I will never be powerless again.
When Antonella tightened her hold around Juanito’s throat, screaming like a lunatic, I broke out of my mental prison with a yell of my own. I snagged Antonella’s wrist, pulled her toward me, and used the momentum to slam the heel of my palm at her nose. The satisfyingcrunch of bone and her hot, wet blood erupted as she dropped to the ground, wailing.
But I didn’t stop there.
Straddling her, I grabbed her by the hair, slamming her head into the ground, once, twice, again. She would not harm him. I’d die before I let her touch him again. I’d—
“That’s enough.”
Warm arms wrapped around me and pulled me back, but the screaming hadn’t stopped, and I surged forward. Antonella was still conscious, she could still hurt us. And those gunshots, who—?
“Valeria.Val, baby, it’s okay. Stop screaming. You’re done here.”
Oh.My throat was raw from my cries, a thick sob ripping out of me as I collapsed into Nolan’s arms. The world filtered in through my tears, pixel by pixel.
Antonella, bleeding from her head, eyes shut—
“Oh god,” I said, unable to tear my gaze from the scene. “Did I—is she—?”
“Out cold. She’ll live.”
Oh thank god.I hated Antonella with every cell in my body, but having her murder on my hands—even in defense of Juanito—would be too much.
Before I could think more about almost committing matricide, a tiny bundle bowled into me from the side.
“Val!” Juanito’s arms went around my neck and he buried his face in my hair. “I’m so glad to see you. I was so scared.”
“I know,” I said, clutching him to me. “You’re safe now.”
Behind Juanito’s back, I met Nolan’s eyes, and I saw the same sentiment reflected there.
I’m safe now.
Then I remembered the gunshots.
“Diego?” I asked, looking for him in a panic.
“Here,mana.” Diego kneeled atop a spluttering Hal. A trio of scars raked across Diego’s cheek and eyebrow deep enough to scar, a hellish purple bruise already forming along his jawline from Antonella’s kick. I must have looked horrified, because he said, “I’m fine. Just a scratch.”
At that moment, the bikers filtered into the room.
“Heard the gunshots. Thought you might need these,” the lead biker said, tossing a pair of zip ties to Nolan and Diego. The big man eyed my brother as he took to securing Hal and a now barely conscious Antonella. “You seem to know your way around a situation like this.”
Diego gave an unaffected shrug as blood dripped down his face. “I’m good under pressure.”
The man grunted. “Could use someone like you. The pay’s good.”
“MC life isn’t for me.”
Slipping him a business card, the man said, “Give me a call if you change your mind. Cops’ll be here soon.”
On their way out, each of the bikers gave Juanito a fist bump. Which reminded me. “Shit! Juanito, your meds.” I pulled the pills out of my pocket and got him a glass of water from the bathroom.
“Thanks,” he said and swallowed them down, completely unaware of how close he’d been to getting very, very sick. His skin was already more translucent than it should have been and a thin sheen of sweat plastered his hair to his skull. Diego cast me a concerned look, but I shook my head. I didn’t want to talk about it in front of Juanito and scare him, but I thought he would pull through.
Then Nolan’s lips were at my ear, saying what I’d been thinking. “We should take him to get checked out, just in case.”
I clutched onto his shirt and looked up at him, full of gratitude. “Thank—” My hand came away wet and red. Blood poured from a hole in his shoulder, running in a red trickle down his arm. “You’re bleeding!”How the fuck did I not notice that? Is this what shock feels like?
