Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
“Cinna, no,” Renzo said, trying to stop me as I moved forward. “You don’t want to see—“ he started.
“He’s not going to stop if someone doesn’t stop him,” I told Renzo, yanking out of his hold, then moving forward, resting both of my hands on Dav’s shoulders.
“That’s enough,” I said, voice small, hoping something softer and sweeter might be what broke through all that rage. “He’s gone. He can’t hurt anyone again.”
Dav’s hands froze, holding what was left of the head off the ground.
“Cin?” he called.
“Yeah,” I said, fingers sliding up his neck, teasing over his sweaty skin.
The head fell from his hands, landing to the ground with a sick wet thunk.
Then, just like that, all the tension left Dav’s body as he whipped around, grabbing me, pulling me down onto my knees, and wrapping his bloody arms around me.
“I thought I fucking lost you,” he said, low enough for only my ears.
“Nope. Still here,” I said, feeling a wave of unexpected emotion rise up through me, making me squeeze my eyes shut.
“Huh,” I heard Renzo say from a few feet off, likely watching us, reading into it.
This was exactly what I had been dreading since things got physical with Dav. Everyone finding out.
Somehow, though, in this moment, I couldn’t care less. All that mattered was we were alright. That we were together.
“This is one of those ‘told you so’ moments,” Saff said, coming closer. “And as sweet as it is and shit, I think we might want you guys to stop kneeling in the blood and brain matter of the bad guys.”
Her words made Dav’s body tense as he pulled back, horror playing across his features, watching me like he expected to see that mirrored back at him.
I mean, no, I wasn’t exactly keen on seeing him ever sink his fingers into someone’s eyes or bash their heads into the ground until they were unrecognizable again, but I understood the only reason the darkness won out in him this time was because of me. Because of how he felt for me.
I couldn’t exactly be horrified by that, now, could I?
“What do you want from us?” I asked, careful not to move, to spread any evidence around.
“Who touched you?” Renzo asked, eyeing my face.
“The three right here,” I said, gesturing around us. “The ones over by the doors did put me on the chair, but there shouldn’t be any more of my DNA on them.”
“Okay. So those are the bodies we’ll leave. No one touch them. Or be stupid enough to step in their blood,” he added. “The others, we have to get out of here. And get rid of the chair, the zip ties, the blood on the floor.”
“There’s totes over in the back,” I offered, having seen them when I’d hidden from their approaching footsteps.
“Totes?” Renzo asked, brows raised.
“Trust me,” I said. “They’ll work.”
Renzo watched me for a long moment.
“I think we need to have a long fucking talk when we’re done here,” he said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. There was no use lying to him. Not now. He was involved. They all were. We had to let them in finally.
“We’ll take the black van,” Rico said. “Easy transport. Saff, Elian, go get some supplies,” he said, already slipping into work-mode. “And some extra clothes,” he added, looking at the two of us kneeling in blood.
We stayed put, waiting for Saff and Elian to return as the others started to gather the bodies, slipping them into totes, literally scooping up brain matter with bits of cardboard boxes, and dropping it into the plastic containers before moving them out of the way.
“Alright,” Rico said, taking the bag from Elian. “Stand up and strip,” he demanded, all business.
“Here,” Dav said, grabbing me around the forearms as I winced when I moved to stand. “Your ribs?”
“They’re okay. It’s more my stomach,” I admitted.
Then we stood there in the basement surrounded by our colleagues and friends and stripped down to our underwear.
“Damn,” Saff said, coming over to me to scrub at me with baby wipes. “I always knew you had great tits,” she said, shooting me a smirk. “But, damn. Congrats,” she added with a smile over her shoulder at Dav whose face was being wiped down by Elian.
Once we were reasonably clean, we slipped on simple black sleep pants.
Saff’s lips were twitching as Dav pulled his shirt down.
Please remember to spay and neuter me it said below an image of assorted dogs.
“Really, Saff?” he asked, shaking his head at her.
“It seemed appropriate, you hound,” she said with a smile as I pulled on my plain white tee.
“Alright,” Rico said, gathering our clothes and baby wipes, and shoving them into a black bag. “I need you two to go home and scrub. You know the deal,” he said.
“We can help,” I insisted.
“I can help,” Dav corrected.