Page 56 of Corrupt Vows

The darkness of death lies in his eyes. I let go of the shelves and stumble toward him. He stops with his bloody knuckles raised, pausing as I enter his periphery.

The world shifts. I meet the concrete again.

Hard arms wrap around me and lift me onto an equally hard lap. Warm, sticky blood smears on my face as Nico grabs my cheeks.

“Serenity, look at me.”

His harsh tone echoes through a tunnel. I open my eyes.

“Good girl. Take some deep breaths with me,” he demands.

I match the rise and fall of his shoulders, but a chill sweeps over my body as my mind replays the horrors of the last few minutes, and a surge of energy snaps through me. I grab his collar and scramble upright, pressing my ear over his heart and wrapping my arms and legs around his waist. His shock holds him immobile for a moment, but then his arms wrap around me, and he rests the side of his face against the top of my head, caging me in solid warmth.

I break. Sobs wrench from my chest and tears pour down my face.

“Hush,principessa. I’ve got you,” he murmurs.

Mid-sob, the world goes black, and even as his frantic tone leaks into my dreams, I sink into a pit of tar. There’s no way out. I stop fighting.

Nico is here. I’m safe.

Chapter 16

Nico Russo

Pure panic steals my calmas Serenity goes limp in my arms, and I can’t stop myself from calling her name. I splay my fingers around her head and press her front against mine with my forearm along her spine as I surge to my feet. I prop her ass on my arm and hold her tight to me so I can feel her heart beating and rasping breaths.

“Take care of him,” I say to her bodyguards with a tilt of my head toward her prone classmate after they step out of my way. “Stay with me,” I snarl to Ermanno, needing all the backup I can get since my arms are full of precious cargo.

He nods and pulls out his phone as he follows.

I stalk through the studio and exit through the broken floor-length window—willing to break the pane all over again if it means getting to Serenity a millisecond faster and saving her from her terror sooner—and lay her out in the backseat of my car. Ermanno jumps into the passenger seat without question. I shut the back door and drop into the driver’s seat before shutting my door—which I left open when I threw the car in park—and drive off the grass.

“Doc knows we’re coming?” I ask Ermanno as I adjust the review mirror. Serenity doesn’t move in the backseat.

“Yeah, boss. He’s ready,” he confirms.

My worry grows with every passing moment as Serenity remains unconscious. I pull up to the emergency entrance and park right in front of the door. No one complains when I get out and leave both doors open before scooping Serenity out of the backseat. The doctor and several nurses rush forward and meet us before I reach the entrance. They offer me a stretcher, but I can’t let go of my woman in such a public space when she’s so vulnerable, so I snarl for them to lead the way and hurry down the hall with her in my arms.

She stirs as I settle her into her hospital bed. Doctor Hennessy, an old friend of my father who doesn’t mind doing a few favors for the Russo family, immediately leans over her from the other side of the bed. He peels apart her eyelids and shines a flashlight directly over her pupil.

Serenity grimaces and swats at his arm, but he catches her wrist and offers it to me.

“Calm her. Do your job so I can do mine.”

The curt old man hits directly where it hurts.

If I’d have done my job, she wouldn’t be here.

I push away my agonized thoughts and take both her hands.

“Be still,principessa. You’re safe. I’m here.”

She whines and turns her head away when the doctor reaches for her other eye.

“Let the doc check you, Serenity,” I demand.

“It hurts,” she says.

---