“You can’t kill me. Without me, you won’t . . .”
A gunshot goes off, smoke rising from the gun in Z’s hand. “I didn’t want to hear him speak.”
“We needed him.” I shout.
“We don’t need him; we still have her,” he narrows his eyes in Ivy’s direction.
I’m about to step forward to silence him when I feel a hand on my arm and the clank of the chains. I stop what I’m about to say and grab the keys in Boris’s pocket.
She feels weak in my arms. Barely able to lift her head up at all. I want to cradle her to me, kiss her head, and tell her I will never let her go.
Gone is the man I’ve always been.
Strong and unfeeling.
He’s been replaced by a man whose heart has been opened.
I don’t even care who can see me. All my men and Matteo’s. All I care about is Ivy.
Pulling her closer to my body, I undo every chain on her frail body. Then I stand, Ivy in my arms, and walk out the door.
I’ll leave Z to clean up the mess. All my thoughts are on my Sun. Getting her home. Protecting her.
Over my shoulder, I look at Maxwell. “Call the doctor. Have him meet us at my house. Also tell the helicopter they can land.”
Since the threat is taken care of, we can return home faster this way.
Even though it’s only been two days, Ivy feels lighter in my arms. I wonder if he fed her.
If I could kill the bastard again, I would.
I cross the distance and get us into the helicopter. Keeping her in my arms, we take off and head toward my compound.
She doesn’t speak during the ride. Instead, she snuggles in closer to me. Broken.
I was too late.
The marks on her body prove it.
My fists clench, and I want to kill her father next. This is his fault. Ivy deserves justice. But I know that has to be her choice. She has to decide her father’s fate. If he lives or dies.
Personally, I wouldn’t allow the fucker to live. If it was up to me, I would drop off Ivy and go straight to his desolate brownstone and put a bullet in his head. But even that would be too nice. Ivy has multiple cut marks on her upper body, and he deserves the same.
Before long, the helicopter lands, and I’m carrying Ivy into the house. I don’t stop until I’m on the second floor in my bedroom.
I walk over to the bed and place her down before moving to get a towel.
Her hand shoots up when I try to leave. “No,” she croaks, her voice strained. “Don’t leave yet.”
I look down at her, and her gaze is on me. Her eyes haunted by whatever horror she endured.
“The doctor is coming,” I tell her.
She nods but grimaces at the movement. “He didn’t—”
She starts, and I shake my head. “You don’t need to tell me.”
“He didn’t rape me,” she says, and I let out a sigh of relief. “He hurt me, but not that.”
I lean down and kiss the top of her head. “Let’s not talk now. Let me clean you up and tend to your wounds.”
“Okay.” Her voice is soft like a whisper, and her eyelids flutter shut.
I use the opportunity to head to the bathroom and grab a towel.
When I return, she’s sleeping peacefully. Her mind finally shutting down.
Slowly, I remove her shirt. I pull the blanket over her chest, only exposing her upper arms to me. I wipe the dried blood off her limbs. The cuts aren’t that deep. He made them deep enough to bleed, but they won’t need stitches. The Butcher was known for toying with his prey. First with superficial cuts and then escalating.
It seems I got to her in time. Of course, there is damage, but it could have been so much worse.
While I clean her, I hear a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I say, followed by the sounds of footsteps. The doctor is the type of doctor who doesn’t ask questions. He’s on my payroll as well as Tobias and company.
He keeps his head down and stays out of everyone’s business.
“I’ll leave you.”
A small hand touches mine, and I look down to see crystal blue eyes staring up at me.
“You can stay,” she whispers.
“Are you sure?”
She gives me a small nod.
The doctor is quiet as he assesses her injuries, but before long, he leaves. She’s bandaged up, but just as I figured, any scars will fade over time. The scars inside her might not. But Ivy is strong. Bright like the sun, she will be okay. I know it.
“Are you okay?” I ask, sitting down on the bed and pulling her close to me.
“No, but I will be.”
She is very quiet for a moment. “It will never end, right?”