“Brother.” Domino grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back slightly. “Look at him, I think nature is doing that for you.”
I looked at Caleb’s face for a second, uncomprehending, and then it hit me in a rush. The grunts hadn’t been those of pleasure, they had been of pain.
The asshole was having a heart attack right on top of her, pinning her under his disgusting weight.
Grabbing him by the throat, I heaved him upwards. “I hope you die in agony, asshole. I hope you’re fucking afraid.” I held him there and watched as his eyes widened and then went dim.
And just like that, he was gone. I almost felt cheated. I wanted to be the one to end his life, and I wanted to watch the fear seep into his eyes.
“Pocket!” Duke hissed. “Chloe needs to get out of here. She needs a hospital now.”
I turned to him. He had her in his arms. Someone had covered her body in a small blanket which covered her but it didn’t hide the fact that there was blood on her thighs.
A coldness replaced the boiling anger. The man who had hurt her was dead and that meant he could never touch her again, but just how much damage had he done to her before I had got there?
He might be dead, but I had a horrible feeling that Chloe would be living with his memory for a long time to come.
Especially if…my eyes found the blood on her thighs again and my stomach dropped at what it might mean.
“Give her to me.” Easily, I slid my hands under her body and took her from Duke. His face was sad.
“There’s a car waiting outside,” he said quietly. “This place is nice. I reckon I could get a good price for it,” he mumbled to himself.
“Not the time, brother.” Domino elbowed him. “Get her out of here, Pocket. We will clear up here.” He eyed the body of Caleb and sneered.
“Pocket?”
Walking out the room, I glanced down at her. “Hey, angel.”
“You came for me?” Chloe’s voice was weak.
“Of course I did, angel. It was my time to save you.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Hey,” I whispered, reaching down to run my fingers through Pocket’s ruffled hair. He lifted his head sleepily from where he had fallen asleep with his head on the bed next to me.
“Hey, love.” Yawning, he stretched, and for a second he looked around puzzled, like he couldn’t work out where he was. “Sorry I fell asleep.” Guilt rippled across his face. “Are you ok?” All sleep left him in a rush. “Has something happened? Are you in pain?”
Closing my hand around his wrist, I stopped him from rushing out of the room to get a nurse. Something he had done a lot in the first two days I had been in the hospital. He had calmed down a bit, but the panic was always there in his eyes. Almost like he was afraid that one day I would tell him I was in agony. Sure, I was in pain, but really, it was nothing. He had been worse when he had come off his bike all those months ago and he had been up and walking around the very next day, even with his broken ribs.
I hadn’t been allowed out of bed yet. But today was the day I would be discharged, or so they’d said.
I couldn’t wait.
But at the same time, a part of me didn’t want to leave. Being in the hospital meant Pocket was by my side. I didn’t know what was going to happen next.
“You should go home and sleep. I’ve said before—”
He pressed his fingers to my lips, silencing me. “No. I told you before.” He gave me a pointed look. “I’m not leaving your side. Not until I know you are ok. Both of you.”
“Ok, but you’re starting to smell,” I said sweetly, and he grinned at me. “You really could do with a shower.”
He cracked a smile. The first one I had seen in days. Pocket seemed to be in a permanent state of anxiety.
“I’ll shower when we get home.” He froze, like he hadn’t meant to say that. Pocket’s dark eyes searched my face and finally he let out a sigh, and with that sigh, the tension seemed to seep from his shoulders. Leaning back, he forced a smile.
“I guess we need to talk about things, hey?”