Page 49 of Tangled Souls

A bruise is already blooming on her jawline and her lip is split. She’s clutching her torso as she slides down the wall. That is when I see a rip in her dress. It’s too much and my knees buckle.

I’m not sure if I’m more relieved or pissed.

“Go,” she gasps. “Go and get him. He was just here.”

“I know,” I tell her as I drop down to my knees next to her, the jolt giving me a bite of pain that I need in this situation before I lose my fucking mind. “I was coming in as he was going out. He bumped into me, but all I could think about was getting to you and finding out if…,” my words trail off because my thoughts are just too fucking dark to give voice to.

If he had hurt you.

If he had raped you.

If he had killed you.

No matter how I finish the sentence, it makes my head want to fucking explode. I should be running after him. We’ve been hunting him for so long and he’s been keeping himself so well hidden in the shadows.

But if the choice is between going after him and making sure my wife is okay, it’s no fucking choice at all.

“Go after him,” she pleads but I shake my head.

There’s no fucking way I’m leaving her here. Not now, not fucking ever.

I pull my phone out and call Kirill. He answers after one ring, his voice on edge, “What’s wrong?”

“Get to the bathroom.”

I hang up without waiting for his response before I tuck my phone away. My hands hover over our woman, unsure if I should touch her or where she’s hurt.

“I’m fine,” she rasps.

The door slams open and the hulking bodies of Kirill, Baker, and Huck storm into the small room, soaking up the air in the process. Their eyes sweep over us and take in the scene before them. Their eyes harden and fill with rage, which I’m sure is exactly what happened to me when I first saw her.

“I’m fine,” she says again, this time the words sound like a resigned sigh.

“You’re not fine,” Kirill snaps. “You have a bruise on your jaw and there’s blood on you.”

Her shoulders slump as she nods slowly. “It’s not my blood,” she tries to argue, but it falls on deaf ears.

My brother’s rage filled eyes meet mine and I can see the questions. “I got sidelined while I was walking Oaklynn to the bathroom by a client. She continued on. I wasn’t far,” there’s a plea in my voice I don’t even try to mask.

I’m not sure what I’m pleading for. Understanding? Absolution? The guilt tries to take me under, but I fight against it.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Oaklynn insists while grabbing my hand and squeezing it.

Normally her touch is soothing and something I crave, but right now it feels like acid against my skin. I almost pull away, but I stop myself. I’m not going to hurt her anymore than she already is.

“Who?” Baker questions, but I have a feeling he already knows.

I suspect they all already know.

With my head bowed, I tell them the rest. “I lost sight of the door for a second and then I couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed me. It took me longer than I liked to get away from the client. When I did, I was about to open the door to the bathroom when Mikhail came rushing out.”

“Mikhail was here?” Kirill roars the question, his anger reverberating around us in the small room in such a way that it might as well be a punch to the chest.

“He was,” Oaklynn confirms. “He underestimated me.”

There’s steel in her voice and I know it’s more than just words. It’s a reminder for us not to do the same.

Baker and Huck are on their phones even though most of their focus is on our wife. As it should be. I have no doubt they’re making calls to find out what the fuck happened to the men on the perimeter.

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