Page 22 of Savage Reign

I nearly cried when the bus pulled up. The doors opened, and the same driver from my route here was in the driver's seat. He greeted me with a look of sympathy in his eyes. I must have looked terrible if I made an impression on him.

I got on and sat in the first available seat, which was near the front. I didn’t think I had the strength to walk down the aisle to the back. I didn’t know why I was so tired, but I was.

No one was seated next to me. There was hardly anyone on the bus except for a couple of people toward the back. I didn’t bother looking at them. I leaned against the window and closed my eyes.

The sound of something hard falling to the ground, plus the hissing sound of the bus when it pulled to a stop, startled me out of my sleep. I jumped and looked around just as the bus got to my stop.

I counted myself lucky that I woke up in time for this because if I hadn’t, who knows where I would have ended up, and I would have had to wait for another bus to come back… I shook my head and quickly got off.

Moisture gathered on the back of my neck, and I could feel the lunch I had earlier wanting to come back up. I held my breath for five long seconds, hoping that would keep the nausea at bay. I let it out slowly and breathed in slowly.

This was more than just pregnancy tiredness.

I was sick.

As if on cue, I could feel my throat getting swollen and my nose stuffing up.

And the heat wasn’t helping.

I blinked, suddenly feeling like crying.

Hell, since when was I so emotional?

I quickly made my way back to the motel. I barely remembered to lock the door before I unceremoniously collapsed on the bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell into a fevered sleep. All the while, three men haunted my dreams.

9

KILLIAN

I glaredafter her retreating figure as she moved slowly back to her room.

If she wanted us to give her time before we showed up, she was doing a terrible job of convincing me.

Fuck, but if I hadn’t followed her on the bus and woke her up at her stop, she would have missed it. Who knew where she would have ended up then? This wasn’t exactly the nicest part of the city, and I was sure the places where the bus was heading toward were worse than this shitty place.

Fuck, but how had she made it through the first twenty-four years of taking care of herself? ’Cause I was sure her parents hadn’t done shit.

This girl needed a keeper. Lucky for her, I was the man up for the job. And once I caught her, she would stay kept. No matter what.

I didn’t exactly agree with Maverick when he said to take it slow, even if that was what I told Silas. A fucking day had passed, and all we managed to do was kick a couple of lowlifes out of the motel rooms next to hers and take over.

And all I managed to do was follow her all day. And now, I watched as she walked to her hotel room, her back slumped overand her feet stumbling, as if it was taking all her effort just to stay upright.

My fist clenched.

I didn’t know what was wrong with her, but I planned on finding outsoon.

I didn’t give a fuck about taking it slow anymore. Our girl was suffering, and all we were doing was dicking around.

Silas was off somewhere, doing whatever it was that he did. I didn’t bother asking him, nor did I care what he got up to. I was finding it hard to care about anything that didn’t involve Mila these days. Even business. Fuck, especially business. That meeting with the fucker Vincent wasn’t one of my best. I had been out of it and only a hair trigger away from acting on impulse. Unlucky for the fucker, he pulled the trigger when he brought Mila up. The price he paid was with his life, and I didn’t fucking regret that.

I’d rarely ever regretted a kill.

My eyes moved over to where Mila had disappeared. Would I have regretted killing her had Silas not stopped me that day? I didn’t think so. I didn’t even know her then. I might have hesitated from the first look of her through the scope, but I would have gone through with it.

I wouldn’t be able to do it now, Daniel Hayes' daughter or not. I didn’t know what it was that I felt for her. It was much more intense than what it had been with Lilliana. And that scared the shit out of me.

I swallowed and quietly moved over to the motel room I shared with Silas, looking down at my phone for the time. It was still several hours away before I could make my move. Fortunately, I was a patient man. Especially when it came to the things I wanted most.

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