Page 148 of Ruthless Redemption

“You should find out.” I wipe my blood-stained hands on my jeans, wishing they were clean, wishing even more that I had the energy to wash them. “If she’s still alive, someone needs to be looking for her.”

He breaks eye contact to glance back at the house. “Are you going to be okay on your own?”

I keep staring at him, the man I once considered my enemy, the person I held partially accountable for my daughter’s abduction and my husband’s murder. “Yeah. I’ll come inside when I can.”

He staggers toward me. Up the stairs. To the threshold.

“You realize I still hate you, right?” I say over my shoulder.

He huffs a laugh. “Yeah. Nothing says hatred quite like signing someone up to run a mafia enterprise.”

I wince as his footsteps fade down the hall.

I return my head to my hands while the cleanup continues around me. Each second seems like a year without word on Matthew. Every heartbeat feels like it could be his last.

My emotions sprint through different stages of grief—shock, anger, denial.

I try to think about what I’ll say to him once he wakes up, but pessimism takes over and all I can picture is his lifeless body. His funeral.

I drown from the weight of it.

I curse myself for wasting the time we had. I should’ve forgiven him sooner. Cherished him longer. Why the hell didn’t I?

“Layla?”

I snap upright, stunned by my sister’s voice. “Keira?”

She sprints up the drive, Decker, Hunter, and Sarah jogging close behind her.

I struggle to breathe as I shove to my feet and scramble down the stairs to engulf her in my arms. “Why are you here?”

“Why areyouhere?” she counters, embracing me, holding me close. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” I shake my head, trying to clear the white noise. “We came to speak to Lorenzo, not knowing Emmanuel was here. There was an ambush.”

She pulls back, her grip tight on my arms as she scans me from head to toe. “Are you hurt?”

“No. But Matthew is. It’s bad, Keira. I think he might be dying.”

“Where is he?”

My throat tightens. “There’s a makeshift hospital in the basement. I’m not allowed in there.”

She drags me back into her arms and doesn’t let go.

I want to cry. To sob. But the tears won’t form. They’re trapped in my chest, building like a hurricane, pummeling me from the inside out.

“Are we safe here?” Hunter asks.

I glance up at him over Keira’s shoulder. “With Lorenzo’s men, yes. But against another ambush? I have no idea.”

He looks around the yard, taking in the cleanup operation. “Seems like these guys have shit on lock.”

“Yeah.” I release Keira and take a step back. “How did you get past the gate?”

“I can be persuasive.” He shrugs. “And it helps when Torian called ahead to make sure we had safe passage.”

I frown, my gaze switching from Hunt to Keira, then Decker and Sarah. “How did you know where…” I sigh as clarity dawns. “The cell, right? You tracked me here.”

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