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His head snaps to me, his eyes wide with a mixture of rage and disbelief.

“Don’t. Kill. Him.”

Breathing heavily, he growls and yanks the gun from my grip, shoving it back into his pants. He punches the side of Xavier’s head, knocking him out cold. Despite that he is now dead weight in Zade’s hand, he still holds him up like he’s as light as a feather.

He’s too busy getting in my face, baring his teeth. “You ever do that again, little mouse, I will bend you over my knee and use that barrel in your tight little ass. You understand me?”

I grimace and nod my head, realizing now how close he came to shooting me. Even if it were my fault, he would’ve never forgiven himself.

“Slap me, punch me, kick me in the goddamn balls. But do not point my gun at yourself.”

I nod my head again, reality starting to catch up to me now that I’m no longer under attack. Zade’s voice becomes a distant whisper, and I grapple with the tunnel vision, slowly narrowing my sight.

My system is crashing, and I struggle to hold on to my sanity.

Xavier tried to rape me. He came close to succeeding.

Spread those legs, diamond.

You’re so pink. I can’t wait to turn it red with blood.

Jay must say something to Zade because he quickly drops Xavier, his head hitting the tile with a fleshy smack, and slides his mask back over his face.

Security comes barreling into the room a moment later, distracting him before he can see just how panicked I am. Two men wearing three-piece suits are pointing their guns right at us.

“Drop your weapons!” one of them shouts. Zade raises his hands, and mine go up on instinct as well.

“No need to shout, gentlemen. I was simply saving my girl from getting assaulted by this man right here.”

The two guards glance down at an unconscious Xavier, but they don’t seem inclined to drop their weapons.

“Is that Xavier Delano?” one of them asks, trying to get a good look at him.

“No,” Zade lies. Xavier’s face is still covered, but if he’s been coming here often enough, he might be recognizable by his hair or stature. Sometimes something as simple as their hands can be easily identified if you know them well enough.

I know I could recognize those hands from a mile away…

The guards shuffle deeper into the room, attempting to get a better view of Xavier. My heart pounds so heavily that my chest aches, and my vision is blackening.

I’m spiraling, and the knowledge that it could get me shot isn’t enough to set me straight.

“P-please,” I whisper. “He was trying to hurt me.”

The guards look at each other and slowly lower their guns, appearing slightly concerned by my garbled words. It won’t matter in the end. Xavier is too important, and they’re not going to just let us go.

“Addie,” Zade whispers, and at first, I’m not sure what he’s trying to convey, but then he tips his chin up, as if telling me to keep it up.

Distract them. That’s what he wants.

Though by the tension lining his muscles and how he’s stepping in my direction, he’s ready to say fuck them and rush to me. He can see that I’m breaking, and he’s caught between comforting me and getting us out alive.

I dip my chin in acknowledgement. It’s not hard when I’m on the verge of losing it anyway. The tears in my eyes spill over, and my lip trembles. I let out a cry, grip my hair in my hands, and pull.

“H-he was tr-trying to r-rape me,” I sob.

“Whoa, whoa, hey, it’s okay. We’ll get this sorted out.”

I let out a shout and thrash my head, and the guards are so taken aback by my outburst that they drop their weapons altogether. Their wide eyes turn to each other and have a silent conversation, one asking, what the fuck do we do, bro? and the other responding, I don’t fucking know, she’s cracked.