall before sliding lifelessly to the floor.
The second man is faster. He firesas he moves, his bullet tearing past Pete’s arm and punching into the wall behind him in an explosion of wood and plaster. Pete doesn’t flinch. His face sharpens, cold and furious, and he swings his own gun toward him with practiced aim. His shot rings out a heartbeat later. It hits the man in the forehead so cleanly that his body drops straight down, like someone cut the strings holding him up.
For a moment, nobody speaks as we stare at the two dead bodies. Then, as if it didn’t happen, they all lift their gazes, and we continue moving.
