Chapter 32
Don’t Dream It’s Over
When I pull back from Asher, I realize he’s covered in blood himself and looks like he’s been through hell.
“What took you so long?” I whisper, barely able to talk with the way my body is now trembling.
I’m so relieved to see them, so utterly elated Leone is gone, the tension has disappeared from my body, but now it feels like I’m fighting against gravity just to stay standing.
Jagger moves into the small space. Taking my hand, he pulls me into his arms, his fingers lacing with mine. “He took your ring,” Jagger snarls, making no sense at all.
“What?” I gasp, looking down at my hand to see my engagement ring gone.
I have no clue when he did that, probably when I was passed out.
Sickness swims through me at the thought of what else he was able to do.
The pain in every muscle of my body tells me I don’t want to know.
It would destroy me, and right now I need to cling on to the fact that he’s dead and can’t ever come for me again.
I turn the tap and hold my hands under the running water, needing the blood gone.
Needing any memory of the last twenty-four hours erased.
“That’s how he did it,” Cruz mutters, also crowding me on my other side. The four of us are cramped into the space, but I could care less. I’m just so happy they’re okay.
Jagger’s arms come around me, and in a strange gesture, he squirts liquid soap into his palm and starts to scrub at my hands, the crimson stains marking both our fingers slowly vanishing with every scrub of his fingers.
“Your ring has a tracking device in the back of it, flower. The three of us escaped the party not long after you and were following, but once we lost the signal, it was hard to find you.” The harshness in Jagger’s voice is as if he’s had his heart ripped from it.
When he’s satisfied we’re both clean, he shuts off the water.
Asher hands him a towel, and he dries our hands as well.
When he’s finished, his hands come to either side of my face, his thumb brushing over my sore cheek, pain etched deep into his features. “I thought we fucking lost you.”
I offer a small smile, hating that they had to go through that kind of pain. I know how I felt so worried I wouldn’t see them again, knowing they were fighting Leone’s men back at the casino. “I’m still here,” I tell him.
His lips meet mine softly, very unlike Jagger, and I melt into him, needing to be close. His body is tight with tension, but he kisses me with a desperation I feel all the way through my body. When he pulls back, I bury my head in his shirt, inhaling his scent.
The other two are still close by, I can feel them right here with us.
I glance back up at them. They seem just as out of it, same remnants of a fight with torn suit shirts and blood stains.
Cruz also has one hell of a black eye. I reach for him and touch his face, feeling so terrible they all got hurt because of me.
“I’m okay, baby,” he tries to reassure me. “Didn’t feel a thing.” He winks with his good eye, still his cheeky self.
I take hold of the wall beside me for stability, and Cruz grabs my arm, supporting me, his warm body such a comfort.
“You’re not. We need to get her a doctor,” he tells Jagger.
I push him off me so I can stand on my own. “I’m fine. Please, all I need is to know that everyone is okay. What the hell happened back there? Are Sloane and the others alright?”
“Sloane’s fine, Onyx got her out of there. So are Dani and Mal, they got out with us,” Asher answers me, his voice strained as he takes my hand in his.
“There were so many shots going off,” I whisper. “And that guard, he was so fast I couldn’t fight him off.”
Jagger scowls. “Paid by your brother to betray us. He met his maker.”
“We tried to get to you, but it was impossible. They were one step ahead of us. The entryways were all blocked off, the tires of our cars sprayed with bullets. The cops were crawling around every corner of the place; I don’t even know how we all got out of there.”
“But you did.” I squeeze his hand back. They escaped and came looking for me.
Cruz’s lips twist menacingly. It’s a scary look on him today when he’s so busted up. “We would walk through the flames of Hell to get you back, little darlin’.”
“We spent the night scouring the city. Every fucker we knew was out there looking for you,” Jagger adds, kicking at Leone’s dead body. “When Alex Moretti called to say he had a meeting with Leone at this private hangar, we knew there was more to it.”
A hint of a smirk plays on Cruz’s face, a strange delight dancing in his eyes as they lock with mine. “That was you, wasn’t it, baby?”
I shrug, feeling a little ping of pride.
“I did the best I could with the little information you did tell me. I knew Alex was important to the media world, and I knew he would call you three as soon as Leone set up a meeting. Lucky Leone had no clue what I was doing. I’m just a dumb girl, after all, how could I outsmart him.
” I huff out a bitter laugh. That’s what they all thought, and I showed them.
I bet I shocked the shit out of my brother when I shot him.
Shame I was passed out and didn’t get to see his surprise.
“Dumb? No way in hell.” Cruz grins at me, all psychotic. “You tricked him, and somehow managed to get his gun and shoot the fucker for ever thinking he could take you.”
Asher kisses my cheek, pulling me in closer to him.
“Cunning, resilient, resourceful, and fucking so damn beautiful, definitely.” His lips meet mine, and he holds me so close I let my body crumple into his.
I have no fight left now that they’re here.
Like he knows it, he cradles me in his strong arms, holding me close and so tight.
I suck in breaths, trying to get my racing heart under control, fresh pain radiating through me as I remember what Leone showed me last night. They don’t even know the worst part yet. “They forged my signature,” I whisper. “Made it look like I married him two days ago.”
Asher’s face contorts in anger, pain settling in his eyes that kills me all over again. “Over my dead body,” he growls and even Jagger’s body tenses more.
“Over his.” Cruz chuckles darkly. “They underestimated you, baby, but we didn’t.” He pulls me closely, kissing my forehead, his hands trailing over my skin almost absentmindedly. “Is Ricky on his way with Alex?” he mutters to Jagger as he brushes my hair over my shoulder as he inspects me.
“Yeah, they won’t be long,” Jagger replies. “Mal has a clean-up crew on route to deal with this as well.” He motions to the body.
Cruz’s hands trail down my arms delicately. “Good, I don’t like the look of this.” He shows the others my wrists, and I snatch them away, not wanting any more drama. I’m alive, and that’s all that matters.
“If that fucker weren’t already dead,” Asher hisses, looking me over with fresh eyes. “Where else are you hurt?”
I shrug. “Ash, he drugged me. I was passed out most of the night. I have no clue…” I can’t say the words out loud.
Three sets of dark eyes bore into mine—pain, anger, fear in them that I can’t handle.
“I’m fine,” I mutter, trying to brush it off.
Who would be, but I can’t stand the sadness it causes them.
A commotion comes from the main room, and Doctor Ricky runs toward us, bag in hand.
“Shit, Daisy, are you okay?” His eyes run down the length of my body then back up to my face.
I know what he’s seeing—no shoes and a torn party dress.
I must look a fright. Not the same girl he chatted to at the party just last night.
“I’m fine, Ricky, I just want to go home and sleep for the next week.”
“She’s not.” Cruz holds out one of my hands to show him the deep lacerations on my wrists.
I avert my eyes, but the crimson stains glaring back at me make it impossible to ignore.
I suck in a breath, knowing I need to keep it together.
There will be a time to fall apart later, but this is far from over.
He looks over the dead man behind me then takes my wrists in his hands gently and leads me over to a chair in the main room.
His kind eyes meet mine, so much sympathy in them I feel sick.
“You need medical help, Daisy.” He looks over his shoulder to the other boys.
“I want to get her down to the clinic as soon as possible.”
“I don’t think so,” I mutter back. The pain in my body is the least of my concerns right now. “Really, Ricky, I just want to go home.” There is also no way I want him doing a full assessment of me. I can’t handle the truth, and I know he sees it in my eyes when he glances back at me.
He takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “I can help you with anything you need, Daisy. I’ll get you patched up now, and then we can see about the rest. But I need you to know if you ever need me or anyone on my team, I’m just a call away.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, trying not to cry when he’s being so kind to me.
“Any word on callout from authorities? We have a clean-up crew on the way, and it would be good to know how long we have,” Jagger asks the man standing in the doorway watching us. I noticed him when Ricky first ran in but almost forgot he was there.
He moves closer to all of us, his hands casually in his pockets as he assesses the room.
He’s dressed well for this early hour of the morning, in suit pants and a button-up shirt, with the first few buttons of the collar undone.
“This room is soundproof. My guess is that’s why he was holding you here overnight.
I pulled a few strings and bought us some time with the authorities.
” His dark eyes rake over me with a coolness that gives me goosebumps, and I know exactly who he is without been told.
Alex. “What I want to know is why was I called down here?”