Page 110 of My Broken Bodyguard 2: Ritchie & Tori

My eyebrows rose and my heart plummeted to my feet. “Oh, shit, my manager.” Without hesitation, I turned towards the entrance, where only the frame of the door remained standing.

“Mattie,” I yelled.

Ezra grabbed my arms and held me back. “Tori, no,” he said faintly.

From what I could see, the lobby appeared intact.

Brock shook his head as he marched inside, shards of glass crunching under his boots. He reached over the counter and pulled Mattie up by his shirt, causing him to scream.

“It’s okay!” I yelled desperately.

Gunner appeared next to me. “We need to move,” he shouted. His voice sounded distant and muffled. “The police are on their way.”

I knew we needed to leave quickly. I wrapped my arms around Mattie before pulling away. “I have to go. But I’ll pay to have this cleaned up since I can’t do it myself.”

Mattie looked confused but didn’t ask any questions.

Ezra exchanged some words with Mattie before I was ushered towards a gray SUV by Gunner.

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, we arrived at a parking garage.

Ezra told Gunner to drop us off at the side entrance of the garage. My bodyguard noticed I was hugging myself, wincing inpain. He cradled me in his arms and carried me toward a fleet of black, gray, and charcoal gray Suburbans and Yukon Denalis parked in the garage.

Ezra explained that the warehouse’s location was a secret until I completed my weird initiation with the brothers. He was right, and I didn’t argue.

Once Ezra, Brock, and I walked through the warehouse door, Arlis stalked toward me.

“How bad is she hurt?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Ezra stated. “But she’s in pain. We hit the ground pretty hard.”

A smirk hit my lips. “I’m fine. I’ll be ok.”

Arlis stretched his hand out. “You know the routine.”

I strolled toward my bedroom.

“Tori,” Ezra called out just as I approached my bedroom.

I glanced at him and winced due to the pain throbbing through my body.

“I’m calling Ritchie.”

My throat bobbed at his statement.

Shit, my husband’s going to lose it.

I nodded before stepping into the bedroom.

Arlis entered the room and immediately began the exam without delay.

Using tweezers, he removed small shards of glass from my hair before checking my limbs for any signs of sprains or fractures. As he pressed on my chest, I struggled to stifle a cough.

“Remember what I said in Vegas? You need time to rest in order to heal properly. But instead, you returned to Chicago and went straight back to work.”

What was I supposed to say? Arlis, it feels like the walls are closing in on me and the demons are trying to attack.

“I’ll stay in bed for the rest of the day,” I said with a grin.

---