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“I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered it so low only he heard me, and the grip loosened slightly. But the hand stayed put. Protective. Possessive.
“Kaylie,” Izzy began. “I think you’re the only one who can reach Alex. He helped you. Now you can help him.”
I threw Marc a look, then asked. “What do you mean?”
Dom took over. “Xander has a killing order on Alex’s boyfriend. Just a matter of time before they find the guy.”
I cringed. Alex didn’t deserve that. He was so careful. He risked everything to keep his secret life from his father. He got me out. He got Marc out, despite knowing it could get himself and his lover killed. Now it was happening, and I couldn’t help but blame myself. If I trusted him. If I never forced him to do what he did, he wouldn’t be fighting for his life in the ER and his boyfriend would be safe. “What do you want me to do?”
A twisted grin tugged at Dom’s lips. “I’ll tell you exactly what to do. What to say.”
“He’ll bite, I know he will. He’s desperate now,” Izzy added.
I swallowed the sudden bile rising in my throat. They planned this, down to the smallest of details. I didn’t understand how, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was my role in it. Did he ask what I thought he did? Did he expect me to walk in there and… and what? Mr. X and his men knew me. They’d recognize me the moment I set foot in the hospital, and I’d be either dead or locked in that cell.
Marc’s grip on my arm tightened. “Don’t even think about it,” he warned. “No way in hell I’ll let you go there.”
I looked at him. His face was hard as steel, but he couldn’t quite hide the inner turmoil from his eyes.
“You won’t come back.” His voice was cold, and only I caught the way it cracked at the last syllable.
I placed my hand over his, a silent reassurance. I wasn’t going anywhere. As much as I wanted to help Alex, what Dom suggested was a suicide mission. And I wasn’t ready to throw away my newfound life for Alex’s. I couldn’t do that to Marc. He lost too much. If he lost me too… I couldn’t think about it without bringing tears to my eyes. Not after this morning.
“I don’t think you understand,” Dom addressed us both, and I knew before he said the next words that I wasn’t going to like it. The hard look on his face said it all. I glanced at Marc, who looked just as grim, and my hand on his started to tremble.
“I’m not asking,” Dom said, and the fragile sense of safety I clung to shattered.
I was on my feet faster than I moved since the goddamn injury. Hauling Kaylie up by the arm, I didn’t stop to ask if she was okay. I needed her out of there, away from the son of a bitch who was ready to throw her out as bait.
She stumbled to her feet, following as I dragged her toward the exit.
Dominic stepped in my way, and before my mind caught up, I slammed a fist to his face. He staggered, momentarily taken by surprise, but regained his balance faster than I hoped for.
“If you do that again,” he hissed, anger flaring in his dark eyes.
I stepped closer, shoving Kaylie behind me. “Don’t fucking threaten me.”
Dominic laughed a cold, hard laugh that made me see red. I launched at him again. He ducked. His hand shot out, but I saw that coming. I caught it, twisting his arm until his body followed and he let out a shout. Then a fist got me in the gut, and the sudden pain cut off my breath and made me loosen my grip. He took advantage, slamming another fist to my chin. My head snapped back, and I staggered. The fucker had two arms and full mobility. But I wasn’t going to give in that easily.
Kaylie shirked, and Izzy screamed at us to stop. We weren’t gonna. Fuck if he got away with this. I’d kill him. I’d fucking kill him if it meant keeping Kaylie safe.
A metallic taste spread in my mouth, but the sting in the jaw was nothing. Neither were the tearing knuckles as I landed a hard blow to his chin. I grabbed his throat, squeezing while kneeing him in the gut.
“Stop!” Kaylie cried. “Stop fighting! I’ll do it!”
The brief distraction gave Dominic time to recover, and before I could stop him, he had my bad arm in a firm grip, ready to twist.
“Check mate,” he hissed, and I forced myself to breathe, to fucking calm down even as every instinct screamed at me to fight. That grip was death. He could have pointed a gun at my head and gotten the same result. I froze, icy fear gripping my spine. He added pressure, and I gritted my teeth. The cold control he held over me was infuriating. I wanted to kill him. To beat him until he bled, then more. But I couldn’t even move an inch.
Izzy grabbed him, pulling in a useless attempt to make him budge. “Dom!” she snapped. “Don’t you fucking dare. It took me hours to patch that up.”
“Let him go,” Kaylie cried. “Please don’t hurt him.”
Dominic considered it, holding the goddamn arm as in a vice I didn’t dare break free from. He was in control, and he knew it. He fucking reveled in it. Power. Dominance.
“I said I’ll do it!” Kaylie snapped. “What else do you want?”
He looked at her, a cold, calculating look that made my fist itch to punch him again, then he let go with a shove strong enough to make me cry out from the sudden jerk to the shoulder.
