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But today he stopped a bullet for me.
Guttural grunts coming from across the room make me raise my head. I look on in stunned shock as Heath takes one of the Russians for hostage purposes. He has him pinned to his body, an arm choking off his air, and judging by the position of Heath’s arm, he has a gun stuck in his ribs too.
Meanwhile, one of the Connollys’ allies straps his wrists and ankles together with some heavy-duty material the muscled man can’t break through.
Like my eyes are a camera panning to another scene in this movie I can’t—don’t want to—make sense of, they shift to Linc. He’s bent over Patrick, his phone to his ear.
I swing back to the scene with Heath. The man is immobilized, and Heath releases his hold on the man’s neck. I didn’t realize how tight that hold was but now the blood rushes back into his purple face.
Heath’s gaze falls on mine. I gulp back a cry of despair and look down at my brother.
Just as I thought I couldn’t be shocked more, I note how peaceful Nathan looks now. For the first time I realize how affected he was by our father wrecking our lives. While I tried to run and hide from all of it, Nathan submersed himself into the darker underworld as a way to stay alive, and that took a toll on him.
I weep for what he lost. What could have been between us.
Heath’s voice breaks through to me in spurts as he calls for a medic team and places another call to what I know is a cleanup crew.
After he puts away his phone, he comes to me, crouching nearby. I don’t give up my hold on Nathan.
“Serenity, are you hurt? Is any of that blood yours?” His voice is raw and gritty.
I shake my head.
He glances down at Nathan and his lips compress. I have no idea what he’s thinking about my brother or his act that saved me from dying.
Seconds tick by. Neither of us speak—there’s nothing to say. I still plan on leaving the city and making my own way.
I’ve brought so much down on the Connollys, and my dear friend Patrick is lying there injured. It’s all my fault. No way can I ever dream of getting back on the family’s good side.
I’ll be lucky if they let me live.
Heath glances over his shoulder and gains his feet. He walks to the door and comes back with some medics behind him. When they ignore the bodies lying around the room and my dead brother in my arms, I know they’re on the Connollys’ payroll.
They see to Patrick, bark out some orders and get him on a stretcher. I watch them carry him out, and I’m relieved he has a chance. Nathan isn’t so lucky.
All the good in his heart never had a chance to be realized.
After they carry Patrick away, a few more guys enter the house. One look at their black clothes and the rubber gloves they’re wearing tells me they’re here to clean up the bodies and dispose of them. In a few hours, this house will be scrubbed clean of blood and look exactly as it did when Patrick brought me here.
I glance toward the TV. The video game is frozen onscreen, abandoned when Sergei and his men burst in.
A hand on my arm has me swinging my head around. Heath’s blue eyes penetrate mine.
“We gotta move, babe.”
“But…what about Nathan?” I cry out.
“He’ll be taken care of.”
“Taken care of?” I burst. “As in rolled up in a rug and dumped into a landfill?”
“I’ll have him cremated for you, babe. I promise he won’t receive that fate, not after what he did for you.” He grips my upper arm to pull me to my feet.
I have no choice by to leave Nathan behind and trust that Heath will honor his promise to me.
I have to get out of here so I can run.
Far, far away.
