Page 15 of Veiled Vengeance

“You broke my nose, bitch!” Pierce covers the middle of his face with his hand and blood escapes the cage made by his fingers.

There’s a thunderous bang against the door.

“Shit!” Pierce pushes me off him and stands. The chair lands on its side, and my head thumps against the ground. Pierce pulls a gun from the waistband of his slacks and scowls at Asher, who’s smiling like a loon.

“Who’s out there?” Pierce shouts.

Asher’s smile is permanent. “Who do you think?”

Pierce lets out an angry growl, then stomps to Asher and punches his cheek. Asher’s head flies backward but bobs forward again. Pierce leans in and leaves Asher with a promise. “You can’t keep her from me forever. I will come for her.”

He turns and flees the warehouse through a door at the back.

The metal door at the front bursts open and in charges Rio, Zane, and . . . Is that Hayes? What the hell is he doing here?

“Took you long enough,” Asher coughs out.

“I’d say we’re right on time.” Rio’s casual tone is contradicted by the way he rushes over to Asher and begins the process of getting him down.

Hayes stands in shock, staring at Dahlia’s half-naked body and the dried blood on her inner thighs.

“Hayes!” Zane snaps while sprinting to my side. “Get her down! We don’t have much time. I’m sure backup will be here any minute.”

Zane assesses my injuries and my exposed breasts. His jaw hardens, and a baleful glint enters his eyes. A whimper crawls up my throat.

“I tried, I promise. I tried to fight him off.”

Zane trails the back of his finger down my cheek. He quickly removes his shirt and uses it to cover my chest. “Shhh. You did good, Angel. Nothing could make me stop loving you.” Then he pulls out a switchblade and makes quick work of cutting the tape tethering me to the chair.

Tears swim in my eyes. “Now you tell me?”

“I’ve told you before. You just weren’t listening.”

When I’m free, Zane helps me into his shirt. He gathers me, one arm under my knees and one around my back and turns. We find that Hayes has Dahlia in his arms as well. He pulled up her pants, and her head rests on his shoulder. He whispers soothing words into her hair that calm the shaking of her body. Asher is standing with an arm around Rio, who carries most of his weight.

“We ready?” Zane asks Rio and Hayes. They both nod in return. “Ash, can you hold a gun?”

“Always,” he answers, as if insulted.

Zane hands over a gun he pulled out from the back of his pants. “You two go out first.” He nods to Asher and Rio. “Hayes and Iris in the middle, and Spencer and I will take up the rear.”

We file out of the warehouse, leaving behind the horrors but taking a few ghosts with us.

CHAPTER 6

RIO

Asher weighs a fuck ton, but I still manage to carry most of his weight. I hold him on my left side so my shooting hand can be free in case I need to use my gun as we sidestep pools of blood and dead bodies.

The sun is high and beats down on my back. We’re in the middle of White Plains, surrounded by more rundown warehouses with peeling paint and rust. Pavement and gravel crunch under our feet.

Fighting our way in here was almost too easy—there were only eight men outside armed with AR-15s and AK-47s. We took the subway as far as we could and then caught a cab but had the driver drop us off a mile away. We didn’t find any security cameras, only a couple of men on the roof—they were the first to go. I used my knife to slit the first one’s throat, and Zane did the same to the other, but his gun fell and alerted the rest of them to our presence.

The shootout didn’t last long. Again, it was all easier than I thought it would be. It’s like the men weren’t even trying to actually hit us. Anthony should probably train his people before putting them to work.

“How are we going to get all of us out of here?” Asher pants.

“We’re going to need a ride,” I answer.

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