Page 39 of Wretched Heart
My head turns slowly towards him. “She’s in the library?” When my brother nods, heat blooms in my chest and the cold fear of betrayal evaporates. I hiss out an exhale. “She’s gone into town to pick up some damn books. I’m going to fucking kill her.”
“So, she doesn’t know Hugo’s about to find her?” Reid asks, eviscerating my relief.
“You need to get me there now, Reid,” I grind out.
Brimstage high street is indistinguishable from any other small town in Illinois. We zip past familiar branded storefronts and a scattering of independents before coming to a screeching halt outside a two-story red brick building.
“Reid, stay in the car,” I bark as I jump out.
“Do you have a plan?” Mace asks as we head for the set of double doors that have been left wide open, inviting readers in.
“We get Maddie out, and then you try to stop me from killing Hugo.”
“I’m not promising anything, brother.”
When we step into the eerily silent and cavernous space, my stomach sinks. The library is crammed with row upon row of high bookshelves that obscure my view from every damn angle. I turn in a circle, my breathing sharp and my heart pounding. I hate that my ears are straining for a telltale sound of Maddie in distress.
Mace tips his head to the upper floor. There’s a mezzanine that might give us a better vantage point, and I’m about to agree when the librarian behind the counter catches my eye. Our presence hasn’t gone unnoticed. “Wait, I have an idea.”
The woman looks to be in her forties and doesn’t try to hide her approval as she looks me up and down. “And how can I help you?” she asks with a sweet smile.
“Where’s the romance section?”
She looks at me like I’ve just saved a puppy from a burning building. “It’s not often we get a man who–”
“Where is it?” Mace hisses from next to me.
She points to a far corner on the ground floor. “Would you like me to…?”
“Stay,” I tell her, aiming a finger at her in warning as I walk away.
We move quickly and quietly so as not to draw any further attention, checking down each row we pass just in case I’ve got this wrong. I think I know Maddie, but what if I’m…
When I hear a thud and a gurgled hiss, I have some warning of what I’m about to face. I round the last row to find Hugo with his back to me. He’s not a big man, but he’s big enough to obscure his sister’s slender frame. All I can see are Maddie’s sandals. She’s on tiptoe and her feet move in a pitiful dance as she tries to keep herself from being lifted off her feet.
From Hugo’s stance and the sound Maddie makes, he has hold of her by the throat. His free arm is pulled back, his hand balled into a fist, ready to strike. That’s what I’d heard a moment ago. Hugo had punched Maddie in the stomach while constricting her airway so she couldn’t cry out.
Mace and I move fast. I see my brother raising his gun as I dip slightly to reach for the strap at my ankle. I rear up behind Hugo and press my knife not-too-carefully against his throat. My other hand wraps around the fist he’s about to slam into Maddie’s midriff, and I twist his armsharply up his back. Hugo goes to cry out until I press the knife more firmly.
It’s a move I’ve put into practice plenty of times, and luckily, I can do it without thinking because as Maddie’s terror-filled eyes come into view, I’m about to lose it.
“Take your fucking hand off her before I slit your throat,” I growl.
Hugo jerks his hand away from Maddie’s throat and she slumps against the wall. As I catch sight of the finger marks blooming around her neck, my grip on the knife tightens. I’m beyond tempted to slice through Hugo’s carotid artery anyway.
“Mace,” I say through gritted teeth. This is where he needs to remind me that we’re in a public place and we’re soon to become the town’s principal employer. Not to mention the small complication of how Hugo’s estate would be managed if he should meet a premature end.
“If you don’t, I think I will,” Mace mutters.
Not the help I needed. What does stop me from doing something reckless is Maddie’s tear-stained face. Those blue eyes pierce through the red mist that had me blinded. I need to comfort her more than I need to torture her brother.
Hugo gasps in relief when the knife disappears from his throat, but he has only a short reprieve. I grab his hair and pull back his head until I see the whites of his eyes staring up at me. I save my words for Maddie and smash Hugo’s face into the wall with a satisfying crunch. When he crumples to the floor, Mace presses his boot against Hugo’s back to keep him there.
I step towards Maddie, desperate to pull her into a tight hug, but I don’t want to hurt her. Luckily, I don’t have to hold myself back because she crushes herself against mychest. I wrap my arms around her and kiss the top of her head. “You’re safe now.”
When she lifts her head to look at me, she grimaces with the strain she puts on her injured neck. “I’m sorry I sneaked off,” she says in a hoarse whisper. “But I wasn’t going to stay out long.”
There’s fear in her eyes. She’s used to being punished for her transgressions, and even after what she’s just gone through, she’s expecting what? More of the same from me? I feel sick to the stomach.
