“Just shaken up.” It’s more than that. I’m barely holding on. I’m fighting a panic attack, but I’m too scared to ask for his help. Not after what he said earlier about not having a moment of peace.
Aiden wraps his arms around me and pulls me close, offering as much comfort as he can with Ryder nearby. My legs wraparound his waist when I’m unable to stand, and he sits on the couch, comforting me.
“Who would do that?” I ask.
Aiden says something about staying in my room tonight, but I don’t have time to answer the question before he growls, “What the fuck is that?”
I jump at the change in his voice and glance behind me. Ryder straightens from crouching beside the broken glass, a brick in his hand. As he turns it over, the contents of my stomach curdle.
“Is that . . . is that a hand?” I screech. My stomach curdles at its disgustingly waxy appearance.
Ryder holds the appendage with a blank look, unbothered by that fact. Meanwhile, my breakfast is about to make a reappearance.
Aiden’s muscles bunch, and he leans back to look at me with a hardened expression. “Hey, why don’t you go up to your room for a bit, yeah?”
There’s no way I’m leaving him here. What if the people who chucked that through the window come back and kill him?
“No! I’m staying?—”
“That wasn’t a suggestion, sis. Go to your room.” Aiden lowers his voice to a growl and jerks his chin toward the staircase.
Gritting my teeth, I stomp out of the room and up to my bedroom. I pace my room, occasionally glancing at my door, tempted to go downstairs again to make sure Aiden is okay.
What if something happens to him?
What if those people come back with another body part?
I grab my phone from my bed where I left it and open the screen. Right as I pull up the thread with Aiden, a new message from him appears.
Aiden:I have to leave for a little while, pretty girl. Keep the doors locked and stay away from the windows.
I close the text with a harsh sigh.
If his definition of “a little while” is fourteen hours, then yeah, sure.A little while.
I don’t game or even text my friends because I’m so worried. Instead, I crawl into bed and stare at my door for what feels like forever.
I hate this. I hate it so much.
My eyelids inch lower.
Don’t fall asleep. If Aiden texts me and he’s in trouble?—
My eyes fly open,and I sit up in bed. I rub the back of my finger against a closed eyelid and turn toward the bathroom door at the sound of running water from the shower.
I scramble out of bed and stop halfway to the bathroom. I scratch a spot behind my ear and nibble on my bottom lip, torn if I should check on Aiden.
It’s just to make sure he’s okay and to see what happened. That’s all.
I crack open the door and squeeze through after making enough space. Warm mist curls in the air, fogging the mirror and the shower’s glass panel.
The water shuts off and a second later, Aiden steps out of the shower, his hand reaching for the towel hanging from the rack. His gaze immediately finds me, and he pauses.
“What are you doing up, pretty girl?” he says, voice gentle and affectionate.
I swallow hard at the sight of his naked, tattooed body littered with cuts and bruises. Aiden wraps the pink towel around his waist and shoves his wet hair out of his face in a slicked-back style. He smirks when I don’t say anything, staring at him like a weirdo, but it’s his busted lip that I can’t ignore.
“What happened to you?” I ask.
