Page 129 of The Devil's Thorn

I can’t breathe. Don’t want to. Because if I move, if Iblink,I’ll lose this moment—and I want to know how far I can push before it breaks.

He leans in. His forehead almost touching mine. His breath warm against my lips.

And I want him. God, I want him.

But I don’t give him the satisfaction of closing the gap. “I’m not your weakness,” I murmur, lashes low.

“No,” he says. “You’re my war.”

And just like that—The door unlocks.

I freeze. His hand drops away instantly. His posture straightens, expression hardens. The mask snaps back into place like it never fell.

“Raf, we got word from one of Viktor’s?—”

He stops. Dead. Mid-sentence.

Because I’m standing in front of Rafael. Close. Flushed. Eyes still burning. And Rafael?

He hasn’t moved a step away from me.

Behind Nikolai, Kellan and Ash barrel in. Kellan’s jaw tightens the second he sees me. Ash doesn’t say a word, but his hand rests on the butt of his weapon, eyes flicking between Rafael and me like he’s ready to burn the room down himself.

And Nikolai?

He just stares between us. Like he walked in on something he wasn’t supposed to see.

I don’t move. Neither does Rafael—not at first. But the heat between us dissipates the second Nikolai walks in like a storm barely held together. Kellan and Ash behind him, each of them radiating tension. Eyes cutting between us like they just walked into something they weren’t supposed to see.

And maybe they did, because Rafael wasclose. His hands were on my skin and there was still tension in the air.

Then Rafael steps back—not fast, but with that slow, deliberate grace only he can make look lethal. His eyes linger on mine for half a second longer than they should.

Then he turns to Nikolai. “What happened?” he asks, voice steady, cool. Like he hadn’t just been inches from my lips. Like his hands hadn’t just been on my face like he didn’t want to let go.

Nikolai’s gaze flicks between us one more time before answering. “Viktor’s men grabbed him and vanished through the service exit. We lost three of ours. Two of them are still unaccounted for. But Viktor—he’s alive. Wounded. But alive.”

My pulse hitches. Rafael doesn’t react right away. His jaw clenches, the only visible sign of emotion. Then he moves to the small bar and pours himself a drink like it’s any other fucking Tuesday night and not the aftermath of an ambush he barely survived.

“They planned this for a while,” he mutters. “Tested our security. Planted men inside.”

“They did,” Nikolai agrees, his voice low. “But they didn’t count onher.”

The silence that follows wraps around my spine like frost. Rafael’s back is to me, but I feel the weight of both their stares like a loaded weapon against my skin.

Kellan doesn’t speak. He stands to my right, rigid. Protective. His presence says everything his silence doesn’t.

Ash leans casually against the wall near the door, but his hand hasn’t moved from his weapon since he walked in.

“I want names,” Rafael says after a beat. “The ones still inside. I want to know who helped them, who opened which doors, who turned off which cameras.”

“You’ll have them.” Nikolai’s voice sharpens. “But what do you want done when we do?”

Rafael downs his drink in one shot, then turns. His eyes land on me again. I hold his gaze.

“Send a message,” he tells Nikolai. “One they won’t forget. But leave Viktor for me.”

There’s a pause.