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She lifts herself up until her lips smash into mine, just as the front door opens.
I moan as she jumps off of me before anyone can see us kissing. But anyone with half a brain can tell what was happening.
“Call a doctor,” Beckett barks at me as he carries a bloodied and unconscious Ri in his arm. He carries her down the hallway to the first available bedroom with Gage fast on his heels.
“I’ve already called a doctor, Beckett. She’ll be here soon,” Gage says.
Rialta and I run down the hallway after them, trying to figure out what we can do to help. But when we get to the open doorway, Rialta slams to stop, causing me to slam into her.
My shoulders slump when I see Beckett and Gage hovering over Ri. Blood soaks her pants. Her belly looks smaller than the last time I saw her. Beckett’s face is pure terror as he grips his wife’s hand in a prayer, while Gage slowly begins to undress her.
Rialta’s hand finds mine, and she squeezes hard as I see a tear roll down her cheek.
Beckett looks up at me in an absolute rage. “Get Rialta out of my sight.”
Chapter 16
Lennox
I see Rialta’s tears. I see her anguish, but it flickers away as quickly as it came until her face is once again a sheet of stone.
I narrow my eyes, trying to figure out once again what game Rialta is playing.
Beckett’s voice shatters through my thoughts.
His voice is unlike anything I’ve ever heard out of him. It’s high-pitched, fast, and breathy. I’m sure if you took his blood pressure right now it would be so high that you’d worry about him having a stroke.
Gage is trying to remain strong and in control as he pulls off her blood-soaked pants, and a first aid kit on the bed next to him. But his hands are trembling. He’s not easily rattled, but seeing Ri on the brink of death has him shattered.
Hayes rushes in next and, at the sight of her, collapses onto his knees.
“Stay with me, baby, stay with me. You’re strong. You have to live. I can’t live without you…” Beckett’s words continue on and on and on as he grips the love of his life’s hand. He won’t survive if anything happens to Ri or the unborn baby. I’m not sure any of us will.
The scene is chaotic. No one knows what to do. I don’t know how they found Ri or who had her. I don’t know Rialta’s role in Ri’s kidnapping or torture. But I do know that her presence isn’t going to help.
I grip her bicep and lead her out of the room. She stumbles after me, her eyes locked on Ri. She’s in shock, I realize. We all are.
I pull her after me, knowing I just need to take control of the situation. I push her inside Kit’s room.
“If you leave this room, I’ll tie you up and torture you until I get every bit of honesty out of you. Even the truth you’re desperate to keep hidden.” I let my eyes drag to her stomach, so she understands. And then I shut the door, locking it behind me from the outside.
Once I’m back in Ri’s room, I take control. “Hayes, go downstairs and wait for the doctor. Get her up here as fast as possible.”
I pull him up by the back of his shirt and shake him until I’m sure he’s stable on his feet. He shakes his head and then runs out of the room.
Beckett is still mumbling as his hand explores Ri’s body, fumbling over her limbs and wiping away blood. Gage has frozen at the sheer volume of blood but no clear injury on which to apply pressure.
Everyone suspects what’s wrong, but no one is willing to say the words out loud. And if the worst has happened…I purse my lips, forcing oxygen into my body.
It hasn’t.
Ri’s alive. Her unborn baby is alive. We got to her in time. And Rialta had nothing to do with this.
I grab gauze from the first aid kit and begin soaking up blood so we can get a better picture of Ri’s injuries. I try to think logically and keep my emotions reigned in. It’s something I’ve done countless times when any of us have been injured.
But this is Ri and…fuck.
I can barely keep it together. There’s so much blood. I check Ri’s pulse and find it, but it’s weak. Her chest barely rises when she breathes. Her wrists are red with welts and cuts. But mostly, her body is bruised and covered in blood with no outward cut or injury, which worries me more than if there was a cut, a bullet, anything I could remove or stitch up. But this…there is nothing we can do until the doctor arrives.
