“I’m here,” I croon to her, climbing on the bed. “I’m right here, baby girl.”
She keeps screaming, and it tears at my heart. All I can do is hold her and kiss her and run my fingers through her freshly washed and dried hair.
“You’re safe. Nothing can touch you here. I promise, Rose. I’m here.”
Finally, she quiets, and then, panting, starts to cry again.
“I thought I dreamed it all.”
“It’s real.”
“Please don’t leave me again.”
“I was just downstairs, baby. I had to talk to Mateo and Diego?—”
“Diego’s still here?”
I pull back and frown at her, brushing her hair off her cheek. “He was just a minute ago.”
She nods and exhales in relief.
“He lives in this building, sweetie. And we have a ton of guards here. Mateo and his brothers are the head of organized crime in Vegas. They’re powerful, and they’ll do whatever they have to do to protect us. I know you’re scared, but I wouldneverput you in danger again.”
She nods and then lies down. “Will you sleep here with me? Like when we were little and got scared?”
“Of course.”
I cuddle up with her, and Rose lays her head on my shoulder. I can’t sleep right away, so I sing to her, the way I did when we were little, huddled up together during storms or when Mom and Dad fought too much.
Finally, I feel her drift off to sleep.
A large body fills the doorway, and then Mateo strides inside and smiles down at me, but I can see the worry in his eyes.
“I have to stay here tonight,” I whisper to him.
“I know, baby. It’s okay.” He leans over and kisses my head. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Forty-Five
MATEO
“Iwant to know where that motherfucking helicopter went last night,” I say as I stride into Carson’s office at the King of Spades.
We’re all here, including our number twos. I just left the girls at the penthouse, eating pancakes and trying on the clothes that were delivered for Rose.
“Looks like it landed in Denver,” Julian says, crossing his arms as he leans his hips on the windowsill. “That’s all we know right now.”
“How is she?” Rome asks.
“Scared. Relieved.” I blow out a breath and look at Diego, who nods. We agreed in the car ride here that I would tell the others what we heard last night. “What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this room.”
Carson sits forward. The others go very still.
“Rose had a motherfucking hysterectomy. Forcibly. She told the doctor last night, and Violet confirmed that she has the scar this morning.”
