Page 36 of Soulmate of the Mafia King
She hung up, and I sat on the floor. For the first time since I’d met him, Tom looked small in that hospital bed with that tube jutting out of his side. It didn’t even matter that they’d had toget an extra long one for him. I’d just never really realized how fragile the massive man I’d fallen for actually was.
It was that reminder that kept me from telling him just how close things actually got with Zahur. Killian was so goddamn tight-lipped that I doubted he’d say anything, but I couldn’t tell Tom the bastard had been leaning over me, about to rape me again. It’d kill him. Especially when nearly the first words out of his mouth were an apology.
I’d tell him someday. Maybe after the few days it took for us to safely board a plane home. Maybe after the six to eight weeks of healing before he’d be back to his old self. Just…someday.
My phone rang, and I picked up.
“Hi!” Sera and Lauren chorused.
I laughed. “Hi.”
“Tell us everything,” Sera demanded.
I stumbled through staying out of the raid, skipped ahead to Tom’s injury and deciding to go to Jordan, then circled back to the hotel.
“Zahur found me there,” I said.
Lauren gasped. Sera didn’t say anything, certainly because Killian had already told her.
“He killed all my guards, even this really nice one, Sam.” I gathered my knees to my chest. Announcements in Arabic still echoed overhead every now and again, but the hallway felt nearly private. “I was hiding in a cabinet with a knife, and I watched him die.”
They made various noises of support.
“And then”—I swallowed—“Zahur pulled me out. I hid the knife, but when he dragged me into the bedroom by the hair, I just froze. I couldn’t—” My voice broke.
Lauren and Sera waited in silence. I hadn’t said this yet, but I knew I needed to get it out or I never would, and I loved them for knowing that too.
“Killian arrived. I just heard shooting on the other side of the door. I thought it was Tom, and that was enough for me.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “I killed Zahur.”
“Oh, my God,” Sera whispered. “You are such a badass.”
That startled a laugh out of me. “Doubtful.”
“You’re certainly brave,” Lauren said. “Braver than I would’ve been.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t imagine Lauren scared of anything.
“Me too,” Sera added. “I couldn’t have killed my dad if he was trying to sell me again.”
I bit my lip. I felt braver working at the shelter. But I could let their praise wash over me, for now, in waves like the exhaustion that pulled at my limbs.
“I just want to come home,” I admitted.
“We’re waiting for you,” Sera chirped. “And my beloved fiancé, if you’d like to pass along the message.”
I smiled. “Tom has a little more healing to do. But how are things?”
“The women are settling in well,” Lauren said. “A few of them have already left, including that ex-cop, Cora. We’re working on the rest, though we had to bring in a few translators.”
“Good thing my mom had connections,” Sera said.
Killian leaned into the hallway and met my gaze.
“That’s the buzzer, unfortunately,” I said. “I’ll call again soon.”
Both of them demanded that I do, and I hung up.
“Sera wants you home,” I said without standing.
