Page 104 of Lovely Venom

Still nothing.

Panic hits me like a goddamn semi barreling down the highway out of control. I’ve handled torn flesh. Bullet wounds. Knives lodged in ribs. I held Ewan’s leg together with my bare fucking hands when he took a bullet forKieran O’Rourke.

But this?

Raina is shaking and suffocating in front of my eyes. And I can’t stop it. I can’t fight it. I can’t shoot the threatkilling her.

Her body curls tighter, her entire frame rattling. Every breath is like a scream from her chest without sound.

“Fuck. Fuck. Okay,” I mutter, looking for my wallet. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”

Even if it means mowing down my enforcer team to get there. A thought smashes into my brain like a baseball bat.

Enforcer. Trace. I just saw him outside with Rhys. His wife Shea-Lynne has asthma.

I crash through the apartment and yank open the front door so hard, I dent the wall. Trace stands with Rhys near the curb in mid-conversation. Probably discussing the Albanians or how I’ve lost my fucking mind keeping Raina.

“Trace!” I roar into the courtyard, loud enough to shake the leaves off the fucking trees.

He sees my face and pulls his weapon without a word.

“No,” I snap, giving him the signal to lower his gun. “Raina. She can’t breathe. Her inhaler is empty.”

His eyes widen. “Raina has asthma?”

“Aye!” I nod, feeling frantic. “What the fuck do I do?”

“We take her to the hospital, that’s what we fucking do,” Rhys says, whistling to Blade to get his SUV over here.

“No!” Trace barks. “I keep an extra rescue inhaler for my wife in my car. I’ll get it.”

The last time I saw him run like that was to save Shea-Lynne in Ireland when a madman kidnapped her. Thirty seconds later, he’s back, hair wild, shoving a red inhaler into my hand.

“Where is she?” he asks, looking over my shoulder.

“No. She wouldn’t want anyone to see her like this. I’ve got it.” I turn and sprint toward my bedroom. “I got a new inhaler, baby.” I slam the bedroom door behind me and drop beside her on the floor where she’s thrashing around. “Take this. Please.”

Her red, watery eyes flick to my face, then down to my hand. They widen, seeing the inhaler. She grabs it from me and takes the hit.

But for a second, nothing happens.

What the fuck?? Is it not asthma? Is it something else?

I’m ready to scream for Rhys to get Blade here to take us to the hospital, but Raina’s chest jerks. Her shoulders shudder. She coughs one more time with force. Whatever held her lungs in a vise breaks when she wheezes. It’s harsh, but it’s the sound of fucking life.

Air.

Sweet, goddamn air.

And I almost collapse.

Pressing my forehead against hers, I whisper her name over and over. She’s still breathing fast, wheezy, but she’s taking one gulp at a time.

I pull Raina into my arms, too tightly maybe, but I can’t let go. Not yet. Not after this. Not after seeing her slip away in front of my eyes. My hands are shaking as my brain replays the scene in my head. Raina thrashing on the floor tore my world apart.

Her skin is damp with sweat. Her chest rises and falls like she ran a race with no finish line. It hits me. She ran away from me. That triggered this.

“Easy, Venom,” I murmur, cradling her head against my chest. “You’re okay now. You’re okay.”