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My attention honed on her, everyone else forgotten. I’d kill them for this. All of them. The men who stood on the sidelines without helping and the assholes who touched her. I shot forward, and the furthest man saw me first. He lifted an arm as if to fight me, but I lifted my gun and fired a shot. It hit him between the eyes, and he fell back, dead immediately.
It wasn’t satisfying enough. They deserved to suffer. The other man had only enough time to look away from Sierra before I grabbed the back of his shirt and jerked him away. She gasped and kneeled over, gasping from the terror and adrenaline that filled her. I turned my full focus on the man who had his hands on her before I dropped my gun and charged. He lifted a knife—one that he’d already been holding. If I found one slice on her skin…
He went to stab me and I dodged, grabbing the blade and wincing as it cut into my palm. The pain only fueled me as I tugged it from him, turned it, and shoved the sharp tip into his side. He shouted in pain, but I plunged it into him again, smiling at the agony I saw on his face. I fisted my hand and brought it down on his face, envisioning what he’d been trying to do to my woman. I’d make him suffer for it.
“Stop!” she shouted behind me, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I hit him again and again. I waited until his eyes got glassy before I fisted the handle of the blade and slid it across his throat. The man’s eyes went wide as he gurgled on his blood, but I didn’t give a fuck about the pain or suffering as I watched him struggle to breathe for a long moment before he died.
She gasped from behind me as the man finally stopped breathing, and when I turned, I found her hand covering her lips as she stared at the body. “You killed him,” she whispered, finally looking at me.
“Nobody will touch you without consequences,” I snarled at her, pulling myself to my feet. I took a step toward her and she stumbled back, fear dancing in her eyes. I didn’t fucking care. “What did he do?”
“You—you can’t just kill people,” she sputtered, looking around as if finding a way to escapeme.I wanted to laugh at the absurdity. She collided with the wall, and her breathing quickened. I wondered what kind of monster I looked like to her right now. I’d just killed two men in front of her, and I knew that dark energy still encompassed me. I wrapped my bloody hand around the back of her neck and grabbed her chin with my other hand, forcing her to look at me.
“You can be terrified all you want. I killed two people, and I’ve killed hundreds more than that. I’d kill any goddamned person who came into this alleyway right now without blinking, but there’s only one person in this world who doesn’t have to fear me, and that’s you. I’m the only person who will never hurt you, and you fucking know it.” Her eyes blazed, and a bit of that fear transformed into a burning anger. “Are you hurt?” I asked.
She didn’t answer as she stared at me defiantly. I heard a fight continuing behind me, but I still didn’t veer my attention from her. Not until I was sure she was okay.
“I might not hurt you, but I’m going to find out if you’re hurt. If you don’t talk to me, I’ll strip you down and check you right here, and don’t think for a fucking second I won’t,” I said harshly to her.
She gasped at my harsh tone, but she shook her head. “He—he tried to—” She cut herself off and took a deep breath, closing her eyes to calm herself. I knew exactly what he’d tried to do. “I’m fine. Is Bella oaky?”
She tried looking around me, but I held her chin tightly. “I don’t fucking care about her right now.”
But I heard Frankie pounding into a man behind me. I hadn’t heard his gun once, and I knew it was because he wanted to take his time with the men who tried to touch his wife. I glanced toward the alleyway entrance and found the same three men standing there and staring stupidly. I exhaled a long breath before stepping back and away from Sierra. “I’m coming back for you,” I told her.
She didn’t move as I scooped my pistol off the ground and turned to the men who watched. In a quick succession, I fired three shots and took down each of them. Sierra squealed, and I shot my gaze back to her. “They watched what he tried to do, so they can rot in hell,” I told her. I moved back toward her, holding the gun between us. She held her breath as I pressed my forehead into hers. “Give me the name of the last man who put his hands on you—the one who gave you the scar—and I’ll take care of him, too.”
I expected her to cower away from me—to fear me after what she’d just witnessed—but instead, she pushed the gun from between us and pressed herself into my chest. “Thank you for coming.”
20
SIERRA
I flashed between now and years ago, sensing the similarities and realizing how easy it would be for me to fall back into a situation like that again. But this time, Carlo had been here. This time, Carlo saved me in the way I prayed he would’ve all those years ago. I finally got what I wanted from him, but it wasn’t enough. Nothing was enough, and I was beginning to wonder if it had nothing to do with Carlo at all.
What had happened had nothing to do with him, and his saving me this time was what I needed to understand that. He killed five men without hesitating, and the fury I saw on his face was terrifying. Not because I thought he’d hurt me. No, I knew Carlo would never lay a finger on me. But it terrified me because nobody reacted that way unless they really cared for the person they were defending. He cared about me more than I wanted to admit, and despite that—despite saving me—nothing felt like it had healed.
Maybe I was just meant to be broken forever. Maybe I needed to tell him the truth about what happened, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t open up about that without allowing the floodgates to open and devour me whole.
He pulled into my apartment complex’s parking lot and parked the car in one of the front spots, unfastening his belt and walking around to open my door. My heart involuntarily stuttered at the gesture. “I can walk myself to the door,” I told him, though I didn’t feel the words. I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts, but he’d done enough for me tonight. His hand, wrapped in a makeshift bandage, still bled, and he had filth covering all of his clothes.
“Not only am I going to walk you to your door, I’m not letting you out of my sight. I’m staying with you.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “No, you’re not,” I told him.
When I met his eyes, I saw nothing but firm resolve there. “If you don’t let me stay inside, I’ll be sleeping outside your door tonight. And when I get uncomfortable there, I’m breaking in and sleeping beside you.”
“No, you—” I cut myself off, considering the time that he’d already broken into the apartment. Hecould,and hewould.“Fine,” I told him.
Carlo led me up the elevator and into my apartment hallway, checking over his shoulder every few seconds for a nonexistent threat. I unlocked the door and strode inside, noting the half-full teacup on the counter. I should have just turned down Bella and told her I was staying inside. I should have never gone out tonight. It was a miracle that we’d both walked away unscathed, her with Frankie and me with Carlo.
My mind drifted to Frankie, and I shuddered at the reminder of his menacing eyes and the way he called for someone to bring two of the men back to their home. I didn’t even want to consider the ways he planned to torture them—especially after seeing the gruesome way he’d killed the third man. Carlo had looked just as menacing, though. But he’d prioritized staying with me, and Frankie had given into his rage, checking on Bella once before opting to torture and kill the men who tried to hurt her. I forced myself to stop thinking about it. I needed to shut it all down. It was too much for tonight.
“Do you want to shower?” he asked. I shook my head and made my way to my bed. I needed to bathe, but I couldn’t tonight. I just needed to lie down and turn it all off. Carlo followed, passing me and going to the bathroom where he sealed the door and turned on the faucet. I tried closing my eyes, but each time darkness overcame my vision, Iremembered.I remembered being taken and beaten. I remembered how close I’d come to being killed, and I remembered the man’s face who had done it all with such clarity that I knew I couldn’t close my eyes right now. I couldn't bear to consider it even with Carlo the next room over.
At some point he came from the bathroom and settled into the bed behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into a bare chest. I smelled the fragrant scent of my soap clinging to his skin and wanted to laugh at the absurdity of him using rose-scented soap. But I couldn’t laugh. I couldn’t do anything but remember, and I knew it was time to tell him.
“On my twentieth birthday, I decided to get over you by going to a club and living like a normal young adult for one night,” I whispered. He tensed, telling me that he’d heard what I said. “It wasn’t my scene, but I needed to find a way to get over you, so I decided I would do it that night. I didn’t particularly care who I went home with, as long as I lost my virginity to someone and got over you.” He didn’t say anything, but his hand clenched into a fist on my stomach.
