Page 42 of The Villain's Beloved (The Villain's Duet 2)

Thank you, God. Thank you. That was the only thought that repeated itself in my head, my heart on the verge of bursting.

“Elijah.” Charlotte grabbed my shirt with her fists, clutching me so fucking tight. “I was so scared.”

“I know, baby. It’s okay. You’re safe now.” I hugged her tighter, weaving my hands into her hair, relief flooding my system. Nothing else fucking mattered. Nothing. It was only her. Her safety. Her protection. Her security.

Saint walked in, fastening the buttons of his coat. “You two okay?”

“God, yes.” I didn’t let go of Charlotte. “You got my message?”

Saint lifted a brow. “Obviously.”

I took a deep breath. “Remind me to give that concierge a huge motherfucking tip.”

“I’ll give it to you, my friend. Your instincts are spot on.”

After doing a little background check on the man I noticed in the hotel's reception the night before, I came up empty. I couldn’t find anything on that man. Nothing. It was as if the man didn’t exist, and that was highly un-fucking-likely. Everyone had a trace. Everyone. Not finding anything on that man set off all the alarm bells.

Unable to ignore my instincts, I instructed the concierge to call me when this man left the hotel. If he didn’t get hold of me, he was instructed to send the man’s name to Saint with my message.“Ghosts don’t exist.”I knew Saint had the means and the resources to figure out who this man was. Everyone had a story, no matter who you were.

Saint patted me on the shoulder. “Our ghost led us here.” He glanced at the ground by the door where our ghost’s dead body bled out. “You’re lucky I figured it out.”

“Never doubted you for a second.”

Saint smirked. “Because you know I’m smarter than you.”

I rolled my eyes, clutching Charlotte tighter.

Saint glanced from her to me. “Get her out of here. Once she’s safe, and I’m done here,” his expression hardened, “you and I, we need to talk.”

I knew that look. I also knew that whatever Saint wanted to talk about, I wasn’t going to like it. But that was a problem for another time. Right now, all that mattered was Charlotte.

I eased back, gently wiping her hair from her face—strands of raven curls sticking to the crusted blood on her cheek. “We need to get you checked out.”

She nodded, wiping at her tears. “I’m okay.”

“I just want to make sure. It’s a nasty hit you took.”

Her hands trembled, and her body shook. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “After what you’ve just been through, you’re worried that I’m hurt?”

“All I thought about was you, praying they wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

I cupped her cheek. “Yes. And I’ll be even better after I get you out of here.”

Charlotte snuggled into my side, and I slipped my arm around her shoulders, keeping her steady as we walked out.

A loud crack sounded, and my ears popped, followed by the sound of Charlotte’s screams. My body went numb—my legs, my arms, everything but this searing pain that spread like fire through my insides.

My thoughts went quiet. Silent. My body falling…falling…until it all went dark.

15

I stared out the window,the doctor’s voice echoing in the background. He was still talking and explaining, but I didn’t hear a thing. I had stopped listening when I heard the words‘traumatic brain injury,’ and ‘damage to the inferior medial frontal lobe.’

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