“How much did you hear?” I murmur under my breath.
“Enough.”
“She needs help.”
He scoffs. “I fucking know that. It’s the person she’s going to for the help that pisses me off.”
“She thinks she’s placing you in danger.”
“I heard,” he grates through clenched teeth.
“Well, did you also hear that she thinks you’re judging her? That you’re ashamed of what happened?”
His face transforms with fury. “Are you kidding?”
“No.”
“Fucking hell.” His voice echoes off the walls. “I’m not fucking judging her. I feel sorry for her. I hurt for her.” He pounds at his chest. “But what good is that when she won’t listen to me?”
I grab the sleeve of his shirt and drag him farther down the hall. “You need to sit her down and talk to her.”
“I fucking wish I could, but I can’t do it now.” He jerks away from me. “She shortened our timeline with the guard. You need to get back in there.”
“Shortened it how?”
“She stabbed him in the femoral. He’s bleeding out.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“How much time do we have?” I start for the gym, striding out the distance.
“I don’t know. I placed a tourniquet around his thigh, but it’s not going to save him. We might only have minutes. An hour at most.”
“How’s Torian?”
“Pissed. He’s sending her home.”
Whiplash brings me to a stop, making Decker almost walk straight through me. “When?”
“As soon as the jet returns, she’s got a one-way ticket to Portland.” He shoves me forward. “Without the kid.”
No, not without Tobias. That will fucking kill her.
I storm for the exercise room, needing to extinguish this fucking blaze before it builds. “Stay with her. Let me handle this.”
“Me? What the hell am I going to do? She won’t let me near her.”
“Just watch her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.” I shove open the frosted glass door, make my way through the gym, and pull open the sauna.
Cole stands before the unconscious fucker in the chair, his hands bloodied.
“Is he still alive?” I ask.
“Does it matter? He’s past regaining consciousness.” Torian glares at me. “He’s useless to me now.”
I clamp my mouth shut, well aware that the look in his eyes is born from rage. There’s no reasoning with him when he’s like this. There’s no hope in hell.
“As soon as the jet returns, she’s gone,” he seethes. “Not a second longer.”
Fuck me, but I nod.
I agree because I want her away from all this.
I fucking comply because the sooner she’s safe back in the States, the sooner she can heal. “Let her take the kid.”
His lip curls as he straightens. “No. She gets no favors from me.”
“The kid isn’t a favor. It’s a safety concern. Let him go with her.”
“No,” he snarls. “He stays with me.”
“You’re going to risk his life by keeping him here?”
“I’m not risking anything.” He takes a threatening step toward me. “I protect my family. Always have. Always will. Reinforcements are on the way. Our asses will be covered soon enough.”
“That’s helpful, but—”
“We’re done discussing this. I’m not negotiating for her. She’s too much of a fucking complication. Her ass is leaving and that’s final.” He bumps by me to shove from the sauna, the quick nudge to my shoulder a burning poker to my brain.
Fuck.
I stumble into the gym after him, then stop to hang my head and massage my temples, hoping the movement will help me figure out where to go from here. How to fight for her.
“Is he dead?” Keira asks.
I glance up, finding her and Decker holding open the frosted door to the hall.
“He might as well be.”
“What happens now?” Decker continues forward, looking to me for guidance I don’t fucking have.
“She’s leaving.”
He winces. “With the kid?”
“No. But maybe it’s for the best. For Tobias and her. She’s not stable enough to be his main caregiver.”
“Well, good luck telling her that.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “She won’t take it well.”
“I’m not going to be the one to tell her.”
His eyes flare. “You expect it to be me? Are you fucking kidding? Seconds ago you were hugging her, but I’m the one who has to deliver the bad news? She can’t even stand the sight of me.”
“She’s going to have to get used to it. You both are. I’m not telling her, or taking her home. That’s up to you now.”
“Fuck me.” He wipes a hand down his face.
“Unless you’d prefer if I was the one who escorted her.” It’s a joke. A lame one. But for a second my chest tightens at the thought of being her savior for a little longer. It’s not a role I want, though. My sights are firmly focused on taking down Luther’s operation one motherfucker at a time. I made Penny a promise and I intend to keep it.
“No way in hell.” He turns to the door. “I’ll take care of it.”
I follow him with Keira close at my back.
We reach the open doorway to the bedroom, Penny’s soft sniffles sounding from inside.
“Give me some fucking space,” Decker grumbles, then disappears into the room, flicking on the light and closing the door in his wake.
There’s a feminine murmur of protest from inside as Keira gently grabs my arm.
“Let them have some privacy.” She attempts to tug me farther along the hall.
I don’t move. “In a minute.”
She blinks her pretty eyes at me, soundlessly begging me to follow.
“Not now, Keira. I said I’ll follow in a minute.”
“He needs time alone with her. Please don’t make this harder for him.” She pauses, waiting for a reply. “Please, Luca, don’t interrupt them.” She backtracks. “I’ll be waiting for you in the living room.”
I ignore her as she leaves, all my senses hyper-attuned to what’s going on behind that door.
Yes, I know Decker is protective of his sister. But I am, too.
I’m not going to leave her at the mercy of a situation she doesn’t want, even if she’s going to have to face it sooner rather than later.
I lean against the wall beside the doorframe and listen for every word.
“Stay where you are,” Penny demands. “Don’t come near me.”
Decker sighs. “I’m not going to hurt you. How do you not know that?”
She doesn’t reply.
“You’re going home,” he continues. “I think Cole’s waiting on his jet to return from this morning. Or maybe he’s calling in one that’s close by, but this is all over.”
I picture her gorgeous face pale with surprise. Bright eyes. Shock-parted lips. Her panic would be a tragic sight I itch to see and the temptation to take a peek eats at me.