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"What?"
"Yeah. It was almost as if someone knew that I liked to use the stairs, and that obviously, I spent a lot of time on your floor and mine. It was so easy. They just clocked me from behind, and they knew exactly where to stash me."
"Baby, it's okay. My lioness… You saved yourself. You didn't need me. I have been rendered obsolete." I tried for levity. Anything to quell my rising panic and hers. I had to make her feel okay. I hadn't been able to protect her. But now, I wasn't taking any of this for granted.
You haven't been. Sometimes bullshit happens.
I refused to acknowledge that. I refused to accept that bullshit just happened. I had to have some semblance of control, otherwise, what was the whole fucking point?
"Did he hurt you?"
She licked her busted lip. "I-I fell. I think I cut my head open when I hit the cement in there. But other than a kick to the abdomen, I'm okay, I think."
"We're going to have you checked out, okay?"
I could hear the EMTs coming down the hall.
"Why didn't anyone hear you shout for help?"
"Because I was bound and gagged and only just now got the stupid gag off. I used it to help me get the zip ties off." She held up her wrists. One that was reddened and bruised, but free. The other, also red, but still bound by a zip tie.
"I'm going to fucking kill him."
"We have to find them first, Atticus. I'm scared. I'm so scared."
"Baby…" What could I say though? She should be scared. She absolutely should be. We weren't any closer to finding out who was trying to hurt her, and that motherfucker had gotten her in one of the places she should be absolutely safe. All I wanted to do was encapsulate her in bubble wrap and hide her somewhere safe like before.
"I really want to send you somewhere. A fucking fortress. But I won't do that to you again. If you go, I go too. We'd go together and tuck away, because I can't—" My voice broke, and I tucked her face to my chest once more. "I can't take the idea of something like this happening to you again. We'll run."
Gwen wriggled in my arms. "No. I'm not doing that again. If they want me, they can come and get me. Use me as bait. Whatever we need to do. I refuse to be scared for the rest of my life. You're my husband. I love you, and I want to be with you. But I refuse for us to be scared. I want a normal life. I want one where I can roam the stairwells of my own damn company and entice you to go get a smoothie with me. I want us to walk the streets without very large men following behind us, or in front of us for that matter. I want to just drive. I want to not worry about someone grabbing my sister to get to us. I want us to have a normal life, Atticus. I'm not hiding anymore. I'm done."
I heard her. I understood her. I knew why she wanted this, but what could I do? Every time I turned around, there was a new threat that I couldn't see clearly. "Right now, I'm not making any decisions, okay? Just let me hold you."
She lifted her head and met my gaze, her eyes stormy. "All I thought about was you. I'm not leaving you, I promise. They're going to have to take us both, because there is no way in hell I'm leaving without you either."
I held her tight. When I found out who was terrorizing us, I was going to kill them slowly as I watched their life leave their body, and I was going to enjoy it.
30
Gwen
I woke up alone in the dark. Panic flooded my veins immediately.
It took me several moments after sitting up to realize that I wasn't cold. There was no hard concrete beneath my ass. I was warm. In bed. I was safe.
The sliver of moonlight through the floor-to-ceiling windows told me I was at home with my husband. I curled into him, only to find that last statement to be untrue. I patted his side of the bed, finding it empty and cool.
What the fuck?
He hadn't pulled the covers taught like he normally did when he had left to work out or something. No, his side of the sheets were rumpled and a little bit damp. Was he sweating?
I quickly checked the bathroom, but there was no light on, and he wasn't taking a shower. I grabbed the T-shirt that had long been discarded two hours ago when Atticus had thrown it somewhere over his head and proceeded to show me just how much he'd missed me. I dragged it over my naked body, but I didn't bother with underwear. I padded down the hallway and followed the light that was on in the kitchen.
And that was where I found him. On the floor of the pantry, his head in his hands, elbows on his knees, completely silent.
Quietly, I went to him and sat myself across from him, our toes touching. When he lifted his head, I saw the tears streaking down his face, and I wanted to hold him. I wanted to just reach over and grab him in my arms and tell him that it was okay, that I was okay, but I knew somehow that would be the wrong move.
"I don't know what to do,” he choked out. “I can't fix this for you. I can't make it better. Everything I try ends in disaster. Someone is after you, and I can't even protect you. Maybe my father is right; I am a useless piece of shit. I keep trying to protect you, but all I do is put you in danger. We need to leave."
