Cade Burns
“They’re not going to like that,” my lieutenant said with a laugh, taking a long swig of his bottle of beer.
I chuckled loudly, tipping my head back. “Do I look like I care what someone else likes? This is my business. If they want me to show up every week and check to make sure everything is running properly, they’re looking for a damn babysitter, not an owner. They can go a couple of months without a check-in.”
Of all the men who worked for me, he was one of my favorites. He didn’t take it upon himself to make decisions that I didn’t approve of, and I appreciated the loyalty he gave to my people and me. He didn’t realize it, but there was certainly a promotion in the near future for him.
“How is everything going with-”
He fell silent and looked over my shoulder, his eyes widening. A hush fell through the room as I turned and took a step back from the force of someone colliding with me. I glanced down, wrapping my arms around the figure before I realized what I was seeing. Aria stood there, shaking so hard that she could hardly stand on her own. I noticed first that her dress had been moved, and one of her pink nipples pressed into my suit jacket. I reached down and gently pulled the dress back over her before noting the way that she didn’t wear shoes.
As I processed all the details, a calm sense of rage came over me. I grounded myself and lifted her so that she stood fully before me.
There wasn’t blood, I noticed immediately, though her face appeared reddened. I couldn’t tell if it was from the way her cheeks flushed red or if she had been hit, and I clenched my jaw.
Serg was at my side in a second, ready for me to command.
I moved her into his arms as I wordlessly glanced toward the bathroom, a scowl growing on my face. I would kill whoever tried to do this to her, and I’d do it slowly and painfully. “Don’t let a single person touch her,” I told Serg, and he nodded swiftly, holding Aria to his chest protectively.
I knew that Serg would follow that order with his life. And if anyone tried to touch her, he’d kill them for spite.
When I took a step toward the bathroom, a figure charged out of the hallway and stormed toward the front doors. Crew. My chest constricted before I took off after him. I should have known better than to cut the fingers off of one of my lieutenants and leave him alive. That sort of thing caused spite and bitterness, which was the last thing I needed to harbor in my company.
I sprinted through the glass doors and into the street, narrowing my eyes. He didn’t bother swerving or turning out of the street, so I took two steps out, raised my gun, and fired.
My mind flashed to the petrified face of Aria as she ran into my arms. I took another shot, making sure not to aim for a fatal part of his body. This time, he went down, cursing and trying to pull himself upright again. He ran slowly enough that I knew Aria had done something to weaken him, and that thought alone had fury oozing from me.
She shouldn’t have had to fight this man.
I would make sure she would never have to fight anyone ever again.
I sprinted toward him before finally reaching him. I grabbed him by the arm and, using the strength that the adrenaline gave me, I dragged him back toward the event, ignoring the thrashing and the leaking blood from one of his legs. When I glanced down at him, I found one of his eyes swollen shut, a small trickle of blood oozing from it.
Had Aria done that?
Good.
I pulled him through the door and slammed him on the ground, kicking him in the ribs as I looked around the silent room, pointing at him. “Who the fuck knows what he did?” I asked.
My eyes moved around the crowd, and I found Aria standing beneath Serg’s arm, still shaking as she watched my lieutenant and me. Nobody spoke. Nobody dared to say a word as he tried to rise again, and I slammed the butt of my gun into the side of his face, knocking him back to the ground.
The tension in the room was thick enough that I wondered if the people around me had the ability to move.
I looked down at him. “You did this alone?” I asked.
He blubbered, acting no better than a frightened child. “I-I didn’t think you would care much,” he said.
I didn’t even have the urge to argue with him. All I wanted was to see him bleed. I wanted to see him die for what he’d done to her. I glanced back at Aria, then down at where she stood barefooted.
I clenched my jaw. “Someone bring me a fucking knife,” I shouted into the crowd. Nobody moved. “Now!”
He tried standing again, and I kicked him in the face this time, hard enough that I knew at least one tooth had been dislodged. I had a knife in my hand in less than a minute-a long blade that looked like a hunting knife. I wondered which of these people had brought something like this with them, but I didn’t ask as I swung it down hard, removing his hand.
He screamed, and I grinned wildly as blood spurted from him.
I looked at the gathered crowd. “I thought the message had been spread already, but clearly, it hasn’t. Nobody will touch my wife,” I snarled through the room. “Nobody will think about touching her. If you do, your fate will be worse than this.”
I threw the knife down hard, and he opened his mouth in a silent scream as it lodged in his thigh.
“Get to your fucking knees,” I shouted to the entire crowd. “Unless you have a problem with what I said.”
Everyone in the room dropped like flies-everyone, excluding Aria, Serg, and me. Some of my higher-level lieutenants smirked up as I demanded everyone drop to their knees. I didn’t care. I cared about nothing as I raised my gun and shot him in both legs, then both arms. I tucked away my gun and strode toward Aria, and she didn’t even flinch as I pulled her from Serg’s arms and began walking toward the door.
This piece of scum didn’t deserve an ounce of my attention.
“Let him bleed out, and when he’s dead, have a cleanup crew come and dispose of him,” I said over a shoulder, leaving everyone on their knees behind me.
I had never been so angry-so wrathful and disgusted by the actions of one of my people. I would have killed every last person in that room if it meant keeping Aria safe. I forced myself to slow as I realized she stumbled to keep up behind me. But as she continued on, I decided that slowing wasn’t the solution. Hell, she didn’t even wear shoes as she stumbled along beside me. I swept her into my arms.
She wrapped both arms around my neck, holding me close as I brought us to the car and stopped right outside of it, looking her over frantically. “Where are you hurt?” I asked. “Where did he touch you?”
I knew I was too frantic to see reason right now, and I had a feeling that if she pointed to a single place, I would turn back around and go make him suffer more than he already had. I’d stick a finger through his torn flesh and claw him from the inside out. I’d bring in a doctor just to keep him alive as I skinned him alive.
“I’m fine,” she said, shaking her head and leaning into the car.
“I swear to God, Aria, I’m not fucking around. Tell me where you’re hurt.”
She grabbed her jaw lightly, and I moved her wrist from it, examining where it looked to be bruising.
“I’m going to-”
“No,” she cut me off, grabbing my arm as I turned. “Stay here.”
“I have to make him suffer. Did he-did he touch you?”
We both knew the question I was asking, and when she shook her head, the first touch of relief filled me. Still, I went to pull away. I couldn’t make her feel better, but I could make him suffer. I could make him beg for mercy.
“Please stay,” she told me, gripping my arm harder and pulling me into her. She rested her head on my chest and took a shaky deep breath.
Instinctively, I wrapped both arms around her waist. “I need you.” I need you.
I would never have imagined that she’d need me-not when she felt vulnerable and hurt. I thought she’d rather be alone to cope with what happened, but she melted into my arms without an ounce of hesitation, and I felt her muscles loosen as I held her.
Something about holding her trembling body to mine felt right, and I had no idea what to do with that.