Page 58 of Brutal Knight

I raced towards her, my eyes tracing over what I could see. Tatiana’s hair was in tangles and dirt was smudged over her whole body. She looked like a high-end homeless person. Her dress was torn, and she didn't have any shoes on.

I growled when I saw the wound on her shoulder; it looked like a bullet wound.Someone was going to die.

I shot off a quick text to Coulter and Dante, telling them to meet me here. Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I shrugged off my Armani jacket and, kneeling next to her, wrapped it around her. I sat down and pulled her into my lap.

“Polva, love.” She was shivering and sweat-drenched. "What happened, baby?”

"Knight," her lips trembled and she pulled the jacket tighter around her. "You're here."

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

She frowned, her teeth biting over that freckle on her lip, like she used to do when she was a kid. "I wasn’t sure you’d come."

For fuck’s sake! “Of course I would.Neverdoubt that, Tati.”

The couple next to us shifted uncomfortably, like they were going to leave and I looked up at them, giving them a glare. "Stay right here."

They froze, locked in place, then a guy with bulging muscles showing through an orange tank top and skinny jeans, frowned. “You asshole.”

“Don’t fucking move,” I repeated myself, then focused my attention on Tatiana, ignoring the blonde, blue-eyed girl trying to calm the guy down. I adjusted her, being careful not to hurt her injured arm. "What happened?"

At this, her face closed off, and she bit down on her lip, looking away.

"Tatiana, answer me. Who hurt you?"

"I can't tell you."

"The fuck you can't."

She only tilted her head up stubbornly, her nails scratching at her inner arm. I pulled away the coat to stare at what she was scratching at. When I saw the track marks in her arm, my blood went cold.

What the ever-loving fuck?

"Who did this to you?" When she wouldn't look me in the eyes, I grabbed her chin, forcing her. "Did you do this to yourself? Did you relapse?"

Hurt flashed in her eyes, tears welling in them, and regret filled me. Of course, she hadn't. Since she’d moved here, I’d never seen her near drugs, except for an occasional hit off my joint when we were together.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I know you didn't." That only made my anger surge higher. “Then someone did this to you. Tell me fucking who, Tatiana.”

“Someone made her take drugs?" The girl over my shoulder said, her voice filled with an edge of panic.

Tourists. I ground my molars.They’d helped her,I tried to reason. At that moment, both Dante and Coulter appeared.Thank fuck.

"Knight. What happened?” Coulter asked.

I jerked my head towards the couple, needing them out of my hair. "They found her here, throwing up." I nodded towards the pile of vomit on the street.

Coulter immediately understood what I needed. He flashed his famous smile. "You guys visiting?"

“Yes, we just got here last night. It's our first time on the Vegas strip." The blonde girl didn't move, though he tried to gently prod them away.

"Welcome to Vegas," he tried to laugh off what was happening. "I own a few hotels and casinos in the area. Where are you staying now? Maybe I can put you up in one of our suites and comp your meals for your help."

With the promise of free shit, they finally began to take Coulter's guidance and followed him down the street, though the girl still glanced back at us. Orange tank top guy was licking his lips, clearly ready for the royal treatment.

"What do you need?" Dante asked me.

"I'm going to take her to my house in Spanish Estates. Meet me there with the doctor. And, Dante," I looked him in the eyes, "I have a bad feeling about this. I need you to call Avery."

---