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Her entire left hip is purple, from her waist to her upper thigh.
“I have to be careful of this,” she says softly. “We don’t want a clot to dislodge out of it.”
I growl again, and she covers herself up.
“Other than that, I have the black eye and a sore jaw. But I’m glad you told me to arm myself because pulling that gun from behind my back and pointing it at his head is what did the trick.”
“Baby.” With hands that have never been so gentle in my life, I pull her to me, wrap my arms around her, and slowly rock her back and forth.
“It’s Stacy that you need to see,” she says against my chest. “There isn’t much on her that isn’t broken, bloody, or hurt. I don’t know who that guy was to her, but Jesus, Carson.”
“Come show me, Sunshine.”
She nods but doesn’t pull away for a minute.
“Did you find him?”
I sigh and bury my lips in her hair, finally calming down just a bit. “No. It was a game for him. I won’t leave you again for a while.”
“I’m glad you’re home.” She pulls back and hobbles to the door and holds her hand out for mine.
When she laces her fingers with my own, she leads me back to the room I found her in, and I walk in behind her.
Fucking hell.
If I didn’t hear the machines breathing for the woman, I would assume she’s dead.
“Broken orbital bones on both sides,” Dr. Asgood begins, as if she’s giving a report. “Broken jaw, dislocated shoulder, fractured wrist. Two ribs are broken, and she’s had significant internal bleeding. Her back is black and blue as if she was curled in on herself trying to protect her stomach, and he kicked the hell out of her backside.”
Jesus Christ.
“I’m monitoring her for cardiac arrest, and if she survives the next twenty-four hours, she might just make it through this alive.”
“Who the fuck was he?” I ask.
“Dealer,” Bacon says behind me, and I turn to look at him. “Turns out she’s been using again. She tried to steal some of his shit because she didn’t have any money. That’s what I got out of him while we transported him to the cell.”
I turn back to my wife and kiss her forehead.
With the rage still pulsing through me, I use it as fuel for what I’m about to do to that man.
“I love you,” I whisper to her. “Don’t wait up.”
“Carson—”
I look her dead in the eyes, and she stops talking. She presses her lips together, and I can see that the movement stings.
One more thing he’s going to pay for.
“I love you too,” she finally whispers.
I turn and catch Bacon by the throat on my way past, dragging him into the hall and up against the wall, and shove my face in his.
“If she so much as gets her motherfucking feelings hurt from this moment on, I’ll pull your fucking heart out of your asshole. You understand me?”
“Yes, boss.”
I turn to Ricky, but because I’m occupied with Bacon, I pull my gun with my free hand and point it at Ricky’s head.
