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DAEMON

Calli is still sleeping as I put the rest of the kitchen back together. I secured the door before I carried her to the shower and tried to fuck the image of her holding a gun to that motherfucker’s head out of my system. It was wishful thinking. Turns out, every fucking time I think about it, I’m hard as a nail all over again.

Dragging my arse out of bed to come and sort this mess out instead of waking my girl and taking her all over again was hard. Pun intended.

But despite my endless need for her, I left her to rest.

I was rough with her last night. Too rough. If she can walk properly today, I’ll be amazed.

Guilt washes through me as I remember how tightly my fingers dug into her hips, how hard I took her. I know she’s not made of glass, and I’ll do anything I can to prove to her that I don’t see her as some innocent, useless little princess like the others do. But even still. I took it too far.

I’m walking back into the house after tossing the unsalvageable dining table and chairs into the front garden when my phone starts ringing. My heart sinks just like it always does, and it only gets worse when I pull it from my pocket and find Evan’s name staring back at me.

Walking through the house, I quickly slip through the sliding door and don’t stop until I’m inches from where the water laps at the shore.

“Boss,” I growl the second it touches my ear.

I send up a silent prayer that today isn’t the day that this all comes to an end. But I already know it’s pointless. There’s a heavy ball of dread sitting deep in my belly. My subconscious already knows what’s about to fall from Evan’s lips. The unspoken words drip through my veins like poison, chilling me from the inside out.

“It’s time to bring my girl home, Daemon.”

Despite not wanting to react to his statement, all the air rushes from my lungs as disappointment hits me with the force of a jumbo fucking jet.

“Everything is sorted?” I ask, forcing a lightness into my tone that I certainly don’t feel.

“Yes. We’ve come to an agreement which will keep her out of it.”

“And that is?” I prompt, needing to ensure I agree that I’m not about to walk my girl directly into a war zone.

“You’re off the clock, Daemon. The details don’t matter. It’s safe for her to come home.”

“Don’t you think that—”

“It’s Cassandra’s birthday this weekend. She wants her daughter here to celebrate with her.”

I just about manage to bite back what I really think about that. You can always rely on Cassandra to attempt to cover up the ugliness that is this life, plaster on a face full of make-up and party like all is well with the world.

“Right,” I mutter, my insides twisting up painfully.

“Security has been tightened. She will have eyes on her at all times.”

Fucking great.

My legs give out and I fall to my arse.

“Everything okay, son?”

“Yeah. Looking forward to getting back.”

“How’s the revising been going?”

My mind flicks back to yesterday’s naked study session. “Uh…” I shove my hand through my hair, pulling until the pain is stronger than my desire as I think about her sitting astride my lap, her tits right in my face as she quizzed me. “Yeah. Good.”

“My Calli is an angel. I have every confidence in her.”

I don’t have anything to say to that. My heart is too busy shattering into a million tiny pieces.

“Let me know when to expect you home.”