Page 74 of New Roots
It had made me smile reading them, and I had giggled a little, but I understood why it made Milo angry.
He rolled his eyes as he shook his head in disgust, but he also turned. It wasn’t much, but he shifted while he was lost in deep thought, and it was enough of a turn that I took my chance—I moved.
With the piece of glass still in my hand, I lunged off the couch and jumped right for him, tackling him. I drove all my weight forward, thinking he’d see me coming and brace, except he hadn’t. I hit him hard enough to shove him a good solid five or six feet back.
We crashed into my TV stand. The TV, several picture frames, and a small plant toppled with us. The stand itself was cheap, and it snapped like a twig the second we hit it.
Milo grunted beneath me, a raw yell tearing out of him as I landed on him. My scream followed an instant later when pain exploded through my left arm.
I didn’t have time to figure out why. I needed the gun out of his hand. Now.
He lay wheezing under me as I pushed up, scanning the floor. The pain in my arm sharpened when I lifted it, but I ignored it when I spotted the gun—two feet behind his head.
Everything in me ached as I crawled toward it. I extended my arm and fingers to reach it, when my sore arm was yanked back with brutal force.
“Don’t even think about it, bitch.” Milo’s voice was raw but filled with fury.
Fear raced through me. I’d dropped the piece of broken glass when we fell and had nothing to use to defend myself.
He dragged me over and shoved me to the floor again. I twisted, ready to fight as much as I could, when his body was suddenly yanked away.
“Do not touch her.” Axel’s voice came from nowhere as he slammed Milo facedown.
I sat there in shock, trying to catch my breath as I watched Axel pin him easily, planting a knee on his back.
“Don’t move!” I had never heard Axel’s voice like that before—angry, cold, leaving no room to argue. It scared me, even though I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.
Then, just like the flip of a switch, his tone softened as he turned to me. “Stella, do you have string or rope? Something I can use to tie him until the police get here?”
I froze. I understood what he was asking, but it was like my brain was working on overdrive. Like it couldn’t process words fast enough.
“Stella,älskling,” he said, interrupting my thoughts by using my favorite endearment. His voice was gentle but firm when he continued. “I need something to tie him up with before the police arrive. Can you get it for me?”
I nodded, moving to my kitchen almost on autopilot. I grabbed a roll of cooking twine and a pair of scissors.
“Will this work?” I asked as I returned.
“Get off me, asshole!” Milo grunted from underneath Axel.
“Stop moving,” Axel growled back.
“Perfect, thanks.” Axel took the twine and started to bind Milo’s wrists while he jerked and twisted, fighting uselessly against Axel.
“I’ll get the gun,” I told him as I walked over toward it, but Axel quickly halted me.
“Don’t touch it. Just use your foot to kick it over there out of his reach.” Axel pointed over toward my kitchen. “I don’t want your fingerprints on it.”
Oh yeah. I hadn’t thought of that.
“Get off me,” Milo spat, but Axel ignored him while still resting his knee on his back to keep him from moving too much.
“Stella, are you hurt?” he asked as I used my foot to nudge the gun the last few feet. “Come here.”
I moved back toward him, the adrenaline finally loosening its grip enough for the pain to register. My left arm throbbed, hot and persistent. “I landed funny on this one,” I said, lifting it between us.
When I glanced down, my stomach dipped. Blood streaked the back of my arm, dark and wet along my bicep. “I must have sliced it up when we fell into the TV stand.”
Concern was etched onto Axel’s face as he reached for me. Before he could say anything, two voices shouted from the bottom of my stairs. “Police!”
