When the innocence in Demi’s eyes prompts me on what my family meeting was about, I dig the photograph I snatched out of the blond agent’s hand earlier tonight before thrusting it in Saint’s chest. Justine’s welfare isn’t solely his responsibility, but since he seems to know a heap more about Dimitri than he’s letting on, I’ll pretend as if it is.
“When was this?” Saint’s voice is as rough as mine, his suspicion just as high.
“I don’t know. I was planning to ask you the same thing.”
Caidyn gives me a look, warning me to tread carefully but remains as quiet as a church mouse.
“Why the fuck would I know they went on a date?” Saint asks when my glare becomes too much for him to bear. “They could be friends.”
“Friends?Right. ‘Cause we all look at our friends like that...” My words trail off when I tap on Dimitri’s face in the obvious surveillance image. He isn’t looking at Justine like I do Demi. She’s getting more attention from the men surrounding her than Dimitri.
What the fuck?
Caidyn unearths the reason for my quiet when he peers down at the photograph Saint is clutching for dear life. “Leave it with me,” he says a couple of seconds later. When I attempt to fire off an objection, he shifts my focus back to Demi. “You’ve got more pressing matters to deal with than who our little sister dines with.” With the photograph shoved into his pocket and his hands on my shoulders, he guides me to Saint’s ride. “Get her out of here before they come looking.”
I fucking hate that we’re running like cowards, but sometimes running is the only solution.
Halfway into the driver’s seat, I call Demi’s name. When I’m awarded her eyes, I nudge my head to the passenger door Saint is holding open for her. “Are you ready?”
After nodding, she hugs Sloane like it could be the last time she’ll see her, then she does the same to my brothers. It’s stupid of me to feel jealous, so I won’t mention it.
“Look after him, Demi,” I hear Caidyn say a mere second before he closes the passenger door of Saint’s car, trapping Demi and me inside. “He isn’t the only brother I have, but he’s the only one I like.”
His mumbled comment swipes the uncomfortableness of our departure. It seems as if we’re going on vacation instead of hiding from a man who will torture me for hours before killing me, or worse, force me to watch him do the same to his niece.
“It’s really nice out here,” Demi mumbles on a yawn when I pull Saint’s car into the driveway carved along a mountain an hour out of Ravenshoe. “Has your family owned it for long?”
“This cabin doesn’t belong to my family. A friend of Caidyn’s said we could stay here as long as we need.”
“Oh.” Heat flashes across her cheeks like she suddenly feels stupid. “That’s smart. We probably shouldn’t stay somewhere associated with your family.”
Hating that she feels responsible for anything happening, I gather her hand in mine, raise it to my mouth, then press a kiss on the edge of her palm. “My brothers aren’t walking into this blindly, Demi. They know everything.”
She forcefully swallows. “Everything?”
With the ground dewy because of the late hour, it’s foolish of me to remove my eyes from the dirt road. I wouldn’t if I didn’t think my comfort was more vital to Demi than air in her lungs.
After tracking my index finger down her bruised cheek and across her plump lips, I mutter, “They know enough to know we made the right decision to get away for a couple of weeks. I’ll tell them the rest when the time is right.”
As much as I’d like to shelter her from her uncle’s world forever, I don’t see how I can do that and remain sane. My family is so close, I often forget we don’t come as a package deal.
I park Saint’s car next to the wood cabin’s front porch before switching off the ignition. “How about we talk about this more in the morning? I’m wrecked.” Emotionally more than physically, but I keep that to myself.
When Demi nods, I jog around to open her car door. I lost a part of who I am tonight, but that doesn’t mean the morals my parents instilled in me are forgotten. I can still be a gentleman.
“Thank you,” she whispers, shocked by my chivalry but also pleased.
Her bewilderment discloses I made the right decision putting her first. She’s never been given a single thing without an expectation attached to it. Not even the hours she put in at Petretti’s Restaurant were compensated. Col has her convinced even things that should be given willingly come at a cost—even love.
I’m just praying like fuck that isn’t the only reason she’s here. I killed for her, but it wasn’t because I want something in return. I did it in compensation for the years she was in the ring, fighting alone. I protected her from a bully once. From what I learned from Dimitri earlier today, she kept my family off her uncle’s radar for years.
My reimbursement is far from over.
How could it be when it’s only just begun?
20
Demi
