Page 95 of Killer Confections

“Christ,” Atlas mutters as he presses the heel of his hand into his eye.

“Was he the one that spoke to me back at the restaurant?” I ask.

Dom nods. “That’s him. If you see him again, you need toalert us right away. He seems to be targeting you specifically.”

“Security needs to be upped,” Atlas interjects. “If anything, we may have to do a lock down until everything is over.”

I frown. “A lockdown?”

Thalia groans. “No one in or out of the compound until Kai is found.”

My eyes widen, and I grab Atlas’s wrist. “How long could that take? I can’t leave the bakery!”

He gives me an apologetic look. “A few weeks. Maybe months.”

“I can’t do that to Janette,” I shake my head. “We don’t have enough staff…”

“It’s far too dangerous to let you go alone, baby,” Atlas says gently. “I hate saying no to you, but I refuse to put your life at risk.”

Realistically, I understand. I’m not so dense I would argue with an assassin about my wellbeing. Not to mention my presence at the bakery would make it a target. My staff have lives outside of their job and I don’t want them bringing home anything that could get them killed. If I have to stay away, I’ll make do.

I sigh. “Fine. I’ll call Janette and have her run impromptu interviews tomorrow morning. I’ll tell her something happened on vacation and I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

He nods agreement. “We’ll find him soon. Promise.”

Dom crosses his arms, staring out at the busy freeway in the distance. “This would be so much easier if Bailey had taken over the South syndicate instead of her cuck of a brother.”

Thalia smirks as Alana wiggles her brows. I’m confused, naturally, until the intel expert leans across the console to whisper in my ear. “Bailey is Kai’s younger sister. She was supposed to take over, but opted out of the syndicate so she could marry a surgeon. She’s been retired since Kai took over a few years ago, but Dom has always had amajorcrush on her.”

“Oh,” my brows lift and I feel like I’ve just been given thejuiciest gossip. “Wait, she’s married now?”

Alana shakes her head. “Long engagement. The wedding is in two years. Something about Bailey finishing her master’s degree before she ties the knot.”

I look over at Dom and really observe the assassin. He’s slightly smaller than Atlas, but just as intimidating in his dark jeans and black T-shirt that shows off his tattooed sleeves. He’s thickly muscled and honestly not a bad-looking guy with his dark hair and the light scruff on his jaw.

Hell, he probably has women beating his door down.

But there’s something about his eyes. The austere expression he wears like a mask is exactly that. Just a mask. Those moss green eyes of his look tired and there’s a deep sadness to them, like he’s experienced something gut-wrenching that changed his life for the worse and he never learned how to cope with it.

The hopeless romantic in me thinks it’s Bailey, but the more rational part of my brain convinces me he just needs a good night’s rest.

Atlas presses a tender kiss to my forehead before tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “We’ll follow you home. Stay between us, okay?”

“Okay,” I smile.

His thumb brushes my lips and his expression is so sincere and full of affection. “I love you, Short Stack.”

My brain short circuits as my eyes widen.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Loxley

The drive back home is eerily quiet. Mostly because I make it. Alana tries to strike up conversation, but it falls flat once she realizes I’m still lost in my mind.

Atlas said he loves me.

He said it earlier when I was leaving for Thalia’s, but I wasn’t thinking about it.