Page 49 of Trading In A Broken Heart

Panic clawed its way into my throat. I pushed the driver’s door, but it wouldn’t budge. I shoved harder. Still nothing.

“Oh my God . . .” My breathing accelerated.

Outside, people were yelling and running. Somebody pounded against the glass.

“Ma’am! Can you hear me!” a voice yelled, but it wasn’t a familiar sounding one.

My lips parted for me to speak, but nothing came out of them. The ringing in my ears grew louder. My vision doubled. The last thing I saw was a figure running toward the wreckage.

“We got a weapon shipment that’s supposed to come in tomorrow,” Ghost reminded me as if I’d forgotten already. I knew the schedule like the back of my fucking hand.

“I know,” left my lips as I stared at the giant fish tank in front of me. We were at Blackveil. I’d installed a tank years ago because I knew it helped keep me calm for the most part.

I looked down at the tracker for Solei and saw it moving, which was a relief. She was on her way back to the house. I’d been checking that shit ever since she left home.

“You checked her location three times in the last hour,” Ghost made known as if someone asked him for his fucking opinion.

I looked up from the screen and said, “Four.”

Ghost sighed. “You know she’s capable of leaving a building without getting kidnapped.”

“Have you forgotten that I’ve already kidnapped her twice?”

“Valid.”

An alert came through to my phone. Solei was no longer moving. An impact was detected.

“What?” Ghost could sense the shift in my mood.

“Something’s wrong with Solei.”

I dashed out of the room, heading for the exit with Ghost behind me. My tires screeched before Ghost was fully in the car. I followed the tracker to the location where Solei was last seen. Before I could even get there, I noticed the traffic backed up. I had to drive on the grass just to get around everyone. Lights illuminated the sky. The cluster of emergency vehicles blocked the intersection. My foot pressed harder on the accelerator as the engine roared.

My heart palpitated the closer that I got to the lights. Soon as I reached the scene, I exited before the vehicle stopped moving. The door slammed behind me. The world narrowed. People were talking. Sirens screamed. Paramedics moved around me. I ignored all of it. My eyes found the Range Rover flipped over and beat up. For the first time in my life, I forgot to breathe.

The driver’s side door looked as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. The armored glass was cracked. My pulse thumped in my ears.

A paramedic stopped in front of me. “Sir, you can’t⁠—”

I walked straight past him.

“Sir!”

My speed picked up. One grabbed my arm, and when I gave him a deadly stare, he released me.

“Boss?” Ghost appeared at my side. I almost forgot he was even with me.

I needed to see Solei to make sure that she was okay. The back doors of the ambulance were open. My boots hit the pavement harder with every step. Finally, I saw her, and the entire world stopped. My legs grew weak. Blood stained the side of her face. A neck brace surrounded her throat. An oxygen mask covered part of her features. Her eyes were closed. Something inside my chest cracked. I climbed into the ambulance before anyone could stop me.

“Savion—” Ghost started.

My hand found hers, and it was cold. The monitor beside her beeped steadily. The sound should have comforted me, but it didn’t. I stared at the dried blood in her hair, the bruising already forming underneath her skin. There were cuts on her hand. My jaw flexed. I had seen bodies before and even created some myself, but nothing had prepared me for this.

A medic approached cautiously. “Sir, we’re transporting her now.”

My eyes never left her face. “What are her injuries?”

“Possible concussion. Several bruised ribs. We’re concerned about internal bleeding, but she’s stable.”