Page 89 of Revenge & Ruin

But before I can declare it, before I can burn this entire place to the ground, her touch on my arm drags me back to the moment.

She guides my hands, in control the entire time, to her neck. Those huge, chocolate eyes never leave my face, wordlessly imploring me to let her do this.

I keep my touch feather-light, and her eyes flutter closed.

Submission. No,trust.

Then, the tears begin to roll down her cheeks.

And sound finally, finally returns.

“Let’s get out of here.”

She doesn’t move. Can’t move, I realize, when I see how badly she’s shaking. Dressed in nothing more than a T-shirt and some jeans—myT-shirt and jeans—her bare arms wrap around her torso as if to hold herself together.

The sirens will come soon, so I swoop down to pick her up. If this alarms her, she doesn’t say anything. In fact, by the time I reach the exit, her hands are fisted into my shirt and her head is buried in my chest.

I wish I could drive us back like this, but we need to get to the bunker quickly. She doesn’t move an inch in the time it takes us to get back, and she’s immediately back in my arms the second I kill the engine and open the passenger door.

The bunker lights flicker on as I carry her down the stairs into the lounge, where I place her gently onto the couch, immediately throwing a blanket over her shoulders.

I don’t want to leave, especially when her fingers refuse to detangle from my shirt. But she’s hurt, and I need to get Dante on damage control.

It takes me about ten minutes to gather supplies and make the appropriate calls. But Isabella is still sitting there, staring at the door I left through.

“Belle,”I say softly as I approach.

But she’s in too much shock. I’ve seen it before too many times. There’s nothing to be done until she comes back to me.

So, I kneel before her and begin to talk. It’s not anything of importance. I just describe what I’m doing as I do it so that she has something to anchor her to the moment.

“I’m going to take your arm now,” I say. “This is disinfectant. It might sting a bit.You’re doing really well. This will numb the pain. These act like stitches. I’m so proud of you. Drink this. It will warm you up. My T-shirt looks good on you. Let me clean your fingers.”

Inexplicably, the first response I get is. “Oh. I broke my nail.”

She’s looking down at the hand I’m cleaning with a small frown on her face.

“Well, I’m fairly certain you clawed that guy's eye out,” I bring her finger up to my lips and kiss it softly.

“You came for me.”

I look up at her. “You left.”

“You should have tried harder to keep me,” she counters stubbornly.

“This place is supposed to be impenetrable.”

“You should probably start using better encryption, then.”

This makes me jolt in surprise. “Youhacked the encryption.”

For the first time since I brought her back here, a smile spreads across her lips. “Was it supposed to be hard?”

A lot of things suddenly click into place.

“It was you?” I stutter out. “The whole time? You were the one who was blocking me from accessing the Prince’s Hand files?”

“I left an opening for you, didn’t I?”

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