Our eyes locked in the mirror, his deep brown staring straight into my soul. In them, I saw pity and concern. The prideful side of me wanted to rage at that look—like he feltsorryfor me. My eyes glinted, doing my goddamn best to conveystrength even as every bone in my body felt like a freight train had hit it.
Everyone stared as Obi and I went through some sort of power play. Who was really in charge here?
“We should go home, darling.” Wynn turned in his seat. Dust and ash still covered his hair. “Ciel has never let us down before. He’ll find him.”
“And I’m not going to fucking jail.” Ryuji scowled. “The cops are going to be on high alert. One of my patrons must have called in the gunshots and explosion. We pay them a fortune to look the other way, but this? We’d have to spend at least a night before we could bail out, and that’ll ruin my complexion.”
I met Obi’s eyes again in the mirror.
“We’re going home.” This time, his voice carried a finality that felt impossible to fight. His accusatory gaze said it all.I didn’t know what I was doing.
I didn’t have the energy to argue. I sank against Cas’s chest, gulping down shame and disappointment.
He was right. I should never have punched Max. I should never have catapulted us into this mess. I’d lost some of their respect tonight.
I couldn’t afford any more fuckups. Failure meant death—and now it meant the death of five other men, too. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t fail again.
What a great fucking start to our empire.
2
CASPIAN
Iripped the door open to our room, ushering her inside immediately. “Get in. Now.”
She almost died. The love of my life, the reason for my heart beating, almost died right in front of my eyes. And now she was pissing me off even further.
She limped through the threshold, rolling her eyes with one arm looped around Wynn’s waist.
“Strip.”
She’d refused the hospital on our way back to the penthouse, but I had to see her. I had to make sure she was really, truly alive.
“If you want me naked, Cas, you just have to ask.”
Wynn released an exasperated laugh as he set her down on the bed, which only scratched the surface of our combined frustration. He had also been adamant that she get looked at, but she’d refused even him. I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to contain the cyclone of worry, anger, frustration, and pure relief from exploding within me.
“Wynn, give us a minute.”
He paused, hand still tight on her arm—like he, too, struggled to let her go—but then he nodded.
“I will be right outside,” he said, maybe more to me than to her. The look in his eye and his slight head nod told me he had my back, not hers.
When we’d returned to the penthouse, all four of them had wanted to make sure she was okay, but I’d directed her to our room. This had to be between us.
“Cas.” She said my name in thattone. The one that said I was being the overprotective, annoying bodyguard, and she was the spoiled princess who could do whatever she wanted without consequences. But we were more than that now. Things were different. “I’m fine.”
“Strip,” I repeated. Adrenaline still raced through my body. Tension threaded through the muscles in my arms and the back of my neck. I would never forget the resoundingcrunchof the collapse. What it felt like—looked like—to watch it come crashing around her, unable to do anything but stare.
How could I protect her from everything we were about to face?
Reluctantly, slowly, as if she were purposefully torturing me—and it was working—she pulled off her jacket, followed by her now-bloody shirt. Next came her boots and her pants until she stood before me in only her black bra and thong.
My eyes roved over her body. Bruises marred her arms. Her right thigh was swollen and red, yet she could stand on it and move her leg. Her ribs looked normal. Her breathing looked regular, a steady in-and-out. No other visible injuries.
I stepped closer, picking up her arms to further inspect her torso. I ran my fingers up the sides of her ribs, poking here and there to check for any hidden pain or tenderness. Max and I had been trained in first aid. We were often injured on missions and needed to assess whether injuries were severe. That training was the only reason I didn’t force Obi to drive us to the hospital, but I wasn’t afraid of dragging her there if necessary.
I hated this. Both the fact that she was hurt, and how I was thinking abouthimat a time like this.
