Page 79 of Bloodstained Wings
The image is so upsetting that I find myself staggering into the bathroom to empty the contents of my stomach. When I’m done, I splash cold water on my face and gargle. Then, I grip the edge of the sink and count backward from twenty. As soon as I feel steady enough, I hoist my bag onto my shoulders and return to the room. My hands shake when I sign the discharge papers, and I avoid the nurse’s gaze.
In the hallway, I don’t see any of Carter’s men.
So I hang my head low, weave in and out of the people rushing past in either direction, and make a beeline for the elevator. Outside, a brisk wind has started, and a heaviness settles in the center of my chest. I begin walking in the general direction of the penthouse when I hear a pair of footsteps behind me. Fear slams into me as I quicken my pace and round a corner.
The man races past me, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
It lasts until another man emerges from the shadows and advances on me. “You’re right where Lilian said you’d be.”
I stumble back and hold my arms up on either side of me. “Stay away from me. You have no idea who you’re messing with. Carter Blackthorne is not going to be happy about this.”
In the moonlight, I see the man’s expression shift and turn pleased. “That’s exactly why we’re doing this. You’ve caused enough trouble as it is.”
I duck into an alley and break into a sprint, my heart hammering uneasily the entire time. Once I reach the end of the alley, I throw myself at the wall and try to climb it, but I’m dragged away by the back of my hair. Little pinpricks of pain dance behind my eyelids. I throw my head back to disarm the man, and he hisses. I fall to the ground and scramble away from him, but his meaty hands close around my ankles.
“We have all sorts of plans for you, little bird,” he says, his putrid breath in my ear. “You’re going to be worth a lot of money.”
I squirm and thrash against him, but it’s no use.
My last thought before he places a rag over my mouth is of Carter and how the fuck he’s meant to find me now.
***
Carter
“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?” Before the SUV comes to a complete stop, I push the door open and race up the stairs to the hospital, barely seeing anything around me. When I burst through the double doors, my hands clenched into fists at my side, several people nearby jump back as if I’m going to unleash my anger in their direction.
With the way I’m feeling, I’m not sure that I won’t.
I’m vaguely aware of Ernesto hurrying after me and saying something in a low voice, but I can’t make out a word he says. All I know is that I left for a few hours to take care of pressing business, and the next thing I know, one of my men is placing the call. As soon as I reach the hallway where Isabella’s room is located, I make a beeline for the man in question.
He barely has time to straighten his back before I slam him against the wall hard enough to make his teeth rattle. “You had one fucking job, and you couldn’t even manage that. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t end you right now.”
He tries to stay something, but my hands are tight around his neck.
Tristan appears next to me and places a hand on my shoulders. “Boss—”
“Don’t say another fucking word,” I snap, without looking at my cousin. “Someone has to pay the price for this, so unless you’re volunteering, I suggest you stay out of my way.”
Tristan withdraws his hand so quickly it’s as if he’s been burned. Then he takes a few steps back, and I press down harder, seeing nothing but red in my field of vision. Eventually, when the man starts to sputter and marks blossom around his neck, I release my grip. The man crumples into a heap on the floor, and I push past him and into her room.
It’s as if she was never there, except for the lingering scent of her perfume.
I tear the whole room apart, leaving the sheets and pillows in a complete state of disarray. I’m so consumed with rage that it takes the blonde-haired nurse coming in and making a low squeak of horror to pull me out of my rampage. With a growl, I brush past her and take the stairs to the bottom floor, the movement doing nothing to quench the worry and panic clawing their way inside of me.
Where the hell is Isabella?
And why didn’t she come home?
By the time I reach the bottom floor, my phone won’t stop vibrating. When I take it out and see the messages from Isabella, my stomach dips, and I feel worse. Outside, I punch a hole in the wall nearest the emergency room door, droplets of blood following me down the pavement and into the SUV. Ernesto puts the car in reverse and speeds in and out of traffic, charting a direct path to the penthouse. As soon as he pulls up outside, I rip off a piece of fabric and wrap it around my bleeding knuckles. In the elevator, it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to break the whole thing down.
The red-hot anger pulsing through me only intensifies when I step into the penthouse and find Lilian draped over the kitchen counter, barely wearing any clothes. Her blood-red lips form a surprised ‘O’ as she slides off the counter and saunters toward me.
“You’re late. I expected you home a while ago.”
I give her my most menacing look. “What the fuck are you doing here, Lilian? How did you even get in?”
She places a manicured nail against my chest and purrs. “Have you forgotten already, baby? I can be very persuasive when I want to be, remember?”