This isn’t right. I’m not supposed to run from danger.
I’m not supposed to abandon anyone.
But I don’t have the strengthto fight him, not even when he passes his keys to Samantha so she can drive us away. He gets us both into the backseat, and he never once lets go of me.
“I’m going to murderyouif anything happens to them,” I growl at him.
Blaze kisses my bloodied face. “That’s fine.”
No, it isn’t.
I want all of them.
I need all of them.
If I don’t have them, I’m going to completely fall apart.
22
RIVER
I’d never had the chance to fight Bobbi one-on-one again, and as I clash with her, it reminds me of how she beat me the last time.
Sure, I’d been tired from the previous few fights, but she’s also that good.
She gets a solid punch into my solar plexus, making me wheeze, but I don’t falter.
Keeping her from grabbing the gun is the first priority, but that’s not going to be enough.
I need to hurt her.
I need to make her suffer.
She hurt Pandora—Pandora, who means everything to me, to all three of us, to her entire family.
I dodge a blow she aims at my side, and she’s reaching for her gun again when Asch joins us.
With two of us to keep her busy, Blaze will be able to get Pandora and Samantha out of here.
I don’t know who the actual target was, Pandora or her roommate, but it doesn’t matter now. No harm will come to either of them.
Bobbi gets a quick jab in, catching me in my jaw. I grunt, but the pain is nothing compared to my anger.
“Is she worth it?” Bobbi asks as she gets into a defensive posture. “She cost you your finger, right? Her family mutilated you. That’s what the Pavones do.”
I grit my teeth. She’s not wrong. They aren’t good people by any stretch of the imagination. They’d taken so much from me.
But Pandora has given me so much, too.
She’s ripping her beating heart out of her chest to care for us, putting it into the palms of our hands without knowing whether it’s safe or not.
She trusts us.
Bobbi could’ve taken her from us. If we’d been any later, there’s no telling what would’ve happened.
My mind flashes back to the blood spilling down Pandora’s face. I won’t stop until Bobbi is battered and bleeding, too.
“What about the Bouchards?” I snarl. “Do you really think they’re any better?”
