Page 109 of Love Triggered

“I’ve been through worse than this, Lya. Now, help me up. I have to get Lainey away from that asshole.” I grit my teeth, trying to forget about the aching.

Lya helps me to my feet. “Okay, now help me get my shirt off,” I instruct her. She gently removes my shirt. I wrap it around my shoulder with my good arm and signal for her to help me tie it tightly, to try and minimize the blood loss. It’s not great, but it’ll do for now until we can get out of here.

“Thank you for that,” she whispers while she ties. “Maybe even the devil can be selfless.”

Her words throw me off. My chest warms at the amount of tenderness in her voice. Lainey’s the only one who sees good in me, but maybe Lya sees it too. Maybe I’ve had a heart this whole time; it just took having my angel back in my life to see it.

“Lainey would’ve wanted me to save you.” I strug my good shoulder, like it’s no big deal.

“To save us,” she whispers, as her hand falls to her stomach. My eyes follow the movement.

Oh shit.

“What? You’re… You’re... Do the guys know?!” I ask incredulously, already knowing the answer. If they knew, there’s no way in hell they would’ve let her come.

“No. I only just found out this morning. I’m going to tell them after this mess is over.”

I don’t have time to sort out my feelings about all of this.

“Fuck, Lya. Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be here? Shit, you were almost shot.” I groan. Looking around, I don’t see Rian, Thiago or Zep, so I find the closest person to me and motion him over. “Yo, Manek. Can you stay here with Lya?” There are people fighting all around us in a sea of chaos, so she needs as much protection as possible.

He nods, looking slightly confused as to why Lya now needs someone to stay with her. “I’ll keep an eye on her, man.”

I can sense Lya’s objection before she even opens her mouth to say, “No, I can help. That’s my sister in there, I need to help.”

I level her with my stare. “Fuck no. If I let you go in there, then I’ll have three very angry motherfuckers wanting to kill me more than they already do. Stay here. You shouldn’t be here anyway. I have confidence in your ability to kick ass, but I’m not putting my own ass on the line by letting you go out there.”

Lya nods, then does something unexpected. She hugs me. Her arms wrap around my waist for a few seconds, enveloping me in her warmth. I’m stunned. My brain can’t keep up so I just stand there like a moron, not able to move a muscle.

Lya pulls away. “Go save my sister.”

“I will, Blaze,” I whisper, her nickname easily rolling off my tongue. Even though I haven’t called her that since she left me in that abandoned house, it doesn’t feel as weird as I thought it would. I turn my gaze to Manek. “Thanks, man.”

“Of course. Go get your girl.”

I turn and sprint toward the house, leaving Lya safe on the outside. Bursting through the back door, I head down a hallway, kicking in any door I can find.What the hell is this place?There are weapons all over the walls, making this place look like an armory.

Where the fuck are you, Sutton?

The first floor is clear, so gun in hand, I move upstairs. When I round the corner, I’m met with two boulders of muscles with guns. I’m able to duck and shoot. Crawling back around the corner I sneak, point, and aim. Shots fly between us but eventually, I take out both of them. I wait a few minutes and no one else comes, so I move from my spot in search of Sutton.

Making my way along the narrow hallway, I hear voices coming from the next door down. Stopping in front of it, I put my ear close enough to hear exactly what’s going on.

“What the fuck? You lost sight of Nash? You fucking idiot!” Sutton is yelling at whoever’s in there with him.

“The cameras just cut out and I can’t get them back. I don’t know how this happened,” a male voice replies, laced with fear. I move a little closer to the door, getting ready to make my move. I wonder how many people are in there. I figure most of his men are outside fighting, but I can’t be sure.

“You can’t do anything right,” Sutton says, before a gunshot rings out. Shit, he’s not messing around. Silence follows until he mutters a few things, like he’s talking to himself.

I don’t know how many people are in there, but I have to take my chances. Readying myself, I burst in the room with my gun pointed right at Sutton’s head. He jolts up from his chair, grabs his gun, and faces me, pointing it right back at me.Damn, he’s fast.I thought I would’ve had the jump on him.

From the way his face is bruised and bloody, my angel has done some damage to him. His eyes look like they’ve been clawed at and his face looks fucked up. I’m so fucking proud of my girl for fighting this motherfucker.

A sadistic chuckle fills the room. “Well, if it isn’t Greyson Nash, coming to rescue the little princess from the big bad wolf. I was wondering when you’d get here. Kind of slow to get a girl you care so much about, don’t you think?”

Stupid asshole can’t even get his nursery rhymes right.I don’t take my eyes off of him, but I can tell by all the monitors and wires that this is the security room. Sutton’s the only other person here.

She’s not in here.

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