He quickly starts to move away as my eyes grow impossibly wide in shock.He didn’t see me?And who’s firing guns? Could it be that my guys have somehow found me? A guy like Ivan is likely to have many enemies, though.
I decide my safest option is to remain hidden. I don’t want to have gotten this far just to get hit by a stray bullet.
I press my forehead to my knees and try to ignore the fact that I feel trapped. When the walls start to press against me, I quickly turn my eyes to the opening, reminding myself that I’m not stuck in here, and that helps the crushing feeling to subside a little.
It doesn’t stop the tears from quietly rolling down my cheeks as gunshots and yelling ring out.
What if the guys are out there and they leave, thinking I’m not here? Should I see if I can find out who’s there? But Ivan’s men could be all over the yard. The second they see me, I’m screwed. I know I can’t outrun them, not with the looming fence surrounding the place.
In the end, fear decides for me, knowing my legs will crumble if I try to move from this spot.
Instead, I take a few breaths and try to remember what my guys have said on multiple occasions. That if I am taken again, they’ll never stop looking for me. I think about how Sly was hit in the face, and the tears start running faster. What if he’s dead? What if the others didn’t realize what happened soon enough, and he died?
Did they shoot him? Everything happened so fast, I can’t remember if I saw a gun.
I sniffle then freeze, realizing everything has gone quiet—no gunshots, no yelling, no pounding footsteps. The noises had gotten so loud that I was drowning them out, and I'm not even sure what the last sounds I heard were.
Should I go check it out now?
No, I need to wait a while in case Ivan won, and he’s waiting for me to reveal myself to him by accident. I hug my knees tighter and start counting to pass the time.
When I reach seven hundred and eighty-six, I stop counting as a small noise reaches me. My body tenses as my ears strain to hear it again. The sound of a small stone hitting something confirms what I feared. Someone is walking in this direction.
Suddenly, a pair of shoes appears in my view, and I try to hold in the sob that wants to burst from me. He must realize it’s a dead end because he stops walking, as Ivan had, and slowly turns in a circle.
He takes one step back the way he came, and hope fills me.
He didn’t notice me!
But suddenly, he stops, moves back a step, and drops to one knee, his sharp green eyes connecting with mine.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WREN
“Sly!” I half yell, half cry, as relief rushes through me.
He tilts his head to the sky and yells, “I’ve got her!” before turning back, pain and relief written all over his face as he reaches for me. “Come here, baby. Careful now.”
I try not to wince as the gravel bites into my knees, and the second I’m free of my hiding spot, he lifts me, hugging me tight, chest to chest. He holds the back of my head, his other arm under my butt as he starts to carry me through the yard.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Wren.”
“It’s not your fault,” I tell him just as I hear pounding footsteps heading toward us.
“This way!” Pete yells, right before he comes around the corner, spotting us, his eyebrows raising in surprise. “Wren!” he yells. “Fuck, Wren,” he says, softer this time as he stops right beside me. Sly lets me lift my head, and Pete cups my jaw, his eyes noticing my wound. “Are you okay? Of course you’re not okay, don’t answer that.”
He shakes his head at himself, then asks, “Can you stand? I need to hug you right now.” I nod, and Sly places me on my feet. Pete immediately pulls me to his chest, hugging me tightly as I let a few more tears of relief stain the front of his shirt.
“My turn,” Dex says from behind, and I pull back from Pete and am immediately pulled into Dex’s massive chest. “Baby, thank god you’re okay. You are okay, right?”
He pulls back, and his eyes travel down my body, freezing when they land on my thighs. “Oh fuck. No, no, no! Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck!”
I look down and see the blood I smeared on my legs as the others start cursing. Someone kicks something that goes flying as Dex stares down at me with a look I’ve never seen on him before. It’s filled with pain and regret and something else I can’t name. His eyes fill with tears, and I quickly rush to reassure him.
“Nothing happened! No one touched me there. I used blood from my head to make it look like they had.” I wiggle my blood-stained fingers at him, and they all freeze, staring at me with a mix of confusion, worry, and hope.
Jagger gets my attention as he signs.“You know you can tell us what they did, no matter what it is? It won’t change the way we feel about you.”
