“You came for me,” she whispered, her voice hoarse.
I wrapped my arms around her and crushed her to my chest, burying my nose in her hair as she cried. “I told you, I can’t let you go.”
She pulled back, and it took everything in me not to drag her into my arms again. “M… mum?” she all but sobbed. “Did you…?”
I stoked her cheek, wiping at her tears. “I’m sorry.”
Her lips parted, and it took a moment for her to form the question. “She’s…?”
“Hey, look at me. Concentrate on me, okay?” I said gently, pinching her chin so her gaze locked onto mine. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good.”
Her face crumbled, but I tightened my grip, grounding her.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” I whispered. “I promise. Now, you and me, we’re going to walk out of here.”
“But… mum?”
“I’ll come back for her. I swear it, Violet. But right now, you need to trust me.”
She searched my eyes, and after a moment, she nodded. “I trust you.”
Grabbing her hand, I pulled her towards the door, only for a fist to come out of nowhere, smashing into my jaw and throwing me sideways into the doorframe.
“Ryder!” Violet cried, and her desperate voice urged me to move.
Jürgen went to hit me again, but I jerked back just in time. I caught his arm mid-swing, twisting hard, using his own momentum to haul him forward.
He stumbled into the room with a grunt,and I slammed my shoulder into his ribs, driving him back into the wall with a dullthud. He snarled, recovering quickly, and elbowed me in the side, sharp and brutal.
Pain lanced through my ribs, and fuck me, this guy could hit hard despite his size. I grabbed him, locking my arm around his throat until I stole his oxygen.
A familiar click, and I turn to find a man holding a gun to Violet’s head, his hand gripping her upper arm. Shit.
“Stop,” he said calmly, and I immediately released my grip.
Jürgen hit me hard in the stomach, forcing me to my knees as all the air exhaled out of my lungs.
“Let her… go,” I forced out, the words coming out more like a wheeze than a threat.
“Was willst du mit ihm machen?”Jürgen grunted, kneeing me in the face.
I collapsed forward, the metallic taste of blood flooding my mouth as pain exploded across my nose.
The man wearing the tuxedo hummed in thought, the barrel of his gun pressed so tightly to Violet’s forehead it left an indent. “Bring him with us.”
Chapter 59
Ryder
My face hurt, probably because I’d been punched repeatedly and then shoved into yet another fucking car boot.
Luckily, this boot was bigger than the last, and while a guy my size was not designed for this, at least my spine wasn’t protesting the cramped conditions. Small victories.
Gritting my teeth at a particular large bump in the road, I braced myself when the car finally pulled to a stop.
“You alright there, boys?” I greeted with a grin once the boot lifted, grunting when the two meatheads who’d just been decorating my features with bruises hauled me out. I managed to swing my legs, standing rather than faceplanting the asphalt.
“Get off me!” Violet’s cry cut through the ringing in my head, and I twisted just in time to see her being dragged from the car.
