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Raphael’s gaze jerks back up and his eyes glow bright red. “You could try.”

The two of them stare hard at each other, having a battle of wills, before Asher throws his hands up in defeat. “God fucking dammit! Fine! I have no clue where the fuck we’re going to go… But get your ass to the car!”

Asher marches off in anger, leaving Raphael and me alone in a room that looks like a bull ran through it.

Raphael looks back down at me, and I don’t know why but the simple act of having all of his attention with no other distractions draws all my awareness to him.

Like the very cells of my being are being sucked toward his sudden magnetism.

Fighting the weird compulsion to stare back up at him, to drink in his face, to let myself fall into his eyes…

I shake my head and say, “Please put me down.”

The pang of pain, like I swallowed too quickly, hits my heart again.

“Not yet,” he rasps, his gaze burning into my forehead.

Finding it harder and harder to resist the urge to look up at him, I focus on looking at all the destroyed stuff around us.

The shattered lamps, the broken tables, and the couch that’s snapped in half.

He did this.

Raphael makes a frustrated sound deep in his throat and then the world smears around us.

I find myself squinting as bright sunlight assaults my eyes. Letting out a hiss, I curl into his hard chest as he carries me over to a black SUV.

“A little warning would have been nice,” I grumble as I throw my arm over my face.

He stiffens with tension. “Forgive me, I wasn’t thinking.”

I huff in reply, ignoring how utterly sincere he sounds. Apologizing like he’s given the gravest of offenses. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big of a deal. Not compared to everything else he could sincerely apologize for.

Shifting me carefully into one arm, he opens the door to the SUV so hard he nearly rips it off its hinges.

Again, I feel him stiffen with tension before he slides us into the car and slams the door shut behind us.

“Took you long enough,” Matthias grumbles.

“Shush,” Asher hisses. “Chloe is sleeping.”

Matthias mutters something quietly. Then the SUV begins to move, rolling out of the driveway.

Daring to drop my arm, I blink at the dim interior. Grateful the sun is no longer lighting my eyes on fire.

Asher is in the seat beside us with Chloe draped over him. Her blonde head is tucked under his chin and her hand clutches at his shirt. Despite the way she’s clutching at him, she looks utterly at peace in her sleep.

Asher himself looks to be completely content. Rubbing his hand soothingly up and down her back.

The picture they paint is so loving and intimate, my throat tightens up.

Feeling like I’m intruding on something that should be private, I tear my gaze away and look around the rest of the car.

Matthias is in the driver’s seat and the passenger seat is empty.

Pushing my palms against Raphael’s chest, I lean around him and peer into the back.

Sitting alone on a bench seat with one ankle crossed over the other, Ambrose smiles and waggles his fingers at me in greeting. The lace peeking out of his sleeves fluttering with the movement.