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"Oh, fuck." I breathed, turning her to face my chest. "Don't look, Princess."

"It's too late for that," she replied meekly. "How? Why is there a dead man on my doorstep?" Her voice trembled as she started to shake.

"I don't know. I don't fucking know." I replied, pulling her tight to my chest as I dug my phone out of my pocket. "We can'tstand here with the door open though, it makes us easy targets if the dead mother fucker that did this is still on the grounds."

I felt her nod against my chest and released her long enough to shut and lock the door with one hand while I texted the others. Victoria allowed me to tuck her back under my arm and guide her through the house to the camera room. As a precaution, I closed the door and punched the code into the number pad that activated the panic room locks.

"We're safe in here. I've let the guys know what's going on." I said, placing my hands on her shoulders. "I'm going to look at the security footage to make sure the person who did this is gone, and see if I can i.d. him. You're going to sit beside me the whole time, okay? I'm not letting you out of my sight until I know everything is secure."

Victoria nodded and moved to one of the empty chairs at the camera control panel. She silently trembled in her seat as I spent the next twenty or so minutes flipping through every camera in and around the manor. It was clear that whoever had slipped onto the grounds had left immediately after leaving Jace's body for us to find.

Not finding anything useful on the live feed, I punched the buttons Craig had shown us to start working through the recorded footage. It didn't take long to see a bulky male dressed head to toe in black poking around on the grounds. I fought to keep my cool as I watched him peek into different windows around the manor before slipping down the drive toward the security gate. Knowing the man had gotten the drop on Jace and his crew was unnerving enough. Jace was more paranoid than Leighton and nearly as violent. For him to get so close to the manor only heightened my sense of unease.

My mind was working overtime, trying to figure out who in our world had the skills it required to slip past our best bruisers and brutally murder one of them. I was so lost in my thoughtsand trying to piece things together with the footage that I'd forgotten Victoria sat beside me until she gasped. My eyes flitted to her and then back to the screens just as one showed the man slipping around the side of the manor after ringing the doorbell, and he came into sight on another, peering into a window.

"That's my room. Az, what if he's in my room?" Her eyes were wide with terror.

"He's not, Princess. Look." I said, pointing to the screen as the man slipped from the manor toward the tree line.

Her hands clutched my arm so hard I was sure her nails would break the skin. "What if he comes back? I– I'll be alone." She sobbed.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Victoria." I said, gently prying her hands from my arm and taking them between mine. "You can stay in my room, at least until the guys get home and someone you're more comfortable with can take over. I'll be there the whole time, guarding you."

She bit her bottom lip and nodded. "Yeah, okay. That sounds like a good idea."

I rose from my seat, pulling her with me, and tucked her into my side. "Come on, Princess. Let's get whatever you need from your room for the night and get you to bed. There's not much else on the recordings and Craig will need to work his magic to make what is there any use. I'm sure after the shock you just had, you could use some rest."

She allowed me to lead her to her rooms, ensuring I stayed close by as she timidly gathered her things. She refused to change until we reached my room, slipping into my en suite and returning quicker than I thought possible. Tossing back the blankets, I helped her into my bed and tucked her in. As I stepped back, her hand snaked out and gripped my wrist.

"You said you wouldn't leave me alone." She whispered.

"I won't, Princess. I'm just going to be right by the door in a chair."

I felt her hand slip away as she nodded. Fighting the urge to climb into my bed beside her and hold her, I did exactly as I promised. Grabbing the wooden chair in front of my desk, I moved it to my door and settled in to guard her until the guys got home.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Victoria

The guys had treated me like I was made of glass since the night I found the body on the doorstep. It didn't help that Craig hadn't seen anything useful in the footage. All we knew was that the person was male and seemed to know where the blind spots in my father's security were. Still, three days of being treated like I was a delicate flower had started to grate my nerves.

"Morning, Princess." Az spoke as I stalked into the kitchen.

I glared in response and moved to the coffee pot to pour myself a cup. While something had shifted between us when he was teaching me how to plan a D&D session, I wasn't sure we had moved into anything beyond a truce.

"I've got good news and bad news," He continued, unperturbed. "Which would you like first?"

"Rich decided you guys can take the kid's gloves off again?" I raised a brow and moved to take a seat at the island.

Az chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Something like that. So, what do you want first, Princess? Good or bad?"

"None of it's been good since the five of you inserted yourselves into my life, so I can only imagine it's bad and worse." I shrugged. "So, in that case, hit me with the bad, so I know how bad it really is."

"Well, the bad is that we didn't find anything on the guy who attacked you at Leighton's fight, or the guy who tried to nab you outside the boutique."

"Were you expecting to?" I asked as I sipped my coffee.

"No, not really. If it weren't for Colin, I expect we'd still be totally in the dark, but we would be remiss if we didn't check." He replied with a soft smile.