There was someone I could call.
I tried to stand, but I was shaking too badly. I immediately toppled over.
People were still walking on the sidewalk. No one had stopped to look. The gunshots hadn’t summoned anyone. Since it was a measly caliber pistol, they might not have heard it or maybe assumed it was a mechanical malfunction.
I cursed them.
Crawling on my hands and knees, I made it to where I’d dropped my phone near the mouth of the alley. My fingers shook as I tried to open the screen. Thumb hovering over my uncle’s name, I paused. What could he logically do? Come and clean up three bodies?
He didn’t have those kind of resources, of that I was fairly certain.
There was one more person.
I bit my lip and closed my eyes. The sour taste on my tongue made me gag. Nico wasn’t going to want to clean this up. It was messy. There was danger of the law coming at any minute, even if no one seemed to notice the girl sitting in the alley caught in the throes of a nightmare. What we had was fun but calling him now made our relationship serious.
Give him a chance.
What choice did I have? He could always tell me no. If he didn’t want to come to my rescue, he wasn’t obligated to help.
I pressed his name.
His sultry voice came through the phone line. “I was just thinking about you.”
I swallowed a sob.
Probably not quietly enough.
“Rae, baby, what is it?” he demanded, voice suddenly serious.
“I’m in trouble,” I whispered.
“Stay where you are, I’m coming.”
With that, the call ended.
I crept back into the alley, and the last thing I remembered before the shock took over was wondering how he would ever find me.
***
There was warmth. Unbelievably wonderful warmth. I shivered and sank deeper into the feeling.
“Hush, it’s alright,” a strong timbre rumbled somewhere outside my body.
The last hour came back in a rush.
The street. The alley. The fight and the gun. Being sick, calling Nico.
The crew of Made Men showing up in two dark SUVs.
And now I was inside, naked, in a bathtub of warm water.
I shuddered.
Two strong arms and two thick legs wrapped around me from behind. I was pulled back against a hard, solid mass.
“You’re in shock, cherry-bomb,” Nico murmured. “But I’ve got you. I’ll make it better.”
“I do feel better,” I said.
