“No.” She giggled. “It’s not my head. My legs are just jelly.”
I chuckled, nuzzling my nose into her neck. “How are you feeling?”
She smiled softly. “Better. Thank you, Wynn.”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead before leading her back under the spray to clean the both of us up.
“Stay here,” I told her after we both rinsed off and she shut off the water.
I grabbed two towels from the linen cabinet. After wrapping her up first, I wrapped mine around my waist.
“Come on, you need to drink water.” I took her hand and sat her on the bed she shared with Caspian.
“That one’s mine,” she said, gesturing at the cup on the bedside table. I handed it to her, and she finished the contents. When she was done, she stared at the empty glass. Water from her hair dripped down the bare skin of her shoulders.
“What’s wrong?” I kneeled in front of her, my heart picking up speed for an entirely different reason. Had we done too much? “Do you need more painkillers?”
“Is this going to work?” she whispered, searching my face.
I smoothed the wet curls off her temples. Was she talking about Ryuji and Caspian, neither of whom seemed like they could stand each other? Or was she talking about something else?
“The guys?”
She nodded. “All of us. The partnership. The empire. Have I gotten in way too far over my head?”
I had to believe that we hadn’t. That we’d get through all of this.
I’d watched Fallon take control of Philadelphia, even if I was on the outside, just barely getting to know Obi and the Shadows. I’d seen Fallon come into her power. I’d seen her build something from nothing.
And I’d also watched as it almost crumbled to ash in front of her.
Fallon and her men had gotten through it. Would we?
With the future we’d planned—a future free of trafficking, where we could protect the city and its people—I had found my opportunity for redemption. If I could use my power to help us succeed, it would rewrite my past. I’d found the path that would heal my soul.Thiswas it. I wouldn’t give that up easily.
I brushed my lips against hers. “It will work. It just needs time.”
“What if I don’t have time? What if everything crumblesbeforewe can figure it out?”
I squeezed her knee. “If that happens, we will pick up the pieces and start over.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “What does that mean?”
“This will be difficult,” I said with a sigh. How could it not be? We were all in unfamiliar territory. We each had something hanging in the balance. These relationships were delicate, even without all our enemies bearing down on us. “But you are not a person who gives up, and neither are we. Whatever happens, we will figure it out.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but a fist pounded against the door.
“Leona!” Ciel’s voice came from the other side.
With a towel still wrapped around my waist, I pulled the door open. My brother did a brief double-take, eyes raking across my body, before he swallowed, and looked around my shoulder, cheeks dusted pink. My eyebrows knit together.
“L-Leona,” he repeated.
“Ciel? What’s wrong?” She stood, arms tight around her towel.
“I found him,” he said. “I found Volpe.”
6
