Page 100 of Wicked Truths

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I reach for my leg, squeezing my blood-soaked pants.

I should have gone with Uncle Tony and AJ. Maybe then I wouldn’t have been shot in the leg.

The men with the emerald green eyes disappear from view as I lay here bleeding.

Giuseppe runs to me and directs the men following him to leave me alone and to get the stuff loaded up in the vans in the basement.

He helps me stand and half carries me down the dark hallway. “You need to get out of here. Take the elevator down to the main floor. There’s a separate staff entrance to the right. Go through there and call for help.”

He clicks the button to call the elevator before running back down the hallway, leaving me alone.

Why is he saving me? Is it because I saved Jax and brought him home?

The elevator opens and I slowly ease my way inside while holding onto the wall. I need to findUncle Tony and AJ. I’m losing too much blood, and the edges of my vision are starting to fade.

The elevator opens on the ground floor and I peek out, looking both ways, before slowly sliding along the wall and trying to find the service entrance Giuseppe spoke about.

A familiar smell floats through the air. I sniff and try to decipher what it is.

Is that smoke?

Is something on fire?

I continue along the hallway until I get to a door. Opening the door, I slam into something hard.

Please let it be a friend and not a foe.

I fall back on the hard marble floor, wincing and yelping as pain radiates through my leg.

A man turns around and glares at me, but my eyes close as my vision and my head spin.

I open my eyes and close them, trying to get my vision to focus on the voices.

How many people are here? Am I outside?

I open my eyes really wide and glance around. There is just a man and a woman out here, but the woman looks familiar.

“Mom?” I whisper a second before I pass out from the pain and the blood loss.

Chapter Twenty-Five

RHETT

I paceback and forth in front of the arena. I know I said I’d give her thirty minutes, but I can’t wait that long.

She has five minutes before I march my ass inside and demand Arturo do something.

My phone dings with a text message. Looking at the screen, I see her name. I quickly unlock my screen and read her reply.

I’m safe, just figuring some things out. If I need to talk, I’ll call you.

I immediately respond to her text.

Where are you?

She takes a few minutes to respond, but her reply doesn’t calm me down.

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