Chapter 92
-Hailey-
“Looks like the pizza’s here,” one of the prospects murmured from his post at the window.
My stomach growled as if in response.
And then came the sound of two gunshots, so violently loud in the quiet that I thought the Russians had heart launched itself into my throat.
I spun around, whiskey sloshing over my hand, expecting to see men in black tactical gear outside the door.
*完31%费
355 vouchers
come. My
Instead, I saw the prospects frantically ripping the door open for Chris. His face was pure panic, and he was half–carrying. half–dragging a pale Leo.
Leo’s eyes were wide and unseeing. Then I saw the handle of a knife jutting out from the right side of his stomach.
For a second, the whole room just gaped. The reality of it was too absurd to process. It wasn’t a bullet from the shadows… it was a cheap blade in the gut of a prospect.
Leo looked down at his own stomach with a flicker of confusion in his glazed eyes. “Fuck,” he murmured, almost nonchalantly.
Then his hand came up, wrapped around the fake pearl handle, and he pulled.
The sound was wet and awful. The blade came free with a slick pop, and that’s when the blood came. A dark red flood that instantly saturated his shirt and jeans.
That broke the spell.
“Why the hell would you pull it out, you idiot?!” Abby’s voice cut through the stunned silence. She was already moving, grabbing a stack of clean bar towels from under the counter. “Don’t just stand there! Get him on the pool table! Now!”
She wasn’t asking. She was commanding. The men jumped to obey, too shocked to do anything else. Two of them lifted Leo and laid him on the table. He groaned, his head lolling to the side.
Abby was on him then, straddling his hips, pressing a wad of towels hard against the wound. “I need more towels! Clean ones! And someone get the big first aid kit from the kitchen! And a bottle of vodka! Now!”
She barked the orders without looking up. Her full concentration was on the blood welling up between her fingers.
I was moving before I knew what I was doing.
I grabbed another stack of towels from the shelf and stumbled to the pool table. The coppery, metallic sm hard. I pressed the towels over Abby’s hands, adding my weight to hers.
The blood was shockingly hot, soaking through the towels instantly, coating my hands.
“Keep pressure,” Abby hissed, her voice tight. “Don’t let up.”
od hit me
Laura was there a second later with the massive white first aid box. Ruby appeared with a full bottle of vodka. Scarlett and Talon stood guard at the door with their hands on their weapons
I pressed down on Leo’s stomach and felt the weak, fluttering pulse of his blood under my hands. His skin was clammy. His eyes were closed now. “Stay with us, Leo,” I whispered uselessly. Come on. Stay with us.”
The roar of motorcycles was a sudden, deafening thunder vibrating through me. Talon swore under his breath and
1/3
20:39 Thu, Jan 8
Chapter 92
disappeared outside, presumably to unlock the gate.
Logan was home.
The engines all died at once, and seconds later the men were spilling back in through the front door.
Logan filled the doorway. He was covered in grime and ash, and blood soaked through the thigh of his ins
His face was a storm of fury and exhaustion, and his green eyes scanned the room in one swift, ta
the threat.
He found it.
30%
55 vouchers
Looking for
But it wasn’t what he expected. His gaze locked onto the pool table. Onto the crowd of us surrounding it. Onto me.
He stopped dead.
Every ounce of the warrior’s rage drained from his face, leaving behind something raw and utterly terrified.
He saw the blood. The towels. My hands and arms, painted crimson up to the elbows. He saw me at the center of the carnage.
In that frozen second, I saw the battle he’d just fought. The fire and the gunshots reflected in his eyes. I saw his frantic race home, and the fear for me that had fueled it.
And I saw the horrific, soul–crushing relief roll through his body as he realized it wasn’t my
Then he went rigid again as his eyes finally landed on Leo.
Logan didn’t move.
Not forward. Not back. Not even a flinch.
It was like his brain had stalled out, trying to process too many impossible things at once.
“Who did this?” he asked finally, softly.
No one answered right away.
blood.
“A delivery kid,” Chris said hoarsely from the bar. His hands were shaking so badly he had to clench them into fists. “Pizza. He–he stabbed Leo and ran. He was crying. Said they threatened his mom.”
Logan’s jaw flexed. Once. Twice.
I saw the shift in him before he moved – the violence slid back into place like a bullet being chambe
“A kid,” he repeated.
“Yeah,” Chris said. “Barely older than me.”
Logan’s eyes dropped back to Leo. To the towels soaked through with blood.
“How bad?” Logan asked, his eyes flicking to Abby.
“Don’t know,” she said without looking up. “Could be muscle. Could be organ. He pulled it out like a dumbass, so he’s lost a lot of blood. He really should go to the hospital.”
Leo let out a weak groan, his lashes fluttering.
2/3
20:39 Thu, Jan 8
Chapter 92
3.30%
59 yaachers
Logan took one step forward. Then another. He stopped at the edge of the pool table, close enough to see the way Leo’s skin had gone gray
“What a fucking psychopath,” he murmured. He was looking at Leo, but I knew he was talking about Anatoly. This had to have been orchestrated by him.
“He wasn’t trying to kill anyone,” he finished. “He was sayin‘ hello”
His eyes lifted slowly, scanning the room.
“Where’s Jake?” he barked.
As if on cue, footsteps pounded down the stairs. Jake appeared first, followed closely by Trina.
“What the hell happened?” Jake demanded. “We heard shots out front.”
“Anatoly’s latest stunt,” Logan growled, his attention already shifting back to Leo. “Coerced an innocent to stab Leo. I’m taking him to the hospital. Now.”
His tone snapped everyone into action. “River, Abby, Hailey. You’re with me. I’ll bring the van around. Abby, Hailey, keep the pressure on it.”
I blinked at him. “You want me to leave the clubhouse?”
His green eyes locked onto mine. “The safest place for you is in my line of sight.”
Jake tossed Logan the van keys with a sharp flick of his wrist. Logan caught them midair, already moving toward the door. But he paused, glancing back over his shoulder. His eyes locked onto Jake and Talon.
“Church when I get back,” he said, his voice low and final.
–
