Page 3 of Her Loving Shadow
“Before I let Cara get anywhere close to this, is she dead?”
“No, she's not dead. I think she fell and hit her head. I haven’t moved her because I don’t know for sure, and don’t want to hurt her worse if that’s not it,” I tell him looking back at Aubrey.
I brush some of her hair away from her face. She turns her cheek into my hand, nuzzling it, and in complete shock I watch as she seems to relax just a fraction. Cara comes rushing in, dropping to her knees, and kneels on the other side of Aubrey.
“Is she going to be okay?” she wonders, looking worried.
“It looks like it’s just a bad bump on the head. Pakhan, can you call the doctor and have him come here? Take his payment out of the fund split this month?” I ask my boss, knowing that he could, in fact, say no. I prepare for that, and what it might mean to go against the one man that could make my life difficult.
“He’s on his way, and when this is done, we will talk about what just happened right there,” Timur says with a glare aimed my way.
I give him a stiff, affirmative nod. I don’t really want to move her before the doctor arrives to say it’s okay to do so, but if I know one thing about Aubrey, she would never forgive any of us if she was seen like this. I make the singular decision to go with my gut instinct and move her to her bed.
“Carabelle, can you please grab another towel to press against her head so that she doesn’t bleed on her bed? I’m going to pick her up and try to get her covered before the doc gets here. We both know that she is going to be pissed as hell that we saw her like this to start with,” I say, my words coming out dryly.
Cara laughs. “We’re going to be lucky if she doesn’t lose her shit and skin us alive because we had the misfortune of seeing her like this.”
I shake my head at that statement because that was my same, exact thought. As easily as is manageable, I slide my hands underneath her perfect body, picking her up as gently as humanly possible without jarring her. Once I have her up and close to my chest, she curls into me, whimpering. The monster that lays just under the surface of my being breathes brimstone fire beneath my skin. With me still not knowing what happened, my anger is boiling, just under the layer of my flesh.
I turn going down the hallway, not asking where her room is—I already know. The only way I was going to be able to try and let her leave was to know everything I possibly could about where she was going to live. I’m not happy in the slightest about the area she’s residing in. So to ease some of my worry and stress, I bought the duplex building and upgraded everything, but upon my first inspection, I’m replacing her locks and chain to something sturdier and harder to breach.
Once in her room, I glance around quickly, the savage neanderthal resting inside of me needed proof that nobody and nothing in here is threatening to her. Again, nothing stands out nor seems out of place, so I walk over to her large bed and deposit her on it. Cara comes rushing into the room, pulls the bedding back, and then fluffs her pillow before laying a towel across it. I tactfully lay Aubrey on the pillow, and take the second towel from Cara’s hand, pressing it to her still bleeding head wound.
Aubrey hisses in pain, swatting her hands at me, and trying to pull away.
“Shhh, Dusha Moya. The doctor is coming. Just rest,” I whisper, my tone gruff.
“Nico? I’ve missed you,” Aubrey whines.
I open my mouth but nothing comes out. I am not a man that does the talking.
I am the shadow.
The one that moves in the night and keeps everyone in line and on time.
If I’m the one showing up on your doorstep, you know that you have crossed the Bravata in a bad way. I’m the executioner, the punisher, I talk with my fist, blade, and several other torturous tools. Actually speaking though, it isn’t high on my priority list.
“The doctor will be here soon, Dusha Moya. Just rest!”
Fucking hell, I need to get my ass out of here. She deserves more from a man than I’ll ever be able to give her. Once I know that she’s okay, and nothing truly bad has happened, then I will return exactly where I will always be.
Back into the shadows to keep everything is how it should be.
Aubrey
“The doctor will be here soon,Dusha Moya. Just rest!”
I know that voice. The gruffness, the hardness, and the way it warms me from the inside out. It could only mean one thing, Nico is here with me.
Wait, why is Nico here? What’s going on?
Pain shoots through my head as I try with everything I have to open my eyes and see what’s going on. The last thing I remember is getting out of the shower to grab my phone. My mom telling me they found someone who is willing to marry the fallen, disobedient daughter. Throwing up on my brand-new rug and the blood. Oh, damn, all the blood. I called Cara and then everything from there is faded.
If they are here, then that means they saw all of the mess. No, no, that can’t be good. My upbringing and moms condescending voice rings through my ears. “Little girls with a messy room or appearance will always be known as trashy.”
They can’t see me like this. I have to clean up, make sure there isn’t a mess, and everything is spic and span. I try to open my eyes, my mouth hell to even sit up and get nothing. My body doesn't want to do what I tell it to do. If Nico is here that means Cara, Timur and who knows how many of his men are in my house seeing it and me in this state. My breathing turns into a pant as the realization of people seeing things not perfect sets in.
“Hey, everything is okay. It’s just me here,” my best friend whispers in my ear.
