I did it. This time I got him right where I needed to.
There’s a crash and bang and yelling from the room. “Get your fucking hands off her.” Cruz appears out of nowhere, and my heart surges. Where the hell did he spring from? But I don’t have to wonder for long. The loud noise I just heard was them breaking down the door to the room. It’s now lying in a mess on the floor.
Jagger and Asher aren’t far behind Cruz. Jagger throws a punch into a half-passed-out Leone. He slumps on the floor, blood leaking from him at an alarming rate. “He’s dead?” Jagger asks, sounding puzzled as he looks over his blood-stained hands.
Cruz drops down to check Leone over, his brow raised as his eyes rise to meet mine, a stupid grin on his face. “Looks like our little darlin’ had it handled.”
“I… I…” I shake my head, trying not to pass out. But I can feel his blood on me and the vibration in my hands from where the gun went off. I suck in ragged breaths, watching the whole scene unfold before me like I’m watching a movie. I’m not sure I’m even here anymore. Shooting that asshole took every damn thing I have inside me. My fingers bite into the countertop of the bathroom as I try to stay upright. My head swims, and my legs turn to Jello.
Strong arms snake around me, holding me up before I connect with the floor. I glance up to find Asher’s dark eyes filled with concern. The gun I was gripping with white-knuckle force drops from my trembling hands, and I crumple into his hold.
They found me.
Chapter 32
Don’t Dream It’s Over
WhenIpullbackfrom Asher, I realize he’s covered in blood himself and looks like he’s been through hell. “What took you so long?” I whisper, barely able to talk with the way my body is now trembling. I’m so relieved to see them, so utterly elated Leone is gone, the tension has disappeared from my body, but now it feels like I’m fighting against gravity just to stay standing.
Jagger moves into the small space. Taking my hand, he pulls me into his arms, his fingers lacing with mine. “He took your ring,” Jagger snarls, making no sense at all.
“What?” I gasp, looking down at my hand to see my engagement ring gone. I have no clue when he did that, probably when I was passed out. Sickness swims through me at the thought of what else he was able to do. The pain in every muscle of my body tells me I don’t want to know. It would destroy me, and right now I need to cling on to the fact that he’s dead and can’t ever come for me again. I turn the tap and hold my hands under the running water, needing the blood gone. Needing any memory of the last twenty-four hours erased.
“That’s how he did it,” Cruz mutters, also crowding me on my other side. The four of us are cramped into the space, but I could care less. I’m just so happy they’re okay.
Jagger’s arms come around me, and in a strange gesture, he squirts liquid soap into his palm and starts to scrub at my hands, the crimson stains marking both our fingers slowly vanishing with every scrub of his fingers. “Your ring has a tracking device in the back of it, flower. The three of us escaped the party not long after you and were following, but once we lost the signal, it was hard to find you.” The harshness in Jagger’s voice is as if he’s had his heart ripped from it. When he’s satisfied we’re both clean, he shuts off the water. Asher hands him a towel, and he dries our hands as well. When he’s finished, his hands come to either side of my face, his thumb brushing over my sore cheek, pain etched deep into his features. “I thought we fucking lost you.”
I offer a small smile, hating that they had to go through that kind of pain. I know how I felt so worried I wouldn’t see them again, knowing they were fighting Leone’s men back at the casino. “I’m still here,” I tell him.
His lips meet mine softly, very unlike Jagger, and I melt into him, needing to be close. His body is tight with tension, but he kisses me with a desperation I feel all the way through my body. When he pulls back, I bury my head in his shirt, inhaling his scent.
The other two are still close by, I can feel them right here with us. I glance back up at them. They seem just as out of it, same remnants of a fight with torn suit shirts and blood stains. Cruz also has one hell of a black eye. I reach for him and touch his face, feeling so terrible they all got hurt because of me.
“I’m okay, baby,” he tries to reassure me. “Didn’t feel a thing.” He winks with his good eye, still his cheeky self.
I take hold of the wall beside me for stability, and Cruz grabs my arm, supporting me, his warm body such a comfort.
“You’re not. We need to get her a doctor,” he tells Jagger.
I push him off me so I can stand on my own. “I’m fine. Please, all I need is to know that everyone is okay. What the hell happened back there? Are Sloane and the others alright?”
“Sloane’s fine, Onyx got her out of there. So are Dani and Mal, they got out with us,” Asher answers me, his voice strained as he takes my hand in his.
“There were so many shots going off,” I whisper. “And that guard, he was so fast I couldn’t fight him off.”
Jagger scowls. “Paid by your brother to betray us. He met his maker.”
“We tried to get to you, but it was impossible. They were one step ahead of us. The entryways were all blocked off, the tires of our cars sprayed with bullets. The cops were crawling around every corner of the place; I don’t even know how we all got out of there.”
“But you did.” I squeeze his hand back. They escaped and came looking for me.
Cruz’s lips twist menacingly. It’s a scary look on him today when he’s so busted up. “We would walk through the flames of Hell to get you back, little darlin’.”
“We spent the night scouring the city. Every fucker we knew was out there looking for you,” Jagger adds, kicking at Leone’s dead body. “When Alex Moretti called to say he had a meeting with Leone at this private hangar, we knew there was more to it.”
A hint of a smirk plays on Cruz’s face, a strange delight dancing in his eyes as they lock with mine. “That was you, wasn’t it, baby?”
I shrug, feeling a little ping of pride. “I did the best I could with the little information youdidtell me. I knew Alex was important to the media world, and I knew he would call you three as soon as Leone set up a meeting. Lucky Leone had no clue what I was doing. I’m just a dumb girl, after all, how could I outsmart him.” I huff out a bitter laugh. That’s what they all thought, and I showed them. I bet I shocked the shit out of my brother when I shot him. Shame I was passed out and didn’t get to see his surprise.
