Page 46 of The Woman on the Jury

A black sedan taking the corner at a glacial pace, making me wonder how badly Venezio was injured, if he wasn’t driving at least at the speed limit in such a dangerous situation.

It wasn’t until the car drew closer, and the streetlights shone in the windshield, that I saw it wasn’t Venezio driving at all, but Halle.

With huge, wide eyes, and a white-knuckle grip on the wheel.

When she pulled up to the curb, leaving a solid ten inches between it and the car, I came to the conclusion that she likely didn’t know how to drive. Though everyone in the Family eventually learned to drive, I knew a lot of other city natives who never did.

Most people didn’t want the headache of having a car in the city, so it made sense that they didn’t bother to go through the additional headache of getting a license they might never need.

But, yeah, it was clearly proof that shit had gone really fucking south if someone who didn’t know how to drive was driving away from an ambush.

I yanked open the door, finding her looking a little shellshocked, but with a nasty gash across her forehead, and a decent amount of blood streaking down her face.

Head wounds.

They bled like a bitch.

But they usually weren’t as bad as they first appeared.

Save for the headaches and possible concussions that came along with them.

Seeing her hurt, though, made a weird fucking feeling move through me, one that was so foreign that I couldn’t even place it. But it felt like a clutching sensation in my chest.

Venezio, though, Venezio was fucked up.

His face was busted to shit. I wouldn’t be shocked if his eye socket was broken, along with his nose. Who knew the state of his teeth. But his lip was split. He had cuts on his cheeks. His eye was swollen half shut. And he had an egg on his temple.

That wasn’t even factoring in whatever the fuck had happened under his shirt to make him bleed so much. And when Miko started to pull him out, and he could barely move, and he definitely couldn’t put weight on his leg?

Yeah, not good.

It seemed like three of the brothers jumped Venezio, while one went up to attack Halle.

Rage burned in my stomach as I tried to pull her out of the car, her whole body shaking like a fucking leaf. So bad that she couldn’t even stand.

I’d never picked up a woman like I scooped her up right then, holding her against my chest.

It didn’t escape me that she calmed in my arms almost immediately.

Yuri, as predicted, as he was paid to do, said nothing. He didn’t even look shocked about the whole ordeal.

We rode the elevator up, and into the hall that led to my penthouse.

I said nothing as I walked Halle through the apartment, dropping her into the guest room, then making my way back out to find Miko dropping Venezio onto a kitchen stool.

“Go handle the cars,” I said. “Then get up here. I’m probably going to need some help,” I said, gaze moving over Venezio, who was trying not to show how much pain he was in.

“Got it,” Miko agreed, taking the key fob from Venezio, then rushing to go re-park his car, and move his own.

“They came up from the alley behind me,” Venezio said, jaw tight. “Had me down before I could even reach for my gun.”

“We’ll have time for explanations later,” I said, turning to go into the hall closet to grab a medical kit.

This wasn’t a kit with a couple bandages and antiseptic that fit in a shoe box.

Nah.

I kept a fucking rolling plastic tote full of everything I might need to keep my ass out of the hospital. None of us wanted to end up in an emergency room with all their questions.

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