Page 26 of Savage Ruin
CHAPTER16
HENLEY
Over the next three days, Mateo and I work non-stop on getting the project finished. They’re the most grueling days I’ve ever worked in my life, but the mornings are spent exploring each other. It’s a good thing I’m sitting a lot the rest of the day because I don’t want Thiago or Grayson to see me walking funny. I laugh silently.
It’s been an idyllic moment in time, and even though our bubble of solitude can’t last, we’ve made the most of it. I might even have to ask Thiago if I can keep his couch. I smirk imagining the look on his face. Maybe I’ll get Mateo to ask him.
And miracle of all miracles, we’re close to finishing the app. The last of the development is going through the QA cycle, and if there are only a few bugs, we could finish today. It’s such a huge difference to have a team working behind the scenes to build out the rest of the project. Is this what it would be like working with SEI? It’s exciting. My ideas could get to market so much faster than my current average of one to two a year.
Loud voices penetrate my thoughts, and I tilt my head to listen. Someone is shouting. Outside, I think. Puzzled, I get up and go to the window, but I’m on the side of the house and can’t see anything. I listen again. It’s Thiago. Who’s he shouting at?
I head out of the office and pass through the front door. When I hit the driveway, I see Thiago pacing on the street and shouting into his phone. Grayson and Mateo stand beside him. All three look upset, and Mateo’s face is bone white.
Worried, I run over to find out what’s going on. Right before I get there, strong arms wrap around and pull me to a stop. I glance up at Grayson and frown.
“What’s going on? Is somebody hurt?”
Thiago spins around. “Get her out of here. She doesn’t need to see this,” he orders Grayson.
Mateo pulls me out of Grayson’s arms. “I’ve got her. Stay with Thiago,” he assures Grayson.
A familiar feeling passes over me, and my stomach tightens knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt a sucker punch is coming. “Mateo, what’s going on? Don’t keep me in the dark.” He pauses. “Please.”
His arms drop, and I take off. Swerving around Grayson, who’s now yelling at Mateo, I slip through the gate and collide with a wall. In this case, a large well-built wall named Thiago. He whirls around to grab me, and that’s when I see him. Or at least I think it’s a him.
The body is wearing a man’s suit. Generic, black. White shirt. Or at least it used to be white. The collar is entirely a dark reddish-brown now. Similarly colored streaks run down the rest of the shirt like small rivers. His arms lie folded in his lap. A band adorns his finger, and he’s wearing a plain black watch around his wrist. He’s propped against the corner of the gate with a box beside him.
I brace myself to look at the area I’ve been avoiding since my first glance. There is nothing where the head should be. Somebody cut off this man’s head.
“Do you know who it is? Is there a note, or is this the message?” I whisper to Thiago.
“Henley, go inside, now. I’m taking care of everything. Grayson, come get her!” he yells. The voice on the phone says something to him, and he goes back to yelling at the lucky recipient.
Before Grayson can round the corner, I hurry over to the box to look inside. Soulless blue eyes peer back at me, and I shove my fist in my mouth to hold back the scream rising to the surface. If I let loose, Thiago will freak out. Don’t scream. Don’t scream. It’s just a head. Plus, he was an asshole, right? He actually urged Diego to hurry up and kill me so he could escape before the Santos men arrived.
Diego’s right-hand man. Blondie sure ended up in a bad way. But why deliver him here? Is the enemy cleaning up loose ends? If so, we may need to move up our timetable before we have dead bodies littering the driveway.
A note is… stapled to the back of the man’s head. Gross. I shudder, but step around the box to read it. I hear Grayson swear behind me.
Little Brain, Little Brain, my heart stopped when I saw your beautiful beaten face in the webcam. A gift. He shouldn’t have left you to die. You can thank me later. Word of warning. The Savages are my targets. Don’t get in my way. I’ll come for you soon.
The world darkens, and I sway. Strong arms wrap around my body and pick me up. The subtle smell of cologne tells me it’s Grayson. Soothing sounds spill from his lips, but I don’t understand a word. I stare helplessly into those blue eyes silently pleading for him to tell me everything’s going to be okay. But he doesn’t. A confused expression crosses his face, and he frowns.
I tap his arm. “D… own,” I stammer, barely able to get the word out. When he shakes his head no, I explain. “Sick.”
He sets me down, and I stumble over to the grass and fall to my knees, barely making it before I lose whatever I last ate. Tears roll down my cheeks while I heave and heave until there’s nothing left in me. Except bitterness.
The deep, dark bitterness that comes with losing the one thing I want most in this world: freedom. A life away from the shadows I’ve lived in for so long. I open my fist and stare at my palm. It was right there. Gone now. I rock back and forth, trying to figure out what to do next.
He reaches for me, but I jerk away to stand on my own. What if he’s watching? Anyone around me is a target. He’s proven it over and over. “I’m okay. Fine. I… need to brush my teeth.”
Hands brush the hair back from my face, but I guess my expression isn’t very reassuring because Grayson shakes his head. “Don’t lie to me, Henley. We’ll get through this together, okay? Let’s go inside, brush your teeth, and wait for Thiago to figure out what to do next.”
I pull my head back and away from his hands. “Don’t touch me. Please. You don’t understand. He hurts everyone around me, and I can’t stand the thought of him...” I stop. Grayson’s not going to listen. “I told you. I’m fine.” I turn my back on him and start walking toward the house.
He grabs my elbow to stop me. Dark blue eyes filled with worry stare down at me. “It’s okay to need help, Henley.”
There’s only one thing I can use. “I’m going to be sick.”
