Page 61 of Guarding The Phoenix: Vol. 1

Was it wrong that I enjoyed every second of beating him? Probably.

Did I care? Nope.

I wiped the blood off my cheek. Gripping the son of a bitch’s hair, I yanked his battered face back. “Next up, I start removing fingers one by one. Now, tell me Santos’s plans.”

He lifted a bleary, bloodshot eye. The other eye completely crusted with blood and swollen shut. Then he had the fucking audacity to grin at me. His smile was smeared with blood. “I’m just the first wave. You all will be dead by morning.”

Dread punched through my chest. Releasing him, I stepped back. Yanked my phone out just as it rang, and Mateo’s name popped up on screen.

“What?”

“Boss, we’ve got a fucking problem. They’re coming. Santos’s men. Three trucks full just smashed through the gate.”

“Tell everyone we need to evacuate immediately.”

“On it.” Mateo disconnected the line.

The fucker laughed and coughed up a spittle full of blood. “Told ya. You’re going to hell, asshole.”

Drawing my gun out, I pointed and put a bullet through his brain. “You first.”

Then threw open the door. We needed to get everything and get out now. I raced up the stairs.

The ground buckled beneath my feet. The world rumbled and boomed around me. And I knew what that sound meant.

Grenades.

Jesus Christ! They were using grenades. We had to get Kylie out of here. With the ground shaking, I raced upstairs, unsure of what I might find.

My only concern was getting Kylie and my best friends out alive.

Chapter thirty-one

Run

Kylie

Mybodyhurt.Everywhere.All my muscles ached from fighting off my attacker. My throat was the worst, though. Bruised didn’t even cut it. It hurt to swallow or turn my head.

Holding the ice pack against my neck, I knew I was lucky to be alive. They had reached me in time. Another minute and I would have been beyond saving. I knew it to the depths of my soul. And no one needed to tell me that Luka Santos sent him. I knew that the sycophant was behind it.

Watching Axel in my kitchen, I knew I had him to thank for my continued survival. It was his handsome face I saw first when I came to. I opened my eyes and found his worried jade gaze. He didn’t even know that he was my savior. And I wasn’t talking strictly about tonight. I’d looked at his face infused with concern and my heart fell over the ledge.

I wanted to shout my feelings for him to the rooftop, tell him how much he’d changed me because I never thought I would feel anything but horror in a relationship. But his care, his gentleness, and even his fierceness, had paved the way for my heart and soul to begin healing from years of abuse. Yet I knew his focus was elsewhere because of the attack and now was not the time for a discussion about my feelings for him.

My epiphany conflicted with that sentiment because I had feelings for Gideon and Chase, and Mateo too, even though we had not slept together but I knew we would get there, eventually. They all felt like they were mine. But how could I have feelings for more than one man?

The world at large would look sideways at us. But like I cared what the world thought. It had left me to fend for myself. And my four guys defended me, were even now doing what they needed to protect me. Regardless of whether I was paying them, it felt like we had moved past that into uncharted terrain. Because I wanted to be in a relationship with them all.

He looked so big and bad in my kitchen, and completely out of place. And it just made him more handsome. If my body wasn’t hurting, I’d suggest he take me to his room and love me. Instead, I would settle for him holding me all night.

Axel returned to my side with a chocolate protein shake and concern etched on his face. “Here. This should be easy on your throat.”

I nodded and mouthed,thank you. And I took the medicine before drinking the shake. I wasn’t a fan of protein shakes. One would think in this day and age they would make them taste better, but no. Because to me, they always had this unpleasant flavor and aftertaste I found yucky.

Give me actual food any day of the week over this crud.

Yet with Axel acting like I was going to break apart at any moment, to ease his mind, I dutifully drank it down. And it hurt. I winced at the pain each swallow caused, my throat swollen and achy. And I was certain bruises had formed in a ring around my neck. But I didn’t want to look in a mirror anytime soon. I probably looked dreadful.

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