Page 81 of Cruel Vows

He nods, gritting his teeth as she pulls a pair of tweezers out of the kit and starts digging for the bullet. Hisses of pain fill the air, permeating through the moaning of those around him as Ellie pats his hip.

“It’s going to be okay, Charlie. You just need to stay still for me.” Ellie leans closer to the wound, glancing at George with a stern expression on her face. “I need you to shine a flashlight so I can see.”

He pulls out a flashlight from the kit and flicks it on, holding it close to the wound as she hums her approval.

There’s something about watching her take control of the situation that makes me want to reconsider throwing her over my shoulder again. She looks in her element as she pulls the bullet out.

George puts the flashlight in his mouth, reaching into the kit for a stitching kit.

I stride over to her, holding out my hand for the flashlight. George looks down at me before handing over the flashlight.

Ellie glances at me as she threads the needle. “George. I need you to go get me more needles and thread. There should be another kit in the car with some supplies in it. And then I need you to call transport vehicles here because some of the men are going to have to go to the clinic.”

He nods and scampers off while she stitches Charlie up.

Ellie takes a deep breath. “Alright, Charlie, you’re going to have an ugly scar, but at least it should help you get the ladies.”

He scoffs and squeezes his eyes shut as she shoves the needle through his skin. “Yeah. My girlfriend is going to love the battle scar.”

Laughing, Ellie works quickly, placing one of the neatest rows of stitches I’ve ever seen before tying it off and clipping the string.

The more I watch her work, the more I think that pulling her away from her job wasn’t the right decision to make.

It’s clear that she loves what she does.

And I’m the one robbing her of that by making it too hard to work. Too many people watching over her in the clinic means that she can’t do her job.

Maybe it’s time that I ease off the security detail in the building so she can go back to work.

Ellie glances to the other men lying on the ground as George comes back. “This is going to take a while. You have two men who need to be taken to the clinic now. Four more are going to need to go there too, but I need to get them stable enough to move. The rest, I should be able to deal with here.”

I nod and get to my feet, handing the flashlight back to Geroge as the transport vans come screeching onto the pier. “I’m going to speak with Dominic and find out what all happened here.”

She looks surprised by my willingness to leave her alone. “Alright. Well, I’ll be here.”

Turning to George, I pull myself to my full height, glaring at him until he looks at the ground. “If anything happens to her, it’s going to be your head I come for first.”

He swallows hard and nods, shifting closer to Ellie. “Yes, sir.”

Satisfied, I spin on my heel and head for Dominic as he helps load a man onto one of the transport vans.

I clear my throat, standing behind him. “What the hell happened here, Dominic? You were supposed to oversee this shipment. Nothing was supposed to go wrong and there wasn’t so much as a rumor spreading about the attack.”

Dominic steps to the side, away from the others who might be listening. “It was an ambush. We saw movement, but they were dressed as dock workers. Watched them for nearly an hour before the ship came in.”

“And then what?” I jerk my chin in the direction of the ship. “Because most of the dead men are the ones who were on board and bringing the guns in.”

“I don’t know.” Dominic sighs, raking his hand through his hair. “One moment, we were off-loading the containers and the next there were men storming the boat. They had been waiting for a moment when everyone was busy, and then they struck.”

I glance around, looking for the containers of weapons, but they aren’t here.

Fuck.

“Please tell me that when the attack happened, a team got the guns out of here,” I say, my tone cold as I cross my arms.

Dominic takes a ragged breath. “They’re gone. Noah’s men took them.”

“For fuck’s sake.”

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