Page 47 of Broken Surrender
“And where is your husband?” he asked. “Don’t worry. We know about your affair with Desmond. Did you two get rid of Dalton?”
“John is on a business—”
“Wait, I know. You killed him, but Desmond made you think it was your idea.”
My stomach sank. None of that made sense. But still, a nagging thought squirmed inside of me. I hadn’t even known Desmond before I killed John, and there was no way that they could have known each other. And yet—
No. This was stupid. Desmond had told me exactly how he was using me, and now that was behind us.
“Boys,” he said to the two guards. They came forward, crossing their arms, and the man put a hand down my pants. I squeezed my thighs shut, but he pressed his fingers between my legs. “John gave it all to her.” He pulled out his hand, his fingers glistening. “Look at how wet she is, and I’ve barely touched her.”
I let the rage boil up inside of me. “Screw you,” I hissed.
The three of them laughed and my cheeks flushed red. No. This couldn’t be happening. I moved my hips, scooching away as much as I could, and that’s when I realized he was right. It was completely soaked. Was it my arousal or my sweat? My fear?
Why?
“Gave what to me?” I whispered.
“The Eros.”
The short man pulled out his phone, holding it to his ear. “Yeah, boss. He gave it to her.” He looked down at his feet. “All right.” He hung up. “You’re in luck. You’re officially more valuable to us alive than dead. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun.”
He reached for my pants, shoving in his sweaty hand inside, but I wasn’t going to let this happen again. I had to fight. I had to do something. I rammed my head back then spit in his face, the glob landing on his cheek. His eyes widened, then he wiped his hand across his skin, slapping my own spit onto my cheek, then punched my stomach hard, the pain rippling through me. I coughed, barely catching my breath. One punch after another. I gritted my teeth, not letting myself scream. But when the short man reached between my legs again, I kicked as hard as I could, and the black-haired giant grabbed my hair, pulling my head up.
“Be nice,” he said.
The doors burst open. Gunfire cracked through the air. The black-haired man dropped on top of me, knocking the wind out of me. The blond giant immediately fell, a shot in his head. The small man collapsed, blood oozing from his leg. He crawled along the floor, pulling himself forward. When he glanced back, looking for the attacker, he reached for his phone, and Desmond stepped on the man’s chest, then aimed at his head. The bullet echoed through the open space.
Desmond’s eyes were bloodshot and full of rage. I blinked. The men were gone as quickly as Desmond had appeared. Gratitude and terror warred inside of me. I had known that Desmond was dangerous, but now I was seeing it with my own eyes.
My bottom lip quivered. Who was he?
“Are you okay?” he asked. Shock vibrated through my body. What had just happened?
“I’m okay,” I said.
Desmond sliced the rope with his pocketknife. “Let’s get out of here.”
CHAPTER 16
Desmond
In the car, Lena kept her eyes on her lap as she tapped her fingers on her pants. I dialed one of my doctors, ordering him to be back at the house as soon as possible. Lena, not knowing who I was talking to, stared at me. I should have given her an explanation, but my mind was gone, completely absorbed in the warehouse.
Taking someone’s life never bothered me.
But this? This was different. I had never killed spontaneously, and never for someone other than my family.
And it was because of her.
Lena’s skin was flushed, streaks of red tracing down her neck and cheeks, her brown eyes radiant, her body trembling with energy. The adrenaline still buzzed through her, running through me too. I had acted without thinking because she was in trouble.
My woman.Mine.
But this was stupid. I could have kept them alive and used them for information. Figured out exactly what they were after, and use that to harness it against them. Instead, I had lost sight of what was important. Because the only thought that filled my mind was that I needed to protect Lena. I needed to save her.
It was a long drive back to Opulent Gates, by the time we got there, I could hardly think straight. Her ripe fear filled the car, and that scent alone made me want to fuck her into submission, to remind her not to get into a situation like that again. To teach her that there were people likethemout there.
