Page 125 of Blood in the Water

“I’ll take it.”

“What?” I sat up so I could look at her directly.

“I said I’ll take it,” she leaned back in my bed and stretched her arms over her head like she was making herself at fucking home inside my sheets. “You were not wrong to think those things, especially with how you’ve been treated in your past. I’m so damn sorry you had to go through that.”

My throat constricted as I stared down at her. Emotions I’d never felt before had my entire body tingling.

“Did you ever kill him? Youroyabun?” she asked.

“Not yet.” I came close during my last visit to Japan, but the timing wasn’t right. “But I will.”

“I believe you.” She reached up to cup my cheek and pressed a kiss at the corner of my mouth. “Thanks for telling me. I like to tease you, but I know it’s hard to be vulnerable. I won’t betray your trust.”

I wanted to believe her, too.

I had no idea what to say. I buried my face against her neck so she couldn’t see the bare emotion written across my face. She’d found her way inside my defenses. But would the same thing happen again? Would I be betrayed and left for dead?

I’d worked so hard to always be in that position of power and control so I never had to feel the same way I felt when I was a child. But I was starting to believe Leona would never try to take my future from me. I got the feeling she’d help me find what I’d always been searching for—maybeshewas it.

Would Leona’s proposal prove she would be different? Or would she be another gash on my skin, another scar left behind?

43

CASPIAN

Iwoke with a start to find Leona gone.

My heart constricted, and my breath came fast. It took me a few more bleary seconds to realize where the fuck I was and what had happened.

Leona and the Shadows had rescued me.

I was in their penthouse.

My body was fucked.

With a groan, I reached across the bed to the nightstand, where a fresh glass of water and my next dose of painkillers awaited. Leona must have left these. But where was she?

I sucked down the glass, took the pills, and struggled to my feet. I had to piss, then had to find her. Make sure she was alright.

My stomach grumbled as I hobbled to the bathroom, doing my best to avoid putting any weight on my fucked up knee. I wasstarving.

Leona, then food.

Tentatively, I ventured out into the penthouse with my hand on the wall for balance. Last night—was it last night?—I had barely been able to take in my surroundings, let alone absorb where we were.

I expected the Shadows to live in some underground lair with a moat protected by fucking crocodiles or something. I expected dark and dangerous.

What I saw instead had me surprised. We were on the top floors of one of the tallest skyscrapers in New York, with incredible views overlooking the entire city. The decor was high-tech and modern, comfortable yet high-class. It gave therich as fuckaesthetic, even down to the potted plants in the corners.

I recognized the man lounging on the couch, flipping through the channels on the massive wall-mounted TV. He was one of the Shadows who helped me escape. The one with the dark hair, who wore his arrogance like it was his favorite fucking coat. Even in my semi-delirium, I still remembered some of the dick-ish things he said to Leona.

“Hey, man,” he said, barely offering me a half-second glance. “What’s up?”

I had already decided that he was an asshole. “Where’s Leona?”

As much as I wanted to tear through the whole place searching for her, I was exhausted. My injuries were catching up to me. I leaned against the plush couch and tried to slow my breathing. I couldnotlet this guy know how much pain was shooting through my entire body.

“She’s working out with Wynn. I think today they’re trainingknives. Mmm, my favorite,” he said as he clicked the TV off with a sigh and stood, stretching his torso from side to side. “Nothing good on right now, anyway.”