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In the chaos, I forgot about my best friend. I turned to Cat and gasped. Her tawny skin was deathly pale and she looked a little green. Cat’s dark eyes were so wide, more white was visible than brown. Her body was trembling and I could tell Cat was right on the verge of losing it. Even though I was basically as close to the edge as her, I swallowed down my fear and decided to be the strong one. We couldn’t afford for both of us to fall apart.
“It’s okay, Cat.”
I slid across the seat and pulled her into my arms. Cat clung to me, sobbing into my shirt. We stayed like that the entire ride home. In my head I said a little prayer for the bodyguard who literally took a bullet for me. Dozens of questions crowded my head, coming rapid-fire, one after the other.
Who shot at us?
Why does someone want me dead? Or Cat?
Jag killed El Cuchillo and his men, right? Was this attack by someone else entirely?
By the time we pulled into the drive of the mansion, I was a wreck. The vehicle barely had time to stop before the back door was flung open, Jag’s huge body blocking out the light.
“Miri, God. Are you all right?”
He reached in and pulled me out, crushing me against his chest. I buried my nose in his shirt and inhaled, so thankful to be back where I felt the safest—surrounded by Jag. A strong hand clasped the back of my neck and I sank further into his warmth, listening to his heart race. Jag was shaking, whether it was from fear or anger or both, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that he was shaken up, maybe even more than me. I needed to let him know I was okay.
“I’m fine.” A tiny sigh escaped from my lips and I nuzzled into his shirt. “Oh.” I jerked back when I remembered my friend and the injured bodyguard. “Cat and Thomas… They’re—”
“All taken care of, doll,” Jag said, squeezing the back of my neck in a deliciously possessive way. Without warning, Jag scooped me up in his arms, my cheek still resting against his chest, and carried me into the house. I vaguely registered the sounds of voices, men fussing over the bodyguard with the gunshot wound, but all of it turned to white noise as I slipped further into a hazy fog from the adrenaline letdown.
Jag placed me on his bed and pulled the covers up to my chest. He leaned over and kissed my forehead, gently running his fingers through my hair while staring into my eyes. Jag stepped back, taking his comforting touch with him and leaving me cold and frightened.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” His voice was steady but I could hear the fury behind the facade.
“Wait!” I bolted upright, shivering. Half of me was scared to be alone, half was scared of what Jag would do once he left the room. “C-can’t you stay with me?”
Jag’s expression displayed the most extreme of opposites. His face was filled with love and compassion, but his eyes… His eyes were pure animal rage. I was right, he was about to lose his shit over me being attacked again.
“I need to talk to my men. See if we can figure out what happened.” Jag’s voice was tight and controlled. “Plus, Thomas was shot. I need to make sure he’s okay.”
I slumped down beneath the thick comforter and curled into a ball. “I understand.” And I did, but selfishly, I needed Jag’s strong presence right now. I felt as if I were about two seconds from having a complete nervous breakdown. “Can you check on Cat?”
My request caused a bit of the hardness in Jag’s stony gaze to soften. “Sure, doll. I’ll be back. Get some rest.” With that, he turned and left the room, closing and locking the door behind him.
Knowing I could trust Jag to keep me safe, in his room, in his bed, despite everything that happened, my eyes grew heavy and I slipped into a restless sleep.
Jag
“Tell me you got something.” I started in on George the second he walked into my office. After leaving Miri, getting out of the room about one second before I completely lost control and began punching and destroying shit in a furious rage, I stood in the hall and pressed my forehead to the wall. It took a full ten minutes to calm myself down. Someone attacked my girl again. And just like last time, they knew exactly where she’d be.
“I got something, Boss.” George swallowed nervously, but I could tell he was also furious. I wasn’t going to like whatever it was he found.
“Tell me,” I growled, slamming my fists down on my desk so hard something in the wood cracked.
George licked his lips and his eyes widened as he got a good look at me. I’m sure I looked insane. No longer the controlled, polished Boss he was used to, I was dressed in jeans and a tee, my wrist sheaths and blades showing. I had on heavy biker boots, and if I had a mirror, I was sure I was flushed red with rage from head to toe.
“You were right, Boss. It’s Milo.”
My stomach heaved and I bent over, gasping as if I’d been punched right in the solar plexus. I shouldn’t have been surprised. It was the result I expected. But the betrayal still hurt. It only took a few seconds for the hurt to turn to murderous fury.
“That son of a bitch!” I circled the desk and George flinched back as I approached. Not giving a shit, I got right up in his face and demanded more information. “What do you know?”
“Sammy hacked Milo’s phone and found a lot of calls to a strange number. It was a burner phone and it’s been disconnected, so he couldn’t tell us who owned it.” I snarled and George hurried to continue. “But he was able to get into the provider network and found out where the signal had been coming from for the last two weeks
.”
George stood, sweat dripping down his temples. I scowled at the man and he jumped. “And—?”
