Page 14 of Hold Him Like Gravity

She gave me a frantic nod as she tried to scramble up.

“Wait, stay there. Are you hurt anywhere?” I asked, moving to kneel next to her body. “Ribs? Spleen?”

“I don’t even know where my spleen is,” she admitted, trying to give me a smile, but it made the split in her lip rip a little wider.

“Spleen is here,” I said, pressing a hand to her side under her left ribs.

“No,” she said, voice airy. “He kicked me,” she admitted. “For trying to stab him with a pen,” she added.

“Good girl,” I said, reaching out to pull up her zipper and push the button through the eye, not wanting her to feel exposed when Renzo and the others came rushing into the building in the next few minutes. “Where’d you get kicked?”

“Just here,” she said, pressing her hand over her lower stomach. “It’s fine. It wasn’t that hard,” she said.

“Wanna get up?” I asked, offering her my hand.

She took it.

And, as strange as this shit sounds, I felt a current move up my hand and arm then across my chest as I pulled her to her feet.

“Ricky,” she gasped, looking up at me with wide eyes.

“He called me. He’ll be fine,” I assured her, knowing one of the other guys would find him and get him inside if he couldn’t do it himself. “I’m worried about you right now.”

“I’m… okay,” she said.

“Let’s get your lip cleaned up, yeah?” I asked, pulling out my office chair, and waiting for her to sit before moving toward the door. “I’m just gonna grab the first aid kit,” I told her, getting a tight little nod from her as I exited the room.

I nearly ran right into Renzo.

Coal, the newest member of the family, was right at his heels.

“Coal, Ricky is in the alley,” I said, looking at him. “He got jumped.”

Coal nodded, turned, then made his way out the back door.

“What’s going on?” Renzo asked.

“The place was robbed,” I told him, moving past him to grab the first aid kit off the wall in the employee side of the building.

“You’re fucking shitting me,” he said, brows pinching.

Because, yeah, who in their right fucking mind would rob a store owned by a mafia capo? Especially in this area. Where we made sure everyone knew who we were and that they shouldn’t fuck with us.

“Cash drawer is empty. Kick is beat up.”

“Fuck,” Renzo said, sighing. “She alright?”

“Seems to be. Split lip needs to be cleaned up,” I said, waving the kit at him.

To that, he nodded.

“I’ll shore up the place. Don’t wanna freak out the girl.”

I nodded before making my way back into the office to find Kick reaching back to rub her neck.

“What’s going on there?” I asked.

Before she could answer, I moved her hair out of the way to see finger-sized bruises darkening on her skin.

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