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Not my blood.
She gagged and pressed her knuckles to her mouth. God, she couldn’t get sick. She didn’t want Toth’s hovering ass coming in while she was butt naked. Sucking in one breath through her nose, then another, she stepped under the spray.
The warm water rushed over her skin, and as its heat chased away the chills and nausea, a shiver rippled over her flesh. She tilted back her head and let the water run through her hair and over her cheeks. Memories of the last few hours flashed behind her closed eyelids and she gripped the handle on the wall to stay upright. Her throat still burned from where her attacker had held her underwater. Her hip pulsed beneath the waterproof bandage, the rhythm falling into sync with the pounding of her head.
She’d almost died. Would have been stabbed to death if it weren’t for Toth. A wild current of emotion ran through her. Three years ago, she would have welcomed that blade. She would have found peace in death, no matter how painful. No physical trauma could compare with what she carried day in, day out. But the fear she’d experienced today told her that maybe, just maybe, she was ready to start living again.
She squeezed her eyes against the rush of tears. If she started crying now, she’d never stop.
When she’d touched her hip by the stream and spotted her palm full of blood, she’d been transported back in time and everything had stood still. If it weren’t for Toth’s touch and unwavering stare, she would have lost herself in the past and willingly died on the forest floor.
So help her god, she’d never love another man as long as she lived.
Forcing all those hideous memories from her mind, she went to work cleaning herself. She started by scrubbing a handful of shampoo through her hair, but she needed to wash it twice to get all the sand, leaves, and tiny pieces of glass out of her strands. Conditioner removed the gritty texture from her hair. She rubbed soap on a washcloth until it was sudsy then ran the material over her skin until the disgusting sensation from her attacker’s blood and touch trickled down the drain. Then she shut off the water, wrapped a towel around herself, and got out.
Steam clouded the small bathroom, and she reveled in the warmth. After drying off, she stepped into her slim-fit mauve pajama pants and pulled on a long-sleeved gray shirt. Feeling marginally human, she brushed her teeth and hair then exited the bathroom.
Toth was gone, thank god. The ibuprofen had kicked in and the slamming beat of her headache was dissipating. She peeled back the covers, crawled under the sheets, and dropped her head to the pillow.
She looked toward the railing of the loft. A light shining from below told her Toth was still awake. That should have made her uneasy, but instead, his nearness helped her relax. He might be annoying, but dude was good at his job. If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t be alive right now.
As she fell asleep, one burning question roared through her mind. If he was single, who was N?
CHAPTER 9
Toth swirled theremainder of the rum in his glass and finished off the liquor. As he was dumping Savannah’s untouched nightcap down the drain, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling out his device, he saw Rami’s name on the screen.
“How’s it going?” he asked, placing both glasses in the sink.
“Probably better than you. I just dealt with the police. Had to make up a story that the car was stolen from my driveway and the cameras were out.”
“Shit.”
“I’m sure it won’t be long before someone spots the wreckage and reports it. I’ll need to buy a new SUV tomorrow and get it properly suited.”
Meaning bulletproofed. Their insurance would cover a rental car, but that’d be no good to them. They needed something heavy-duty for protection.
“How’s Savannah?” Rami asked, his voice dipping low.
Toth opened the back door and stepped outside so he wouldn’t wake her. A cool breeze rushed over his freshly showered skin, cooling off some of the fire that still lingered from seeing Savannah stretched out in her panties. “All right. She needed some stitches and ibuprofen, but she’s fine otherwise.”
Pushing the seductive blond from his mind, Toth paced the width of the back deck. The boards creaked under his weight. His gaze skimmed over the small pile of firewood stacked next to the hot tub. If he was smart, he’d start chopping in the coming months so he had a stockpile for the winter.
“Good,” Rami grunted. “How many did you take care of?” he asked, his words carefully chosen despite the protected phone line.
“Four.”
Rami whistled. “Well, I found out something interesting about this job.”
Shit.Whatever intel Rami had couldn’t be good. “And that is?”
“Turns out there’s a lot we don’t know about this gang’s beef with Sinners Cartel.”
Toth’s breath stilled. “Is this something I want to know?”
“Probably not. But you need to.”
He exhaled. “Go on.”
