Page 93 of Fiercely Protective

I jumped from the car. “Where is she?”

“There are three men in the house. We found these two lurking around the perimeter.”

I didn’t wait to hear more. I ran toward the house, hoping I had gotten there in time before Tony could hurt her. When I threw open the front door, the sight I saw made my blood turn cold.

Tony had his hands on Bri. There was an open wound on her head with blood oozing from it and her right cheek was red and swollen from where the bastard had hit her. I saw Michael from the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t fully take my eyes frommy angel. Her eyes were filled with fear, then to my horror, I watched her go limp in his arms.

“Let her go.”

He laughed. “You think I am a fool? If I let her go, you will kill me. No, she is the only way I have to get out of here.” His arm moved around her throat as he held her against his chest as a shield. “So, unless you want to see me choke the life out of her before your eyes, you will step aside.”

I didn’t have to turn my head to know that Blaze had come to stand beside me, I could feel his presence. Alessio and Tomas had probably gone around back. Michael took a step closer to Galante, and I noticed that he was covered in blood. He must have already taken care of the other two men in the house. That left just Tony.

“There is no way out, Tony. Let her go, and I will have some mercy.”

His bitter laugh made my skin crawl. I looked at Bri’s face. Her eyes fluttered as she began to regain consciousness.

I moved forward, needing to close the space between us so that I could reach Bri quickly if things didn’t go the way I planned. Tony continued backing away. Bri began to struggle, and he tightened his hold, causing her airway to be cut off. Her hand reached up to grip the arm that was around her throat, but she was weak. I needed to get her away from him.

I saw her eyes dart over to Michael and the small nod of her head indicating that she was about to attempt something. But before I could stop her from doing something that might get her hurt, she reached up and raked her nails deep into Tony’s face. The hold he had on her loosened, and I rushed forwardpulling her free and shoving her behind me before I tackled the man that had dared to touch her. All the anger and fury I had inside me came to the surface. My fists pounded against his head until he no longer moved beneath me. I would have killed him right then and there had Blaze not stepped forward and pulled me off him.

“Stop! Killing him now is not what he deserves.”

I looked down at his bloody face. “Get him the fuck out of my house. I don’t want her to have to see his face again.”

At some point, Tomas and Alessio had made their way to the scene. Tomas helped Blaze drag Tony from the room while Alessio swept his Cara Mia into his arms.

I turned to find Bri slumped against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. I immediately walked over to her, scanning the injuries on her face. I picked her up, cradling her in my arms, and headed for the stairs. I wanted privacy to make certain she was alright and find out what Tony had done to her before I arrived.

When I had her behind the closed doors of the master suite, I put her back on her feet and held her a little away from me so I could further examine her injuries. “Where are hurt?”

Her hand went to the cut on her head. “I’m fine. Just a few bumps. He tripped me when I was running from him, and I fell down the stairs, and I will have a few bruises on my face from where he hit me.”

I took out my phone.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m calling my physician. If you fell down the steps, I want you examined.”

I braced for an argument from her, but she never uttered a word as she walked away to sit on the edge of the bed. I could tell from the wobbliness of her steps that she needed to sit before she fell.

Once the call had been made, I went into the bathroom and came back out with a hot washcloth and gently washed the blood from her forehead.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t get here in time.”

A heavy sigh passed through her lips. “But you did.”

I tilted her chin up so I could see into her eyes. “It’s over now. No more nightmares, Angel.”

I leaned down and kissed her softly. “The doctor will be here soon. Take a shower, and I’ll bring an icepack for your cheek.”

“Where will you be? You aren’t leaving again, are you?”

Her hand clung to mine.

“No, baby. I am just going downstairs to talk to Michael and make certain all of this is handled. I’ll come back when the doctor arrives.”

She nodded and walked into the bathroom on her own power. Once I heard the shower running, I hurried downstairs, hoping Michael could give me more details of what the fuck had happened.

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