Page 10 of Slay Tricksters and Silent Skeletons
“You’ve been mine since the moment Rico brought you home,” I told him. His nostrils flared at my admission. “No one gets to fucking take you from me.”
Then, without warning, I fired off a shot, watching as the bullet whizzed right past Bento’s ear and took out the guard standing behind them. I rolled my neck around and took out another, watching out of the corner of my eye as Bento took action and snagged his captor’s wrist, yanking it away from his throat and snapping the bones, forcing the man to drop the knife as he screamed in agony.
The fist he swung into the man’s face next had my cock thickening. Despite his frostbitten fingers, Bento swung hard enough to knock the son of a bitch out cold with one hit.
“Alive!” I shouted at him. That mother fucker wasn’t dying here.
Bento nodded once as he turned to face the older man. The glint of steel caught the corner of my eye, and I swung to face their direction too, hoping to stop the inevitable, but before I could, the son of a bitch fired the pistol in his hand, catching Bento in the shoulder. Bento shouted in pain, then tackled the asshole to the floor all while blood spilled from his shoulder, pumping hot and fast.
Too fucking fast.
Trusting the other two soldiers to take care of the remainder of the guards, I rushed over to Bento, shoving him aside. Alfonzo and Rico rushed into the room with the other soldier. They covered us, taking out those around us, while I flipped the older man onto his back, zip-tying his hands together. Then, I rolled him back over and spit in his face.
“You’ll pay for that,” I promised him, my voice cold.
Then, I turned to face Bento. He was swaying, and right as his eyes met mine, they began to flutter closed. I hurried over, grabbing him in my arms before he hit the floor. My knees damn near buckled under his weight, almost sending us crashing to the floor, but I managed to lock my knees in time, balancing Bento’s heavy weight against me.
“I’ll take care of these two,” Alfonzo said just as the gunshots stopped. “Get him to the hospital.”
Before the command came out of his mouth, I was already lifting Bento’s unconscious form into my arms. Rico reached out to steady me as I straightened. Bento was heavy as fuck, especially when he was basically dead weight, but there wasn’t a fucking thing I wouldn’t do for him.
“Get me to the hospital,” I rasped, not caring I was technically giving orders to one of the deadliest men I’d ever met.
But he didn’t seem to care.
“On it,” Rico promised, already moving ahead of me.
9
Niran
After getting us to the emergency room, Rico went back home to be with Anurak, leaving me at the hospital with Bento. But I was pretty sure he knew I wasn’t leaving my man’s side—not without Bento coming back home with me. Rico hadn’t asked questions, but they’d been lingering in his gaze. He respected my privacy though, and he knew if I wanted him aware of what was happening between me and Bento, I’d make it known.
And eventually, I would. But not until I had Bento right where I wanted him, which was at my side and so dependent on me, he couldn’t damn breathe withoutsomethingreminding him of me. I was so fucking obsessed with him, I wanted my name around his throat so every asshole in the world knew he wasowned.
I wasn’t a good man. I would never pretend to be. And for Bento, I was completely fucking unhinged.
I lifted my chin when the double doors that led to the triage rooms opened. Bento had been in surgery for damn near two hours now while the surgeon on staff tried to dig the bullet out of Bento’s shoulder and staunch the bleeding from his artery. I’d been told it was a fucking miracle I even got him here alive.
Maybe Bento had known, even while unconscious, I’d find him in the afterlife and make him pay for abandoning me. Even while I’d been cold and aloof toward him, I’d always made it clear his death wasnevera fucking option.
I knew I’d alienated him more often than not while trying to hide how I felt for him, but that didn’t matter to me. I was a narcissist of the worst kind, and I didn’t give a fuck if Bento was confused about what was happening. I’d soon enough set the record straight.
“Bento Perez?” the nurse that’d stepped through the door called. Quickly, I stood to my feet and made my way to her. I was sure her smile was meant to be comforting, but I didn’t want comfort. I wanted to know if my man was fucking okay. If he was alive back there.
“Bento made it out of surgery just fine,” she assured me. “His surgeon would like to speak to you, if you don’t mind, and then, we’ll let you into his recovery room. He’s groggy, but he’s asking for you.”
He’s asking for you.
Fuck.
I wasn’t sure what to do with how that single statement made me feel.
When I nodded, the nurse led me through the double doors and into a small, windowless room with wooden chairs upholstered with sage green cushions. I took a seat and leaned back, getting comfortable since I knew doctors usually took their time getting to the family of patients. I knew they had a lot going on, but it was still annoying when all I wanted to do was get to Bento’s room so I could protect him.
And then, I needed to call Alfonzo and find out what’d happened to the two men I’d ordered to be kept alive.
A few minutes after the nurse had left the room, a light knock sounded on the closed door, then the surgeon pushed the door open. Standing to my feet, I offered him my hand, which he shook before taking a seat across from where I’d been sitting. Once I was sitting again, he dove right in.
