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I squeezed him tight against me, sobbing against his chest. “You found me,” I whispered, my body trembling as his fingers dug into me. “You actually found me.”
He leaned back and gripped my face in his hands. “I’ve been searching for you every hour of every fucking day. I never gave up, Nova. I told you I would burn the whole fucking world down for you, and I just about did. I love you so fucking much.”
He crushed his lips to mine and I could taste the fear and desperation in his kiss. “I love you too,” I sobbed out.
Delove rushed over, his gun drawn. “Is there anyone else inside?”
Valik. “Valik is downstairs in the basement.” I choked out. “He’s hurt badly.”
Delove, Dobbs and a few police officers ran inside, their guns drawn. Cian held me against him, practically suffocating me to the point that I couldn’t breathe. But I didn’t mind. I wasn’t going to let him go. Never again.
Men were yelling from inside the house. The loudest one of all was Dobbs.
“Is there a fucking cat in here?”
Chapter Twenty-One
Day 73
Agent Dobbs sat across from me, dried blood splattered across his wrinkled blazer. Whose blood, I couldn’t be sure of. Was it mine? I looked down at my hands, grime and something else I couldn’t identify embedded under my nails. I could barely move my right arm, the cast almost completely broken off. A ringing noise flooded my ears, and I hunched my shoulders forward, crossing my arms against my chest.
“Nova.” Cian’s voice was hoarse. “Nova, look at me, little star. It’s OK now.”
I couldn’t. Not now. Not after everything. The handcuffs around his wrists clashed against the metal desk as he strained to move closer to me. I couldn’t bear to see him in handcuffs like that. My heart ached and I opened my mouth to speak, but Dobbs cut me off.
“Cut it out, Blackwood. Or I’ll put a gag in your mouth.” Dobbs huffed and wiped the sheen of sweat from his forehead.
“I’d like to see you fucking try,” Cian growled and jerked his arms in an attempt to loosen the cuffs.
“Both of you shut up already.” Agent Delove scowled and placed a tape recorder on the table in between us.
They’d patched me up a little bit on the island in an ambulance, and then a helicopter had flown us to a small town right on the mainland. Cian had insisted they take me to the hospital, but Dobbs had wanted my statement right away. I didn’t mind going to the police station first. Maybe it was the shock, or the adrenaline, but I just wanted to get it over with. But Cian had not been happy with that and had gotten into a shoving match with Dobbs, which was how he’d ended up in a set of handcuffs right after rescuing me. Now we were in a small police station that only had two interview rooms. We were in one and Ryzen was in the other. I could hear him through the walls yelling like a maniac and I exhaled sharply.
Dobbs snickered and pulled out a flask. He poured a dark liquid into the two cups of coffee and slid one across to me. “Drink. It’ll help calm your nerves, honey.”
“Take off his cuffs, Dobbs.” I gave him a pointed look.
He stood and muttered under his breath. “If you fucking touch me, I’m going to lock you up, Blackwood.”
Cian smirked and rubbed his wrists when the cuffs were taken off. He rushed over and I squeezed him as hard as I could.
“You’re OK,” Cian said. “Just tell them what happened, and we’ll get the hell out of here.”
My hand trembled as I held the cup and took a swig. The liquid burned down my throat, and I welcomed the sensation. It didn’t matter. Nothing did. Numbness swept through my whole body. I looked around the room, the walls painted a terrible brown color that reminded me of Dobbs’ blazer. My stomach turned and I took another sip of my drink. The dim light above our heads flickered for the hundredth time, and the urge to stand on the desk and rip it out of the ceiling was overpowering.
“Nova, are you listening?” Dobbs cleared his throat, and I snapped my attention back to him. “Why don’t you start at the beginning.”
I threw back the rest of my drink and slid the cup back to him, nodding when he held the flask up. The beginning. How stupid I had been. How naïve and foolish I was. I scoffed, my nostrils flaring as I recalled those first few weeks after being snatched away from my wedding.
“I… guess it started…” My voice trailed off as a commotion in the hallway drew all our attention to the door. People were shouting, one voice louder than all the others—a voice burned into my memory forever.
The door flew open, and my chair screeched against the linoleum as I stood up and faced the man who had haunted my nightmares.
Everything was a blur as the men around me scrambled, their chairs spilling backwards, coffee flying across the table.
“Gun, he has a gun!” someone shouted, but I couldn’t tell you who. The only thing I knew for sure was he indeed did have a gun.
And it was pointed right at me.
