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Obviously, he knew who I was, and he knew what the fuck was coming for him, too.
I shut the door, even if it wasn’t able to click into place. “The fuck did you do?” I snarled at him. He stayed quiet—frozen. My rage was so lethal, it burned inside my chest. “What the hell did you do to her?!” I roared.
“She wasn’t complying, so I just injected her—”
I slammed my fist into his face, his jaw snapping beneath the force. A scream of pain ripped from his throat as he spun to the ground. I slammed my booted foot into his neck with all the force I could muster, crushing his windpipe. He gurgled and choked, blood spilling from his lips, leaking down the sides of his face. I left him there to suffocate as I rushed over to Natalia.
She stared at me blankly, no longer registering what was happening around her. I cursed and yanked my shirt over my head before pulling it onto her naked body. Touching her was the only thing keeping me sane. She was my tether to the world. Fuck, she was the only tether I had to my goddamn sanity.
“Oh, fuck,” one of the guards muttered when he stepped into the room. He looked at me. “Orders, Boss,” he said, standing at attention, waiting on my command.
“Get rid of the body,” I commanded. The man was silent now, no longer struggling for breaths, but blood still slowly leaked from his open lips. “And get me the doctor from the infirmary.”
He nodded once, then bent to grab the man from the floor, throwing him over his shoulder. I looked back at Natalia, brushing my hand over her tear-stained cheek. It was already bruising. A growl ripped from my throat.
I wanted to kill him all over again.
While I waited on the doctor, I checked her body for any other marks or bruises, finding some on her arms and her thighs. Gritting my teeth, I parted her legs, checking for any sign she’d been raped, but I didn’t see any, though that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened.
“Rhett? Christ,” the doctor swore when he stepped into the room. “Let me get to her,” he gently ordered, coming closer to the bed, his medical bag in his hand.
Natalia just watched him, but she was so out of it, I wasn’t even sure if she registered that a doctor was in the room with her. Because if I knew anything about this woman, her claws would be glittering in the light if she was in her right mind. She would be fighting like hell.
And right then, I wished she was. For once, Iwantedher to fight me on something. Because it would mean she was okay.
“The man who did this—where is he?” Dr. Reynolds asked me as he began to check her pulse.
I arched a brow at him as I took up a leaning position against the wall. “Where the fuck do you think he is?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
Dr. Reynolds nodded once. “Good.” He shined a light into Natalia’s eyes. “She’s still responsive to light, so that’s a good sign.” He gently tapped her unbruised cheek. “Natalia, can you hear me?” he asked.
No acknowledgment, which I hadn’t expected to happen. Dr. Reynolds hummed. “She’s following me with her eyes, even though I don’t think she’s registering what’s happening around her,” he noted. “I think she’s going to be okay, Rhett. She should be out of it by noon tomorrow, at the latest.” He looked up at me. “It’s nowhere near as bad as the last time,” he assured me.
Some of the anxiety tightening my chest loosened at his assurances. If there was one man I trusted, it was him. I nodded once. “Thanks, doc. If I need anything else, I’ll let you know.”
He nodded and left the room without another word. I covered Natalia up with her blanket before dragging the chair in the corner over beside her bed, taking up residence in it.
I wasn’t leaving her fucking side until she was coherent again. And even then, I wasn’t leaving her alone until she was in my home under the protection of my personal guards where Iknewnothing could touch her again—nothing and no one butme.
I fingered the collar in my pocket. It was encased in a long, velvet box. Diamonds were studded along the leather, and it hooked in the front. Once it was clasped, the only way to get it off was to cut it.
I was going to wait to give it to her until I saw she was done being disobedient, but after this, like fuck was I waiting any longer than tomorrow. And even then, I was only waiting because I wanted to see the look in her eyes when I put this collar around her neck.
She wasmine, and the next son of a bitch that touched her wouldn’t die as quickly as the last one had.
They would fuckingsuffer.
12
Natalia
My head was pounding when I woke up, and I felt sluggish, my limbs heavy. Groaning, I slowly peeled my eyes open, staring up at the ceiling of my room, which was becoming more and more familiar to me. Even now, I knew if I looked a little to the left, I’d see where the ceiling had been replaced at some point in time, the portion of the ceiling looking newer and whiter than the rest.
I jerked in surprise when my eyes landed on Sir. He was leaning back in a chair that was placed beside my bed. He was shirtless, his chest covered in a dusting of hair that tapered to a happy trail, which disappeared into the low-slung jeans he was wearing.
He looked downright dangerous and devilish, and my heart thumped crazily in my chest at the sight of him.
“What—” I croaked, my mouth feeling extremely dry.
