Page 35

Ronan

I watch as Selene takes a second shot of cheap tequila before placing the glass on the coffee table across from me. There’s a pile of rocks settled in the middle and I can’t tell if it’s décor or something more sinister. Either way, she’s curled up in the corner of the couch, glaring at Malik who’s slowly inching closer oblivious to her silent warning.

It’s almost comical, his puppy-like devotion clashing with her bared teeth, until she yanks a knife from her pocket and rears it back, ready to strike. I snatch her off the couch and pull her into my side before there’s a blood-fueled sex fest right in front of my eyes. As fun as that would be, we don’t have the time and I can see in her eyes that she doesn’t have the energy.

“Easy,” I push out, watching as Dante slides onto the couch and clamps an arm around Malik’s shoulders to hold him in place. Only when Malik settles do I let Selene go, the glare she gives me chilling my soul. “So, what’s with the rocks, sweetheart?”

If looks could kill, I’d be filleted like one of her victims. Using sweetheart in this instance probably wasn’t the best choice of words. She lets out a little grunt of frustration before nodding to the pile of rocks on the table.

“I was going to handle this bullshit by myself,” she sighs, “but yes, whoever killed that other guy on the strip and now Hansley has been in my ear. He threatened to out me and I kinda liked the chase a little bit before it got weird. And then he sent me a rock as a present.” She points to a small one. “And then the rest were in here when I came back from the store. I only noticed because he fucking touched all my furniture. I killed the mayor’s son for him.”

Dante hums as he tilts his head to the side, studying her. “Is that why you wrote ‘I’m sorry’?”

“Yes, because he wasn’t mine to kill. He cheated. A lot. So goddamn much. But he didn’t abuse anyone and that death wasn’t made for him.”

“Princess, I would have protected you,” Dante sighs as he rakes a hand through his hair, his eyes searching hers.

She lets out a sharp laugh, her hand slamming down on the table. “I didn’t fucking know that you knew, about me or who Malik was until recently!” A lesser woman would break down right now. She’d be in tears, terrified of what’s going to happen but Selene just looks pissed. She’s literally vibrating from anger, watching as Malik slides off the couch and starts rearranging the rocks.

“Sparrow, it’s you. It spells Anabella.”

Suddenly, Dante’s more alert, kneeling beside Malik, his brows furrowed with a mixture of confusion and rage. “Jesus Christ. Selene, what does this guy call you?” Selene doesn’t answer and he growls at her, his hands fisting on the coffee table. “Does he call you Doe or Bella?”

“How the fuck do you know that?” she asks.

I brace myself for Dante or even Malik to fly off the handle, but neither one happens. Dante falls back against the edge of the couch, dragging a hand down his face. “Do you not remember the kid we grew up with? The one who called you Bella, followed you around. Told you that you were his forever love?”

Selene’s face contorts with the memories she’s dredging up, a mixture of anger, disgust, and then horror. “Do you mean Blaze? That weird kid down the street?”

This is all because of some childhood game? That seems like a stretch. “So, some weirdass childhood vendetta or a game that never ended? That’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?”

Dante shakes his head, his shoulders falling in defeat. “I wish but he’s like Malik turned up to an eleven. We weren’t even ten or twelve. But he was a nightmare.” He pauses, his gaze falling on Selene beside me. “Selene, I’m surprised you don’t…”

She cuts him off, her hand slashing in the air to silence him. “I don’t remember a lot from that time. Forgive me if Blaze wasn’t my first idea of whoever the mysterious caller might end up being.”

I look at each of them sitting around me, mulling over all of the information I pulled together this morning. “But how does this relate to the list?” Selene glares at me and I wonder how much she knows, if anything at all. I guess Dante didn’t let her in on it. “There’s been people showing up here for weeks, hitmen with one mission. I only recently found out they were here for you. It’s some goddamn list that’s circulating.”

She barks out a laugh. “That’s stupid. This isn’t the movies.”

“Says the girl who kills people for a living,” I throw back. “Look, all I know is that you’re near the top or at the top of that list but this Blaze guy is a completely different dynamic, an added one. I don’t know what he wants with you other than just to play, which seems like a load of bullshit.” It doesn’t add up. Blaze’s reasoning—at least what Selene gave us to work with—is shoddy at best.

Malik shimmies away from Dante, moving to sit beside Selene. “Well, we can’t leave my sparrow here. It’s not safe.”

Dante hums his agreement. “Can you pack a bag? You can stay with us as we figure all this bullshit out.”

“I don’t need protection,” Selene pushes out as she stands up. “Besides, all my shit is here.” I know she’s talking about her trophies but in this moment, I’m leaning more toward Dante and Malik than Selene’s stubbornness. She lets out a little growl when Dante opens his mouth. “No, none of you are staying here either. I’ve been taking care of myself for this long. No one’s going to take me out like a goddamn hitman.”

I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen people hunted. Hell, I hunt people.

“Selene, don’t argue with me, not now. I get that you can take care of yourself and that you’ve been on your own for far longer than you should have had to. But this isn’t a world you understand. This is my world, Ronan and Malik’s world and I can tell you that it’s far darker than you could imagine. Just this once, don’t fight me, okay?”

Selene sinks back down, narrowing her gaze at Dante and then just shrugs. “Sure. Whatever. Fine. ”

It was not fine.

Selene lasted a few hours at the house before saying she needed a drink. Then she dragged Malik to the bar after Dante pleaded with her to take someone as he disappeared to the precinct. It was fine for a while and then it wasn’t when she started slamming back shots, taunting some of the regulars with her flirtatious grins and tight ass shirt and painted on jeans that showed off every last curve she had.

And now, I’m just watching her tease them and myself while I stand behind the bar, trying not to crack the glass I’m currently cleaning. She’s a loose cannon, like Malik when his moods hit, all chaos and no leash. My instincts are screaming at me to drag her out and save her from herself, this wild outburst something that both makes sense and doesn’t.

Malik’s perched on Dante’s regular stool, sipping a glass of water as he watches the chaos unfold. However, I have no idea why the fucker is smiling. “Why the fuck are you smiling like that?”

Malik’s grin widens as he turns his attention to me. “Watching you break is fun. You’re going to save her, aren’t you?”

I snort, rubbing my hand across my jaw, the stubble rough under my fingers. “She can handle herself but she’s not being smart. I don’t know what Dante said to tick her off but I can’t see this as the same woman who…” I trail off, not wanting to say those words aloud in case someone overhears.

“That’s the fun part. She’s so dynamic.”

“That’s such a strange way to put it,” I mutter, my eyes narrowing as Selene slaps a regular’s chest, her grin challenging him to do more than look. I can’t even blame my savior complex on wanting to pull her away. No, this is all desire and jealousy, the need to claim a woman that’s not even mine. Worse, I can’t tell if this is some psychotic break or if she’s just acting out because she can. “Fuck it,” I grumble, leaving my spot and stalking over to her.

I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her back against my chest, reminding me of the first time we met. She twists around, a sloppy grin on her lips. “Oh hey! It’s the wolf. Nice to have you join us. I was just hanging with these lovely men. Well, Nicolai said he’d take me home.”

“If you need to be fucked,” I purr in her ear so that only she can hear me, “you have three guys who can deliver that so much better than any of the riffraff in this bar.”

And that’s when I realize this was all a ploy to drag me out of the shadows.

“ Prove it. ”

“You’ve been fucked more times in the last several days than people usually do in weeks. Aren’t you tired?”

She shimmies out of my arms, wiggling her ass a little more than necessary. “If you aren’t game, I have several men lined up for the taking.”

Yeah, that does it. I roughly reach around to grab her chin, pulling her face to face with me, her lips a breath from mine. “None of them are touching you, sweetheart. Office. Now.”

Her grin widens as she leans forward to steal a kiss before heading down the back hallway, Malik following a second later. God, this woman is going to fucking ruin me.