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CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX

I SHOULD’VE LET Drago have her.

Would’ve been the easy thing to do. Just drag Lucy’s stubborn ass out into the main room, toss her at his boots like an offering, and stand back while the bastard unleashed hell. He was already half gone, fury burning behind his eyes, hands twitching for blood. This little stunt of hers? It wasn’t just reckless. It was a goddamn death sentence with a bow on top.

But I didn’t.

Couldn’t.

I stood there, fists clenched at my sides, staring at her like I hadn’t already made up my mind. She was trembling, not from fear, but from rage. From defiance. That fire still lit behind those too-blue eyes, the kind of fire that didn’t give a damn who it burned, even if it meant going down with the flames. She looked up at me like she didn’t regret a single fucking thing.

She should’ve been afraid.

Of Drago. Of me .

Zeynep stood frozen across the room, wrapped in silence like a blanket, her wide gaze cutting between us, pleading without a single sound. Don’t let him kill her. That was what she was saying, plain as day.

I bit down hard, jaw tight enough to crack bone as I raked a hand through my hair and exhaled through my nose, deep and loud. My stare dropped to Zeynep, harsh and cold, because I needed her to stay fucking quiet.

“Shut your mouth,” I snapped, pointing my finger at her. “Not a word. You hear me?”

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t nod. But she heard. Her silence stretched between us like a thread drawn taut. That girl had learned the hard way what silence cost—and what it could save.

Turning back to Lucy, I grabbed her arm, rough and without apology. She stumbled, cursed, fought like a damn wildcat, nails digging at my wrist, heel catching my shin. Didn’t matter. I was stronger, meaner, and fucking enjoying her fight.

“You tryin’ to die tonight?” I hissed, my voice a rasp against the shell of her ear as I yanked her forward. “Because that’s what’s waitin’ for you out there if you keep actin’ like a crazed bitch.”

She froze. Just like that, all that fury stilled, her breath hot and ragged against my neck, chest heaving like she’d just realized she was standing on the edge of a cliff, no wings, no way back.

Good.

I dragged her out, the door slamming shut behind us with a finality that rattled the walls. Zeynep wouldn’t talk. Not if she valued what little safety her silence bought her friend. Drago had trained her real good to follow orders.

Lucy, though? Lucy was a whole different kind of hell.

She twisted in my grip as I hauled her down the hall, her boots skidding on the wood, her shoulder slamming into the wall as she struggled. Didn’t care. I wasn’t stopping. Not until I had her somewhere the rest of the club couldn’t get to her, especially Drago.

My room was dark, lit only by the flicker of the hallway light as I kicked the door shut behind us. Lucy stumbled forward and whipped around, her hair a mess, her eyes blazing hot with fury and fire.

“You think this is saving me?” she bit out, voice sharp enough to cut skin. “You’re not a hero, you son of a bitch. You’re just keeping me for yourself.”

I stepped into her space, slow and deliberate, bracing one hand on the doorframe beside her head. “And ain’t that better than bein’ dead?”

She didn’t answer. Not with words.

Her mouth trembled with the urge to scream, her fists clenched like she wanted to swing. But she didn’t, and that said everything. She understood.

I leaned in close, low enough that my breath stirred the loose strands around her face. “Here’s how this is gonna work, love. You keep your pretty mouth shut, sit that fine ass down, and don’t pull any more of your goddamn stunts. You stay put until I figure out how to sneak your stubborn ass off club grounds.”

She glared up at me, defiant to the end. “And then what?” she asked, softer now, like she didn’t already know.

“I don’t think I need to answer that,” I smirked, my eyes traveling down her body.

I didn’t have an exit strategy or even a clue where I’d hide her, but I’d made my move. Claimed something that wasn’t mine to take, and now?

Lucy will be right where she belongs.