The words were spoken so low I barely heard them. But I did and the overwhelming emotions crashed down on me. It was only his comforting hand that kept me from collapsing to the floor in a heaping mess of sobs.
Always.
Always.
He’d always come for me.
A tear slipped down my cheek and dripped onto the back of my hand. Then another. Oh God, I couldn’t let Raul see. I couldn’t falter now.
Sculpt said something, but I was so focused on Kai I didn’t pay attention, but I saw Sculpt get up and leave with his girl in tow.
“As I told you,” Raul said, “he is too attached to his slave. I will have to put an end to that.”
Kai chuckled, but it was laced with a grated tone. “She has spirit. Something I admire. But, yes, attachments are dangerous. Better to kill her or sell her.”
“Killing her loses money. Perhaps you’d be interested in acquiring her as well?”
“Perhaps,” Kai replied.
I stayed at his feet while he chatted with others for what seemed like hours. I kept a part of me touching him at all times or rather he did, I wasn’t sure which.
“Look at me…” he hesitated then whispered, “London.”
I slowly raised my chin and the flicker of life singed my skin for the first time in months. My throat tightened as our eyes locked. It was with that one look he’d wrapped me up in a warm blanket and held me. Protected me.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
I jerked my eyes to the terrace that led out into the gardens. Kai bolted out of his chair and it tipped over backwards.
Several more gunshots rang out.
He pulled out his knife, grabbed my arm, and shoved me under the table. “Stay there.”
Raul’s men ran through the dining hall shouting while some guests took cover, and others ran toward the gunshots with weapons drawn. It was complete chaos as men panicked because sure as hell this place was filled with illegal substances, activity and more than likely, wanted men.
Kai took out his cell, tapped a few times then put it to his ear and started shouting at someone about getting the Jeep. He shoved the phone in his pocket then crouched in front of me, his knife in his hand between us. “Keep down and out of sight.”
My heart raced and my stomach tightened with dread. “Don’t leave me.”
He reached out and stroked the side of my face with his knuckles. “Baby, I’ll be right back. I need to see what the fuck is going on.” He stood, nodded once then jogged off in the direction of the gunshots.
As he disappeared around the corner, cold shivers coursed through me and my stomach flipped. I screamed his name because I knew, I knew he wasn’t coming back. It was the feeling of dread like I was trapped in an ice cube, unable to escape the cold that sank into every part of me.
He wasn’t coming back.
No.
No.
No.
I crawled out from under the table and ran.
I made it ten steps before an unforgiving hand latched onto my arm and yanked me to a stop. “Where do you think you’re going?” Jacob said then locked his arm around my chest and started for the basement. “Looks like he doesn’t want you. Guess you’re staying with us.”
I flailed.
I fought.
I screamed for Kai.
But there was nothing I could do to stop Jacob as he dragged me downstairs and threw me into my room. I fell to my knees. The door slammed and then the finality as the lock clicked.
I collapsed.
I sobbed.
And I begged for Kai to come back.
But hour after hour, day after day the lifeline slipped further and further away until any hope for Kai returning finally extinguished.
My end had begun. I became Raven.SEVENTEEN MONTHS, ONE week and five days. That’s how long it had been since I’d left her under the table at Raul’s in Mexico when the fireworks of gunshots went off. Raul’s business acquaintances had shot at anything that moved thinking the compound was being raided. Most of them were on the wanted list and weren’t going down without a fight.
And that was the reason I hated guns. Bullshit like that. Getting shot for no reason because some asshole was shittin’ his pants and shooting at shadows. I’d seen Sculpt, the fighter, shooting at Raul’s men. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, didn’t care except to make certain I got London out. But I never made it further than the front steps when an agonizing pain hit my chest.
I remembered one thing as I fell—London. Just her. Only her.
The agony of the gunshot was nothing compared to the agony of what I knew was going to happen. I thought I heard her scream my name before I hit the ground and everything went black.
Then nothing for fifteen days. Fifteen fuckin’ days.