"Good girl."
Strippers, as it turned out, were pretty familiar with lots of gross shit.
But not blood, it seemed.
After the first came into the restroom and ran out screaming, I decided it was time to face the music and let Yavin know. He'd probably be smart to make a run for Tahiti before Enzo found out.
A girl stood outside in the hall, heading straight for the bathroom. "I don't suggest going in there. My dog lost her marbles and kind of ate somebody. Messy business." I shook my head when she gaped after me, and headed for Yavin's office. He was already coming out, alerted by the eardrum-piercing scream.
He glanced at the blood on my clothes and the gun in my hand, muttering "fuck" beneath his breath. "What the shit did you do now?"
"You're gonna want to call the clean-up crew to aisle six. Somebody spilled marinara."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" he demanded.
"There's a body in the bathroom," I whispered. I'd seen a lot of shit in my life. Blood didn't bother me. But I'd never seen blood quite to the level of someone having their throat ripped out.
Or a body.
There was that.
"Fuck!" he yelled, grabbing my arm and dragging me into his office. "I can't even let you go to the bathroom. Fuck. Enzo is going to castrate me."
"Probably," I admitted. “I’ll give my condolences to Aoife.”
"You okay?" he asked, looking me over for injuries. When he found none, because there were none, he reached down and took the gun from my hand. "Sadie?"
"I'm good," I said. "I've never..."
"It's okay. It was self-defense," he said, reassuring me.
"Wasn't me," I grunted. "Rebel ate him."
His head jerked back in shock, his gaze trailing over to look at the dog where she sat cleaning her blood-soaked paws like the little monster she was. "Where exactly did you find this dog?" he asked, glancing over my shoulder. I turned slowly, Enzo's face filling my vision suddenly as he stepped through the doorway and approached us.
With his nostrils flaring and his jaw clenched, the slow measured steps his feet took as he closed the distance between us should have made me nervous. The unrivaled fury in his face should have been terrifying as his hazel eyes blazed with a vengeance that vibrated through me. He grabbed my face in his hands, coasting them over my body as he inspected me for injury. They came away stained with red, but he was unconcerned with the blood sliding between his fingers.
"Where are you hurt, Baby Girl?" he asked finally, spinning me in place to stare at my back where the worst of the blood must have been, from me elbowing the attacker in the face repeatedly. The sudden realization of the thick, viscous liquid coating my skin and soaking my shirt made me shudder in disgust.
"Not mine," I whispered. Enzo's eyes went to the gun held in Yavin's hand, his face twisting. He rolled his neck as if he needed the action to release some of the tension consuming his body.
"Where was your gun?” he asked, and I swung a sheepish hand toward the tote sitting on the floor by Yavin’s desk. “What the fuck happened?" he barked at Yavin.
"Apparently, you two got yourself a bloodthirsty killer for a pet." Yavin said, picking up his phone and dialing somebody on his speed dial. "Yo, we got a mess we need clean up on. I've got a feeling you'll want to come with them."
"Ryker?" Enzo asked, taking my hand when Yavin nodded. "Show me what happened, Carina. I need to know who to fucking kill for letting someone dangerous back here." Yavin heaved out a sigh of relief, dropping in his chair. "Don't even begin to think you're absolved of this. You should have kept a closer eye on her. You better hope Liam does a better job protecting Aoife or she'll never make it to your wedding day," Enzo warned, taking my hand and guiding me back for the bathroom. Leaving Yavin to his silent rage, I let Enzo drag me toward the spill on aisle six.
I didn't want to go. Didn't want to see what Rebel and I had done, but she led Enzo right to the bathroom. I shoved down the feelings the way I always did, stepping into the bathroom and letting my eyes fall on my attacker. I didn't know why I had such a visceral reaction to his death when I'd seen blood before.
Enzo whistled as he looked at the body, patting Rebel's head. "Good girl," he said, echoing my earlier sentiments.
"He was already down when she ate him," I said. "I had the gun."
"Is that why you're so quiet? Because you feel like he didn't need to die?" I nodded, suspecting the senselessness of it was why. I taught my girls to defend themselves. What Rebel had done went past that line and straight into the line between right and wrong that was so precarious. "Just because he was down doesn't mean he wasn't a threat. Even if he'd lived, do you really think what Rebel did is worse than what Ryker would have done to him? Rebel did the man a favor, Carina."
"You're right," I agreed, some sense coming back as I shivered. "It was a shock, that's all. I'll be fine."
"You did good. I know it's different to teaching others to defend themselves rather than doing it. Walk me through what happened."
I nodded. "He was waiting when I came out of the stall. He wrapped his arm around my throat and put the gun to the back of my head. He didn't hurt me, just asked me to get Rebel to be quiet. I disarmed him before he could ask me to do anything else, but I didn't get the sense he was there to kill me. He'd have just shot me from the get go."
Enzo nodded, nudging
