Page 93 of Wickedly Played

She moans in response.

“Please take us to the nearest hotel,” I answer.

Serena and I are on the same page about going back to her house. To be back there, where my brother kidnapped her. Where my brother stalked her. Where my brother drugged her. Before he raped her.

I squeeze her tighter. “I’m so sorry, baby. Please forgive me,” I whisper in her hair. I gently kiss the top of her head. “I promise, I will make it all go away.”

She lifts my shirt off my chest, burrows her face against my bare chest, and breathes me in. Her eyelashes are clumpy fromher mascara getting wet, and they flick my cheek each time she blinks. “Max,” she whispers.

“Yes, baby?”

“I’m cold,” she cries.

“We will be at the hotel soon. Do you want to take a shower?” I’m hoping to have her wrapped in my arms for the rest of the night to make sure she’s still safe, but I don’t know if she will do it. I don’t know if she’s capable of being held long-term now that everything has caught up to her.

“I need the morning-after pill,” she murmurs.

Rage and anger boil deep inside of me as I hear her utter those words. Serena’s speech is so scattered, it doesn’t even sound like the normal, confident woman I have fallen for. This broken woman is because of my fucking brother. I wish I could bring him back to life, kill him again, but this time, kill him a hell of a lot slower.

“Not right now, Max,” Franky warns.

My fists squeeze together in pure anger. “I want to kill Lorcan,” I seethe.

“We will. Let’s get your girl to safety and figure out our next move. We have to be smart.”

With my hand cupping Serena’s head against my chest, I take a deep breath. “He was going to turn my woman into a breeder. Who does that to their daughter?”

Franky claps my shoulder. “I know, Max. We are going to figure out our attack and then move forward.”

Joey rubs Serena’s legs, and I shove him off her. I can’t have him touching her. The thought of someone else touching her right now is too fucking much. She makes a hissing sound into my chest as I hold her closer to me.

“It’s okay, baby,” I whisper to her.

“On it,” Joey replies.

We wait in the car until Franky checks us into the hotel. I carry her up the elevator, while pretending she’s drunk. I’m hoping others will buy it. Her arms are wrapped around my neck; her legs are draped over my arms.

Franky and Joey are behind us, checking the area out to make sure there isn’t a threat. Lorcan can still strike. I wouldn’t put it past the old fucking bastard.

“I have a doctor coming to check on Serena,” Joey quips.

Serena stiffens in my grasp.

“Not Glenna, right?” I demand.

“No. He’s a guy.”

My girl is lying on the couch with the blanket still wrapped around her, waiting for the doctor to check her out. I hope everything goes well.

Thirty minutes later, the doctor walks out of the suite’s bedroom with a grim look on his face. “Max Fitzpatrick?”

Standing, I crossed the room to greet him. “Yeah. How is Serena?”

He shifts his weight from his left foot to his right. “I’m Dr. Cook. I’ve treated Serena McGuire before. It has been a long time since I last saw her. I’m surprised to see her alive, to be honest. A lot of women don’t leave that family alive.”

“Oh fuck,” I murmur. My head drops.

Dr. Cook clears his throat. “Don’t worry. She likes me better than that dumb bitch, Glenna.” Cook is a little older than I, as he shuffles on his feet. “Serena’s injuries aren’t as severe as they were when I treated her.”