“It’s Boris’s.” Osip snorted. “Stupid fuck.” He shook his head as Theo hauled him outside.
I kept my gaze on Sid, unable to look away from him. “Please. Get me out of here,” I choked out, my eyes filling with tears.
He lifted me up, wrapping me in his arms that, despite all his gear, still permeated warmth and strength.
“Transport,” he commanded, and I realized he was wearing an earpiece. Theo and Travis were shoving Osip and Yury, who I hadn’t been sure was alive, into a black Suburban.
After slamming the door shut, Travis stalked over to us. Sid still held me, his arms like soothing iron around me. “Sam—you okay?” Travis demanded, his brown eyes blazing.
I nodded woodenly, knowing my eyes were wide with fright.
He looked to Sid. “Take care of her.” The two men nodded, so much going unsaid in the tense gaze they shared.
Another black Suburban barreled up the drive and Declan got out, his typically friendly face severe. “She all right?” he demanded of Sid as he opened the back door for us.
Why did everyone keep talking about me like I wasn’t there? Then it dawned on me that I could barely speak. Now that I knew I was safe, it was as though any semblance of calm had abandoned me in favor of hysteria.
“Don’t know,” Sid growled, climbing into the backseat with me on his lap.
I shuddered in his arms as the two Suburbans tore away from the ramshackle place that would forever haunt my nightmares.
CHAPTER 16
Sid held me pressed to his body, removing his gloves so that his bare hand could stroke my hair.
“Does she need a hospital?” Declan asked over his shoulder as he navigated the huge SUV toward the freeway. “She’s covered in blood, man.”
I shook my head frantically. “N-no.” I rasped. “Most of it—it’s not mine.” I continued to shake my head.
“Christ,” Declan muttered.
I heard Sid unclip his helmet. He set it aside along with his goggles, and pulled me away from his chest gently. “Let me see those beautiful green eyes, baby,” he murmured, tilting my chin up to look at him.
His eyes tracked my face, zeroing in on my nose. “Fuck,” he clipped, his eyes heating with anger.
“It’s not broken,” I rasped, trying to assure him and knowing there wasn’t much that could calm the fury that burned just beneath the surface.
His eyes continued their perusal over the blood that splattered my face, neck, and clothes. When they caught on my torn blouse and the top button of my jeans, which was still torn open, I thought he’d lose it.
He looked up at me, his expression nearly feral. “You killed that motherfucker.”
It wasn’t a question.
I nodded, not quite able to believe it.
“Good.” His tone was resolute. He pressed me back gently into his chest. “Don’t need a hospital, Dec,” he concluded.
Declan merely nodded.
We drove in silence as I faded in and out of sleep. The rose-tinted sky told me it was approaching dawn as we barreled down the 5, headed for home. Sid’s embrace didn’t falter, not for a moment, as we made the journey. If anything, he held me closer with every mile.
I watched dispassionately as we headed up Laurel Canyon. I fervently wished for a home to return to, especially after what I’d been through. Brad’s place was beautiful, opulent even, but it wasn’t home.
“Trent’s back. He’s gonna post up out front tonight so we can get some shut-eye,” Declan told Sid.
Sid nodded at the mention of his teammate who’d been gone for the past several weeks, and stepped out of the car with me still nestled in his arms. He only set me down for the second it took to turn off the alarm, and then I was in his arms again.
“Trixie?” I thought to ask. Despite her tiny body, her presence was larger than life and immediately missed.
“Cade came and got her,” he told me as he strode toward our room. He didn’t pause until we hit the bathroom, where he set me gently on the sink so he could turn the water on.
I watched in fascination as he peeled off his gear piece by piece. When his bare chest was finally revealed, I lifted my hand to touch it reverently.
When he was gloriously naked, he stood me up and lifted my blouse up over my arms. My jeans soon followed as he slid them gently down my legs. I touched his shoulders as he leaned over me, needing to touch him more than I needed my next breath.
He guided me into the hot shower and I watched blood and dirt immediately darken the white tile. He tipped my head back, his fingers gliding through my hair.
As though in a distant dream, I felt him wash my hair. His gentle hands scrubbed my body clean. I reveled in his touch, his love like a balm to soothe my ravaged mind.