Page 110 of Affliction

“Yeah, she’s not safe here anymore,” Hawkeye replied as if he was expecting this.

“You’ll bring me to her when I’m cleaned up, right?”

Hawkeye gave me a sympathetic glance. “I’m afraid not, man. We’ll take her into hiding and move on this bastard. If the guys haven’t caught him yet.”

I went to protest, when the man they called Goat—a tall, bald behemoth of a man—came to take over and get me some care. The look on his face said he had heard my talk with Hawkeye, and he wasn’t negotiating this. Jackson’s team meant business and you didn’t push them. That much I’d found out from the few moments I had spent with them.

“We’ll be in touch,” Hawkeye said as he left the alley the way he came. Back to Mia. Back to take Mia away from me. Sure, somewhere she would be safe, but it still didn’t make me feel any better about it. I wanted to be with her. To be the one reassuring her that everything was going to be all right. Having her taken away from me wasn’t something I was prepared for.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll let you talk to her once she’s settled.”

With that, I was led to my second ambulance of the day. I hopped in and allowed the EMT to examine me. I saw Goat jump in and the doors were slammed shut. I tried to look out the back windows of the ambulance to see if I could catch a glimpse of what was happening at Mia’s apartment building, but I couldn’t see a thing.

The ambulance drove me to the hospital, away from Mia and the men who were protecting her. I said a silent prayer that Ally was with her when they broke the news to her about what had happened to me. I prayed she stayed safe and that the bastard never got his hands on her again.

Jackson’s men had to win this one. Mia needed him to. And so did I.

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