The Tyrant (Banker #3)(44)

I didn’t feel okay. I felt pain everywhere. “What the fuck happened, Bates? Why the hell did Siena take my place like that? You better not have been a part of that.”

He lowered his gaze and didn’t make eye contact with me.

“If I weren’t so weak, I would kill you right now.”

“I tried to talk her out of it, I swear. But she was going to do it with or without my help, so I decided to help her.”

I shook my head and felt the pain throbbing in my body. “You helped my woman get raped to save my life?”

“She was never raped, Cato. She got out of there before anything happened. That was the plan all along.”

That took away all the pain inside my chest. I feared my woman had been pinned down by another man, that he’d taken advantage of her when he had no right. I would rather die than let that happen. I would have taken that hammer to the ribs a million times rather than accept that fate. “How did she escape?”

“She killed Damien.”

My head turned his way, shocked by what I heard. “With her bare hands?”

“No. She had a knife hidden in her hair. He took off all his clothes as he prepared to…you know. He sat on the bed with his hard dick hanging out, and that’s when Siena cut it off. She smothered him with a pillow as he bled to death.”

I smiled through the pain, so proud of what he’d said. “That’s my baby…”

“Then she snuck out of the hatch and back to the surface. She had to kill a few men on the way, but she made it outside without a scratch. I picked her up and headed back to the house.”

Siena saved my life and kicked ass in the process. She got revenge for what Damien did to her, did to me, and did to her father. She saved both of us without having to give herself up. I never would have wanted her to risk herself in the first place…but at least everything turned out well. “No one else would have done that for me. Any other woman would just go through my stuff and take everything they could find while I was being tortured to death. You were wrong about her, Bates. So fucking wrong.”

“Yeah…I realize that.”

Now I missed her even more. And I felt guilty for subjecting her to that ridiculous torment. I never should have put her on her knees and scared her like that. It was stupid, and I wished I could take it back. “I want to see her.”

“I think it’s best she stays where she is. When you’re better, we’ll stop by the apartment, and you can see both of them.”

“Then give me your phone.” I extended my hand.

He called Siena before he handed it to me and stepped out of the room.

Siena answered right away, Martina crying in the background. “What do you know?”

I treasured the terror in her voice, the way she audibly cared for me. “It’s me.”

She turned silent, Martina still continuing to cry. Then Siena started to cry too, her quiet tears making it over the line. Her emotion flowed through the phone, heavy and heartbreaking. Every time she tried to silence herself, she just cried harder.

I let her get it out, let her bare her soul to me. “It’s okay, baby. I’m okay.” Listening to her cry elicited my own tears…but I didn’t let them carry over the phone. I let the moisture build up in my eyes, making my vision slightly blurry.

“Thank god…” She sniffed.

Martina stopped crying.

“I was so worried. I couldn’t sleep…I couldn’t eat.”

“Well, when we get off the phone, you should do those things. You need to rest. You need to eat.”

“Okay…”

“Martina needs you to be strong for her.”

“I know…”

I listened to her quiet sniffles slowly fade away. “Bates said I’ll be here for a few days. After that, we’ll head home.”

“You’re going to be okay?”

“Just a few scratches and bruises.”

“Cato.”

I sighed into the phone. “I lost a lot of blood. Broke some ribs. Have fractures in my arms. I’m in bad shape, but it won’t kill me. It’ll be a while before I recover.”

She sighed in relief. “Good…I’m glad you’ll be okay. I’ve been so worried.”

“I know. The worst is over.”

“Yes…” She sighed into the phone, her pain still audible.

I wanted to tell her how I felt, to tell her that I loved her from the bottom of my heart. But I didn’t want to do it over the phone. That was why I wanted her to visit me, so I could have the opportunity to do this right. “Bates told me you killed Damien.”

“Yeah…I did.”

“You’re one hell of a woman.”

She stayed quiet.

“I’m not happy you did that…but I’m proud of you for pulling it off.”

“I don’t care if you’re mad at me, Cato. I would have done it a million times. I wasn’t going to let you stay down there. I knew if I didn’t get away, you would find a way to rescue me.”

While being Damien’s plaything in the meantime. “You cut off his dick?”

“Right at the base.”

“That’s my baby.”

“I’m glad he’s gone. It was such a relief to watch him die…to know he couldn’t bother us ever again. I needed revenge for what he did to you. Seeing you so weak…it broke my heart. It broke my heart more than losing my mother or my father. This was a whole new kind of pain…I can’t even describe it.”