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I get to enjoy her in my arms for only a moment before the sound of feet pounding down the hall pulls our attention to the door. She pulls back slightly, not leaving my arms but enough that I feel the loss of her body against mine.
Rick’s the first one through the door, followed closely by Zander and– is that Trent?
Great, just what we need, more shit to pile on the list of things to deal with.
I watch as the tension in Rick’s shoulders drops slightly as his eyes land on Jade, only for his eyes to harden as he takes in Spencer just a few paces behind us.
Trent looks around the room before his eyes settle on Jade. I can’t say I blame him. He's a cop, so his first instinct is to secure the area. Most of our crew is trained the same way. The difference is that these guys know this place, so even if someone were hidden, they would know where to look and how to stay safe. Trent doesn’t.
The relief is clear in his eyes when he finally sees her.
I make a mental note to talk to Rick about him later. Trent might be a player on the board that I was unaware of.
Zander lets out a huff of frustration, his reaction so unlike the others that it confuses me. I thought if anyone would be happy to see her alive and in one piece, it would be him.
Had I read that whole situation incorrectly?
My confusion only lasts a moment before he’s stalking towards us, shaking his head as he goes. When he reaches us, he all but tears Jade from of my arms to wrap her up in his own, tucking her head beneath his chin and breathing her in.
Much like I just had.
My first instinct is to yell at him, but I can’t bring myself to do it. I might be his superior here, but I also know how he feels. When I first got my eyes on her, I also needed to make sure she was real. No, if I yelled at him right now, it would be purely out of jealousy because I didn’t want to have to let her go.
Her arms wind around his back. I see her curl her fingers into the fabric of his shirt the same way she did mine. She trusts him, and that's all it takes for the jealousy to melt away.
The soft smile that lit his face up when she melted into him disappears so quickly it was like it was never there. Before I can ask what’s wrong, he pushes her away from him, gripping her by her shoulder as his eyes take in every bit of her.
The frown on her face lets me know she's also confused, and I almost feel like yelling at him again. She’s been through enough today and doesn’t need any more shit. I don’t, though. It would just piss her off if I came to her defense like that. She hates being treated like she’s fragile.
“What the fuck happened?” Zander’s angry yell finally breaks the silence, and I find myself looking over her as well to see what he could be referring to.
It only takes a moment before I see it. There’s blood everywhere. It’s smeared on her hands and face, but the wound appears to be on her left leg. The longer I look at her, the more blood I notice, like the trail that goes down her throat from a shallow cut on her neck.
How the fuck had I not noticed that?
I pull my eyes away from her to look down at myself, finding her blood smeared on me the same way it is on Zander now.
My vision blurs as I think of all the blood on both of us and just how much more is on her.
Blood that’s still actively dripping down her leg.
I’m on Spencer without a thought as I lunge across the room. He doesn’t get a moment to react before I gripped him up and slammed him back against the wall. He hits hard enough that the air leaves his lungs in a choked gasp, but I couldn’t care less right now.
“What the fuck did you do?” I ask him, barely able to push the words out through my anger. My voice comes out low and harsh as I speak through clenched teeth, but I know he hears me. The involuntary shiver he gives lets me know while also clueing me in on just how afraid of me these guys really are.
Before tonight, I would have said that it was almost ridiculous. Yes, I out-rank them, and yes, I could kill them pretty easily, but before now, I never had a reason to.
No, before tonight, these three were my top picks for everything. Now I’m seriously contemplating taking them from three down to two.
It takes him a minute to pull himself together before he shakes his head back and forth.
“I know what it looks like, and it’s not like that.” He says, his eyes wide in fear.
Good, he should be afraid.
“Oh, is that so?” I lean into his space until I’m all he can see, “So you’re going to tell me you didn’t take Jade and bring her down into a torture room to get information out of her?” I ask because that’s precisely what it looks like to me.
I’ve had years of experience with torture, getting the intel I needed from every single person who wanted to cross me, to cross Vengeance. If he thinks I’m scary now, he doesn’t know what’s in store for him.
