Page 87 of Savage Heart

Stepping around the body and the pool of blood spreading over her office floor, Liz allowed Trouble to lead her out the back door. Immediately, the sounds of bikes roared into the heat of the afternoon. Squinting into the sunlight, Liz saw three riders roll into the back parking lot.

Obviously, Oblek had lied about having men at each door; she could have escaped out the way she came—yeah right, he would have shot you in the back before you even reached the door.

Odin parked and dismounted first, hurrying toward them.

“Report,” he barked, ever the commander.

Trouble tightened his arm around Liz, holding her to his side. She reached around him, her arm at his waist, and squeezed. He needed comfort just as much as she did.

“Three in the reception area, one in her office,” Trouble supplied.

“Any witnesses?” Odin inquired.

“I pushed through the door, they followed me inside, and I dealt with him. They’re still alive, but they’re going to hurt when they wake up. I’m sure Danil’s boss is goin’ to have words with them.”

Fang and Hawk came striding up, concern and rage on their faces.

“You okay,hermana?” Fang asked, dragging her from Trouble’s side to pull her into a tight hug. Against his hard chest, she said, “Yes, I’m okay. Is Tessa okay?”

Once Liz had made that call before heading into the clinic, she knew that Tessa and Fae were getting a front row seat to what was happening in the clinic.

Fang pursed his lips but nodded. “She and Fae are with Skathi, so…they’re fine, though I’m sure they’re going to want to kick your ass for doing something so fucking stupid.”

“Watch yourself, brother,” Trouble growled, but Liz stepped away from Fang, and placed a hand against Trouble tightly coiled chest.

“He’s right, what I did was stupid…but can we talk about it back at the clubhouse? I really need a drink…and then a shower.” She felt so fucking dirty after being in such close contact with evil as she’d been with Danil Oblek. It was like a thick, oily sludge on her skin, and she desperately needed to scour it from her body.

Odin met Trouble’s gaze over her head. “We’ll debrief in Church; I have a feeling we’ll be getting a call from a certain disgruntled Russian oligarch. Take her car, we’ll send a prospect to drive your ride back to the compound.”

Sliding into the passenger seat of her SUV, Liz finally took a deep breath. As Trouble slid into the driver’s seat, he snatched her hand in his, holding it with desperate tightness against his thigh.

They didn’t speak until they were five minutes away from the clinic.

“I don’t even know where to begin with you, baby,” Trouble rasped. “What were you thinkin’, goin’ to the clinic alone, ditchin’ your escort—you could have gotten killed!”

Tears burned here eyes. She squeezed them shut against the anguish on his face.

“I-I know, but…I thought I was helping you. I got a call from who I thought was Lyle. He said he had the money, but I had to come pick it up from the clinic; he didn’t trust you and the club to not just take it without telling me about it, and not pay off the Russians. He had me convinced that if I picked up the money, made the call, then the exchange, it would all be over; Oblek wouldn’t have a reason to bother with me anymore.”

Trouble cursed, turned to glance at her quickly, before turning his fiercely burning gaze back to the road.

“Baby, Oblek didn’t need a reason to bother with you—the guy was a fucking psychopath. He’d been leaving women’s bodies all over the city, and he wanted you to be the next one.”

Her stomach dropped into her feet at that, as her breakfast tried to break free. She swallowed.

“They used some sort of voice cloning software, so I didn’t know it wasn’t Lyle. When I showed up, Oblek was waiting. He…he wanted me to call you, to lead you into a trap—”

“I know, baby. Tessa called us, told us what they were overhearing on the group call.”

Relieved, Liz nodded. “At least I didn’t go in completely unprepared; there was a part of me that knew something wasn’t right.”

“And I’m glad you listened to the part, baby, but you shouldn’t have ditched Slick, and you shouldn’t have gone to the clinic without calling me—fuck, you shouldn’t have gone at all! We had already wrapped Danil Oblek in a big, red bow for his boss to deal with. If you had just called me…none of this would have happened.”

Oh, this asshole!“You mean, just like you should have fucking talked to me about Stanford rather than blowing myfucking life apart?” she snarled, turning to throw daggers at him with her eyes.

He clamped his mouth shut, his jaw muscles twitching. She could see his nostrils flaring on his flushed face.

Finally, he grunted, “Touché.”

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