Page 5 of Bound by Them (Rose and Dagger #1)

Danica

I say goodbye to my brother outside Abdul’s and climb into my hired ride.

The meeting with my parents was about what I expected. It started out cold and quiet, and by the end I was yelling.

Even though I’m beyond pissed at Dmitri, I’m more pissed at our parents. So I allowed my brother to take me to Abdul’s, where I promptly drowned my anger in tequila.

Anger and…sorrow. I would never admit it, not even to my brother, but I’m so fucking sad I feel like a giant fist is squeezing my chest.

The rain is coming down in sheets. My little black dress, AKA the armor I put on before braving my mother, is soaked through.

My driver threw me a towel to sit on so I don’t get the upholstery wet.

She’s a woman around my mom’s age. She has soft music playing, some kind of chanting with deep gong sounds. I think it’s meant to be soothing, but it only stokes my feelings of rage and recklessness.

I squeeze my phone in my hand. I’m on my way home, but that’s not where I want to be. Sitting by myself isn’t what I want to do. I want to dance. Scream. Fuck. Drink. Anything to escape this tight, terrible feeling gripping my heart.

I want to take control, and even more than that, I want to lose it.

Edmund. If I’m going to make all the bad decisions tonight, he should be another one.

After three texts to him, though, it looks like he isn’t available.

Balls.

My phone vibrates in my hand. Startled, I nearly hurl it to the floor.

Edmund wrote back. Troy will pick you up. Where are you?

Troy? Why not Edmund?

Whatever. I don’t even care.

I lean forward to talk to my driver. “Hey, I’ll get out here.”

“Here?” She eyes our surroundings. We’re in the Bellefleur, not the nicest area. But I have another ride lined up.

“Yep. I’m going to the—” I scan the nearby businesses. “To Kitty Cat Karaoke. Friends are meeting me. I think I see them now.”

I don’t know why I’m lying to the driver. Maybe because there’s something matronly about her, and I know she’d disapprove. And for some reason that matters to me?

I’m losing my mind.

She pulls over next to the karaoke place, and I get out. I give her a giant tip, because she was concerned, and the world needs to reward people who care. Then I march to Kitty Cat Karaoke and text Edmund, dropping the pin of my location.

You’re in the Bellefleur??? I can practically hear his outrage.

I grin and type, It’s hardly a war-torn country .

It’s dangerous enough to be. A second later, he adds, Troy will be there in 5 .

* * *

Troy

I almost don’t recognize Dani. Her hair is wet from the rain, which makes it look darker. Last night she was in a white dress, tonight she’s in black. It clings to her—I can’t see from here whether it’s because she’s wet or because of the dress’s style.

It’s also hard to see because she’s surrounded by four men. One of them is lurching toward her, arms outstretched like he’s going to grab her.

I park illegally at the curb and jump out. I rush up, shoving the grabbing guy away from Dani.

“Hey, what the fuck?” He stumbles before swinging his fist toward my face.

I block the punch. In the reflection of the club window, I see another guy coming at me. I don’t turn, just jab backward with my elbow, catching him in the throat. Not hard enough to kill him, but hard enough he’ll remember me tomorrow.

The other two guys back up immediately.

I turn to Dani. “You okay?”

I don’t know what I expected. Tearful gratitude, maybe. Or a swoon into my arms.

Instead I get her gray eyes flashing with anger. “What the fuck, asshole? We were just talking.”

“He was about to grab you?—”

She’s practically shaking with rage, standing at her full height, finger pointed up at my face. “He was trying to give me his coat, because it’s fucking raining, and he’s a fucking gentleman. Unlike you .”

From the corner of my eye, I can see a jacket on the ground, getting soaked in the rain. Shit. “Lower your finger and we’ll talk.”

She considers her stance, my stance, and my tone. Slowly, she lowers her hand.

I turn to the guys I took down, and I grab the coat from the ground. I offer the jacket to the guy I’d shoved aside. “I apologize. I misread the situation.”

They stare at me, eyes big. One of them finally steps forward and grabs the jacket.

The guy I throat-punched coughs, then nods. “Yeah, sure,” he wheezes. “No problem.”

“Sorry about my friend,” Dani says to them. “He’s a dick.”

She’s right.

“Do you still want to come with me?” I ask her.

She gives me a short, tight-lipped nod before walking with me to my truck. I hold the door open and she glares at me as she gets in.

I’ve never seen anyone angrier while accepting a favor from someone else. Every second in her presence, I like this girl more and more.

I get in, start the truck, and get the heater blasting. Once we’re turning right off of Caro back toward the Salding district, I reach behind my seat and find an old hoodie. “It’s not as clean as I’d like, but probably better than nothing.”

“Thanks.” She slips out of her seatbelt to put it on, then quickly buckles up again.

I take us along Washburne. It’s hard to focus on the road when I want to soak in the sight of Dani wearing my sweatshirt.

She tucks her hands into the sleeves. “Where’s Edmund?”

“At our place.” Edmund had Jon take us home from the restaurant before sending me out again. He doesn’t want Jon snitching any more than he already has. As soon as we pulled into the parking garage of our apartment building, I went straight to my truck.

“You live together?” Dani asks.

I nod.

“I thought Edmund lived alone.”

It’s a unique situation. “Technically I’m paid to live there and guard him.”

Dani snickers. “So he has to pay you to be his friend?”

“If that’s how you want to look at it.” The idea is rather amusing, I must admit.

“Are we going to your place?”

“Do you want to go there?”

“Argh!” She pounds on the edge of her seat. “Why are you so…so accommodating ?”

“I’m accommodating?”

“There you go again.” She jabs a finger in my direction.

I lean back. “Don’t point at me.”

“Oh.” Her hand drops. “Sorry.”

“Guess I’m not as accommodating as you thought.”

“No, pointing is rude. I’ll stop doing it.” Her gray eyes are serious. I could easily get lost in them, but I have to focus on the road.

We stop at a red light. I steal another glance at her. My heart clenches at the sight of her in my hoodie. She looks so small and cute. “So? Where am I taking you? Edmund expects you at our place. But I’ll drop you at home or anywhere else you want to go.”

“Your place.” She shivers.

“You’re still cold?”

“Yeah.”

I push up the center console that hides the bench seat of my truck. “Scoot over and buckle in.”

She does as I ask and I tuck her close against me, wrapping my arm around her. I gave her my hoodie and have the heater blasting, but if her dress is soaked through, these measures aren’t going to do much for her shivering.

Her shaking subsides as I rub her arm and shoulder. She feels so fucking right in my arms. I wonder if she has any clue how I feel about her. She couldn’t possibly—and that’s a good thing. I’ll never give another woman that kind of power over me again.

* * *

Edmund

It takes Troy so fucking long to bring Danica home, I start to wonder if he absconded somewhere else with her.

I wouldn’t blame him, to be honest.

But I did go for her first.

They come up the private elevator and step into the penthouse. Danica is wearing one of Troy’s sweatshirts. It comes down almost to her knees, swallowing her like a big, gray cloak.

“She’s all wet.” Troy strides to the gas fireplace and switches it on.

I take in her wet hair, her smudged make-up, her gray eyes looking bigger than ever.

This isn’t a girl who called to fuck. This is a girl who needs to be taken care of.

“Bathroom.” I grab her hand and start to lead her down the hall.

“B-bathroom?” She digs in her heels.

“Yes. You’re shivering, Danica.”

Troy follows behind. I take Danica through my room, and soon the three of us are standing in the master bathroom.

“This is not what I expected when I texted you.” Danica peers around the spacious area. The bathroom is done in light gray tile with black accents. Boring, but I never have company over, so I never cared.

I turn on the tap to start the shower while Troy gets towels out of the cabinet. I face Danica. “Lift up your arms.”

She squints at me. “Why?”

“So we can get the hoodie off.”

“Do you bathe all your hook-ups before fucking?” She lifts her arms.

“Who says you’re a hook-up?” I lean in close and tug up the hem of Troy’s sweatshirt.

She smells like alcohol.

Once I get the hoodie off of her, I lean in again and inhale. “What were you drinking, angel?”

“Tequila.”

“How much did you have?”

“Enough.”

I think back to last night. Her furious family. The way her face crumpled when she ran away from them.

She’s here to forget. She’s running from all the bad feelings in her mind and heart.

And she came to us.

The fucking irony of it, that she ran straight to the enemy for comfort.

“Sweet princess.” I kiss her cheek and reach behind her for the zipper on her dress. Her skin is cool against my fingertips. We need to get her warmed up as fast as possible. “You’re not a hook-up. Not tonight.”

“Then what am I?”

“You’re you. And you’re running from some pretty big feelings.”

I guess I would know, since I feel too much .

She scowls. Probably because she knows I’m right.

“I want you to fuck me because you want me. Not because I’ll help you cope with other shit in your life, but because you want me .”

Her scoff would be cute if she wasn’t so infuriating.

“Think about it, princess. Take a shower. Get warm.” I kiss her forehead, then gesture for Troy to follow me.

We leave her in the bathroom to take her shower.

I prop myself against the door and pretend I can’t hear her crying.