10
Broadway
“I t came through,” Blaze spits at his dead man, then looks over his shoulder at me. “Grab your property, Broadway. Take the back exit and give my best to your boss.”
She’s not property.
I’ve never had the urge to knock someone out for spewing bullshit as much as I do right now.
My mind’s hijacked by the visual of my fist cutting the air to land neatly on Blaze’s face. The derogatory way he speaks about the women that make him his fortune drives me crazy.
Have some fucking respect.
He just made four hundred and fifty grand in less than three minutes. The whole auction raked in at least a million. Probably more given the amount of alcohol the waitresses shipped to the tables, working like ants to ensure all those sleazy fuckers are properly hydrated.
Sure, fixing the place up once he gets the shooting under control will cost a few grand, but I doubt he’ll notice. He’ll probably bleed dry the small, fat guy with a red nose who started it all when he took a shot at Violet.
Another bullet hits the wall and Blaze turns, murder on his mind. He disappears quickly. The sound of the round he releases shatters what’s left of Violet’s composure.
She flinches with every bang, chokes on her tears, eyes on the bodyguard bleeding out at her feet, parts of his brain scattered across the floor and wall.
It’s a prime example of Blaze’s carelessness. He hasn’t changed that much after all. He’s killed his own man for talking back. Or maybe his concern toward Violet. Either way, it’s classic hot-headed Blaze.
Violet whimpers, the sound muffled while she does her best to swallow her fear. Looks like she’s never seen anyone die before. Her eyes are glued to the gaping hole at her bodyguard’s temple, tears streaming down her cheeks. She’s damn near catatonic, but the moment Koby bends to grab her, she starts kicking and screaming.
Just like that idiotic green monster inside me.
“Calm down,” he mutters, ignoring the hellfire she’s raining down on him. In what looks almost like a practiced move, he ties her wrists in one hand, adjusting his hold until she’s safely bent over his shoulder. “Calm down, you’ll be okay.” He pauses, turning to face me. “What about her stuff?”
“Really? That ’s your main concern right now?” I roll my eyes and—fuck... I’m spending too much time with Hailey too. “I doubt she has anything useful to her name.”
Violet keeps fighting, swearing, and muttering something incomprehensible. I catch a few words in English and a few in what I guess is her native language. Koby’s stopped trying to soothe her as he marches toward the exit. He ignores her screams and pleas... the same ones that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
We reach the heavy, emergency door, and she screams out a “Stop!” that sends a bone-chilling shudder down my spine. I’m not surprised she doesn’t want to leave with us. She has no idea who we are, but there’s something grotesque about this scream. Something downright frightening.
“No, no!” she yells, hammering Koby’s back with her tiny fists. “Stop! Please stop !”
Koby clamps harder onto the back of her legs, still putting one foot after another while I cover his back.
He knows better than to obey her order. The thrum of bullets pinging off the walls resonates through the building, a new wave of shooting swallowing the club.
We need to get Violet out of here as fast as possible. She’s in shock, scared, and probably thinks we’ll lock her up again. Like she has been for months.
She’ll understand soon.
Once she’s safe, away from this hellhole.
Once she has time to realize we won’t fucking hurt her.
For now, she’s—understandably—panicking, and pissing me off in the process.
“Let me go!” she wails again.
Following close behind her and Koby I see her chest expand to fill her lungs, bracing to scream.
I expect help or another round of let me go but instead, her eyes find the corpse we left behind.
“Damon!”
“Damon’s dead,” I snap, reminding her of this little fact. She stared at his dead body just thirty seconds ago but it’s like she’s wiped that detail from her memory.
A bullet hits the wall, barely missing Koby’s head.
I spin on the sole of my shoe, taking aim at a fucker hiding behind the red stage curtain at the far end of the narrow corridor. The second his head pops out to take aim, a bullet hits between his eyes. Looks like that first shot opened the gates to hell because it sounds like everyone’s shooting.
“I can’t leave!” Violet screams when Koby pushes the emergency door open. “Stop! The collar, it—”
The words die on her tongue.
She lifts the top half of her body so fast it looks fucking alien. As if every muscle in her body’s suddenly spasmed, propelling her upright. It’s like something from a zombie movie. Her eyes widen, lips part, and in the next breath, she’s violently shaking.
“What the—” Koby snaps, twisting to fling her down the front of his body.
She drops at his feet with a bone-chilling thud, thrashing wildly, round eyes staring into the distance.
My adrenaline levels spike well beyond what I’m used to. My body snaps into autopilot, reacting before my brain catches on.
Koby’s saying something... I think he’s explaining the situation to Ryder, but my mind doesn’t focus long enough for his words to make sense.
My heart beats wildly, a caged animal fighting its way out. Dropping to my knees beside Violet, I grab the collar around her neck to tear it off, but my hand flies back. It’s wired.
My throat turns dry, a lump the size of an apple lodged halfway down. I grab the collar again, clamping my teeth so hard they start breaking when the shock guns through me. Every second of Violet thrashing before me is like a seven-inch blade jabbed under my ribs.
For the first time ever, panic tries to drag me under. The clasp won’t budge no matter how hard I pull.
I can’t get it off her.
“Broadway!” Ryder’s voice booms in my ear, cutting through the haze. “Fuck! Broadway, listen to me! Get her back inside! It’s triggered by range. Get her in!”
I fill my lungs to the brim, hauling Violet—still thrashing—into my arms and back in the building.
As soon as we cross the threshold, the shocks stop. She’s still trembling; her muscles spasm, and small, teary rivers carve paths down her porcelain cheeks, but the collar deactivates. Violet gasps for breath, swatting at me and the air.
I almost fucking drop her the second my mind refocuses.
She’s close.
So close I feel her frail body against mine.
I feel her everywhere and the cement-like feel to my muscles and veins that she kept triggering goes away in a finger snap. The tension inside me unwinds and the unease I haven’t been free of for a week disappears, replaced by a sense of calm.
My breath falters, chest constricts, heart swells and, simultaneously, my grip on Violet tightens on instinct, molding her into me as close as humanly possible.
I stare into those violet irises, my mind rushing a thousand miles an hour. The need to keep her safe crashes into me like a wave.
“Shh, you’re okay, it’s over, it’s over,” I whisper, my voice heavy with emotion.
Jesus...
She’s still trembling, the aftershocks running through her, eyes hazy but locked onto mine. A small frown dents her forehead. It fades when I brush her hair over one ear, my heart swelling three sizes.
What the hell is happening?
Fuck.
All this time I thought the anger burning me from the inside out was aimed at her but now I have her, now I feel her, I know it wasn’t...
It was aimed against any threat toward her personal safety.
Or maybe it was aimed at her a little. Maybe I was angry because I couldn’t understand how it’s possible that I’m falling for a girl I saw once.
I still don’t get it, to be honest, but I can no longer deny it.
“You’re okay, I’ll get you out of here, I promise.” I press my fingers into the pressure points at the base of her scalp to chase away the spasms still seizing her muscles. “Are you hurt?”
Do I need to kill anyone?
She shakes her head, slowly going slack in my arms. I hold her by the wall, my body shielding hers from a possible attack even though Koby has my back and the shooting seems to have finally stopped.
None of it matters. None of it means we’re safe.
That she ’s safe.
And that’s suddenly all I care about.
“What the fuck are we supposed to do now?!” Koby clips. “How do we get her out?” He steps closer to examine the collar, all the while narrating events to Ryder.
Their conversation is a low hum in the background, my focus narrowed to Violet and her heavy eyes jumping between mine.
She’s as dumbstruck as I am.
No wonder, she’s just been electrocuted.
“Do you know how it works?” Koby asks her, turning her head left and right.
“Range,” she half-whispers, half-groans, every word more strained than the last. “I can’t stray too far from Damon. If I’m out of range—”
“You get shocked,” he finishes for her, raking his fingers through his hair. “I can’t take it off without shocking you and myself. We need the key.”
“Damon,” Violet rasps, her eyes losing focus, system crashing down. “He has it.”
“Stay with her,” I order, setting Violet on her feet, but Koby doesn’t listen, leaping back and sprinting down the narrow corridor toward Damon’s corpse.
Maybe it’s for the best.
Violet can’t hold herself upright. My arms shoot out, snaking around her waist because she’s suddenly floating in and out of consciousness, head lolling every which way. I haul her up again. Worried she’ll accidentally snap her neck, I cradle the back of her head, nuzzling her cheek into the crook of my neck.
She’s right up against me.
Dead weight, her arms limply circle my neck and her legs slither down my hips.
“Got it!” Koby yells, holding up a black car-key-like thing. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I don’t risk moving with Violet until Koby’s handed over the remote. And even with it safely in my back pocket, I step out of the building as if I’m dismantling a bomb, ready to jump back inside at any moment.
Nothing happens once we cross the threshold, but I don’t up my pace until we round the corner. Koby opens the back door of my G Wagon, so I can deposit passed-out Violet inside.
“Take that thing off her,” I snap at him, stepping aside so he has room to work.
“Don’t,” Ryder says in our ears, cranking my temper to eleven. “There might be additional safeguards in place,” he blurts, prompted by the gush of air shooting past my lips. “Just... just leave it for now and get back here.”
“Fucking fine.” I elbow past Koby and climb onto the back seat. “You’re driving.”
The two lines marring his forehead are his only comment. He stares while I maneuver Violet’s limp body. She’s in my lap, head on my shoulder, one arm limp across my stomach. I shift her again, only satisfied once her face nuzzles the crook of my neck and I feel her warm breath.
Over the past year or so, I’ve seen Carter do this with Hailey countless times. I always wondered why. From an observer’s point of view it looks uncomfortable at best...
Now I know better.
Having Violet this close, her petite, warm body flush with mine, her sweet breath fanning my neck, those long eyelashes brushing my skin... it’s far from uncomfortable. My fingers draw small circles on the nape of her neck, massaging the tension away. She doesn’t stir, still out of it. Or maybe she’s asleep. I can’t tell the difference.
With nothing but a perplexed look, Koby takes the wheel and pulls away from the curb.
◆◆◆
Violet doesn’t wake the whole drive back to Carter’s house. If it were up to me, I’d take her back to my apartment, but I don’t call the shots.
Besides, I still don’t understand what the hell’s happening. It’s unnerving, that protectiveness frying my nerves.
I need space.
Distance.
I need to retreat and regroup.
It’s almost three in the morning when Koby opens the door to Carter’s mansion, stepping aside so I can carry Violet inside.
Carter pats my shoulder as I head for the huge living room. “Good job.”
“Good job not dying, more like it,” I huff, reining the urge to elbow his ribs.
Hailey’s squirming in place as she watches me deposit the comatose girl on the couch. She wrinkles her nose at the state of my bloodied shirt and silently angles her head toward the guest wing where fresh clothes are always waiting for me, Koby, or Ryder to use in situations like this one.
“Go,” Carter encourages, holding off any questions he might have, which is quite unusual. Maybe he can sense how pissed off I am. His eyes drill into mine, his face unreadable. “Koby will fill me in.”
I swallow hard, casting one more glance at Violet before heading up the stairs. I’m so fucking detached from reality not even the hot water pattering my back in the guest bathroom’s shower brings me to my senses.
I’m going through the motions on instinct, my brain not here, not there, not anywhere, really.
The only thing I can compare this to is drinking yourself stupid then waking up after less than three hours’ sleep.
I’m aware of my surroundings, but not really. My bare feet stomp across the cold tiles to grab a towel, but I might as well have just teleported across the room. I look down and... my cock is fucking hard.