Page 18 of Bound by Them (Rose and Dagger #1)

Troy

I ’ve never seen Dani as angry as she is right now—kicking, scratching, shouting at Edmund.

It takes me a minute to realize it isn’t anger—it’s panic.

“What the fuck?” Edmund dodges another blow.

“She’s freaking out.” I keep my foot steady on the gas. I can’t slow down. I don’t want to risk those two assholes shooting at us.

“No fucking kidding. Danica, it’s me. It’s Edmund— fuck .”

She got him in the face with her bag.

“Hold her tight,” I say. “She’s scared.”

The fastest way out of those goons’ range is the freeway toward Fair Heights. I make a split-second decision—the danger of having a panicked Dani in a speeding vehicle versus guys who probably have guns and want to stop us.

I’ll pick whatever danger Dani poses. She’s fierce, but she’s small, and Edmund nearly has her under control.

“Breathe, baby.” All I can give her is my voice. “It’s me and Edmund. We won’t hurt you.”

“We’ll never hurt you.” Edmund holds her against his body, arms locked around her arms and waist so she can’t flail around.

Tears streak down her cheeks. “Then where are you taking me? Why are you doing this?”

“Doing…what?” Edmund doesn’t let her go. Wise.

“You’re kidnapping me. You had those guys chase me so you could?—”

“Fuck, angel—those guys aren’t with us. We saw them chasing you.”

She takes a deep breath. “But, how did you know where I was? How did you find them?”

“Well.” Edmund clears his throat. “We were following you.”

“The fuck ? Am I another task for your family?”

Edmund shakes his head. “Danica, for fuck’s sake. We aren’t following your family. The Laytons aren’t doing anything to you guys right now. We’re too busy trying to solve our own problems.”

I pull off the freeway at the next exit. Red taillights from the cars in front of us illuminate Dani’s face. She has that stubborn tilt to her jaw. Utterly kissable.

She shakes herself out of Edmund’s hold. “Then why are you following me?”

“Because we care. Because we’re worried about you.

” I try to put a hand on her knee, but she pushes me off.

I cross the overpass and bring us back to Caro Boulevard.

It’ll be a long way to our apartment, but we could use the time to talk.

Unless Dani loses her temper and tries to fling herself from the truck… I wouldn’t put that past her.

“We’ve been noticing patterns.” Edmund pulls up Dani’s seatbelt and holds it out so she’ll buckle in. She scowls at him, but clicks the belt closed while he says, “We thought your young cousin being followed was weird, because that’s not our family’s style. And then my dad’s mistress was followed.”

“So we’re following you and you’re following us—wait.” Dani sits up straight. “ Someone else is behind all this. Was it those guys I was trying to watch, who chased me?”

“You were watching them ?” Anger flares in my chest, making it hard to talk. She threw herself into danger. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking some randos were skulking around my grandfather’s construction site and I wanted to see who they were. If I hadn’t tried to get a picture of them, they wouldn’t have noticed me.”

I stop at a red light and glance over at her. “Did you get a photo?”

“I had to delete it, but it’s still in my deleted images folder.”

“Perfect, let’s see it.” Edmund leans toward her. His eye is swelling up where she hit him, but he doesn’t seem to feel it.

She digs her phone out of her bag and taps at the screen. I barely catch a glimpse of two men sitting at a bar before the light turns green and I have to hit the gas.

“Their tattoos…” Edmund nods shortly. “I’ve seen that symbol. Troy—who has the winged serpent?”

I think for a second, trying to picture a snake with wings and match it up to a name. “Vor-something, right?”

“Vorsong.” His mouth turns down in a frown, while Dani looks between us, uncomprehending. “The Vorsong Circle.”

* * *

Edmund

Leaving Danica at her doorstep last night was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.

Troy and I walked her to the door, alert for any danger.

Luckily, her street was quiet. No Vorsong enforcers waiting in the shadows.

Only the sweet scent of her shampoo as I bent close.

I wanted a kiss. A hug. I wanted to smooth her hair back from her cheeks and suck on her full bottom lip.

I wanted to be sweet, and then I wanted to fuel her desire so she was wriggling, impatient with lust, begging for my cock.

But no. Troy and I saw her to the door, waited until it was locked behind her, and drove straight to Rendsell.

I skipped my father’s office and knocked on my grandfather’s bedroom door, waking him up. Talking to my father is pointless, and this was far too sensitive. The conversation with Grandfather was short, but he’s agreed to meet me for lunch today.

Now I’m waiting at Abdul’s, as neutral of a restaurant as I could find. It isn’t solidly Aseyev, and it isn’t solidly Layton. The brick walls of the converted firehouse have been painted white. Stunning, black-and-white photography is on display.

Far more stunning is Danica in her long, blue dress. She sits with Troy across the table from me. I can’t look away from the two of them—his dark brown hair and her light blond, his giant form and her small frame. They’re physical opposites, but they look good together.

My grandfather is due to arrive any second. I’m not nervous, exactly. More eager. Ready to get this shit over with so we can go after the real culprits, the assholes trying to ruin our business and pit the two SE families against each other.

The Vorsong Circle shouldn’t be here. They have a hold on the San Francisco Bay Area—that’s their domain. Either greed or boredom sent them to San Esteban. My grandfather will make sure fear and regret send them back to where they belong.

Troy’s head is angled toward Danica’s. I take a sip of water and watch them. She lights him up in ways I haven’t seen since he came back to San Esteban, tail between his legs, a wreck of himself after Amber was through with him.

Danica lights me up, too. She’s fiery and funny. She challenges me. She’s a heady mix of strong and vulnerable, and she fascinates me.

My grandfather arrives, striding through an aisle formed by crowded tables to reach me. I stand to greet him, shaking his hand.

As we take our seats, he glances around the noisy restaurant, pausing at Troy and Danica across from us. “Why is Manchester here on a date? Isn’t he working?”

“This isn’t a date. I can explain that in a moment.”

My grandfather flags down the waiter and orders a whiskey neat before turning back to me, pointedly ignoring Troy and his date . “You wanted to speak, without Ed present?”

“I don’t trust Ed to listen.”

My grandfather narrows his dark blue eyes. “This is true. But if you’re here to discuss—wait. What is he doing here?”

I don’t have to turn around to know that Sergey Aseyev must have arrived. The anger and outrage on my grandfather’s face are clear.

“Grandfather, this is important. I wouldn’t have asked you both here otherwise.”

“You invited that snake?”

Fed up, I say, “Look. We can get to the bottom of our lost shipment, of Cece being followed, of everything else that’s fucking up our operations. Or we can hold onto an old grudge. Up to you.”

His mouth falls open in surprise, but he quickly shuts it and gives me a level look.

“Absolutely not, Danica.” Sergey’s voice rises over the noisy restaurant.

“Granddad.” She adds something in Russian, stumbling over the words.

Sergey’s eyes pop open in shock, but then his features soften into affection. “Very well, my granddaughter. But only because you’ve been practicing your Russian.”

The five of us sit down together. Our waiter returns with my grandfather’s whiskey. Sergey orders vodka, but at Danica’s harsh look, he quickly changes his order to an herbal tea.

“So.” Sergey surveys the entire table. “Who will tell me what this is about?”

“I’m just as in the dark as you,” Grandfather says.

I clear my throat. “Someone has been sabotaging our businesses, following my father’s close friend, and possibly more. Troy and I have been looking into the people behind it.”

“We know it’s the Aseyevs,” Grandfather says.

“No, no.” Sergey puts up his hand. “We’ve done nothing. Our family has kept away from your district, despite you coming into ours. My grandson”—his voice grows rough and shaky, like he’s trying to contain his emotions—“my grandson is gone. Because of you .”

Danica covers Sergey’s hand with hers. “Granddad, they didn’t do anything to Patrick.”

“We didn’t,” I add. “But we think we know who did. Danica?”

She lets go of Sergey to pull out her phone. “I was getting off work the other night and saw these guys at the building you’re renovating, Granddad.”

She hands her phone to Sergey. He studies the image, his forehead wrinkling. After he passes it back to Danica, she holds her phone out to my grandfather.

A moment’s hesitation, then he takes the device from her hand. Recognition washes over his features, his squint transforming into surprise.

“Vorsongs.” He zooms in on their tattoos. “What is the Vorsong Circle doing here in San Esteban?”

Sergey leans forward in his chair, making eye contact with Grandfather. “Francis, our families need to talk. Tomorrow evening?”

My grandfather nods. “Yes. Tomorrow evening will be good.”