Page 95 of Secret Bratva Baby
As we walk out, a single shot fires, followed by a pain-filled scream from Boris as Niko shoots him in the knee. Tania screams.
I carry Rose, safe in my arms, out of the warehouse to the waiting SUV.
She curls up on my lap, still shaking, not saying anything when my brothers join us in the SUV.
“Is she okay?” Ark asks, reaching out to gently touch her back.
“She’s in shock,” I sigh.
“I’m okay.” Her voice is small as she lifts her head. “I’m alright. I’m just—I was—I was so scared.” She wipes the back of her hand across her face.
“We’ve always got your back, Rose. You’re family,” Ark says, reminding me why I love my brother so much, even though he annoys the hell out of me on most days.
I swallow hard to bite back the emotion building in my throat. Niko climbs into the car. “What should we do with the girl?”
“Please—" Rose immediately protests.
“Leave her. She’s free to go,” I nod.
Rose lets out a breath of relief.
She leans her head against my chest again and curls tighter into me. I pull her closer, resting my face against her hair. “I’m so sorry,” I mutter quietly.
Jade still has Lily. I ask Rose if she wants me to fetch her now, and she shakes her head. “I don’t want her to see me like this.”
Of course, that was silly of me.
“Can you drop us straight at home?” I ask the driver.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll bring your car back tomorrow,” Ark says.
“Thanks, man. It’s not urgent. I have a few others,” I chuckle dryly, using humor to cover how horrible I feel for what Rose went through.
The driver takes us straight to the mansion. I carry Rose out of the car, up the steps to the house. Emotions are flooding me. I have so many things I want to say to her.
Inside, I set her down on the edge of the bed.
“I’m going to run you a hot bath, okay?” I ask gently. She nods.
I leave to start the bath, and when I come back, she hasn’t moved.
Gently, I lift her to her feet and slowly start peeling her clothes off. They are dirty from the warehouse and probably from her fighting back. She lets me undress her. My eyes trace over her body, looking for injuries, hoping to find none.
I’m relieved when there are no hectic injuries apart from her bruised wrist and the mark on her jaw, and a red mark across her side.
She bites her lip.
“Rose, I know that not all injuries can be seen,” I say carefully.
“Honestly, I’m okay,” she answers. “They didn’t…do anything to me like that.”
I take her hand and lead her to the bath. She holds onto me as she steps into it, and I kneel at the edge of the bath to rub her back with a washcloth.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmur.
She’s quiet.
