“Stop!” I shout, racing after them. “Put him down before you make him lose too much blood, or put him into shock!”
The men pause and look at Kayden, who I feel at my back.
I whirl around. “Put him down if you want him to live.”
Kayden doesn’t hesitate. “Do it!” he orders.
They lower the man, who I assume is Enzo, to the floor and I drop to my knees next to him, applying pressure to the wound in his chest, but he’s bleeding from his arm, too. He’s not moving and pale.
Kayden kneels across from me and applies pressure to his arm, checking his pulse as he does. “It’s weak.”
“He’s losing too much blood,” I say, eyeing one of the men. “I need you to hold where I’m holding.”
The man swiftly joins me on the ground, replacing my hands with his, but before I fully release my hold, I warn, “Don’t let go or he’ll die.”
Then I climb over Enzo to get to Kayden, unhook his belt, and pull it from the loops. “I need your shirt to wrap the wound. I’ll keep pressure on his arm while you take it off.”
My hand replaces his and he yanks his shirt over his head. “You wrap his arm,” he says, “and I’ll belt it.”
“Good. Belt it really tight.”
He gives me a nod, and in a blur of movement, we have the tourniquet on. Enzo moans, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s a good sign.
“I’m here!” Nathan shouts, entering with Matteo, both men carrying bags, and just the sight of him is relief. Then he’s taking my spot. “I need to start an IV; he needs blood. Get me blood now!”
I don’t even want to know where they’re going to get that. No longer needed, I turn and start walking, so cold I’m brittle, and I barely remember reaching the main level of our tower, or when I turn toward the spare bedroom. Inside, I continue to the bathroom and turn on the shower. I then step inside fully dressed and sit down, staring at the blood pouring off of me and down the drain. My shaky hand unzips my purse and closes around my gun. It’s my friend. I’m not sure who else is.
The shower door opens and Kayden steps inside, kneeling in front of me, blood washing off his pants and body as they are mine. So much blood.
“Ella.” His hands settle on my shoulders and I want them there, and I don’t want them there. I don’t look at him and he cups my face, forcing my gaze to his. “Sweetheart. What are you doing?”
I swallow the knot in my throat, water running over my face and his. “I can handle a lot of things, Kayden. Maybe even a bloody man dying in your foyer. But I can’t handle lies.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I saw the photo of my necklace in your office.”
His hands fall away, his withdrawal proving the betrayal I’d prayed wasn’t true. What else did he know that he hasn’t told me?
The certainty that too much with this man hasn’t been what it seems hurts, cutting like a jagged-edged knife through my heart. I want answers. I want the lies to end.
I pull my gun from my purse and point it at him. “Who are you to me, Kayden? Who am I?”
To be continued in the next book in the Careless Whispers series, Demand!
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about the author
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LISA RENEE JONES is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than forty books across many romance genres—contemporary, romantic suspense, dark paranormal, and erotic fiction. Her books have been translated all around the world, and her highly acclaimed Inside Out series is now in development for cable television. She loves to hear from readers.
www.LisaReneeJones.com
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Also by Lisa Renee Jones
The Inside Out Series
If I Were You
Being Me
Revealing Us
His Secrets*
Rebecca’s Lost Journals
The Master Undone*
My Hunger*
No In Between
My Control*
I Belong to You
All of Me*
The Secret Life of Amy Bensen Series
Escaping Reality
Infinite Possibilities
Forsaken
Unbroken*
*Ebook only
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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