12

12

STACEY

“Is she okay?” I hear Aria ask as someone carries me upstairs – dogs barking behind us. “Is that blood?”

“What the fuck happened?” Ewan. His voice is faded, as if he’s a few steps behind us.

Barry’s voice is next. “She was attacked. I’ve given her Narcan, but she needs fluids. She’s both in shock and drugged.”

“Oh dear,” Aria replies, hurrying after us.

Barry isn’t waiting around – my head flops as he takes two steps at a time.

“Second floor. My office – I have all the supplies in there.”

When I open my eyes, I can see the details of the wallpaper, the swirls of white and sage, the family portraits that line the main stairway that dominates the manor.

Relief fills me that it wasn’t all a dream, and Barry really is carrying me through the manor. That I did see Kade. He’s alive, but I can’t remember if he was okay. Was he? Did they hurt him when we left the airport?

I can smell him – the rich fragrance of his aftershave – but it’s mixed with the tang of copper, and I can faintly taste vomit at the back of my throat. I lift my hand to my face to shield against a blinding light as we get to the second floor.

My breath hitches, and I startle myself when I notice my bloody hands.

I can hear the gurgling from Phil as I slashed his throat from behind, and when the other tried to pin me to the wall with his elbow, my reflexes won, and I stabbed the blade Chris slipped me right into his artery.

When I lost control and ended up with the largest one on top of me, ripping my dress down the middle, I kept stabbing him until he went limp on me and fell from the bed. I think his blood hit my face too.

Did I actually do that? Did I imagine it all? Dream it?

Am I dead? Did I kill them?

My stomach recoils, and Barry turns me just in time for me to vomit all over the floor – yellow bile spilling from my mouth and burning my nostrils and eyes. My stomach twists in revulsion at the thought of having three people’s blood all over me.

I wipe my mouth with my sleeve and notice I’m wearing a suit jacket.

My mind works for a second – Kade covered me. Wait, my dress is ripped. Did they touch me?

Barry holds me closer again and walks us to Aria’s office. It’s dark, the sun just starting to rise over the Munros in the distance. She clicks on a lamp, and Ewan brings up towels, a bottle of water and a pile of Luciella’s clothes.

Barry sets me down on a soft couch, and I close my eyes again, needing sleep, needing to escape, needing to forget the past twenty-four hours.

Then my eyes ping open. “Where is he?”

Barry stops typing on his phone. “Who?”

“Chris… Did you catch him?”

His eyes narrow. “You need to tell me who Chris is.”

I try to sit up, but get dizzy and lie back down again as Aria tells me to relax.

Blinking, Barry frowns and folds his arms while Aria sinks a needle into my arm, connecting IV fluids to a stand and checking it over. “Was Chris the one with you last night? The one who said you were his girlfriend and told me to fuck off?”

I somehow nod, my lip trembling. “Yes. He’s not my boyfriend.” But before I can say anything, my stomach twists again, and I tip to vomit into a paper bowl Ewan holds up for me.

A hand towel wipes at my face and mouth, and I lift my gaze to see Aria giving me a warm smile. “You’re okay, sweetheart.” She looks at Barry. “I think we should let her rest, and then you can give her twenty questions.”

“Very well,” he replies. “But I need you to have the manor on high alert. Every member of security you have needs to be on guard. I can bring in my own team too.”

“I’ll arrange it all.” Ewan grabs his phone and leaves the room.

Aria glances at Barry after checking my temperature. “How did you know to bring her here?”

“Mr Mitch— Kade was the one who ordered— told me to bring her here.”

Aria doesn’t seem to catch his blunder. “You know him?”

“You could say that,” he replies. “We… worked together.”

Kade has said from the start that his family can’t know the truth about what he actually does for work – or who he works for. When I told Kade about my visit to Tobias, he wasn’t happy in the slightest.

Telling them would risk their lives. Would make Kade’s job harder.

Barry knows this – that’s why he’s lying.

“I do have a few more questions for you both because none of this is making any sense, but she needs rest. I’ll clean her up and get her into fresh clothes. Thank you for bringing her to us. I could take your number and call you if I need to know anything else.”

“With all due respect, ma’am, I need to stay by her side to make sure she’s okay. Kade will be home in a few days, and he can take over for me.”

Aria smiles and looks down at me. My eyes are practically closed, but I can see a little. They must think I’m asleep. “I always knew they’d find their way back to each other. I’m glad they talked things out.”

Barry hums.

I want to cry, because that isn’t the case at all. Nothing had changed between us – just him protecting me as usual.

“I do have some work to do, so I’ll make a few calls and shower while you see to her. She… she was attacked in a hotel. She fought back. I’m not sure they got the chance to do much else but rip her dress.”

“The police should be contacted.”

“Believe me, ma’am, that is the last thing she needs right now.”

My eyes close fully, and I want to sleep so badly. Everything hurts, and it feels like my skull is cracking – red images flash before my eyes, and I hear their screams again and again until I fall into a deep sleep.