Page 43 of Ruthless Commander
“Anna,” Fin called, drawing her gaze upwards. “Will I see you later?”
There was that look…again.Heat raced to my cheeks as I saw it in his eyes, reflected back at him in Anna’s. I looked away, suddenly feeling so very fucking alone.
“Yes,” she answered as I unscrewed the lid from my own water and took a long, slow swallow.
My cheeks were still burning as Rhys stepped into the entrance of the apartment, his gaze moving rapidly across the blood splatter until he met my gaze. Hard breaths made his chest rise as he looked from me, to Kat next to me, then to Anna.
The elevator door opened and he was already turning, his fists clenched, ready to protect. But he didn’t need to…the island’s doctor stepped forward, nodding to Rhys as he passed, directing his gaze to the three of us sitting on the sofa.
“We’ll just leave, then,” Fin muttered, and stepped away, pulling Lazarus with him.
And in an instant, we were alone. I rose from the sofa. “I’ll let you have some time with the doctor.”
I met Rhys’ gaze and stepped closer.
“What thehellhappened?” he growled.
“Fin called me…he was panicked and desperate.”
“You should’ve said something, X.” he grumbled, searching my eyes, then licked his lips and looked away.
“Our bags,” I said, suddenly remembering them.
“Don’t worry,” he answered. “I had them taken care of. We won’t be going anywhere, not in a hurry, at least. It looks like we have a damn cyclone headed our way. So no one is going anywhere for a while.”
“Of course, we have,” I muttered, unable to believe my luck.
But it didn’t matter, not right now. I glanced over my shoulder at Kat and Anna as they spoke with the doctor. They needed me…so there was no way I could leave, not right now. All I had to do was stay the hell away from Mateo Ristani.
18
Mateo
I followed the men hauling that piece of shit out of the apartment, taking the elevator down and out of the building and making my way toward my own once more. My thoughts were frantic. Part of me wanted to take that scumbag Zakharov and put him in a cold, dark place where no one would ever find him after what he’d done, and another part of me was still reeling from Xael's words.
So she wanted to leave? Not that I could blame her.
Still, her words stung like a bitch. But no more than knowing I was the cause of her wanting to run in the first place. I focused on the screams that battled the wind as I strode through the foyer doors and out into the night.
"Get the fuck off me!" Zakharov yelled as he fought against my bodyguards as they dragged him to the infirmary.
But unlike his earlier targets, they weren’t taking any of his shit.
“Walk…or we’ll fucking drag you,”Score ordered, glaring him down.
And what do you know…the bastard stumbled forward, like a good little fucking rapist.
Assholes like Zakharov liked to hunt those who weren’t meant to be hunted. He didn’t go after men, nor did he expose his fucking intentions for the rest of us to see. No, lowlifes like Zakharov liked to target those who didn’t stand a chance against them…and when he encountered one…like Katerina VanHalen, the sorry excuse for a human being drugged her.
He'd fucking drugged her.
No matter how hard I tried to keep her out of it, Xael’s face slipped in. What if it’d been her Zakharov wanted? She was at the same party, could’ve easily caught his attention.Christ.I raked my fingers through my hair, my strides lengthening to catch up to the piece of shit as my men shoved him toward the front doors of my building.
If he’d gone after Xael, there was no way I’d stop.
I’d kill him.
Fast…slow…fuck, I didn’t give a shit.
