Page 75 of Cruel Betrayal

I’m not the kind of girl who sits around, waiting for a man to call her. Instead, I should be hauling on my boots and going to hunt him down, but it would only make him upset.

Ezra would lose his mind if he knew I went out after what’s already happened with Noah.

Screw it. Ezra would go looking for me.

With my mind made up, I get up and go to the front closet, pulling out the gun Haven snuck over yesterday.

After checking the magazine, I tuck it into the back of my waistband and put on some sneakers.

Just as I’m reaching for the lock on the door, it twists and eases open, Ezra stepping inside.

Dried blood runs down his face in rivers, his shirt soaked, and his nose a little crooked.

I take a horrified step back before hauling him into a tight hug.

He hisses at the contact, not hugging me back.

It’s as I step back that I see the unnatural angle of his arm.

“What happened?” I ditch the gun and lock the door behind him.

Ezra leans on me as I help him over to the couch.

I nearly buckle under his weight as he sinks down onto the cushions.

He hisses as he leans back, stretching his legs out.

“You’re covered in blood.” I rush to the kitchen and wet a cloth, coming back to wipe some of the blood from his face. “What happened? You were just going to a fight, but you look like you’re barely alive.”

He squeezes his eyes shut. “Got jumped by some of Noah’s guys after the fight.”

I gingerly touch his arm. “This is broken. I’m going to call Ellie, and she can come over and set it.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“You need your nose set too.” I reach for my phone, sending Ellie a message. “She’s going to come over and get you fixed up, but until she gets here, we have to get you clean.”

Ezra scowls at me, his eye swelling. “I don’t need her help.”

“Well, you need someone’s help. I don’t know how much more of this you’ll be able to take before Noah finally has you killed.”

“He won’t. He needs me too much to kill me.” Ezra chuckles, but it turns into a horrible, hacking cough. “Think I might have a broken rib, too. Shit hurts like a bitch.”

I sigh and set the cloth to the side, getting some scissors from the kitchen and cutting his shirt away from his body.

My fingers trail over his ribs, gentle across the deep purple bruises and across the dried blood.

“They’re not broken, but they’re definitely bruised. And your arm is broken. How the hell are you going to fight like this?”

“Not broken. Just dislocated. He didn’t want them to break anything. I still have to be profitable.”

He winces and moves to the side.

I don’t know what’s hurting him, but I think it’d take longer for him to explain than it would to just assume everything is in pain.

I glower at the snarky little smile on his face. “You’re getting too much enjoyment out of this for someone who looks like ground beef.”

“New kink unlocked for you, I guess.”