“You said…” My voice breaks. “You said only one?—”
“I lied,” Aria tells me, her voice flat. She lifts her gaze to mine, and I can see an unspoken promise in those cold blue eyes.
This is what will happen to your men if you betray me.
This is what will happen to you.
“Now, get the fuck out of my sight,” Aria says, waving a flippant hand in the air.
We don’t immediately move. Dominic can’t seem to tear his gaze away from the bodies of his brother and father.
Zane comes to his senses first. His movements jerky, he stumbles forward, placing a hand on Dominic’s shoulder.
Dom flinches, as if he’s been physically struck.
“Dom, we have to go,” Zane whispers to him in a hushed voice. Then again, louder, more urgent, “Dominic!”
“Come on,” Beckett says to me, grabbing my hand and tugging me toward the door.
Zane is attempting to herd Dominic out, but Dom can’t seem to move.
Is he in shock?
My heart breaks for him, splintering into thousands of minuscule pieces. I’m not sure if it’ll ever be whole again.
“Dom!” Zane tries again. “Ellie needs you. We need to get the fuck out of here. Ellie isn’t safe.”
“Ellie…” Dom whispers, as if in a daze. He blinks repeatedly.
But it’s as if my name is some magical cure because he seems to come back to himself. Gradually, one second at a time.
Dom whips his head in my direction, and his gaze roams my body from head to toe, as if searching for injury.
“Ellie!” Alarm pitches his voice, and he clumsily steps toward me.
“I’m fine,” I assure him, desperately wanting to cup his cheeks and hold him to me but knowing that now isn’t the time. “We need to go.”
Who knows what Aria will do next?
Behind Dominic, Aria’s lips stretch into a fiendish smile.
And she continues smiling as we hurry out the door.
27
LANDON
“Motherfucker!” Raymond paces, his fingers scraping through his salt-and-pepper hair. He glances at the three girls, who now sit shoulder-to-shoulder on the couch in the lobby, and repeats, “Motherfucker!”
“You’ve said that already,” Ryker drawls. He folds his arms over his chest and leans against the wall. Only his ice-blue eyes shine beneath his signature hoodie.
“Once or twice,” I say.
“Or three thousand times.” Victoria’s face twists in a scowl.
Jane and Piper, however, haven’t stopped gawking at me and Ryker.
“I don’t understand,” Jane breathes, her lips parting on a breathless exhale. She absently wraps a frizzy piece of brown hair around her finger, agitation causing her knee to bounce. “How are you alive?”
