Page 154 of Safe and Sound
My lips broke into a wide smile as my heart raced in my chest. “That’s my girl,” I called back as I waved.
Any elation I felt over Piper’s proclamation was short-lived upon reentering the house and hearing Ava’s grief-stricken sobs hit me the moment I reentered the house. As I made my way over to her, the sound of her cries pricked my chest like knives.
“Love, we have to go,” I said softly.
Kneeling on the floor, she cradled Nick’s torso in her lap. She rocked him back and forth just as I assumed she had Piper when she was a baby.
After kneeling down beside her, I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Ava, we need to go.”
Shaking her head wildly back and forth, Ava argued, “I can’t leave him.”
“We can’t stay here. Whoever did this might be watching the house and come back.”
She tore her gaze from him to stare up at me. “How can I leave him here all alone? You know he hated being by himself.”
I cupped her cheek with my palm. “He won’t be. Some of my men are going to stay here and watch the house. More of mymen will be arriving as well. We need to talk to your family about what funeral home to take him to.”
Her brows wrinkled. “But he was murdered. The coroner has to come.”
“No, love.”
“The police?” When I shook my head, she demanded, “Why not?”
“Because that’s not how we handle threats in our world.”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “Nick is more than a response to a threat.”
“I know. He is so much more.” As I gazed down at Nick’s lifeless form, tears once again filled my eyes. “He saved our daughter’s life.”
“He did?”
“He told her to hide and not come out until you or I came.”
Ava ran her hand over Nick’s face. “You were a good and true godfather.”
“Yes, he was.”
When Ava began weeping again, I knew I was going to forcefully take her. Thomas came into the room flanked by three soldiers we’d just recruited. They were so new that I hadn’t learned their names yet.
After rising to my feet, I bent over to sweep Ava into my arms. “No, no, no!” she cried as her fists beat against my chest.
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” I crooned into her ear.
She continued to fight against me until we got out to the car. I deposited her in the back seat of the SUV that the new recruits had taken. After Thomas took the wheel, I got in with Ava.
Through her cloud of grief, Ava had her first moment of clarity since finding Nick’s body. Her expression turned from anguish to panic. “Wait, where’s Piper?” she demanded.
“Niall is taking her to Callum’s.”
Shaking her head, Ava protested, “No! I need her!”
“She’ll be safe with Niall, and it’s a fucking fortress at Callum’s.”
Ava gripped the front of my shirt. ‘Please, Dare, I want her with me.”
“Love, she doesn’t need to see you like this.”
After glancing down at her blood-stained clothes, Ava shuddered. “Oh God. You’re right.”
