Page 139 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not

But when Kaylani winced and her face twisted in pain, something inside of me snapped.

“Get off of her, you’re hurting her.”

I moved before thinking, yanking the one officer away from her and punching him square in the face before swinging at the second. All I saw was red.

The officer called my name, but the rest was nothing but background noise. Fists flew, and someone slammed into me from behind. I kept fighting.

“He has a gun,” one of the officers yelled, removing it from the back of my jeans.

That was when things went sideways. If I hadn’t cared about whether I killed them, they wouldn’t have stood a chance, but fists kept coming, and more men joined. I was outmatched, with only my rage keeping me going.

“Don’t touch him. This isn’t his fault. He’s my bodyguard,” Kaylani screamed, trying to pull away and get to me.

She crumpled forward as the officer pushed her to her stomach on the ground, arms behind her back.

“Don’t touch her like that,” I roared as I tried to lunge. But I was fighting five armed and trained men.

A knee drove into my spine. My cheek slammed into the dirt. Zip ties slid around my wrists.

Kaylani screamed.

“Leave him alone. He’s my bodyguard. This is a mistake. You have this all wrong⁠—”

They didn’t care and dragged her away.

I lifted my head long enough to see her shoved toward the cruiser and then inside. She stared at me, eyes wide, as if I could make them stop. I wished I could.

They hauled me up and read me my rights as they manhandled me toward another car.

It was only then that I realized we had drawn a crowd. Phones were out, recording the entire humiliating event. I didn’t give a fuck about me.

But what would this do to Kaylani’s reputation and her chances of making the team?

Rage filled me again. Fucking Dimitri. He had gone too far.

That was when I saw him. Dylan. He leaned against the fence as if he had bought a front-row seat to the action.

He looked satisfied. Our eyes met, and he smiled. A small, controlled confession without words.

I didn’t react but cataloged it for later. The angle of his jaw. The curl of his fingers around the rail. The smugness in his eyes.

The door slammed behind me.

Kaylani was in the opposite cruiser, still fighting. She was yelling at the officers, her face a mask of wild fury. Good. She needed all that anger to face Dimitri.

Our eyes locked. I love you, I mouthed.

As my car pulled away, I leaned back against the seat and let the rage settle into something far more dangerous.

Dylan thought he had won today. That he had proven how clever he was, he hadn’t. He’d overplayed his hand.

And it didn’t matter how long it took for me to get free. I would find him and make him pay for betraying Kaylani.

Chapter

Thirty-Seven

KAYLANI