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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

GIA

Skyla pulls the cigarette from her lips, the end growing bright red against the streaks of orange crossing the sky just above the lake. “This entire thing is a massive mess. I don’t think we’re safe here.”

I bite the inside of my cheek as I lean against the oak railing beside her and look out at the small waves from the soft breeze, a thin layer of snow coating the yard. “I don’t think we’re going to be safe here either. It’s been too quiet for the last two weeks.”

“I know.” Skyla takes another drag of the cigarette before holding it out to me.

Taking it between two fingers, I press the end to my lips, taking a deep inhale and holding it before blowing out the smoke in rings. “You know, I stopped smoking years ago. The last few weeks have me thinking that I should be taking it up again.”

“This is all going to be over before you know it, and then it’s going to be nothing but a bad memory.”

I shrug a shoulder, flicking the ash over the railing. “I know I should be thinking like that, but I know my brother. He’s crazy and he’s going to stop at nothing to get what he wants.”

“And you think Royce isn’t aware of that?” She plucks the cigarette from my fingers, the cherry glowing brighter when she takes a deep drag.

“It’s not that I don’t think he knows.” My tongue flicks out over my bottom lip, wetting it as the chilly wind tries to dry it out. “He cares about Bianca. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at her, but there’s also the matter of his loyalty. When push comes to shove, would he give up everything for her?”

“It might come to that.”

“I need you to promise me that you’ll take care of Bianca when Noah tracks us down again. I need you to take her and run. Disappear off the face of the earth if you have to. I just want to know that my baby is going to be safe.”

Skyla puts out the cigarette and turns to face me. “Nothing is going to happen to her. I would die before I ever let anyone lay a finger on her.”

“Do you think Aiden is going to feel that way, though?”

Her lips press into a thin line, her gaze darting away from mine. Red-painted fingernails drum against the wood.

“That’s what I thought.” I rake a hand through my hair, glancing at the house where Royce and Bianca are still sleeping inside.

“I’m sure that everything will be fine eventually. We’re just going to have to walk through hell first to get to the other side.”

“And that’s what worries me the most.”

“It’s why you kept her from us, wasn’t it?”

I give her a wry smile. “Among other reasons, but I know what the Lynde family is. You and your siblings may be friendly enough, but I would be an idiot to forget that you’re all ruthless and bloodthirsty.”

“Ellie isn’t.” Skyla’s mouth twitches as pushes off the railing and stands tall. ‘I’m not going to let anything happen to Bianca though. I hope you know that. Aiden may not take too kindly to this, but he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her either. She’s family.”

“But I’m not.” I blink rapidly, trying to clear the tears gathering at the corner of my vision. “I’ve never been family and there’s no guarantee that Aiden isn’t going to kill me if he thinks it will benefit him in some way or another, which means that if shit goes sideways, I need to run, and I need to know that Bianca is going to be safe until I can come back for her.”

“Do you really think it will be that bad?” Skyla tucks her hands into the pockets of her corduroy coat, shrinking back into the collar as the wind picks up and snow begins to fall.

“I don’t think it’s going to be good. Nobody has been able to find Noah or his men for the last two weeks while we’ve been up here.”

Skyla eyes me like she doesn’t quite believe me. “You have other reasons for thinking that he’s got to be planning something right now, don’t you?”

“Zoe has been sending me some cryptic texts. Things that don’t really make sense and it’s clear she’s holding back to avoid saying too much in case someone is tracking her messages, which means that we’re going to have a big problem on our hands. Zoe is one of the few people Noah trusts. She and Jace are pretty much it.”

“Do you think she’s double-crossing your brother? I could have Summer or Jade try to get close to her. Both of them are back home. They might be able to get her out.”

“She wouldn’t go with you right now even if you tried to get her. She believes in what Noah’s doing to a degree. She might change her mind if he hurts me or Bianca, but the fact that she’s even trying to get a message to us is a miracle.”

Skyla nods, taking in the information, the look in her eyes distant. “You’re uneasy about all of this.”

“Right now, I don’t know who to trust beyond you and Royce.”

Her sigh fills the silence that stretches between us. “There’s going to be a time where you have to decide if you’re with us or against us, and you won’t be able to keep a neutral position on anything happening, you know that, right?”

I huddle closer to the house, pulling my arms in close to my body. “I chose Royce the night I snuck out of Noah’s house.”

“Would you do it again?”

There’s a tight pull in my chest at the question, but I nod. “I would do it a million times over if that’s what it took.”

“Would do what over?” Royce asks, stepping through the sliding door with a mug of coffee in his hand. “It’s too early for the pair of you to be up and scheming already.”

I force a smile and shrug. “I don’t think that it’s too early. There are plenty of things to scheme about and not nearly enough time to do it all.”

Though I know I should tell him about the messages from Zoe and the feeling that Noah is going to come for us sooner rather than later, I can’t. The words die on my lips as Skyla nudges me.

It’s too early to do this. Maybe I’m worrying about nothing.

Or maybe I’m not worried enough, and Noah is already lurking too close for my liking, waiting for his chance to strike.

Skyla clears her throat and heads for the door. “I’m going back in; the two of you should probably think about it too. It’s going to get a lot colder.”

Royce hums and sips his coffee, staring at me over the rim with questions lingering in his eyes. The corners crinkle as he lowers the mug. “You want to tell me what the two of you are doing out here this early in the morning?”

“I needed to talk to her. She wakes up early.”

He sighs and puts the mug to the side on one of the little tables, stepping closer to me and invading my space. I glance down at the joggers he wears, the outline of his cock visible.

“Don’t even think about it,” he says with a chuckle, fingers pressing beneath my chin and forcing me to look up at him. “I’m not a piece of meat you can objectify whenever you want, Gia.”

“Damn it,” I say, tone teasing as I lean into him, trying to capture the easy feeling that used to be between us back in the day. “I was thinking that dragging you back upstairs and spending the rest of the day in bed would be a good idea.”

He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear before his lips brush over mine. “Why don’t you tell me what it is that’s bothering you?”

I pull away from him, brushing by to walk into the house. “I would rather talk about it inside. It’s cold out here.”

“Alright.” He grabs the mug and follows me inside, glancing at the fire already going in the fireplace. “Did you start that?”

“Skyla must’ve before she went back upstairs.” I shed my coat and boots, heading for the kitchen as my stomach lets out a terrifying growl. “What do you want for breakfast? I was thinking that pancakes would probably be a good idea.”

He follows me, pulling out the ingredients we need from the pantry while I grab the ones from the fridge. “Gia, you can’t dodge the question forever. I can tell that something is bothering you and there’s nothing I can do to help if you’re not willing to tell me what it is. And I do want to help, you know that, right? After all of this, I’m not going to sit by and let you go through whatever is going on in your head alone.”

I pull out a large white mixing bowl and set it on the counter with a dull thud. “I know.”

“Then talk to me.”

“I’ve been getting messages from Zoe. They don’t make much sense. Most of them are fragments of sentences at best, but the general gist of them is that Noah is getting close to making whatever move he’s been planning.”

Royce comes over and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me back against him as I measure out the dry ingredients. “My family has it under control.”

“I don’t think they do.” The lump in my throat makes it hard to speak as I lean into his touch. “I know that you have faith in your family, but Noah is something else entirely. He’s a monster at best.”

Royce stiffens, his lips pressing against my temple, though the movement feels mechanical. “He and I are the same person. You do realize that, don’t you?”

“At the end of the day, you’re nothing like him. You might both be bloodthirsty and ruthless, but I’ve seen you care for others. You have compassion. There are lines you aren’t willing to cross—even if they are few and far between—but I can’t say the same for him.”

“My family is going to be here in the morning, and then we’ll take care of everything,” Royce says, his tone firm as he glosses over what I just said. “We’re going to have a meeting and figure everything out.”

I scowl and wriggle free of his embrace, slamming a pan down onto the stove. “I don’t like how overly confident you’re being while brushing me off.”

“I’m not trying to brush you off. I know you think your sister is warning you, but none of the Lynde organization has picked up any rumors of Noah being anywhere near us.”

“You didn’t know he was back in New York for a long time either and look at where that’s led you!” I heat up some butter in the pan, waiting until it’s sizzling before spreading it around to coat the bottom.

Royce pours batter into the pan. “Gia, I’m trying to help here. You trust me, don’t you?”

The question makes me freeze in place. I trust him with my life, but to see blind spots within his own family? I’m not so sure that I do.

He could say one thing because he wants to believe the best in them while an entirely different thing could be happening behind the scenes.

“Gia, do you trust me?”

“Yes,” I say without hesitation. “I trust you, but it’s going to take more than trust to keep us alive.”

“I care for you more than I’ve ever cared for anyone else. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or our daughter.”

With a shuddering breath, I nod. “I know you do, and I care about you, which is why all of this is so hard. I don’t want to be the person who comes in between you and your family, but it feels like we aren’t going to be left with much of a choice soon.”

He cups my face in his big hands, his calluses rough against my skin. “Nobody is going to come between us because the choice is you, Gia. It’s always been you, even when I walked away.”

“You see the irony in that?”

Royce smirks and rolls his eyes, his hands dropping. “You don’t have to be a smart-ass all the time. You could’ve just let me have my moment.”

I lean against the counter, the stone edge digging into the back of my hips. “And if I let you continue to have this moment of yours, what else would you’ve said?”

“I would’ve told you that I’m tired of fighting against you and have been for a long time.” He steps closer to me, hands landing on the counter on either side of my body. “I would tell you that I keep thinking about what a future would look like between us, and I want it.”

“And what happens in this future?”

“I was thinking we would get a house with a massive art studio for you. Maybe even a gallery somewhere in the city if that’s what you want. We could have more kids, but that’s a full discussion we need to sit down and have later when this is all over.”

“I want more kids.”

The corner of his mouth tips upward. “Well then, maybe we should start practicing.”

“Yeah, you could use a little practice. Your tongue game has gotten weaker.”

He arches an eyebrow, the look in his eyes both a warning and a promise. “Is that so?”

With a smug smile, I nod and dart out beneath his arm, rushing to the pancakes and flipping them before they can burn. “It is.”

Desire burns in his eyes as he advances on me again, snagging me around the waist and pulling me flush against his body. Heat pools in my core as he kisses me, chasing away all the worry in my mind at least for the time being.

Until the screaming comes from outside.

Royce grabs me by the shoulders gently. “You need to get upstairs and get to Bianca. Keep her safe and locked up.”

“You can’t go out to whatever is going on out there alone,” I say, voice breaking as shots ring out. “Royce, he found us. There’s nothing you’re going to be able to do on your own.”

“It might just be a scout like the last two I found, but either way, get upstairs and get Bianca.”

Nodding, I turn and fly up the stairs, passing Skyla on her way down with a gun in her hand.

I tear into Bianca’s bedroom and pluck her out of the crib, cradling her close to my chest as I rush into the bathroom.

She watches me with wide eyes as I set her in the tub. “Mama, up.”

“Not right now.” I smile and run my hand over her hair. “You’re going to stay here for a little bit.”

I head back into the bedroom and grab the thick duvet off the bed before dragging it into the bathroom.

It takes a moment to get the blanket stuffed into the tub, but it’s enough to provide some extra padding for Bianca.

With a deep breath, I close the door and dive to the floor, reaching under the bed and pulling out a locked box. Opening it, I take out the gun inside and head to the window.

There are three people in the front yard with Royce and Skyla, but they’re advancing on the house. They’ve got Royce trapped behind a car and Skyla seems to be trying to go around the outside, but another man is sneaking up on her.

As quietly as I can, I shove the window open and lean out, taking aim at the man behind Skyla. My finger wraps around the trigger as blood rushes in my ears.

The rest of the world falls away as I take the shot, the man stumbling back a couple steps.

Skyla whirls around and shoots him between the eyes before nodding up at me.

Royce turns for just a moment to glower at me as I fire off another shot at the men approaching him.

One of them turns to the window, taking aim.

The bullet pings off the glass as I dive out of the way, rushing back into the bathroom with Bianca. She smiles and pulls at the tassels on the end of the blanket, not a care in the world.

“Mama is going to sit in there with you.”

Now that the men know I’m up here, they’re going to have me cornered. Running out the back is only going to take me straight into the lake. Though it isn’t frozen yet, there’s no way I would be able to go anywhere with the small rowboat tied to the dock.

And if I run out the front door, we’re going to die.

Which leaves me huddling in the bathtub, my arms wrapped tight around her as I sink down into the blanket, the gun still beside me.

More gunshots crack through the air outside, and some hit the side of the house from what I can hear.

When it finally goes silent, I listen for the sound of boots on stairs, but none come. I count the minutes, waiting until I surpass five before getting out and putting Bianca back in the tub.

Though I don’t want to leave her alone, there’s nobody in the house and it’s silent outside. Royce hasn’t come for us and neither has Skyla.

A dark pit opens in the bottom of my stomach as I run down the stairs and to the front door, opening it a crack to see outside.

Royce is lying in the middle of the yard, his arm flung out to one side, blood seeping from where it looks like a bullet grazed him.

And at the bottom of the front stairs in a crumpled heap is Skyla, blood turning the snow around her cherry red.