Page 98 of Retribution

But I let them lead me to the chair in the middle and sit me down. My hands curl around the armrests, holding on tightly as if that motion alone will stop me from launching myself over Sauvage’s desk and breaking his jaw.

The others sit as well.

‘Where is Daisy?’ Shade asks tightly and I see that he’s white knuckling the chair just as I am.

‘Safe. Now, the tale. Your stepsister came to me yesterday.’

‘No,’ Mav grinds out, ‘your goons kidnapped her off the street in front of our club!’

‘A misunderstanding,’ Sauvage says flippantly. ‘I wanted information about the destruction of the two labs, so I had her brought to me. But,’ he smiles almost wistfully, ‘she was there to be taken. She wished to see me. One of you told her that I was watching the building, perhaps?’

We all share a look. We did tell her that.

Sauvage’s smile widens.

‘She told me the truth about Envy.’ He shakes his head at Mav and tuts again. ‘Naughty children, lying tobon père.She is the chemist. Not you.’

Mav’s jaw tightens. ‘We were trying to protect?—’

‘Oui, oui, protect her from the ogre.’ His eyes harden. ‘But you forget the ones closer to home, yes?’

‘What are you talking about?’ Shade asks, fear in his voice.

‘She is under my protection now.’

‘What the fuck?’ Mav mutters. ‘What the hell is this? You can’tkeepher!’

‘I do not want to keep her,’ Sauvage laughs. ‘A man does notkeepsuch a woman.’ He chuckles harder while we all look on in silence and confusion. ‘A man can onlysurviveher.’ He snorts. ‘Or,men, perhaps.Ifthat is what you are.’

‘I don’t get it,’ I say, forcing the words out in some semblance of politeness I don’t feel. ‘Daisy is under your protection? Why? What do you care? Is this just about her making the drugs for you? You don’t need to keep her prisoner for that.’

The French fuck shrugs. ‘Perhaps it is just that she is a brilliant chemist. Or, perhaps, she reminds me of someone I once knew,’ he looks away, a small reminiscent smile playing on hislips. ‘An amoureuxa paramour. Someone who is lost to me now.’ He meets our eyes. ‘But she had the same fire. To see it go out,’ he shakes his head angrily. ‘Non. A travesty. I will keep her safe here. A secret.’

‘What do you mean, ‘a secret’?’ Shade asks quietly.

But Sauvage ignores his question. ‘She made Envy. A decent batch. She and I, we have a deal. She will?—’

There’s a timid knock at the door and Sauvage breaks off.

‘Come,’ he murmurs in the softest tone I’ve ever heard him use.

The door opens slowly, and then she’s there in front of us.

I’m up and over the chair before anyone else can act, pulling her into my arms tightly, feeling like a huge part of me that was missing has been instantly restored.

She’s shivering and gripping on to me for dear life. I realize she’s sobbing and my heart breaks.

‘What happened?’ I whisper brokenly. ‘What did he do to you?’

But she just cries harder, and I cast a look of hatred behind me at Sauvage.

The Frenchman is still sitting behind his desk. His smug condescension is gone. He looks…sad. He doesn’t speak, just watches us huddle around her, holding her, whispering that everything’s going to be okay now.

She doesn’t say a word, and when Mav pulls her away from me and into his arms, she lets him hug her for a moment before she goes to Shade for the same. I stand there in the middle of the room awkwardly, half wanting to grab her again and half wanting to throw myself toward the desk to tackle that asshole gangster to the ground.

But then she turns back to me and grips onto me again so tightly that it’s like she’s daring anyone to try to move her.

I swing her into my arms, and she buries her head in my chest. She’s still shuddering and crying, but her sobs havequieted now and, after a few minutes, she begins tracing the lines of the tattoo up the side of my neck with one fingertip.