Alle Kapitel von Sold For $1 To The Hawthorne Brothers : Kapitel 41 – Kapitel 43

The ride home from the hospital is quiet. Adrian doesn’t let go of my hand the entire way, his shoulder carrying the weight of my droopy head. When the car stops and he carries me inside like I weigh nothing, his arms are careful not to press against the bruises I can’t even see yet. “I asked Grace to run a bath for you,” he says. I realize, when he doesn’t take the stairs, that he’s not taking me to my bedroom. He pushes open a door, carrying me through space with muted wall colors, and then he pushes through another door. The faint smell of lavender and warm sandalwood fills the air as he carries me into the bathroom. Steam curls lazily from the surface of the massive marble tub in the middle. My body feels like it has been run over by a truck, and every muscle screams when he gently sets me down. “I’ll be outside,” he murmurs, walking away and closing the door softly behind him. I manage to get the thick pair of cotton sweatpants off, pausing several times

I flinch as a motorcycle pulls up beside me, engine revving. Shane swings off it, yanking his helmet free. “Hey.” He falls into step beside me without missing a beat. “I haven’t seen you all week. Two weeks, actually. I thought about messaging you, but after what happened at the club…” He trails off, rubbing the back of his neck. “Also, I realized I didn’t have your number.” I frown slightly. The club? Oh. With everything I’d been through this past week — almost getting kidnapped, having some combination of black market paralytic agents injected into me, fighting for my life, the nightmares, the flashbacks to my teenage years, the hospital checkup where I nearly fainted in the waiting room — I completely forgot that I’d ditched Shane the night Marcus dragged us out, because Julian showed up out of nowhere and whisked me to the pizza place. And the Russians. I can’t forget the Russians. They’d kicked the whole thing off — showing up at the house, then ambushing