Page 34 of Nash

“She has endometriosis,” Blair answers. “Like she murders menstruation. Blood everywhere.”

I close my eyes, dying inside. “Jeez, Blair.”

“What?” she scoffs. “There’s no period shaming here, and Mr. Allen has a daughter. Remember when Alena got her period at school? He was one of the cool parents who picked her up and kept her home a day.”

“And you both were sweet to her,” he answers. “Thanks for showing her how to … uh?—”

“How to put a tampon in?” Blair interrupts. “Yeah, we had it covered because some girls go for the wrong hole the first time and?—”

“Blair. Just.Stop,” I groan. “You’re making this worse.”

By the end of the day, it is worse. I take my birth control patch off, and my period hits me like a freight train. My core cramps, my stomach is sick, and my thighs ache. Then, I realize I’ll have an audience for my massacre tonight, so I add to my agony by gently banging my head on the desk.

Nash whispers to me, “Let’s go. Let’s get you comfortable.”

With my cheek smushed against the wood, I look at him and confess, “Comfortable is not on the itinerary for the next three days. This will be bad and bloody and so fucking embarrassing. Do you really have to witness my mortification?”

Blair is upstairs with customers. Jace is in the kitchen, scarfing down his third lunch, so we’re free to talk.

“Yes.” Nash takes off his glasses. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he answers, “I don’t like invading your privacy, but you’re not safe. One of the men on the bridge survived. He just got out of the hospital, and he’ll be coming for us.”

“Us?” I pop up.

“Yes. He’s going to go after everyone I care about. That puts you at risk and me by your side, protecting you.”

“Oh, god,” I groan, rolling my eyes. “Can’t you just shoot him and get this over with? Or give me the gun. I’m cramping so bad all of humanity is in my crosshairs.”

“If he comes around, yes, I’ll take care of him, but he likes to hide, too.”

“Where?”

“If we knew, he wouldn’t be hiding.”

“What does he do that’s so bad?”

“The exact thing you fearedIwas doing, and if he gets a hold of you or Alena? I’ll rescue you, don’t worry. But when I catch him, I won’t kill him. Death requires no imagination, and I’ll get creative with his pain.”

We’re sharing the same fear: what would happen to me if I get kidnapped by his enemy?

“So, he’d …trafficme?” It fills me with terror.

“To torture me, yes,” Nash answers, “he’d torture you.”

Sucking his teeth, for the first time, he truly looks like the beast he said he is. Like blood drips from his sudden fangs. His beauty turns dark, his eyes blank. Emotions can’t find his face or heart. He looks dead inside, just like his ambitions for his prey.

I don’t recognize him, but I recognize he’s a serious threat. Who? Yeah, I mean both men.

It worsens the next twist in my gut, and I groan, feeling my pale face turn pallid. My pain suddenly makes the beast disappear. Nash brushes his hand over the small of my back. “I promise I’ll give you privacy for this.”

“But…” I can’t believe I’m about to say this, “I don’t want you to go. I mean, I like being kidnapped by you, not the Bridge Bastard.”

Nash grins. “Yeah, you’ve made it clear that I annoy you with how amazing I am.”

I grin back, even through wretched cramps. “And you thought kidnapping me was gonna turn out for you, but here we are. Me, about to send you to the store to buy two boxes of super-plus-plus tampons. How’d that turn out for you?”

He huffs a laugh. “Blood doesn’t faze me.”

Then he stops my breath. His fingers gently brush a greasy strand from my face. “Let’s go,” he soothes. “I got you covered.”

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