No one was getting out of this unscathed.
Trev nodded to Sofia and opened his arms. I nodded and kissed the top of her head before gently transferring her into Trev’s arms. Her breath hitched as she struggled to regain control of her emotions, but she didn’t fight it as Trev wrapped her in his arms and pulled her in tight. His eyes glistened with unshed tears as he held his almost daughter-in-law, and he continued rocking her like I had been.
“Have you seen her yet?” Carol whispered, her voice thick and broken as she sidled up next to me.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and shook my head.
“No, Sofia just came out to let me know how she was doing. She’ll be sore for a while, but she’ll be okay. She’s staying the night,” I informed her, my voice scratchy.
Carol sighed as she rested her head on my shoulder and I stood there watching Trev rock Sofia, my mind a mess and yet somehow blank.
“Are you good?” I asked my aunt.
She shook her head and pulled away. “I don’t know if that’s ever something I’ll be again, Flynn. But I’ll be okay for now if you want to go in and see Chiara.”
I looked at her, weighing her words and she spared me a small smile. “I promise, I’ll be okay. Go check on your girl and put your mind at ease.”
Leaning down, I brushed a kiss over her cheek and jerked my head at Trev who’d opened his eyes to look at us.
Dragging in a breath, I started for Ara’s room, my stomach knotting as I tried to prepare myself for what I’d see. She’d looked a mess at the hotel, but I’d barely had much of a chance to lay my eyes on her before she was taken away.
I pushed open the door and hesitated a moment. She was asleep, and I thanked fuck for that because I hadn’t taken the time to school my features before coming in. She looked worse than I thought.
Stepping into the room, I moved slowly toward her bed, not wanting to wake her and send her into a panic.
Her face had several purple-blue bruises and her right eye was puffy, but the worst of it was her jaw that looked incredibly swollen. Her lip was split, too, making it look more painful.
With every new injury I took in, my chest felt heavier, as if a weight was pushing on it and squeezing the air from my lungs.
My gaze drifted over what I could see of her, and devastation washed over me again. Her left arm was bandaged and in a sling,and there was a white bandage taped to the side of her head. Bruises littered up and down her arms, and I could only imagine it was the same for her legs.
Fucking hell. She’d put up one hell of a fight, and she’d won. We’d been on our way to save her, sure, but she’d rescued herself. She was so strong, and so capable. I thought about every time I’d looked at her and seen that bright light shining from inside her, and I felt murderous all over again at the possibility that Ellis might have put it out for good.
Sucking in a breath, I leaned over and put my hands on my knees, struggling to take a full breath as all the possibilities suddenly hit me at once. What if she hadn’t gotten to her phone in time? What if Ellis had knocked her clean out? What if I hadn’t answered her call or missed it altogether? What if she hadn’t been able to fight him off long enough? What if, what if,what if?
“Fuck,” I grunted and sucked in a deeper breath, heart squeezing painfully.
“Don’t swear,” a rough voice whispered.
My head jerked up at once and fell to Ara who watched me between heavy blinks.
“You’re awake,” I croaked, pointing out the obvious as I straightened up.
She swallowed hard. “Yeah, and pretty doped up, apparently,” she told me with a lopsided smile, drawing attention to the side of her face that was badly swollen.
Rage and grief washed over me again, and I remained frozen in place, struggling to figure out what I was meant to be feeling right now. Angry? Sad? Grateful? Guilty? I settled on some degree of each and raked a hand through my hair again as I watched her.
“You don’t have to stand so far away.”
Dragging in another breath, I forced my feet to move until I wasstanding beside her. Up close, her injuries were worse, and I swore under my breath and scrubbed a hand over my face.
“Language,” she reprimanded softly, and a jagged laugh escaped me. How she could joke at a time like this was beyond me, even in her slightly drugged state.
“Is Sofia okay?” she asked.
Forcing myself to get a handle on my emotions, I nodded and took the seat beside her bed and dragged it closer.
“She will be,” I answered honestly.
