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“Fuck,” Damon growls, and his hands slide up my arms. I clench my teeth to hide the wince when he touches the spot Thomas bruised. “Go straight home. I’ll meet you there.”
“I’m not a child, you know?”
A muscle ticks in his jaw, and his grip tightens momentarily. “Straight home.”
“Yes, Sir.” I smile, trying to put him at ease, but I know it doesn’t reach my eyes.
He kisses me deeply until my lungs burn and my head grows fuzzy.
I want to stay buried in his chest, wrapped in his arms. Safe.
But my past just came to remind me exactly why that’s impossible.
Chapter 34
Damon
Misty’s shoulders are folded in, making her already short frame smaller as her eyes dart around the room, looking for some unknown source of unease. I hate myself for dragging her here. I shouldn’t have let her leave my side.
I tighten the arm I have banded around her back, gently guiding her gaze back to mine, and lower my forehead to rest on hers. “You really hate it here?”
Her eyes widen before she releases a long breath. “I’m just tired. Between your mom and the crowd, all I can think about is crawling into my bed.”
“Our bed.”
A pink blush covers her cheeks, but she’s back to looking around the hall.
Men are rapidly disappearing from the room, heading to the meeting that’s about to start in the Vaults. Everything in me screams not to leave her like this. That whatever she is, it’s not fine. I’m about to tell Matthias to fuck off when Misty smiles gently at me and pulls out of my arms.
“Mrs. Everette. Are you ready?” Nicholas’s standing beside us, black suit impeccably pressed. If I didn’t know the truth, I’d think he was born to this.
“Yup. Let’s go.” She nods, but there’s a false levity to her tone.
There’s a look of concern and a silent promise that has the tension in my shoulders easing.
“Take care of my wife.”
“You know I will, sir.”
My fists clench at my sides as I watch them weave through the crowd, then disappear through the large double doors.
“I’m so fucking ready for this.” Bash appears out of nowhere, clapping his hands together. The curl of his lip and the gleam in his eyes are the opposite of Xander’s serious expression.
For the first time, I’m more interested in going home than I am in doling out punishment.
Matthias wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Burn off some of that anger before you go back to your wife.”
Fuck, he’s right. I crack my knuckles as anticipation buzzes in my veins. I’ll just have to make it quick.
The Everette hotel is one of the oldest in the city. Where the upstairs is newly renovated, the underlevels have been maintained in their original version.
I follow my brothers down the twisting marble staircase, grooves worn into it from the years of use. The entire place is lit by the soft glow of sconces that line the sides. Noise filters up to us before we reach the bottom, men gossiping in whispered tones as they wait for us to arrive.
“Don’t forget this.” Bash tosses me my gold mask with a grin as he slides his on.
The three of them transform in front of me into men to be feared. Gone is the playfulness they show each other, morphed into a predatory display of dominance.
They keep their postures relaxed, an illusion to put you at ease, but there’s no mistaking the warning underneath.
