51
AURORA
Jittery, I step back into the security room and away from Charlie. “I want the twins.” My voice trembles, and my lungs struggle to draw in air. I place my hand on my tight chest, trying to ward off the impending panic attack.
You’ll be with the guys soon. You can fall apart then.
Our home has become a war zone, and I don’t know who to trust right now except Ethan, Jax, Reece, Desi, and Dante.
Charlie raises his hands in a calming gesture. “It’s okay, Aurora. I need to get you to the hospital before Reece is taken into surgery. He’d want to see you.”
I want that too, but Reece is out of it. I doubt he’ll comprehend I’m there. “He’d want me to be safe.”
He nods placatingly. “You are safe. He asked me to care for you.”
Not believing him, I retreat farther.
Across the house, voices yell out, “Clear!”
On the security feed, officers with guns drawn rush from room to room.
“You don’t need to be here for this.” He moves closer. “It’ll trigger your anxiety.”
Um, I’m already triggered.
“She leaves with the twins.” Ethan’s gruff tone fills the room.
“And I’ll know if you don’t take her to the hospital,” Jax adds. “I’ll know the moment you stray off course.”
“The twins are being questioned and possibly detained,” Charlie argues, his gaze fixed on me as if I were a wounded animal on the verge of fleeing.
My throat constricts. “No.” I gasp for breath. “They were protecting me.”
Static buzzes through the speakers, Jax’s angry voice stifled in the background.
The line clears, and a woman snaps, “Mercer! Get them to the hospital. Now!”
Charlie’s posture goes rigid. “Yes, Commander.”
He pivots sharply and exits the room, leaving me alone to stare at a figure sprawled outside the doorway oozing blood.
I heard the muffled gunshots while I was hiding under the desk with my hands pressed to my ears, but I didn’t know someone got this close to me.
Only a door separated me from a man who intended to kidnap and harm me—intended to use me against Jax and take me from my loved ones.
They might have hurt the baby.
“He’s dead.” The words pass my quivering lips, barely above a whisper. “He can’t hurt us.”
The gravity of the situation grips my heart like a vise, and panic takes control.
“Aurora, look away.” Ethan’s voice is distant, muted by the whooshing in my ears.
“I have to get out of here.” I step forward and teeter on my feet. I glance down, as if that’ll stop the floor from wobbling, and realize… “I’m not wearing shoes.”
I can’t go to the hospital, to Ethan, Jax, and Reece, without shoes.
“Aurora,” he growls. “Don’t move.”
But I need to escape. I need to get to them.
Holding the doorjamb and wall, I lift my foot over the lifeless being, careful not to slip on the blood. I tremble, fearing he’ll wake and grab me. I know it’s not possible—his limbs are bent in unnatural ways.
Reece’s door is wide open. In the entryway, another body lies motionless on the floor. Crouched beside it is a man with a gun slung over his back. He peers up at me, face fully concealed by a mask.
Both men, dead and alive, are in the same black tactical gear. There’s no telling who is who, and, startled, I take off toward my bedroom.
My darting gaze catches the light glinting off shards of broken glass far too late. Sharp pain slices through the soles of my feet, and I fall to my knees.
“Shit.” Charlie hurries over, his boots crunching on the hardwood. “Why does no one listen to me?”
Without hesitation, he reaches for me, and I bat him away.
“Don’t touch me.” I rise on shaky legs and stumble backward. My eyes cloud with tears, and I blink several times to clear my vision.
He puts his hands out to steady me if needed, careful not to make contact. “You’re in shock and bleeding. You need to sit, preferably off the property.”
Blood trickles from my knees. Nausea turns my stomach, and I swallow the bile rising in my throat. “Where are the twins?”
“Desmond is getting fingerprinted. Dante is identifying perps he… encountered .”
He juts his chin to the patio, where multiple individuals are face down on the concrete, three with their wrists and ankles zip-tied, the others unmoving.
Dante stands over them, pointing and talking with an officer.
Beyond the shimmering blue pool lights lies darkness, and in the shadows, Dante’s broad shoulders and muscular build bear a resemblance to Ethan’s.Comfort and yearning wash over me, and I call out for him.
He glances up, but so does an intruder, holding me in his gaze.
As he walks by, Dante stomps on the man’s head, and I almost feel bad—almost.
“Don’t look at her, motherfucker,” he snarls. He approaches, brows pinched with concern. “What happened?” he asks Charlie, accusation thick in his tone.
“Don’t blame me. She stepped on glass. Jesus, y’all are a tight-knit group. You refuse to trust anyone. It’s a problem.”
“Accurate. Now, get my brother, or you’ll find out how much of a problem I can truly be.”
Charlie walks away, shaking his head.
“Fuck, I hate cops,” Dante mumbles. “We need to clean you up before Ethan strangles me.”
Blood runs down my legs, but all I feel is embarrassment and the urgency to leave. “I’m sorry. I just wanna go.” My voice breaks, and I curl my toes to relieve the agony and hide my discomfort from him.“I need shoes.”
He extends his arms. “Either way, I have to carry you over this glass. I’ll take you to your room for shoes and get you cleaned up quick.”
In the driver’s seat, on the way to the hospital, Charlie mutters about not following procedure and contaminating the crime scene.
I rest my forehead against the window and stare off into the night.
Despite the anxiety pulsating in my veins, the world around me grows hazy, and my eyelids flutter shut.