pile to get to Jaxon. Owen works faster than me, slinging rock as if he were the Hulk. He has rage fueling him, which isn’t anything new, but Owen has always been an angry person. Nothing he does to calm down works.
He needs blood, gore, pain, and a good fight. He thrives off it, and right now, I couldn’t be happier that his anger is fueling him like diesel. We finally get to the bottom, and Jaxon isn’t moving.
“Jaxon?” I lay my ear on his chest and hear the slight slow thump of his heart. I glance up at Owen, his brows drawn together in fury. “Get him out of here. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Sebastian—”
“I said go!” my voice echoes off the broken bones of the building.
Owen doesn’t argue. For once in his fucking life, he keeps his mouth shut. He scoops Jaxon into his arms and run out of there, disappearing through the cloud of smoke. I sit back, listening to the fading footsteps of Owen and lean my head against the wall, taking a minute.
I need to close my eyes for a second. That’s all I need.
I don’t get the chance.
“Nope, you don’t get to die on me. Asshole,” Owen grunts as he bends over and swings me over his shoulder. My head spins and my stomach turns from being upside down and not having enough oxygen over the last ten minutes.
The floor bounces as Owen runs, and I shut my eyes for the sake of my health. I’m not feeling too well. Any moment, I'm going to throw up. Owen kicks the door open, and the burst of fresh air has me gasping.
Holy shit, that feels good.
Owen tosses me in the van and places an oxygen mask over my face. We are always prepared in case shit goes south.
Only I never expected for it to go south.
“Hang on to your balls, boys. We are getting out of here,” Owen warns as he puts the van in reverse and backs onto the road. He jerks the wheel and all the injured moan from the sudden movement.
Sirens whirl in the opposite direction, and I breathe a sigh of relief as they get further away. Fuck, that was too close.
“Please tell me you disabled the traffic cameras,” Owen says, jerking the wheel to the left to miss hitting another car. The car honks, and Owen flips them off and rolls down his window. “Fuck you, buddy! I’ve had a bad day.”
“Screw your day!”
Great, just what we need. A fucking pissing match when it comes to road rage.
“Roll up your window, Owen.” My head is feeling better from the constant oxygen seeping into my lungs. “And of course, I disabled the cameras.” I take a break and inhale as deeply as I can. “I’m not a damn amateur.”
“Could have fooled me,” he sneers. “There were bombs in the walls! In. The. Walls. Isn’t it your job to catch it?”
“Yes, but nothing indicted there were bombs. Nothing.”
“Well, do your job better next time,” Owen jabs at the weighted guilt I already feel.
I hope in time the guys will forgive me.
After all, this was my fault, whether I like it or not. If I can’t protect my brothers, then I can’t protect Gabriella.
I refuse to be a man she can’t rely on. She's never had the luxury of being safe, and I’m going to be that for her. I’m going to be who she thought she could never have.
Chapter Four
GABRIELLA
I haven’t been in my room in a week. Kendrick has been keeping me close, doting on me hand and foot. I feel like he is preparing me for something, wanting me at my best, but I can’t figure out what it is.
Kendrick is odd. He isn’t like other men; not sexually, anyway. He is … absent. He will kiss me, try to touch me; he’ll have an erection, but we have never had sex. I am thankful, but whatever his reasoning is, it concerns me. It isn’t normal to be so obsessed with someone and not want to have sex with them.
Small, psychopathic favors, I suppose.
Five years is a long run of luck to be with someone and not have sex. I’m not stupid. I know my luck will run out, but when? Whatever comfort I feel, it is on a ticking clock, slowly counting down until the hands strike Kendrick’s golden hour.
He is abusive, manipulative, arrogant, cunning, and intelligent. Just because someone is abusive doesn’t mean they are dumb. No, people