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“Wait,” I demand, then grab Olivia’s hand. “I’m going to lock you and Justine in this room. Do not open that door for anyone other than myself, Jaxon, Damon, or Markus. They’re the only people you can trust.”
She nods and squeezes my fingers tightly between her own. “Call me the second you can after you get to that house.”
“I will.” I lean forward and kiss her forehead, then move to get dressed again, opting for my last clean pair of black jeans and a black shirt. My preferred color to hide my favorite one: crimson.
Once I’m finished and armed, I give Olivia one last look. She’s holding herself together better than I predicted, but I suspect there will still be a point in which she falls apart. A person can only be so strong, and she’s been through hell since the moment her mother died only a month or so ago.
Her eyes follow me across the room, and she nods as if giving me permission to do whatever it takes to get her friend back. Not that I wouldn’t have anyway, but at least I know she’s not disgusted by what I do when necessary.
Jaxon is waiting at the door, and when I close it behind me, I activate not only the alarm that will screech through the house if the lock is tampered with, but also the electricity that will shock whoever tries to touch the door to their near death.
Worth every bit of the hundred grand I paid for it.
“The house is about fifteen minutes from us, and I already called the first hospital, using the fake badge number they never bother to check,” Jaxon says with a bit of pride. “Only one stab victim in the last seventy hours and it was a woman.”
“I’ll drive while you keep calling,” I reply, entering the elevator and pressing the button for the garage. “We need to get Tori back.”
“Or your girl is going to go on a killing spree just like you,” he jokes, but I have a feeling he’s not far from the truth.
My Raven may not have taken a life before, but something tells me the glimpses she’s already had of my world have shown her that she’s not as opposed to murder as she may have previously thought.
12
OLIVIA
There’s a small part of me that is terrified for Tori, but my inner fury is like an inferno, growing inside me and taking out everything else in its path. The fact that I’m bound to this bed only adds gas to the flames.
Never in my life have I wished someone dead like I do Titan right now. Even more so, my fingers itch to be the one to take the life from his eyes. It’s one thing for him to go after me because I refused to be the daughter he wanted or give him info on Luca. It’s an entirely different thing for him to take Tori.
She’s been in my life since before he left, so she knows him. She may even trust him at first. Not knowing what he’s doing to her makes me crazier by the second.
Justine reaches for my hand, forcing my fingers to unclench. “Easy there. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“I’m already fucking hurt,” I retort darkly.
“Luca will find her,” she assures me, attempting to pacify my escalating anger.
I shake my head, my doubt refusing to be subdued. “He couldn’t findme.”
The words escape before I can rein them in, regret instantly filling the space they left behind. It's not that Luca didn’t try, not that he didn’t exhaust every resource to bring me back. But the reality is that hehadn’tfound me. Titan stayed at least a step ahead of him the entire time.
I don’t blame Luca for it. I'm well aware of how relentless he was in his search. But the bitter truth is, there's a possibility this could all go downhill again, ending in heartbreak. If I lose Tori…
It doesn’t matter that I’ve found a family within this compound over the last month, that I trust and love Justine and that I know Luca would protect me with his own life.
Tori has been in my life for decades, and I’ve put her in danger by not only choosing to be here, but by keeping the truth from her. I should have trusted her with what I’d gotten myself into. If I had, then she wouldn’t have been in a position to be taken. She could have…
I don’t fucking know, but something. Hell, she could have been here. With me.
Probably not, but I can’t help blaming myself, imagining all the possibilities that could have prevented our current situation.
Justine reaches for the cream she brought. “Let’s focus on the things we can do. Like getting you better, yeah?”
Begrudgingly, I agree. The only way I’ll be able to help Tori myself is if I can get the hell out of this bed. So, with that in mind, I let Justine cover my face and ribs in the lotion without further complaint.
When she’s done, I actually do feel better. The soreness isn’t as severe as it was only minutes ago, and I say as much.
“There’s a bit of lidocaine in this stuff,” she replies. “It helps numb the skin, but it doesn’t mean you’re healed.”
