Right now, I’m holding on to the man I love for all I’m worth.
And I don’t plan to let go any time soon.
Chapter Forty-Three
Landon
Having a brother-in-law who is literally royalty has a lot of perks. Especially when your girlfriend is kidnapped by a sex trafficking ring, and then rescued, kidnapped again, and rescued again. There’s a lot of red tape.
Having a fractured skull doesn’t hurt either.
Well, it doesn’t hurt the situation. My head, on the other hand, hurts like a motherfucker.
But Daniil is handling everything using his diplomatic status to get the cops and the feds to back off until Allora and I have had time to heal just a little.
The first night they put us in a double room together and Allora refused to leave my side. In the middle of the night, she crawled into that tiny hospital bed and slept pressed against my side until morning. Not that I minded. Holding her is the only way I’ve been able to sleep since it happened, and today we get to go home.
Well, to Daniil and Courtney’s house. We’re both going to be okay, but short-term we need help. I’m dealing with dizzy spellsand I’m too big for Allora to get me up if I fall. Allora’s got burns and bruises all over her neck, arms, and legs, and needs someone to tend to them.
Unfortunately, we have to talk to the cops and the feds today, but Daniil has an army of attorneys that will be with us. Besides, except for Silver taking Tex away before the authorities arrived, we haven’t done anything wrong. Vito’s dead and Baron’s singing like a fucking bird trying to save himself so I’m not worried.
I’m just glad I have her back, safe and sound.
“You guys ready to go?” Daniil asks. He came to pick us up personally and I nod.
“Yeah, let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
“Take it easy, Mr. Grimshaw,” my doctor says as she signs my discharge papers. “I’m not kidding.”
“Don’t worry, Dr. Amman,” Allora says. “I plan to make sure of it.”
She nods. “Good.”
A nurse comes with a wheelchair for me, since it’s hospital policy. Technically, Allora was released yesterday but since she wouldn’t leave my side, it’s like we’re both being discharged now. She just doesn’t get a wheelchair.
We go downstairs and I thank the nurse before lifting myself up and into Daniil’s Escalade. Allora climbs in after me and then Daniil gets into the passenger seat since Rage is behind the wheel.
“About time you got your sorry ass out of bed,” Rage says to me. “You’ve missed like ten workouts.”
“I know. I’m slackin’.” I catch his eye in the rearview mirror, and he gives me a quick nod. The one that tells me he’s grateful I’m okay without having to say the words. That’s kind of how we operate. I do plan to thank him at some point when we’re alone.
“Do we have to talk to the copstoday?” Allora asks, leaning against my side.
“Yes,” Daniil says, “but don’t worry. They want to hear your story and they need yours too, Grim, so they can press charges. But the story is, Tex escaped, Vito’s dead, and the big boss is in Albania. Chances are, we’ll never catch him.”
“What about Marisol?” Allora asks.
“She’s in custody. She’s another one they want to charge but they’ll need your testimony to do it.”
“Oh, I have plenty to say about her,” she says. “But the two women who were with me when you rescued me—I don’t know their names. But I’d like to reach out, see if there’s any way we can help them. Money, jobs, something.”
“Already on it,” Daniil says. “Don’t worry about that now. Just focus on the story you’re going to tell the cops.”
We had to come up with a story to explain how Tex “got away.” Everything else is the truth.
“I’ve got this,” she says. “Don’t worry about me.”
“That’s my girl.” I kiss her forehead and she rests against me.
