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“Sean contacted Striker,” Hawk said. “He wants to meet with you. Today. Striker got him to agree to the usual meeting place.”

I scrubbed one hand over my face. “Fuck.”

“Yeah. I know. You gonna take care of things?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. Michel wanted Sean out of the picture, but before I took care of Sean, I had to make sure his gang didn’t have anyone else waiting in the wings to take over.

And despite all the pain and the violence… Sean was still my brother. My dragon huffed in agreement. If he wanted to meet, I’d hear him out. The more I understood, the easier it would be to handle this issue.

But I couldn’t save him. That much I already knew.

“Let’s get this over with,” I said. “Get your things.”

Hawk nodded and walked around the side of the house to the car. I stepped back inside, where Harley, Mia, and Dylan were in the kitchen digging into sausages and homemade fries. Mia and Harley both fell silent when I walked in, and Dylan was thankfully distracted by devouring what looked like a meal fit for three grown men.

“Everything okay?” Harley asked.

“It’s fine,” I said. “Can I show you a few things around the house?”

“Uh, sure.” She stood and followed me from the kitchen to the front door.

I opened the panel on the security system and showed her how to put it on and told her the code. “The big red button here will call the clan enforcers. You can reach the authorities, too, but it’s best to go first to the enforcers.”

Harley blinked at the security panel. “Why would I need it?”

“There are cameras outside and more buttons to quick-call the clan enforcers around the house.” I avoided using the phrase “panic button.” “I’ll have Mia walk you through and show you where they are.”

“What the hell is going on?” Harley folded her hands over her chest and scowled at me. “Where are you going?”

I sighed. “On a work call. Nothing’s going to happen. But since we’re leaving, I want you to know these things about the house. Just in case.”

“Just in case,” she repeated. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“There’s one more thing. This way.” I led her to the small, narrow door off the kitchen. It looked like a pantry, but it was much more than that. I pushed it open, revealing a long, narrow set of darkened stairs.

Harley sighed. “Great. There’s a murder basement, too?”

“It’s the anti-murder basement.” I hit the lights in the stairwell, then led her downstairs. The basement was a safe room, equipped with a television, radio, comfortable futons, and a phone. It locked from the inside and was practically impenetrable.

“Why the hell do you have a bunker?” Harley demanded. “Why are you showing me this? Should I be worried about Dylan being here?”

I turned to face her and put my hand on her shoulder. The tension that had crackled between us outside was now gone—now, all I cared about was making sure she felt safe.That she trusted me. My dragon’s protectiveness surged. These precautions were to keep her safe, but they were scaring her, too.

“There’s no active fighting,” I said. “And no one’s being targeted. I’m meeting with a member of a nearby clan, and we’ve had some issues in the past. I’m showing you these security features because I want you to feel in control. This home is yours this summer. If I’m not here, you should know how to use the security.”

Her shoulders slumped, then she pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes like she was suddenly exhausted. “I’d forgotten about this part of your life. I guess it didn’t matter so much when I was young.”

“You’re still young,” I said with a small smile.

That made her huff a small, surprised laugh. “If Dylan sees this place, he’ll want to turn it into his private gaming cave.”

“Isn’t that his bedroom?”

“Why have one when you could have two?”

We were laughing as we went back upstairs. She seemed more relaxed now, but not as comfortable as she’d been this morning. My dragon whined. We hated seeing her antsy in our home. This was the place where she should be most at ease.

But I couldn’t do anything about that now. I had to tackle this problem with Sean for good if I wanted to build a life that included Harley. Each time work interrupted us, I felt her pulling away.