Page 69 of Under His Control

Fuck.

26

EVA

“Oh, Liv.” I hugged her close as she sobbed and cried. Her bright blue eyes were red-rimmed with how hard she'd cried. Her whole body was tense with fear, and as I clutched her tight, pressing my cheek to the top of her head, she clung to me. Her fingers cinched my dress and hair, but I didn’t care if she yanked it out in her fists.

She could lean on me. She could rely on me to comfort her. I wasn’t sure that I’d ever be able to let her go. Hearing her distressed cries broke my heart. In the same stroke, it infuriated me. If Liam caught that man and failed to kill him, I would. It would be my immense pleasure to pay back that asshole for scaring Olivia.

Worried that she could be injured, I leaned her back so I could look her over.

“Oh, my God.” Nina rushed in, her face tight with worry. “Is she okay? Are you all right?”

Dante strode through, speaking with capos. Tessa ran in with them as well. I’d already caught sight of Romeo rushing with Liam for the man who was sneaking out the back. Franco was still checking on the fallen soldiers. And Danicia.

“Fucking dart gun,” he reported as he crouched over the doctor who was more like a friend of the family.

I exhaled in relief that she wasn’t wounded. Or worse, dead. We’d rushed in past the patrol guards lying on the floor too, and I wanted to assume they’d met the same fate—unconscious from a sedative, not killed.

Nina hugged us both, and as I lowered to sit, I ran my fingers over Olivia’s face and neck, checking her over. Other than the angry flush of her crying so hard, she was unharmed. Untouched. No fingermarks, no red welts. No swelling areas of skin. She didn’t react when I pressed on her skin, and I prayed that she would react or flinch if she’d been hurt. Miraculously, though, she was only scared, not bodily wounded.

“Was she hit?” Tessa asked as she came to my other side, hugging me and Olivia. All four of us cuddled on the couch, frantic to soothe Olivia.

“I can’t see.” A dart gun would’ve pierced her skin. That tiny of a hole would be hard to spot, but I felt and saw nothing.

“She would be out if she was hit with the dart,” Nina assessed.

My breath shuddered out of me at the thought, and I held her close again, losing my control on a couple of tears. They streaked over my cheeks, and I sniffled as I hugged the crying baby close.

“She wouldn’t be out. She’d be dead.” A dart gun was dosed for an adult, not a baby.

“They’ll review the footage of what they have,” I said, more to myself than to them. Saying it out loud was a reassurance I needed, but both women nodded.

I rocked and hugged Olivia, rubbing her back as her cries lightened up. Nina kept her hand on my thigh, offering comfort. And Tessa stroked her hand up and down my back.

We caught our breath and stayed out of the way as the soldiers went through the house. Some were helping Daniciaand the guards to stabilize. Others were scoping the place out for evidence of bugs or any explosives. More yet were following Franco and Dante’s orders to secure the property.

It was a chaotic house full of commotion, but I clung to what they said about Liam.

“He and Romeo,” Franco reported to Dante, who watched Nina carefully. “Both of them ran out after him.”

My uncle’s eyes narrowed. “Giovanni?” he guessed.

“No, someone near the back of the property said it’s someone from the MC,” a soldier replied. He had his phone to his ear, no doubt in touch with other men who ran out the back after Liam and Romeo.

“Those motherfucking bikers.” Uncle Dante swore some more, pacing with Franco.

I breathed out long and hard, wishing all the tension could seep out of me with it. Liam wasn’t alone. This wasn’t like the other times he’d faced off with a member of the Devil’s Brothers. In his short time of being with the family, he’d dealt with them often enough.

This wouldn’t be a fight of one man against many. Romeo was with him, and I knew he’d look out for Liam like he would for a brother. Guards had rushed out there too. This entire property would be crawling with Constella men and no one would escape.

Liam will be all right.It was the same mantra that I’d told myself on the way here, worried beyond measure about Olivia when Danicia and the guards didn’t answer.

He had to be okay because I needed him to live, to be here for the future we were destined to share. With Olivia. With any other child we could have.

While I clung to the hope that he’d be uninjured going after the man who’d broken in here, I also reminded myself that he wasn’t just an ordinary soldier. He was a serviceman, a militaryemployee who had ample experience to handle anything that came his way.

As the moments passed, my body remained tense. Only Olivia’s calmer breaths soothed me. She grounded me as much as I bet I comforted her.

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