Page 122 of Brutal Truths

I snap. Whatever line was left is gone.

Right or wrong doesn’t matter anymore. He’s a sick bastard who doesn’t deserve to live.

I grab the gun and aim—but I’m too late. Anna’s already sliced his throat wide open, taking that choice away from me.

“Give me that.” Gabby rips the gun out of my hands. “Men like him don’t get to live.”

The weight of all this shit crashes into me like a brick wall. The fear. The anger. The violation of it all. My fists slam into his chest as a scream rips out of me.

I don’t care if I look like a madwoman. Maybe I’ve gone a little mad. Anyone who’s faced the shitstorm I have would go mad, right? It’s only logical.

The only thing that calms my outburst is when I’m picked up and drawn into a firm, inviting chest. It takes time to realize who has me, but as soon as I hear his voice; something familiar washes over me. He smells like home. I turn and climb him like a spider monkey, wrapping my arms and legs around him tightly.

I stop talking. He does too. We don’t need words. He understands me. Already knows what I need.

Him.

I need him to make me forget. To feel something other than this.

Chapter 37

Aiden

Fifteen Minutes Earlier

What the fuck just happened?

I stand here like a gormless idiot and watch all four women head for the building, telling me I’ve completely lost control of the situation.

Gabriela’s unlike any woman I’ve encountered. She has an air about her that demands respect. Confident. Commanding. And she uses it to her advantage.

Which I admire, but…

Probably why I pushed back. Told her she didn’t scare me. Truth is, she terrifies me.

Not enough to stop me, but enough to give me pause and make me hesitate. And that cost me, because now Isabel’s gone, pulled from me without a fight. I’m left standing here as a spectator, and didn’t utter a goddamn word.

Fuck that!

Trust isn’t the issue. I trust them to protect her. This is more about me. My need to protect the woman I love.

Every instinct I have tells me this isn’t right, which is why I take off after them.

“Stop!” Darius shouts the second I move. “I know you want to go after them. I know what you’re thinking, but trust me, Gabriela can handle this.”

I turn on him, my temper sharp and immediate. “You don’t know a damn thing about what I’m thinking.”

The hurried slap of feet on the sidewalk has me turning just in time to see the problem. The doorman closes and locks the lobby door behind Isabel and Gabby before the two other women can reach them.

“Fuck!”

Instinct kicks in. I move without thinking. Sprint for the doors as I draw my weapon from its holster and fire three rounds at the bastard just on the other side.

The first bullet hits with a loud crack, fractures spiderwebbing across the glass door. The next two strike the reinforced shutters behind it, the sound flattening into dull smacks that echo through the air. The glass splinters but doesn’t break, blocking my view of what’s happening inside.

“Fuck!”

I take a step to my right, trying to get a better angle, and what I see has my blood turning cold. “Drake. He’s got Gabriela. We need to get in there.”