Chapter 12 Georgie
GEORGIE
I’d stopped struggling.
I didn’t just feel pain, I was pain. A throbbing ball of it.
We were still outside Red Neon. Some people had tried to leave the club, but as soon as they’d opened the door and seen what was happening, they’d quickly gone back inside.
No one was coming to help me.
I tasted blood. One of my eyes was swollen shut.
Bruno was still hitting me, the other guard holding me immobile.
Snyder stood by watching, smiling.
I hated him so much.
Why? Why did such bad people get away with such terrible things?
Life wasn’t fair.
Bruno landed another blow to my stomach. I moaned, nausea washing over me. I wouldn’t last much longer.
They’d kill me. They’d dump me in an alley like trash, just like they had done with Viv.
No one would miss me. No one would mourn me.
I had nothing and no one who cared.
That hurt worse than the blows.
Suddenly, I heard a sharp crack.
I blinked, confused. Maybe they’d broken a bone?
Then I was falling.
Snyder was shouting, his words unintelligible. I hit the pavement, but I was in too much agony to move. Then I realized the guard who’d been holding me, Zanotti, was on the ground, as well. I gingerly turned my head. He was lying still, and there was a hole between his dark eyes.
What?
My foggy brain tried to process it. Then I spotted Snyder scrambling away. Bruno was shielding him. There were more cracking sounds. Gunshots. They were slow. Careful. Controlled.
Bruno jerked, and red bloomed on his shirt. He waved his gun around, firing wildly and blindly.
The pair of them dove into the backseat of the car.
More bullets hit the metal. The car fishtailed as it sped away, its engine revving.
Then there was just the sound of my own ragged breathing and nothing but pain.
I heard the sound of running footsteps. I tensed. Was it another guard?
Then I saw Nash’s face.
“Fuck, sweetheart.” There was a brief touch on my face. “They’re gone. I’ve got you.”
I tried to talk, but my lips were bloody and I couldn’t form the words. I managed a low gurgle.
“Shh. Easy.” He eased his arms under me and lifted me.
Pain flared to life everywhere. A small cry escaped me.
“I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry, I know it hurts. I need to get you out of here.”
I closed my eyes. Nash was carrying me. It felt like a dream.
Then I felt him stop. He was standing in the shadows and I heard his voice. It took me a second to realize he was talking on the phone.
“Landon, it’s me. I need your help.”
I drifted in and out of consciousness. I loved the low rumble of his voice. So deep, sexy.
“She’s been beaten badly. Can you come and get us? We’re on the corner of—”
I breathed in his scent. Dimly, I realized he must have come here on foot. It was a long way from the Avernus.
“Okay, thanks, man. See you soon. Hurry.”
Gently, he shifted me in his arms.
“N-Nash.”
“Yeah, Georgie. I’m here. I’m going to take care of you.”
“You…came.”
“Yes. I realized you were in trouble. I ran here as fast as I could.”
I thought for a second that I heard a shake in his voice.
“Hell, if I was a little later…” He made a low sound. “I’m going to look after you and keep you safe.” He paused. “You had the chance to walk away, but you didn’t. Now, you’ll have to deal with the consequences.”
I wasn’t sure what he was talking about.
I drifted in and out of consciousness, listening to his steady heartbeat under my ear. I felt warm in his arms. And not alone. The pain didn’t seem quite as bad.
I had no idea how much time had passed, but the rumble of a car engine brought me back.
“Finally,” Nash muttered.
A car door slammed. “Fuck. What happened to her?” a low, masculine voice said.
“She’s been beaten. She has a gunshot wound to the arm. It’s a flesh wound, thankfully.” He sounded so angry.
“You kill the fucker who did this?”
The other male voice was angry, too, but he had a really sexy voice, with a touch of a rasp.
“One of them,” Nash replied. “The others ran, but I’ll catch them.”
There was a dark promise in his voice. A lethal one. I shivered.
“Easy, Georgie.” His tone softened.
The next thing I knew, I was being carefully laid on the back seat of an SUV.
I couldn’t stop a whimper. Everything hurt.
“I know, sweetheart.” A hand brushed over my hair. “Soon. You got any painkillers?”
“I brought my kit. I’ll give her something. She have any allergies?”
Nash leaned over me. “Sweetheart, you have any allergies?”
“No…”
Then I felt a small prick in my arm.
“Nash, is this…?” The man made a sound. “She’s the picture in your wallet.”
“Yes.” Nash sounded like he was talking through gritted teeth.
“Hell, okay. Clinic?”
“No, my place.”
There was a long pause. “All right, but if I think she has any broken bones or internal bleeding, she’ll need the clinic.”
“Fine, but she’s staying with me. Where I can take care of her. Where I can protect her.”
His words didn’t make any sense. No one took care of me. I looked after everyone else, and failed in all of that. They all died.
That was my last thought before the pain faded away, then so did everything else.