Page 50 of Wicked Games (Silvercrest U #1)

Xave pulls his sleeves down so his hands are covered and reaches into the guy’s back pocket to pull out a wallet. He tosses it to Jax, then quickly pats him down and pulls a phone out of his left front pocket.

Jax takes the phone from him and Xave rolls the body over, being careful not to touch any part of it with his bare hands. We won’t be calling the police to deal with this, but it’s still better to not contaminate the scene with our DNA if we can help it.

The guy looks like he’s in his mid-to-late forties with a dark buzz cut and no distinguishing features or marks that I can see. He’s wearing head-to-toe black, and his rifle is top of the line, but nothing about the hit is screaming highly trained professional.

“Anything?” I ask.

Jax doesn’t look up from where he’s rooting through the guy’s wallet. “Depends if he’s carrying his real ID or not, but he’s got a full identity in here. ID, credit cards, cash, even a few store reward cards and some stamps from a fast-food place.”

“Then it’s probably legit.” Xave pulls his phone out. “What kind of moron carries his real ID when he’s trying to off someone?”

“Either a professional who got cocky or someone who lied on their résumé.” I lower my gun. There’s no way this fucker is getting up with a bullet in his chest and another in his stomach. Xave’s double tap was accurate, as usual.

“Nice shots,” I say belatedly.

He tosses me a grin and hands his phone to Jax. “Nice run.”

Jax takes it and glances at the display screen before putting it to his ear. “Hey, Dad, it’s me,” he says after a beat of silence. “Yeah, I’m on Xave’s phone. We have a situation.”

I hold Xave’s gun out to him. “All good?”

Now that I know the threat has been neutralized and it’s being called in, I need to check on Felix.

He nods and takes it. “Go ahead.”

Leaving them to deal with the call and the body, I hurry back to the car.

Jace is sitting sideways on the back seat, his feet on the ground. Felix is kneeling in front of him, a mess of used first aid supplies scattered around them.

“Did you know your guy is a bona fide Florence Nightingale?” Jace asks when he sees me. “Cleaned me right up and bandaged it like a pro.”

“Where did you learn how to do that?” I kneel beside them and check out his handiwork.

The gauze he wrapped around the wound is tight and clean, and most of the blood has been scrubbed from his upper arm.

“Took a lot of first aid classes when I was training to be a lifeguard.” His voice is monotone, but his eyes are full of emotion as he glances at me.

“You were a lifeguard?” I ask stupidly.

“No, but I took all the courses to be one.” He starts cleaning up the ripped-open packages littering the ground around his feet. “Guess it stuck.”

His hands are shaking, and I gently cover them with mine.

He stops trying to clean up and looks at me. “Are you okay? You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine,” I assure him. “Come on. Let’s go over there for a bit.”

“Why?” He doesn’t try to stop me as I gently pull him to his feet.

“No reason.”

I don’t want to tell him it’s to get him away from the bullet holes and blood. We might be used to this kind of thing, but as far as I know, Felix isn’t.

He’s held himself together so far, but the shock is only going to last so long, and I don’t want him surrounded by reminders of what happened when it wears off.

“Thanks for fixing me up, kid.” Jace stands and smacks a kiss against Felix’s forehead. “You go with Killer, okay?”

He nods woodenly but lets me tug him away from the car. “He realizes I’m only a year younger than him, right?”

“Yeah, but think of it like someone else calling their friends hun or sweetie. It’s a term of endearment for him.”

“Yeah, kid is better. Hearing him call anyone hun or sweetie would be terrifying,” he says in that same faraway monotone.

“Look at me,” I say when we’ve stopped.

He lifts his gaze, and I see the exact moment he shuts down and all the emotion fades from his eyes and is replaced with that blank look that’s all too familiar.

Instead of trying to snap him out of it, I tug him against my chest and hold him.

He clings to me and presses his face into my neck.

“Don’t ever do that again,” he whispers.

“Do what?” I ask, my gut twisting.

I don’t need him to tell me I fucked up and we should have been prepared for this. We know someone is after him, and we got careless. I got careless, and this is all my fault.

“Run into danger like that.” He squeezes me so hard he forces the breath out of my lungs. “Not for me.”

“Sorry, can’t promise that.” My voice is thin since he’s still squeezing me, making it hard to pull in a breath. “I protect what’s mine.”

He lifts his face out of my neck and glares at me, some of his fire back. “So do I, and in case you haven’t figured it out, you’re mine . And I’ll kill you myself if something happens to you because you tried to save me.”

I can’t stop my smile, and that just makes him glare harder.

“You think I’m joking?”

“No,” I tell him. “I know you’re not. I’m just loving this side of you. My angry kitten.”

The corner of his lips ticks up a few times, like he’s fighting his own smile. “This isn’t a joke.”

“I’m not joking. I know you think me calling you kitten is some sort of insult, but it’s not.

” I put my lips next to his ear and lower my voice.

“I call you that because you remind me of a feral cat. You’re either completely indifferent and judgmental as hell, or you’re all claws and teeth and ready to tear into anyone who gets in your way.

It takes a bit of work to get you to retract the claws or put the indifference away, but that just makes it so much sweeter when you do. ”

“No fair,” he grumbles. “I’m trying to be mad at you, and you’re saying all these nice things so I can’t stay mad.”

I huff out a laugh and drop a kiss just under his ear. “Just calling it like I see it.”

Jax breaks away from where he’s standing with Xave and Jace and jogs over to us.

“Team should be here in ten,” he says.

I nod. I want to ask if they’ve figured anything else out, but I keep quiet. I don’t want to hide things from Felix, but he’s not in the right frame of mind to hear that conversation right now.

Jax looks between me and Felix, then gives us a quick smile and jogs back over to his brother and Xave.

“Team?” Felix asks and rests his cheek on my shoulder.

I rub my cheek over his temple, my chest and stomach clenching as I remember the moment I saw that laser sight on him.

If Jace hadn’t gotten to him in time…

“The guys who’re going to clean this mess up and get us the fuck out of here,” I tell him, shoving those thoughts out of my head.

He doesn’t say anything, but the slight tightening of his arms around me is reassuring.

True to their word, two of my uncle’s helicopters touch down exactly ten minutes later.

I herd Felix onto the one that’s going to get us the hell out of here, and we’re joined by the others as soon as they’re done giving the team a rundown of what happened.

The ride to my dad’s house is silent, but it’s pure chaos the moment we touch down on the helipad.

Another team of staff is waiting, and they swarm us the moment we get off the helicopter.

The twins and Xave are immediately met by their concerned mothers, but Jasmine is nowhere to be found.

My aunts assure us that our dads are aware of everything and are on their way home from an impromptu business meeting and everything will be dealt with when they’re back.

I don’t let Felix out of my sight, refusing to let go of him for more than a few seconds the entire time I’m giving my reports and getting the cuts on my neck and shoulders from the shattering glass cleaned up.

Everyone notices, but no one says anything. I have no doubt I’ll have to explain everything to my dad when he gets home, but that’s a later problem.

After what feels like forever, Felix and I are finally alone, and I bring him to my room.

He’s been extra subdued, and he’s barely said a word since we landed. The shock is obviously wearing off, but there’s something else going on with him.

“Felix?” I ask, not sure how to help him.

He slides his gaze to mine but immediately drops it and stares at a point on the floor between us. “I have to go to the bathroom,” he mumbles.

“Yeah, okay.”

I don’t blame him for needing a few minutes alone but watching him walk into my ensuite is way harder than it should be.

While he’s in the bathroom, I sink down on the edge of my bed and let out a weary sigh. I came damn close to losing not just Felix but also Jace today, and the weight of it all comes crashing down on me in an instant.

Smash .

I jump up at the sound of shattering glass and race into the bathroom, my heart in my throat and Felix’s name on my lips.

The scene I rush into is not what I’m expecting.

Instead of finding Felix gone or lying in a pile of broken glass with an intruder standing over him, he’s in front of the shattered mirror.

“Felix?”

He turns to face me, and he looks completely wrecked. His eyes are red and wet with tears, and his cheeks are flushed pink. His hair is a mess, like he was yanking on the strands, and his sweater is in a ball in the corner of the room.

My eyes fall to his hands, and my heart skips a beat when I see the long shard of mirror clutched in his hurt hand. Blood is running off his knuckles and falling to the floor, mixing with the blood dripping down from his palm.

“Felix,” I say softly. “Talk to me.”

“Why?” His voice is filled with so much anguish and pain it’s hard to stand still and not run over to him.

I have no idea what he’s thinking and don’t want to risk him hurting himself if I do the wrong thing.

“What good is talking going to do when everything is falling down around me? How is talking going to help anything when this shit just keeps happening?”

“Please,” I say desperately. “Please just put that down, and we’ll figure this out.”

“You can’t figure this out,” he says miserably.

“Yes, I can. And I will.”