Page 53 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part One
He stepped toward the door and panic seized my heart again. “Wait!” They both froze. “Will Otto and Evan be okay?”
Sampson nodded. “You still have Otto’s phone, but Evan messaged to say he was done with the police already and they’re on their way back to the car.”
I bit my lip, my gut still burning and my heart still thumping, despite the fact that my brain knew I was fine now. That nothing had happened. These guys had my back, all of them.
“Will you guys stay with me until I fall asleep?” I asked quietly, and Hendrick was back across the room with no shirt on before I’d even finished the sentence. “No sex. I, uh, just don’t want to be alone.”
Hendrick looked affronted, but nodded. “Viva, despite the rumors, I’m not about to jump a girl who just had a panic attack. My dick can cure many things, but not that.” He paused. “I mean, at least I don’t think so. I’ve never actually tried.”
Sampson slapped him on the back of the head, before standing over the bed and taking in my face. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nodded, sitting up to pull Hendrick’s shirt over my head.
“Wait!” Sampson yelled, making me jump. He moved to the bed, his fingers running gently down my stomach. “He cut you.”
I looked at my stomach, and sure enough, there was the slightest scratch on my stomach. It had obviously bled at some point, but I hadn’t noticed, probably because of the amount of adrenaline flowing through my veins.
Sampson’s eyes were molten with rage. “He. Cut. You.” Oh shit. The fury in his voice was palpable. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell. “I’m calling Evan. I want the fucker locked up. I want him shanked and thrown in the motherfucking Seine. Fuck.”
Oh shit. He was having a full-blown meltdown. “Sam, I’m fine.”
“You aren’t fine, Good Girl. You had a fucking panic attack in the cab. You got cut with his fucking knife. Have you had a tetanus shot? What if there was something disgusting on that fucking blade?”
He was beginning to pace, and I looked over at Hendrick, who was staring at Sampson with eyes as wide as mine. I mouthed,What do I do?He just shrugged. Hopeless.
“Sampson.” Ignoring me, he just kept walking back and forward. “Sampson!” He spun on his heel and looked at me, his eyes immediately going to the minor scratch on my stomach. “I’m fine. Please, hop into bed and hold me for a while?”
He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, but took his clothes off until he was just down to his boxers. As he climbed in beside me, Hendrick sauntered to the other side of the bed before sliding in. They both pressed close, and I was sandwiched between their warmth—Sampson curled around my back, and my legs tangled in Hendrick’s.
I let the adrenaline crash pull me under before my crazy body could take advantage of the sandwich I was currently in.
Chapter28
Otto
It was painful to look at her. Sampson and Hendrick were both wrapped around a sleeping Aviva. Neither of them were asleep though, both just staring silently at the ceiling. As I watched them, they slipped out of bed, though how they could bear to do it was beyond me.
She reached for Hendrick, but he tucked the pillows and blankets around her and she settled back down to sleep. They tiptoed into the main room, and I stood aside to let them pass. I just wanted to watch her for a few more moments, to appease my mind that she was okay.
When her breathing evened back out, I met the guys in the living room. “How is she?”
Hendrick shook his head. “Freaked out. Had a panic attack in the cab home.”
“He cut her,” Sampson growled, and my heart clenched. I wanted to go back in there, search her entire body for injuries. “She says it's fine, that she's up to date on her shots, but what if there was something on that blade?”
Evan shook his head. “I looked at it. The guy might have been a piece of shit, but he kept his weapons clean.”
Sampson huffed, only slightly appeased. “What did the cops say?”
Evan shook his head again. “Not much. It's an unfortunate occurrence—we’ve lived in New York for long enough to know that. They took Otto’s statement, dragged the guy away, will probably charge him tonight, and then he’ll be out on bail before lunchtime tomorrow. It is what it is.”
Sampson punched the back of the couch, and I watched him cautiously. Normally, it was Hendrick with the anger, but Hendrick seemed bizarrely calm right now. Had they swapped bodies?
“I want you on her at all times,” Sampson snapped, and his long-time bodyguard tensed.
“That’s not how it works, Sam. You’re my priority.”
Sampson got up in his face, and I stepped forward just in case I had to pull him back. “I pay your salary. I am reprioritizing you.”
