Page 38 of Serpentine

“What the hell is going on in here?” Our server bursts in, taking one look at the scumbag on the ground as Miles covers me with his body, shielding me from view.

“I’ll call Detective Hunt, shall I?” she asks.

Miles nods. “Tell him he knows where he can find me. I’m taking her home.”

There’s that word again. Home.

It’s another construct I don’t know that I’ll ever achieve.

But the idea sure is nice.

THIRTEEN

BRAXTON

The text from Miles had put me on the edge. Fucking over the edge. If the Jackals want to play, it’s game on. I don’t know what their attack was for or about, but I know I’m eager to have Aella home and safe.

We could’ve lost her for good.

Fuck! To think about that scumbag’s hands on her.

I punch the side of the house as I stop pacing.

The sound of Miles’s Chevy rolling up the gravel drive halts me in my tracks.

I rush to the passenger side as Miles comes to a stop. Swinging the door open, I take in the state of her. She’s covered in blood, shaking, and her eyes are far off as she turns toward me.

“Brax,” she mouths as tears well in her eyes.

I scoop her up, holding her to me.

“Braxton!” Miles shouts.

I turn around, pinning him with disdain he doesn’t likely deserve, but I’m too fucking pissed to care. “You’ve done enough today!”

I move through the house like a man insane until we’re in the basement, where we can be safe. I set her on the toilet as I heat the water in the shower.

I help her to undress, and then I help her get inside. She’s in complete shock as I wash her and scrub her body clean.

“Did he…” I trail off.

But she shakes her head, eyes still far away.

When she’s dry and in my clothes, I set her on the edge of the bed. I know she doesn’t want to talk.

What I don’t expect is the panic attack that’s right around the corner. With good fucking right.

I’m so pissed at Miles. I know it’s not his fault, logically, but I want to beat him until his bones break and he’s as sullied as she is by what happened.

“Brax,” Aella says, eyes frantic, tears overwhelming her as she clutches her chest. I move toward her, and she stands, pacing as her breathing sounds labored and panicked.

“Hey,” I tell her, knowing how she feels and what will happen if she doesn’t calm down. “Come here.”

I think about all the times I’ve gotten to the place I call too high, where the world around me has become too much. The sounds, the smells, the feel of the fabric on my skin. It’s all too fucking much. It’s a place I wouldn’t say I like to get to—one where only certain things can bring me back from it.

I sit on the floor, expecting her to get on my lap. She eyes me worriedly before she drops on me, straddling me.

I wrap around her tightly, rocking her back and forth in a calming wave of motion. “There we go. Just breathe,” I tell her.