Shielded Wrongs (Bellandi Crime Syndicate 4)

"Let's go," Matteo ordered. "I'll take you back to the house in the SUV. Ryker and Rafe will stay to deal with cleanup," Matteo glanced back at the two men as he guided us out. "I wish I could see what those two maniacs come up with when they work together. I might have to come back just to find out."

Matteo grabbed a towel out of the back of the SUV, bunching it up and pressing it against Sadie's shoulder. "Let's avoid you bleeding all over the seats if we can," he said with a cocky grin that made me want to stab him in the face.

So maybe the red haze hadn't left entirely.

Helping her into the seat would have been easier if the damn woman didn't insist on doing everything herself. Shot. Not shot. It didn't seem to matter much to her as she hauled herself into the backseat, even though her face twisted with pain. Rebel settled on the floor at Sadie’s feet, her trusty companion who I’d never allow to leave her side. Watching her go into beast mode had only increased my kinship for her.

Any other woman and I might have worried more that Sadie thought differently of Rebel or I, having seen what we did and the way we slaughtered nearly a dozen men without batting an eye.

Simon and Matteo climbed into the front as Sadie hummed to herself. Her hands shook a bit as Ryker hurried out to hand me her gun and her tote that he must have found on the floor. “How many bullets are missing?” I asked, unsure if I wanted the answer as Simon drove off.

“Three,” she said instantly.

“And how many did you kill?”

“Two,” she sighed, leaning her head against my shoulder.

"You good?" I asked.

She nodded, her lips thinning as Simon drove down the road at breakneck speed. "I know I teach women to protect themselves. I taught Ivory how to kill Adrian long before we knew he existed. But it's just different doing it myself. I should be more bothered. Shouldn't I be more bothered? I just killed someone," she rambled.

"You shouldn't be bothered. He would have killed you, Carina. You're more needed in this world than he ever could be," I reassured her. "I don't think you should ever be concerned with ridding the world of scum."

"Does that go for you too?" she asked, getting right to the point.

"Right and wrong. Sometimes the lines get blurred, and it's hard to know if you're the one who's right or not. Some of the greatest villains in history thought they were the hero in their story. I never want that to be me. And fighting someone else's war… made it even harder to find that line," I admitted. "But I will never regret killing the bastards that wanted to take you away from me. Away from your family and Ivory and Luna."

"So you won't have any new problems sleeping?" she asked.

"No, Baby Girl. I won't have any problems sleeping tonight as long as you're okay."

Pulling up to the community, the gates were flung wide open with just a glance at the SUV and driver. Simon navigated the streets in silence, Matteo typing frantically on his phone to coordinate a response and probably tell Ivory that Sadie would be fine. The relationship those two had was enviable.

I loved that one day our kids would have the extended family our friendships offered.

Pulling up at my house, relief filled me at the sight of the Doc waiting on the front porch and tapping his foot impatiently. Climbing out quickly, I hurried around the car to help her out despite the roll of her eyes. Doc's eyes landed on her, widening in recognition as he noticed the blood on her shoulder.

Matteo waved out the open window as Simon retreated, heading back into the fray, undoubtedly. The sooner Ryker and Rafe finished with the cleanup, the sooner they could get back to hunting Tiernan down and putting him in the ground. "She's the one who was shot?" Doc asked as I stepped up to the panel and inserted my security code.

"Yes," I grunted as Sadie strode past.

“Rebel!” Sadie called. “Stay off my bed, you bloody little monster.” The dog lifted a paw to lick it, going to the back door and pawing to be let into the yard. Sadie quickly walked over, her compulsions making her more than happy to have the dog wait out her bath somewhere Sadie wouldn’t need to clean.

There was a moment of silence before Doc spoke. "And you do realize I'll need to touch her, yes? I know how you lot get about your women being poked."

I leveled him with a glare. "As long as the only thing you poke her with is a needle and forceps, you'll walk out of here alive," I warned.

"Oh, for the love of God, Enzo. He's a doctor. He's probably seen much worse than my shoulder," Sadie said. She went to raise a hand to place on her hip, wincing at the reminder of the pain in her wrist. "Let the damn man do his job and get this bullet out of me so I can get drunk and forget that it hurts like a bitch 'kay? Thanks."

She went to one of the stools at the island, easing herself onto it and leaning forward onto the counter. "The shirt will have to go, Baby Girl," I smirked, grabbing the blanket out of the basket under the coffee table where my sisters stashed it because they liked to say that everyone needed a throw blanket.

Women.

"Cut it off me, because this arm is not stretching up over my head for anything," she said as I wrapped the blanket around her waist. Tugging the shirt fabric out from underneath it, I took my blood-stained knife from my pocket and sliced the fabric open. The angry red bullet wound stood out against her tawny skin, blood leaking down to stain her white bra red.

Doc wasted no more time, stepping over as I shifted out of the way. Sadie used her injured hand to clutch the blanket to her chest, leaning that elbow on the counter for support. "I'll numb it first," he said. Sadie rolled her eyes like it should have been obvious. But many of the Bellandi men didn't require a numbing agent.

Men tended to be stupid like that.