Page 145 of Healed

But just as she went to shoot again, she was seized by the security guard, who knocked her to the floor.

She fought the best she could, kneeing one of the guards in the stomach, trying to seize her gun again, but another guard jumped on her back, pinning her down.

As Nico fled the room, I was helpless to do anything but slump to the ground, sobbing hysterically whilst Rachel screamed for the men to let her go.

“You fucking idiots!” Rachel screamed, fighting as they gathered her hands and locked them behind her back. “Do you have any idea of who that man is? Of what he’s done?”

“You’re under arrest, lady. The less you say right now, the fucking better.”

“Didn’t you see what he was doing? Are you fucking stupid?” she hissed, trying to bite them.

“Enough!” he snapped, shoving her face to the floor.

“Oh, boy, you’ve fucked up. You have royally fucked up. Ring Dante King. I want to speak to Dante King.”

“You can speak to whoever you want when the police arrive, and they take you down the station.”

I didn’t hear anything else.

My stomach rolled, and I just had time to turn to the side before I exploded, vomit pouring out of me.

And then everything went black.

Chapter 44

Gabriella

I have no memory of returning to the clubhouse. I simply woke up the next morning, having been plagued with nightmares most of the night.

It was still dark, and the house was quiet and still. It was almost eerie to hear it in its current state, when it was so full of life any other time.

I looked around the room, seeing Vienna asleep in the chair in the corner. His long legs were stretched out in front of him, his hands resting on his knees, a gun in one of his hands.

An image flashed behind my eyes of Vienna looming over me, his gentle hands stroking the hair from my sweaty face. His lips were moving, but I had no idea what he was saying.

He reached out for me, slow and steady, and I felt myself flinch, saw the hurt flicker over his face.

Then there was Dante. And Dante picked me up, despite me screaming and begging him to let me go, to not touch me, to not hurt me.

“No, brother,” I heard him say to Vienna. I slapped him across the face, and though he grunted, he showed no signs of anger. “Let me do this. She doesn’t need to associate you with this. She can’t walk, so one of us needs to carry her out of here. She’s going to have nothing but bad memories. Let me be the face she sees.”

Vienna looked on the verge of tears, but he nodded anyway, letting Dante carry me back out to Rachel’s car.

And then Nico flashed in my mind and I flinched once again, almost falling off the bed in my haste to escape the image of that monster.

Vienna startled awake, the gun in his hand outstretched before his eyes had even opened.

He blinked into the darkness, seeing there was no danger, and his arm relaxed, the gun going back to his thigh. He quietly cleared his throat and shuffled in the chair, groaning softly as he stretched out his back.

And then his eyes landed on me.

“Gabriella,” he said, his voice gritty and full of sleep. “How long have you been awake?”

“Not long,” I replied quietly. So quietly I could barely hear myself. Vienna sat up, leaning forward slightly so he could hear me, but he kept his distance.

“Do you need anything?”

I shook my head, knowing he couldn’t really see me in the darkness, but hoping he got the message anyway.