“Or die trying,” Nik adds with a chuckle, not nearly scared enough for my comfort.
Chapter 42
Sebastian
Rage like I’ve never known courses through my veins, igniting a flame of violence in me. I’ve never thirsted for the blood of another. Every kill I’ve made has been out of duty. But this motherfucker. This motherfucker cornered, scared, and touched Lizzy.
I crave his pain the way an addict craves their next hit.
It’s all-consuming. Every thought in my mind returns to Vincent Maroney. How I’ll find him. Torture him. Kill him. And avenge my angel in doing so.
She can sense my insanity, I know she can. Ever since we returned home thirty minutes ago, she’s been silent, observing as Nikolai and I plot.
I want to shield her from all of this. I never wanted her exposed to the underbelly of my life, which is why I’ve kept her innocent. But I should have prepared her. Taught her to shoot. To fight. Hitting his solar plexus was clever of her. I should have been the one to teach her that, not some movie.
Lizzy walks into the dining room, where we’re set up, holding two plates. “I made chicken thighs and vegetables. Y’all haven’t eaten since lunch.”
I glance at my watch and am surprised to see it’s past six p.m. She hands us the plates, and I note she gave both men two thighs each. “Thank you, angel,” I tell her as I accept my plate.
“Thanks, Lizzy. I might need to start bringing my new friend on stakeouts with me,” Nikolai jokes. He’s been keeping his demeanor light in front of Lizzy, but I see past the mask. I see how angry he is with himself for letting Vincent get past him. For letting him touch Lizzy.
I should alleviate his guilt, tell him there’s no way he could have known Vincent was in the bathroom, but that’d be a lie. He should have checked the room before leaving Lizzy alone in there. When she took longer than expected, he should have knocked and called inside. It’s difficult to see past the finger-shaped bruising around her mouth, visible reminder of that bastard’s hands on her.
As we eat, I text Dom, ensuring he has a bedroom set up for us. Not that I foresee myself sleeping tonight. No, we’ll be using every resource we have to find this bastard. The only length I won’t go to is using Lizzy as bait. She’s too precious. We’ve learned our lesson with that.
“This is really good,” Nikolai practically purrs around his last bite of chicken. “You’ve got yourself an amazing woman, Bash.”
I respond with a tight smile. He’s trying to lighten the mood, I know he is. But I can’t release my underlying anger at him, not yet. He failed his duty. But maybe I set him up for failure. Maybe she should have been put on house arrest at the complex since the attack on her house. Maybe my greed for alone time with her has endangered her.
When another error message pops up on my laptop, a sign of another failed attempt to locate this bastard, I slam the laptop shut and push it away, not giving a damn if I damage it. I need to blow off steam. I should go to my garage gym and hitthe heavy bag I have hanging, but there’s no time to waste. We need to leave now.
I check my watch again and note another thirty minutes have passed. The sun has already set, darkness blanketing the horizon. We shouldn’t have waited until it nightfall to leave.
“Angel, it’s time to pack your bags. We need to leave.” I fail to reach the uplifting tone I attempted. Instead, I sound surly, which I am. When her face falls, I tack on, “You’ll like it over there. They have a pool, a running trail, and a chef. It’ll be like being at a resort.” A resort you can’t leave that’s patrolled by armed guards.
“How long will we be gone?” She doesn’t put up a fight. Hasn’t this whole time. It just highlights how scared she is. I’ve failed if she’s so terrified, she’ll move again.
“I don’t know. I would pack for at least a week.” The words are strangled as they leave my throat.
“We’re not coming back, are we?” Her voice is so small, so uncertain.
“Not for a while.” I hate the answer I give her. That I’m taking such freedom from her.
She just nods and stands. When she’s in the doorway, she pauses and turns to face us. “Can I feed my pets? They need to eat.”
“No.” I’m firmer than I intend, but she is not leaving this house without me by her side. And she sure as shit isn’t going to the house that was broken into.
“They have to eat before I go,” she insists, her voice stronger. Good. She needs to fight for something. Let her fight for her pets.
“I’ll go,” Nikolai offers.
Lizzy beams at him. “Thank you.”
“Make it quick.” I order him as I stand. He follows silently as I lead him outside. “The key is under the planter by the door, and the feeding schedule is next to the tanks.”
He pauses at the fence door and turns to face me. “I failed my duty. She got hurt because of me. I’m willing to accept any punishment you see fit. All I ask is that it waits until we’ve found and killed this mudak. I need to see this through, for her.”
“I’ll make sure you stay on point for this,” I promise him. I should accept his apology, but I can’t. Not yet. Her face with the markings he left flash through my mind. No. He doesn’t deserve forgiveness until this is over.
