Page 131 of My Sweetest Temptation

I glanced back in slow motion to confront the voice’s owner. It was some fucking prep boy with bleach blond hair I’d never seen before. He sure as hell wasn’t a VIP member.

Who the hell was this guy? A new server? And what was he doing wandering around my halls?

“You lost, motherfucker?” In my peripheral vision, I saw Miguel, Luca and Matteo slowly walking toward me, ready to intervene.

Ken wannabe glanced over my shoulder briefly, then turned his gaze back to me, his expression unreadable. “You really should go check on your girl,” he said. He started to walk away with a quick two-finger salute.

Without hesitation, the guys sprang into action, following my lead as I ran down the hall while Miguel restrained the fucker.

I shut my eyes, trying to erase the image of those two sick fuckers touching her body and violating her. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I walked into the room of horror.

The look on Winter’s face.

She was lying on the bed, comatose, with a blank stare as tears fell from her eyes as if she was blocking something out. I forced myself to hold back from ripping out the fucker’s throat. The last thing I wanted to do was scare the shit out of my Angel.

Now, I raised my head, taking a deep breath to control my emotions. We finally pulled into the driveway, and Enzo stepped out and opened the back door. Gently, I wrapped Winter in the sheet covering her body and lifted her in my arms. Her face was cradled against my chest. I wondered if she could hear the hammering of my heart.

I was so fucking angry, but there was another feeling I didn’t recognize that was stronger than anger. Betrayal. Sadness. Grief. Could you experience grief when someone wasn’t dead?

I carried Winter to my room and laid her down on my bed, then gripped my hair in frustration and tried to get my shit together before I broke everything in this house. I watched Winter take slow and even breaths and took in the swelling and bruising on her left cheek, the cut lip, matted hair, and dry tear tracks on her face.

I gazed up and down her body, the sheet hiding the number of bruises they left on her perfect skin. I shuddered, clenching my eyes shut. Footsteps stomped down the hall, and I pulled my gun out from underneath the desk, ready to shoot a motherfucker. Instead, I came face to face with a heartbroken Matteo and a disheveled Lo.

“What do you need?” Matteo asked, his eyes never leaving where Winter laid.

“I need to chop those fuckers’ dicks off is what I fucking need,” I snapped, setting the gun back underneath the desk.

I crouched by Winter’s side and brushed her hair from her face. Bile forced its way up my throat when I looked at her beautiful face covered in dry blood and bruises.

“I need to clean her wounds. Can you get me bandages, ointment, and alcohol?” I asked.

“The doctor can do that, Nico,” Lo said.

“I know. But I want to do it.”

Lo silently walked away to retrieve the items I asked for.

“Did they…did…they rape her?” Luca quietly asked when he stepped into the room.

“No.” I cringed at the thought.

A few minutes later, Lo returned with the items I asked for and a basin filled with warm water. Winter stirred in bed and let out a painful moan.

Heeled shoes clicked down the marble floors, and I looked up to see Mya and Mom framed in the doorway, each of them glancing around until their eyes landed on Winter. Demon snuck into the room with them, leaped onto the bed, and snuggled beside my angel, emitting a soft, sad whimper as if he could sense her pain.

Mom’s gaze met mine, her eyes filled with an understanding that needed no words. She knew how hard I was taking this and that I was trying not to lose my shit and how far I would go to avenge my girl.

“Nico, Jacobi is here. Let him take care of her,” Mom said.

“I’ll take care of her,” Jacobi said as he stepped closer.

I nodded, but the knot in my stomach tightened.

One by one, we walked out of the room, but not before I took one more glance at Winter. Her eyes were open and looking right at me. When did she wake up? A lone tear fell down her cheek.

“Nico,” Mom said. I froze in place, wanting to turn back time so this never would have happened.

“Nico. We’ve got this.”

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