Chapter 431
Chapter 431:
Skye had won that battle, but the war required her to lose this next skirmish.
She pushed open the heavy door and slid out, her left ankle buckling under her weight. A sharp, hot spike of pain shot up her leg, a brutal reminder of the injury she had sustained days ago and aggravated during the fight at the cannery. She bit her lip to stifle a cry, leaning against the wet brick wall for support.
She had to go back.
But she couldn’t return as the warrior who had just incapacitated a hitman.
She had to return as the victim.
Skye spotted a broken beer bottle near a dumpster. She picked it up, the glass cold against her palm. With a grimace, she dragged the jagged edge across her forearm, creating a fresh, bleeding wound to sell the story.
She smeared soot on her face, tore the hem of her dress, and began to limp toward the hotel.
She burst through the heavy metal doors of the kitchen, startling a line cook who dropped a tray of silverware. The crash was deafening.
“Help me!” Skye screamed, her voice cracking perfectly. “Please! They have guns p>
The kitchen staff froze, eyes wide at the sight of the disheveled, bleeding woman in an expensive dress. Skye didn’t stop. She pushed past a sous-chef, knocking over a cart of vegetables, creating chaos in her wake.
She needed noise.
She needed a spectacle.
She ran into the lobby.
It was a fortress of tension. Security guards shouted into radios. Guests were being ushered away. And in the center of it all, Lucian Graves stood like a statue of pure wrath, a gun openly held at his side, his face a mask of terrifying calm that promised violence.
Marcus stood beside him, looking pale.
“Lock it down,” Lucian was saying, his voice low but carrying across the marble floor. “No one leaves. If she is not found in five minutes, burn the block p>
Skye threw herself across the lobby. She collided with a security guard who tried to intercept her, spun off him, and stumbled toward the man who had claimed ownership of her life.
Lucian turned.
For a split second, genuine shock cracked his composure. He had not expected her to come back. He had expected a ransom call—or a body.
𝖮𝖿𝖿𝗂c𝗂𝘢𝗅 s𝘰𝘂rc𝗲 𝘰𝗳 t𝗵іs ո𝗈𝘷𝖾l 𝗈n 𝖻𝗲𝘭𝘯оv𝗲𝗹ѕ.𝗰om
Skye didn’t give him time to think. She crashed into his chest, grabbing the lapels of his jacket with bloody hands and burying her face in his shirt. She sobbed, a raw, guttural sound that vibrated against his ribcage.
“They tried to take me,” she babbled, her words tumbling over each other. “A van… a man in a mask… he said… he said I was leverage p>
Lucian’s arms came around her instantly. It wasn’t a hug; it was a cage closing.
He dropped his gun to the floor with a heavy clatter—a sound that made Marcus jump—and gripped her shoulders, pulling her back just enough to look at her.
His eyes scanned her frantically. He saw the torn dress, the soot on her face, and then his gaze locked onto the fresh, bleeding cut on her arm.
His pupils dilated. His irises seemed swallowed by black.
“Who touched you?” Lucian whispered. The sound was more terrifying than his shouting. “Skye. Look at me. Who did this p>
Skye trembled violently, letting her knees buckle. She knew he would catch her. He always caught his possessions before they broke.
“I don’t know,” she cried, squeezing her eyes shut. “I… I woke up in a van. I hit him with a bottle… I just ran. I didn’t know where to go. I just wanted you p>
I just wanted you.