Page 97 of Winter's End

I was about to protest until I looked down at what remained of my gown. The bottom half was shredded and by the tightness of my eyes and cheeks, my face probably matched its battered appearance.

Fuck. Tonight wasn’t going to plan at all. Whatever the ‘plan’ was.

I forced a steadying breath through my nose and prepared myself to regroup.

“All right.” I acquiesced, squeezing his hand and letting go to grab one of Carson’s limp limbs. “Where are we putting him?”

CHAPTER 26

LOGAN

We stuffed that miserable fuck into an unlocked broom closet down the hall. I’d call in a favor to get access to the building’s camera footage later, but it would be pretty obvious to anyone who watched the tapes Carson had been about to rape a woman in the private hallway.

Not just any woman. Our woman. I was fucking seething at the cunt of a man who had the balls to force himself on her again. He would never touch another woman; I was going to make sure he learned the valuable lesson of consent in prison.

Carson would make a beautiful bride.

Winter was holding up better than expected, but we were getting her to a psychologist as soon as this shitstorm was over. I knew full well the damage recurring trauma created, and I’d be damned if Carson continued to have any sort of fucking power over her.

Her mental state was better than her physical. Her makeup was streaked across her cheeks and her dress looked like she had been put through a blender. I’d have to sneak her out a side door and have Cam pick her up.

I herded Winter down the hall toward another unmarked door. I didn’t know the layout of this place; I was leaning on instinct and, hopefully, some luck.

I turned the knob and listened for any activity on the other side.

Tugging her hand, we crept through another dark hallway. It wasn’t like this was cloak and dagger shit, but Hillary was probably wondering where the fuck I was, and hopefully Travis had found Kellan somewhere in this fucking mess.

My queen also didn’t need any additional eyes on her tonight. The world wouldn’t be seeing her as a fucking victim; she was the winner of this battle.

I stopped short at voices up ahead.

“Angelo, I have no idea what this is about. Now can we please?—”

Janet ‘secret agent’ Lindross’ voice was calm, but any idiot could hear she was in trouble. If she was with Georgio’s second-in-command, she was in real trouble, even if Angelo was just a gorilla in a suit on the best of days.

Fuck. Turn back, or check in on the situation? I couldn’t give two shits about Janet, but if she was compromised, we’d probably be next. I cocked a quizzical brow to Winter, who, naturally, the do-gooder, motioned me forward.

Alright then, we were fucking Boy Scouts today. Yay.

I kept us out of the light streaming out of the barren office, but I had a decent view of the inside from where I stood.Janet had been backed into the corner behind an old desk, holding her hands up in a non-threatening gesture and speaking calmly to a gun-wielding Angelo.

Fuck me, this night was getting complicated. I could probably get the gun away from Angelo if I caught him by surprise. I knew how to use it, even if it had been years since I’d trained.

Winter let out a small squeak beside me when the room came fully into view. She clapped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late. Angelo swung around at the sound; his gun pointed at us, but he didn’t shoot.

His face lit up with a menacing grin. “Welcome to the party, Mr. Eccles.”

He waved us into the room with the gun. After a moment’s hesitation, I walked in with my head held high, keeping Winter squarely behind me, protected by my body.

Now wasn’t the time to show weakness. Fuck this brainless thug—he wouldn’t kill me unless Georgio gave the go ahead, and since Stanley was his bestie, I was going to bank on that protection for now.

Stanley wouldn’t care if I was maimed, but his fucking pride wouldn’t tolerate his only son, the Eccles heir, being killed by Georgio’s Gorilla Man.

“What’s this about?” I barked, not interested in playing nice. Innocent Logan wouldn’t play nice. “What’s Janet done to piss you off? Misfiled your psych exam? Swapped out your idiot meds? She’s a mousy little secretary, for Christ’s sake. Let the poor girl go.”

Angelo let out an annoyed huff, but he didn’t make any moves to threaten me. He knew the score too. Smarter than he looked, ol’ Gorilla Man.

“She ain’t innocent.” He gritted out, his gun back to pointing at her chest. “I’m keeping her here until Georgio decides what to do with her.”

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