Page 42 of Thorns of Desire

He simply shrugged. “I’m too old to be climbing windows, playing Romeo.”

I slapped a hand to my forehead. “Let me deal with my friends, you can make your own way out of here. And that means through thewindow—don’t even think about going back the way you came.”

EIGHTEEN

MANUEL

I’d thought I’d come and teach her a lesson, but the plan had quickly changed. So here I was, hiding in her closet while she tried to get rid of her friend. I couldn’t believe the woman actually convinced me to hide in her closet. It was a first, even for me.

Cazzo,what the fuck was happening to me?

Just a few encounters with her and she’d already buried herself deep beneath my skin. I didn’t know what the fuck I was going to do with her, but I knew I had to protect her. Surprisingly, it bothered me seeing Athena distressed. I ran my tongue across my teeth, the tension in my body refusing to release.

The closet door opened and I met Athena’s gaze. She was wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt, that was slipping off her shoulder, looking entirely too innocent to be the offspring of Alexandra and Atticus or a victim wrapped up in some twisted revenge scheme by the Triads.

“Okay, out the window you go,” she pouted.

I let out a dry breath.

“I don’t think so.” Her floral scent made my head feel fuzzy. The woman must be working some charms on me. “We need to talk.”

She wrapped her arms around her stomach as if to protect herself from what was to come, then tilted her chin defensively. “About?”

“About the Triads and why they’re after you?” Her connection to Atticus Popov couldn’t be the only reason they were out to get her. If he screwed them over, they’d be focused solely on him.

She frowned. “How should I know?”

I cupped her face and ran a thumb across her cheek. “If I am to protect you efficiently, you need to be honest with me, Athena. And trust me when I say, I will be very unhappy if you gain even a scratch under my watch.”

Her lips parted, a blush rising to her cheeks.

“Very romantic.” She rose to her tiptoes and breathed against my lips. “But I really don’t know. It only happened once before.”

Alert ran through my blood. “What happened?”

She blinked. “What?”

I leaned in to nip her bottom lip to keep her distracted. “The Triads’ attack. You said it happened once before.”

She shrugged but couldn’t hide the tension in her shoulders. Her fingers reached up, playing with the ends of my hair above my collar. “They attacked my mom, looking for some information. They kept saying she took something. I was just a kid back then, but it scared me.”

My posture remained unmoved but vehemence rumbled through me.

“What happened?” She remained silent for several heartbeats, and my fingers laced through her hair at the small of her back. “Tell me what happened.”

I watched her delicate neck move as she swallowed. “They came in the middle of the night and hurt Mama badly.” She lifted a shoulder, looking past me, and something about the look in her eyes gutted me alive. “After that, she couldn’t sing for a while.”

My thoughts shifted back to that day when I found some kid singing backstage while Alexandra lip-synched, and somehow it made sense. It had to be connected to this attack.

“And did they hurt you,amorina?”

Tension rolled through me, but I forced myself to relax, not wanting to scare her. She buried her face against my neck, making a soft noise of approval. Her body pressed against mine felt good, but I couldn’t help but think she was attempting to distract me.

“Tell me,” I demanded.

“They scared me,” she admitted. “Roughed me up a bit.” The fury that shot through me should have been my first warning that this fierce protectiveness toward her had gotten out of hand. “Up until that day, I’d hoped my dad would come and take us away.” Her voice was quiet, wistful. “But after, I never wanted to meet him. At least that wish came true.”

I wasn’t amused by her sarcasm.