Page 128 of Control Freak

CHAPTER 31

Shiloh

Everything happened so fast.

Dalton charged in, hand on holster, and Curtis and Brick backed off, but the damage was done. Holden had stepped between us,protecting me,even when it was going to cost him so much.

Brick and Curtis had put their hands all over my man. Hadhurthim. And I’d stood there screaming like an idiot, unable to intervene without causing even more harm.

In that moment, I could almost relate to Holden’s touch aversion because I’d wanted those hands off him so badly my own skin crawled.

“You have the right to be silent,” Dalton snarled as he snapped cuffs on Brick’s wrists.

He made the Miranda rights sound like a threat, instead of a reassurance, eyes filled with anger and worry that must surely mirror my own.

“Can I go?” I asked, urgency making my voice high and tight. “I have to make sure Holden’s okay.”

He’d rushed for the bathroom, and I had no idea what shape he was in. But judging by how badly he’d reacted tomytouch when he was trying to invite it, I could only imagine what violence would do to him.

“Go,” Dalton said. “I’ll call Axel and get him over here.”

“What should I do?” I asked, heart racing with fear. “All this time, and I never asked how to help him through an attack. So stupid!”

Brick strained against Dalton’s hold, baring his teeth at me. “Coulda told you that, you fuckin’ bitch-ass slut!”

Dalton jerked him back by the wrists. “Don’t push it,” he growled. “This can go easy, or it can go hard.”

Brick subsided into a silent glower. Curtis looked unruffled as always. That was more disturbing. He smirked, eyes fixed on me, looking as if he knew this was just a blip in his plan.

“Your new man is skittish, isn’t he? You know what to do if you want to protect him. You don’t ever have to see us again.”

I hesitated. “I don’t have the money. If I did, I’d have given it to you a long time ago. Jimmie is a liar and a thief.”

He nodded slowly. “Probably.”

“Then leave me alone!”

“Shiloh,” Dalton broke in. “Go to Holden. Just be there for him. That’s all you can really do, okay?”

Brick snarled another insult, but I was done. I had more important concerns.

I raced toward the bathroom, banging into a table and bruising my hip, staggering to the left with a curse, and continuing to the door.

I stopped just outside it. “Holden? Can I come in?”

There was no response. My stomach churned. What if he wanted to be alone? What if I made it worse?

Just be there for him,Dalton had said.

I had to know he was okay. That he didn’t need medical attention.

Cautiously, I turned the knob and eased the door open. Holden slumped against the wall next to the toilet. He was pale and trembling, hair damp with sweat.

When I stepped inside, his whole body startled, and he jerked, eyes rolling toward me, chest heaving with rapid breaths.

Too rapid. He needed to calm down before he hyperventilated.

“It’s just me,” I said quickly, easing the door closed behind me. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”