Grievous (Scarlet Scars #2)(83)

“That’s enough,” Lorenzo says, his voice firm.

Declan casts him a look that asks ‘why?’ but he says nothing, stalling what he’s doing.

“Get him out of here,” Lorenzo says. “Put him in my trunk. And if you let him die, I swear to fuck...”

“Got it, boss,” Frank says. “We’ll keep him alive.”

The guys snatch ahold of Kassian, pulling him to his feet. He sways, knees damn near buckling, not making it easy for them as they haul him away. The second he’s out of my line of sight, panic rushes through me. I shove out of Lorenzo’s grasp, darting after them.

“Kassian, please!” I yell, stopping in the middle of the foyer as they reach the front door. I’m not above begging at this point. “Please, tell me what you did with our daughter!”

Kassian stalls, resisting, fighting the guys as he turns to look at me. “You want to know where kitten is?”

“Yes!”

“I would take you to her, if I could,” he says. “I would love nothing more. It would be my pleasure, truly, to choke the life out of you again, just like I did her.”

“No,” I whisper, dizzy, as I shake my head. “No, no, no... you didn’t.”

“I did.”

“Don’t do this, Kassian. Don’t... please!”

“Too late,” he says. “So go to hell, suka... if you are lucky, maybe you will find her there.”

My knees give out on me. The world spins as I drop. Lorenzo is there, grabbing me before I hit the floor, arms winding tightly around me, but he’s not strong enough to keep me from falling apart.

I choke on a sob, crying, inhuman noise echoing from my chest as I struggle to catch my breath. My heart, I can feel it shattering. It hurts. Oh god, it burns. My lungs won’t work anymore. They’re nothing but ash, charred by flames. No, no, no...

“I’ve got you,” Lorenzo says, his voice quiet as he holds me. “It’s okay... I got you.”

The strength fades from my body as those words reach inside of me, gripping tight. Days of torture, weeks of sorrow, months of heartache catch up to me all at once. I collapse into myself, unable to find the words to tell him he’s wrong. It’s not okay. It’ll never be okay. They just hauled my best chance to find my daughter out of that door, and my fear of never seeing her again is feeling more and more real.

On my knees, curled over, I hold onto myself, trying to keep from breaking but it’s hard. So hard.

I don’t believe it. I refuse to believe it. She’s not gone. I’d know it if she was. A mother always knows. I’d feel it in my heart. A piece of me exists inside of that little girl, and it has to still be out there. It can’t just be gone.

Who knows how long I lay here, just like that, how long Lorenzo kneels beside me, letting me cry. It feels like forever. Lifetimes pass. He takes off his coat, draping it over me, covering me up as he rubs my back.

He says anything for a long moment, consoling me in silence.

His hand stops moving eventually. I feel him tense, pulling away, putting enough distance between us that I lose his warmth, coldness creeping through me, ice in my veins.

“Morgan,” he says, his voice quiet as he whispers my name. My name. “Open your eyes, baby.”

I raise my head up when he says that, but I don’t get far enough to look at him. I freeze when my gaze reaches the front door, still hanging wide open. Markel stands there, barely visible within the shadows of the front porch, but that’s not what gets me. No. It’s the small body just inside the entryway, a few feet in front of him, not far from where I sit. Bare feet, white nightgown, wild brown hair—longer than I remember, but everything else is so much the same. She stares at me, her dark eyes wide like she’s seeing a ghost, like I’m a figment of her imagination. Sasha. She’s not moving, not making a sound, but I can see her chest rising and falling fast, like she can’t breathe very well.

“Sunshine?” I whisper, finding my voice.

Her bottom lip trembles, tears filling her eyes. “Mommy?”

I nod, opening my arms, choking on a sob at the sound of her sweet voice calling me that again. Mommy.

I don’t have to say another word.

She runs right for me, loudly crying, flinging herself at me so hard she nearly knocks me back onto the floor. I wrap my arms around her, clinging to her, feeling her warmth. My heart. My innocence. The light of my life. I squeeze my eyes shut, and for a brief second I wonder if I’m dreaming. I wonder if I’ll open my eyes and all of this will be gone. It’s cruel, the thought that maybe it’s just all in my head, but her voice washes over me again, and I push those thoughts away.

If this is a dream, whatever... I’m okay with never waking up again.

“You found me, Mommy,” she says, her voice shaking. “You found me!”

I open my eyes again, pulling back just enough to look at her. She smiles as I wipe the tears from her flushed cheeks. I glance past her, around the foyer, being greeted by nothing more than silence.

The front door is closed now. Lorenzo is gone.

There’s nobody here, nobody but us.

“I did,” I whisper, smoothing her hair as I return her smile, looking back at her. “I promised, didn’t I?”





Chapter Twenty-One