By the time the door creaks open, I’m in a state, and listening to whatever bullshit Cross has to say is the last thing I want to do. He comes directly toward me, a half-smile on his lips that triggers my vision to go red with fury. Something inside me snaps, and I run athim, meeting him halfway in a volatile collision. The impact as we slam together knocks the wind from my chest and sends both of us to the ground.
Gasping for air, I grind out, “What did you do?” before wrenching him toward me so I can punch his sorry fucking face as I continue with my tirade. “What the fuck did youdo?” I slug him again, my fist glancing off his chin this time. Anger rampages through me, fueling me as we fight each other for dominance. Like a pair of angry dogs, we roll over and over in the grass.
When he catches my jaw with a heavy fist, blood and spit fly from my mouth. I hardly notice the pain of it, but he grimaces as it coats his cheek, breath heaving from him as he stares wildly up at me. “Fucking stop it, Hayze! What’s wrong with you?” he gasps out.
“The fuck is going on?” Malakai’s shouted question infiltrates my wrath, but it doesn’t stop me, even when the sound of a couple pairs of feet running this way from the back of the house reaches me.
Going for Cross’s throat this time, I clutch at the thick column of it. I shake him, my teeth bared as I stare down at him. “How could you do it?” I heave out, agony cutting me deep as concern for Delilah mounts.
A second later, hands grip my biceps on either side, giving me a firm shake. “Fucking let go!” Arrow roars in my ear.
My attention swings from him to find Malakai staring at me in horror-struck fascination on my other side. He’s grabbed at the wrist of the hand that’d beenready to crush Cross’s windpipe, squeezing viciously. “Let go, Hayze,” he growls, tugging on me for emphasis.
When my bloodlust finally wanes, I exhale hard, staring at him without really seeing him for a second before I can finally focus. I loosen my hold on Cross’s neck. My breathing begins to slow. I blink.
On my other side, Arrow’s quiet voice finally reaches me and sinks past the fog of wrath. “Hayze, what’re you doing?” he whispers, squeezing my arm.
On a ragged exhale, I push away from Cross, sitting back on my heels before rubbing my hands over my face. My bloodied friend lies there, dragging in one labored breath after another while his gaze wanders over my shoulder. It’s then I realize Evren, Rafe, and Gannon have spilled from the building to find out what the commotion was all about. Dragan joins them a moment later, a sick smile on his lips.
My focus swings back to Cross, and I test the split in my lip with my tongue. The shake in my voice hits hard as I whisper, “What did you do?”
He huffs out a breath, quickly jerking his head. “Not here.”
Fuck. What the fuck did I just do?I nod, scrambling from the ground and offering my hand to help him up. Face red from both exertion and embarrassment, my feet immediately carry me away from the building and all the prying eyes. I don’t stop moving until I reach the tree line. Halting there, I plant myhands on my hips, dragging in another breath in an effort to calm myself.
Cross grips my shoulder a moment later, and at my back, he mutters, “I didn’t hurt her. I get that you thought I did. But that’s not what happened in there. It’s what I prevented.”
I press my lips together, dragging in a breath before turning around. My brow arches. “I heard her screams.” They’d shaken me to my core.I couldn’t stop it. Didn’t help her. Didn’t even know what was happening.Scrubbing both hands over my scalp, I tug hard. “Dragan told me?—”
He shakes his head. “Since when do you listen to our asshole brother? I had to make it look like I tore that thing out of her.” His eyes flick over to Arrow and Mal who stand stiffly off to the side. The confused expressions they wear match my own. “I told her to scream. We had a fucking audience in Dragan. I couldn’t let him go back to Nolan and tell him I’d taken it easy on her.” He stops, scanning my face before moving on. “Do you understand?”
“You didn’t hurt her.” Arrow’s voice is hard, jaw trembling like mad as he stares at Cross. “She’s okay.”
Cross uses the back of his hand to wipe blood from his lips. “She’s fine.” He presses his lips together. “For now, anyway. She’s downstairs with the women.”
I rub my hands over my face and let out a heavy breath. Finally, I nod. “Okay. Can you explain what it was? The thing inside her?”
He gingerly probes the bruised skin of his chinwith a few fingers. “Women—the ones who don’t want to have babies—there are devices they can have implanted that stop their eggs from being fertilized.”
Malakai rocks back on his heels, understanding immediately lighting his eyes. “Fuck. She had an IUD.”
“Yep.” Cross nods, his jaw working to the side. “I examined her when she arrived. Nolan did, too, and neither of us noticed it. Not until the ultrasound he had me do on her today.”
Arrow’s brows drag slowly together, and I can tell he’s thinking hard about all of this. “She knew. And didn’t say anything.”
Malakai snorts derisively, rolling his eyes. “What was she supposed to have done? Volunteered the information?Of courseshe didn’t. She doesn’t want to get pregnant.” He turns his back on all of us. “Don’t you all get it? She doesn’t want to be here.”
My eyes crash shut as I let what I already knew sink even farther into my bones. Delilahwilltry to leave this place—if she can. I think she would even put her own health and safety at risk to do it. Of that, I have no doubt.
“She fought him.” Arrow looks as if he might be ill.
I jerk my head toward him, and he meets my eyes before shifting to gauge Malakai and Cross’s reactions.What is he talking about?Tension mounts in my neck and across my shoulders. “Explain,” I murmur.
Worry slices through me as he drags his hands roughly down his face. “Your father. She was the onewho opened up that gash on his head.” He hesitates, looking back toward the building before continuing. “She was walking along a road. He came upon her and chased her into the woods.” He stops, swallowing hard. “She says he attacked her.”
“When did she tell you all this?” Malakai growls.
“Do you doubt her?” After huffing out a breath, Arrow mumbles through clenched teeth, “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.”
