I pick up my pace, and when I hear Marcus’s voice calling out as well, I almost sob with relief. I don’t hear any gunshots, and although I should probably still be cautious, I can’t stop myself from running toward the sound of their raised voices.
“I’m here!” I rasp. “I’m here!”
A body barrels into me, and panic flashes for a heartbeat until I recognize the familiar scent of Theo. He wraps his arms around me in a bear hug, his chest rising and falling beneath my cheek as he holds me to him.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Rose. We couldn’t find you. We thought you were fucking dead.”
“Is it over?” My voice is muffled against his thick arm, but I don’t care. And he doesn’t ease up on his grip as he answers, nearly lifting me off my feet in an effort to drag me closer.
“Yeah. It’s over. It was Gabriel and Michael, each with a small team. We took them out.”
“I killed Luca,” I murmur, the words sounding strange on my tongue.
That makes Theo loosen his grip, his hands coming up to grasp my shoulders as he presses me away from him to look down at my face. “You—”
“—killed him. He’s gone.”
Theo blinks, looking shocked and impressed and worried all at once. Then he shakes his head and pulls me into his embrace again as Marcus and Ryland reach us. They surround me, all three of their bodies pressing in around me, enclosing me between them. I can feel Marcus’s rough hand on my hair, his fingers sliding through the strands. Ryland’s forehead presses against mine as I rest my cheek on Theo’s chest again.
When Theo releases me again, his blue-green eyes glitter in the darkness. “We need to get the fuck out of here. This is gonna be a fucking field day for the cops, and we don’t want to be anywhere near this place when they get here.”
“Dominic!” I blurt, wheeling suddenly toward the statue of the angel. She’s pockmarked now, her beautiful white facade gouged by bullet holes.
“He’s already in the car,” Ryland says gruffly. “Alive. Or he was a few minutes ago.”
“I’ve got Doctor Brenson meeting us at my house,” Victoria comments from a few yards away. When I glance over at her, I notice she’s limping pretty badly. She jerks her head toward the car. “We need to go. Now.”
No one has to tell me twice. The grass around the grave is trampled, and the bodies of Luca’s guards lie where they fell. I’m sick of being surrounded by death, and I can’t shut down the rising fear that we’ll end up with another dead body in the car if we don’t get Dominic back to Victoria’s place fast enough.
We make our way to her car as fast as we can. As we walk, I cast a look at my men. Ryland looks like he’s got a black eye, although it’s hard to tell in the darkness. Theo has a smear of blood across his cheek, and I can’t tell if it’s his or someone else’s.
But they’re all alive.
I’m so fucking grateful for that.
We pile into the car, Victoria behind the wheel and Theo and Ryland in the back with Dom. This time, I end up on Marcus’s lap in the front seat, not wanting to jostle Dominic or take up any more space in the back. He’s slumped against the passenger door, his head lolling against the glass. Someone wrapped his suit jacket tightly around his torso, and I can tell it’s soaked with blood.
Fuck. How much has he lost?
As if sensing my thoughts, Marcus tightens his hold on me, securing me against his body and burying his face in my hair as Victoria peels out.
“Go back to where we came in,” I tell her quietly. “We should avoid the southern entrance.”
As we drive, I fill the men and Victoria in on what happened after I chased Luca down. With every word I speak, Marcus’s grip on me tightens, and I can practically feel him vibrating with latent worry beneath me.
“That was fucking reckless, angel,” he murmurs in a rough, angry voice, burrowing his face deeper into my hair until his mouth finds the skin of my neck. He nips at me, and I know it’s supposed to sting. He’s pissed that I could’ve gotten hurt. Could’ve gotten killed.
I rest my hand on his thick forearm, feeling the play of muscles beneath my fingers as he grips me tightly.
“It was,” I admit. “But I couldn’t let him get away. I had to end it.”
Eager to turn the conversation away from me, I make them tell me everything that happened around Genevieve’s grave while I was gone. My heart thuds unevenly as they describe it to me, and I understand the anger in Marcus’s voice earlier even more.
They all came close to dying. More than once.
In the end, what saved them was the fact that Gabriel and Michael were going up against each other too. Gabriel ended up taking out Michael, and that gave Victoria and the guys a chance to take down Gabriel. A few of their men ran, but most ended up dead on the ground.
I don’t know what will happen next. The power dynamics in Halston have shifted wildly overnight, and although most of the city isn’t aware of it yet, it won’t take long for them to find out.
But I can’t think about that right now. All I can think about is the fact that my men are still alive, and that Dominic is quietly bleeding out in the back seat.
The street is dark as Victoria pulls up the drive to her house, and when she rolls into the garage and cuts the engine, I grab for the door handle and quickly slide off Marcus’s lap.
I want to insist on helping carry Dominic inside, but instead, I let Theo and Ryland bring him in. Theo grabs his legs and Ryland carries him beneath the arms, and I try not to notice the way Dominic’s head falls back, his entire body lax and boneless.
He looks like he’s already dead.
Marcus’s jaw clenches when Victoria directs the men to carry Dom into a room at the back of the house, and I know it’s the same room she must’ve kept him in while he was recovering from his injuries.
Theo and Ryland deposit Dominic inside, and to my vast relief, Doctor Brenson arrives just a few moments later. Victoria ushers him in and then kicks us all out to let the doctor work.
She’s still limping, and blood stains her ankle and her shoe, soaking into the fabric of her pants.
“You got shot,” I note, stating the obvious because I’m too tired and worn out to say anything else.
“Yep.”
She brushes past me, heading for the stairs.
“Aren’t you gonna get it looked at?” I ask, grimacing. Between the blood and the way she’s walking, I’m guessing it’s more than a graze. It obviously didn’t shatter bone, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s still got a bullet lodged in her calf.
“I will.” She shrugs, shooting me an almost annoyed glance over her shoulder. “When Doctor Brenson is done.”
She disappears upstairs after that, moving stiffly. I get the feeling she was annoyed at me for highlighting the fact that she’s letting her doctor take care of Dominic first—as if any act of kindness is an act of weakness.
Well, fine. If she doesn’t want to talk about it, I won’t. I’m not exactly interested in heaping praises on her anyway, even if I am grateful to her for helping my brother.
Caleb.
The name floats through my mind.
I’ve never been able to think of the dark-haired man that way before. Even after I found out he was my brother, he stayed Dominic in my mind. I had to force myself to think of him by the other name.