Page 106 of Bloodstained Wings

Rich shrugs and studies me. “I only pretended to be your ally so I could get close enough to you to determine what kind of threat you really were. I know all about you, Carter, and I’d heard enough from my brother to know that going after you wasn’t the way to take you down.”

My blood turns to ice. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Honestly, it was too easy slipping the new families information about you so they could target you. Even the mayor was a lot more susceptible than I thought he’d be. You’d think he would know better.”

“You son of a bitch.” I lunge at Rich, but at the last second, someone pushes a taser against my back, and my whole body jerks. I crumple into a heap, but all I see is red.

“It was a little too easy,” Rich continues as if I hadn’t interrupted him. “They were all too willing to do my dirty work for me and expose you, but now that you’ve taken care of them, I guess I’ll have to find another way.”

I give him the dirtiest look possible and say nothing.

“I have to admit I expected something a lot more dramatic,” Rich says with a frown. “I expected more fromtheCarter Blackthorne, but I’ll have to get over my disappointment.”

“Fuck you. When I get out of here, I’m going to rip you apart with my bare hands,” I inform him with a lift of my chin. “There won’t be a single place in this city that you can hide.”

“Unless I have Isabella,” Rich replies with a smile that makes me sick to my stomach. “She’s the real key, isn’t she? I’ve been watching the two of you, Carter, and I have to say… I get it now.”

I struggle against my captors, and they kick me again. “Touch her, and you’ll wish you were never born.”

Rich’s expression turns thoughtful. “Violence really is all you know, isn’t it? You and I both know that Isabella deserves better, and when I get rid of you, it won’t take me long to make her see that.”

In one quick move, they tase me again, and Rich draws me to my feet. He shoves a knife into my stomach, and little droplets of blood stain the ground beneath my feet. Still, I stagger forward and knock Rich onto the ground. I’m on top of him, throwing one punch after another, when I hear a few more cars arrive. Rich’s men freeze when they see the familiar Blackthorne crest surround them.

Rich slides out from under me and crawls away. “This isn’t over, Blackthorne. We’re just getting started.”

I chase Rich until spots dance in my field of vision, and pain shoots through my body, the adrenaline from the fight quickly losing effect. Without an injury, he’s a lot faster than I am, and he jumps into a black SUV waiting for him at the end of the docks. Then the vehicle screeches away, and I limp to a halt. Suddenly, Ernesto and Tristan are on either side of me, murmuring something I can’t make out.

When I realize I’m on the ground looking up at the sky, I frown. “What’s happening?”

“We’ll take you to a hospital.”

I shoot up. “He’s going to try and take Isabella. Where the fuck is she?”

“She’s at Anita’s,” Tristan replies before draping one arm over his shoulders. Ernesto does the same with my other arm, so I’m being pulled away. “She’s fine. Paul is keeping a close eye on her, and so is Anita.”

“I have to find her.”

Tristan and Ernesto tuck me into the back of the SUV, where I stain the seats and the floor. “This is going to be a bitch to clean.”

Tristan exchanges a quick look with Ernesto before getting into the passenger seat. “That’s not the only bad thing to happen today. Do you remember that article Lilian threatened to publish?”

I groan, sweat forming on my forehead and down my back. “Don’t fucking tell me that she posted it.”

“About twenty minutes ago. One thousand hits and counting,” Tristan replies with a grimace. “I’m working on having it taken down, but I thought you’d want to know so you don’t have any more surprises.”

When we hit a speedbump, I hiss in pain and try not to think of what Isabella’s going to say.

I need to get home as soon as possible.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Isabella

“Thanks for coming with me, by the way. I know it’s short notice…”

Sam looks up from her phone and nods. “Yeah, of course. I wasn’t going to let you go on your own. Carter does know you’re here, right?”

“I did tell him a few times, and I messaged him, but he hasn’t responded.” I link my fingers over my lap and swing my legs back and forth. “But he’s got a lot on his mind lately.”

---