Soft cries bled through the cracks of the door. Fear patent. Terror real.
Penny had just been released from the emergency room with no real injuries other than a few scrapes and bruises.
It was close.
Too fucking close.
I tried to suffocate the rage that blistered.
The monster freed.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket when it finally buzzed back, anxiety mauling me while I’d waited for Braxton to get back to me after I’d texted him an hour before.
Braxton: You sure you were singled out?I huffed out the frustration, tapped a response.
Me: No. Not one-hundred percent. But I think the chances are pretty damned likely, don’t you?Braxton: But why the kid? She doesn’t have a thing to do with you. Doesn’t add, man. Think it might’ve been random.Fury raced. Didn’t mean to be pissed at him, but this wasn’t the time to sit back and see how things played out. My fingers were shaking with hatred as I responded.
Me: And you think these bastards would think twice about a kid who got in the way?Braxton: Fuck man. I know. I know. I’m sorry.Braxton: I pressed Ridge like I told you I would. He didn’t know much. Only thing we got is your mom’s been asking around again.Anger squeezed my ribs with so much force I didn’t know how I didn’t implode.
Me: And?Braxton: Said she’s worried.She was worried? That was fucking priceless.
Me: Worried they didn’t finish the job the first time around?Braxton: Word is, she and Keeton want to talk.Me: You don’t buy that bullshit, do you?Braxton: Nope. Not gonna lie, don’t trust any of it. You know I’m with you, man.Me: Know it was him, Brax. It’s time to prove it.Or just fucking end it. Proof or not.
Me: Find out who knows I’m here. Turn up the pressure.Braxton: On it. Will let you know as soon as I find out anything. Be safe.My spine went rigid when the door suddenly flung open.
Lyrik jerked back the second he found me loitering outside the door to their suite.
The jagged rock in my throat wobbled, shards cutting into my skin.
I met his eye. “How is she?”
Lyrik sighed, looking down as he slanted his fingers through his black hair. He warred before he finally looked back up at me. “Terrified. Okay, but terrified. A little road rash, but I’m thinking her colliding with the road was a whole ton better than her getting hit by that car.”
I gave him an uneven nod, my ribs getting battered by the clanging in my chest. “I should have—”
Barking laughter cut me off, low and cruel. “You should have what? Turned an eye?” He took a step forward. “Looked away? Or maybe just stood there and watched it go down?”
My head barely shook. “I . . .” I exhaled a sharp breath, my nostrils flaring. “That car . . . it swerved to hit her, not miss her.”
Could feel the build of violence. The thirst for retribution becoming unbearable.
Rage erasing logic.
“I shouldn’t have come here.” At least I had that bit of sense remaining.
Lyrik scoffed. “You think this was somehow your fault? You think I’m not sick to my fucking stomach because I wasn’t there? That I was too far ahead and out of reach of being there for my niece? You think I’m not questioning every goddamn misstep leading up to what happened tonight?”
He got so close he was nearly spitting the words in my face. “No matter if that was an accident or some bastard did that on purpose, which if he did, I promise you, he is going to pay. But either way, none of those things change the fact that you were there. Fact that you dove in front of a car to save a child you don’t owe anything to. Fact that you saved Penny’s life.”
The last two words broke in his throat. Man suppressing a sob.
Grief wrenched through my being. I gritted my teeth, tried to keep my shit together. “Yeah, and what if it was me who put her in danger in the first place?”
Lyrik scraped the back of his hand over his mouth like he was trying to get rid of a bad, bitter taste, glancing away before he pegged me with a dark glare. “And what if someone is after Mia, man? After my sister? What if they followed her here?”
I blinked, spirit jolting with the rejection.
“What are you saying? Did something else happen?” I demanded, voice low, a barely controlled growl.
Aggression hardened his jaw. “Security confirmed it this evening. It wasn’t some kids running the backyard to take a dip in the pool like I’d hoped. Someone tried to enter a code into the backdoor. I think they’re watching. Why is what’s fucking killing me. How can I stop it when I don’t know what they want?”
Rage blistered. Searing my flesh. Inside and out. Blood molten.