to have you detained, I could.”
“We’re not so easy to detain,” Sawyer told him in a low voice. Things were about to go to hell when Garret caught a glimpse of a shadow in the corner of the room.
“Roger.” He pointed over to the rat, who was scratching against a brick in the corner of the room.
They all turned to him. Carlin sneered. “What? You scared of a rat?”
“Of course not,” Garret told him impatiently. He strode over to where the rat was. He pushed the brick the rat had been scratching at. “It’s loose.” Reaching into the hole that had been created, he pulled out a small bundle. Pulling off the velvet cover, he held up six slim diaries. “Jackpot.”
* * *
She tried to breathe shallowly. The pain was intense. Overwhelming. She didn’t think there was an inch of her that didn’t hurt. Gio’s men had certainly had their fun. The only reason they hadn’t raped her was because he’d called them off, claiming they needed to strategize.
Strategize, her ass.
Their only strategy seemed to be harming her until Carlin snapped and gave them what they wanted.
Thing was, she knew her brother. He didn’t give in to the enemy. Not that he didn’t care about her and wouldn’t try to rescue her. But she had no doubt he would never surrender. She figured he was plotting a way to get to her. She just had to hope she could hold on until he did.
There was a noise as the door, and she tensed, expecting Gio’s goons to walk in and finish what they’d started. Oh, God, how could they be back already?
The door slid open and she knew that was it. She had one chance. Pushing aside her aches and pains, she jumped up with a cry. She rushed at them, hoping she could take them by surprise. One of them caught her. She screamed, and he pulled her around, slamming her into his chest to muffle her cries. Agony engulfed her as her poor body came met his much larger, harder one.
She struggled against her captor. She wasn’t ready to give up. She wasn’t going to let them rape her without fighting back. In her terror, she didn’t notice that the dickhead holding her wasn’t trying to hurt her. That he was cradling her gently. In the aftermath of the adrenaline rush her exhaustion made her sluggish. It was finally then, as she collapsed against him, that she heard the voice crooning to her.
“It’s all right, darling. I’m here now. It’s all right. You’re safe. You’re safe. I have you.”
She pulled back, looking up at him with her good eye. “Garret.”
“It’s me. You’re safe.”
She’d never seen him look so hard. She reached up with a trembling hand to touch his face. “Am I dreaming?”
“No, you’re not dreaming. Come on. We’re getting you out of here.”
“Gio’s men. They’ll be back. They’ll catch you too.” She tensed and tried to move away from him. She had to protect him. He could get hurt.
“Hush. No one’s catching me.” He smiled. It was a dark, hungry grin. “Although I wouldn’t mind a few minutes alone with the assholes who did this.” He gently touched the side of her face.
“It’s okay. I’m all right. I just want to get out of here.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
He gently picked her up, cradling her against his chest.
“I can walk,” she protested.
“Hush. We’ll move quicker if I carry you. You’re swaying. You’re spent.”
Yeah. She couldn’t argue with that. Her legs felt like limp noodles.
“How did you get here?”
“The tunnels. We figured there might be some that led here. We found your mother’s diaries, and sure enough there’s one that goes straight into Gio’s compound. Come on, Sawyer and Joe are waiting for us. Joe is going to lose his shit when he sees you.”
He stepped out of the room and into the passage. Fear jittered in her stomach as he strode down the hallway. At the end of it a dark figure stepped out of the shadows. She gasped.
“Easy,” Garret told her. “It’s just Sawyer.”