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I have to ignore the way panic lanced through my veins when Clara dropped to the floor right in front of me.
She’s burning up. Probably got sick long before we met and has just been ignoring the symptoms. I make sure the doctor confirms he’s on his way across the compound before I leave her on the bed and close the door behind me.
The guard stationed nearby doesn’t need me to say the orders. He knows, with a single nod of my head, that he is to let no one but the physician in or out of that room.
I don’t know where I’m going as I storm through the main house. What would be a beautiful starlit night perfect for relaxing by thepool is only irritating me with all that glitter in the sky. I want to close all the open roofs but don’t have the patience to wait for each one to slide into place.
I want to scream into a canyon, but the nearest one is half an hour away.
I want to bury myself in the soft warmth of Clara’s body and listen to her breathless moans…
… but she’s sick.
And my prisoner.
And the woman who put my brother in jail.
Fuckingfocus, Demyen.
I was ready to rip into her when I came home after meeting with Raizo. I’d thought of all the best and scariest things I could snarl to make her cower and beg for mercy as I swung her fate over her head like some proverbial sword. She would be on her knees, and I’d make her earn my mercy… if there were any to give.
But the way she crumpled… that look in her eyes… It didn’t just slam the brakes on my plans; it threw them out the fucking window.
And then she started shaking.
Fuck, it took every ounce of self-control I have left to just stand there and watch when all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her and squeeze until she could breathe again.
It’s taking every ounce of self-control I have right now not to drive into town and plant a bullet deep inside her ex’s skull. If this is what he’s done to her, I don’t want to imagine what he’s tried to do to his own daughter.
And that’s when I realize where I am: right outside Willow’s room.
I’m not going to read too much into it. Probably just walking on autopilot, coming back to grab a change of clothes for when Clara wakes… something like that.
Yeah. Clothes. That’s all.
I can hear the kid stirring in her sleep as I brace a hand on the doorknob. No way am I going to risk waking her up—I’m not father material, and I don’t do the whole “kid thing.” Hell, I don’t even have nieces or nephews. So it’s just best for everyone involved if I slip in, grab Clara’s things, and slip back out without being noticed.
“Mom… Mommy…”
Shit.She may be too alert for me to go in just yet.
I hold my breath and wait. Maybe she’ll calm down. Maybe this was just a fluke.
But then she screams.
“Mooommyyy!”
Each scream is loud and shrill and filled with terror. Immediately, I draw my gun and burst into the room, the guard close behind me. The way she’s sobbing and panicking and scrambling up the headboard, I’m convinced there’s a rattlesnake or worse inside the room.
The guard flicks on the light while I quickly scan the room for any signs of snakes, spiders, boogeymen… I shake off that last thought and quickly gesture for guns to be put away.
“You okay?” I ask the kid.
She nods for a moment, then shakes her head. “Where—where’s my mommy?”
Well, this is uncomfortable.
I nod for the guard to resume his post. I’ve got this.
