I stared at the shattered glass scattered across the floor, thinking of Selene.
The intel could never measure up to what I would have to clean up now. I shot my drink back, an unfamiliar annoyance seeping in.
Derrick leaned against the bar, studying me with a gaze that made most men uncomfortable. “Well,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “did you at least get off out of this clusterfuck? Seems like the least you could get for destroying your marriage.”
I shot him a look that would have made a lesser man wilt. “She wasn’t on me long enough for that, and she wasn’t skilled enough to make it happen in the few minutes she was. It was likewatching someone try to suck on a corn on the cob through a chain-link fence.”
Cassian snorted despite himself, then immediately sobered. “What the fuck, Alaric.”
Derrick held up his hands. “Alright. I get it. You didn’t enjoy it.”
“I was seconds away from shoving her off when Selene walked in.”
Cassian ran his fingers through his dark hair, exhaling slowly. “So what now? You can bet Coraline will run straight back to Darius and feed him bullshit story we’ve been feeding her these past ten weeks.”
“She’ll also be telling him what you just did to his daughter,” Derrick added.
Cassian’s eyes cut to me, furious and worried in the way only a brother can be because while he was unquestionably loyal to me, he cared about Selene like a sister. “What the fuck are we going to do about that,Adelfé?”
The question hung between us, heavy and damning. I’d watched the light die in my wife’s eyes, the woman I was meant to protect and respect, be replaced by something feral and wounded. I knew exactly what that meant. She’d spent a lifetime building walls around herself, and I’d just given her every reason to reinforce them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I peeled away Orpheum first, headlights slicing through the night. Cassian’s taillights appeared in my rearview, then Derrick’s, each of us retreating to our separate homes.
The highway stretched before me, an endless black ribbon. City lights blurred past—neon smears against darkness. My foot pressed the accelerator harder than was wise, but no speed could outpace the image burned into my brain of Selene’s face.
What I saw in her eyes wasn’t just pain. It was the collapse of something fundamental—a faith I hadn’t earned but she’d given me anyway. Most Dominion wives would have masked any hurt instantly. She hadn’t bothered, but Selene had been like most anything and that’s one of the reasons I married her.
My phone lit the darkness. Derrick. I declined the call, but seconds later came his text:She’s in the nursery. Angel called after she left to head home. She would have stayed I told her you two needed space.
I knew exactly where I’d find her—wrapped around our son like a fortress wall. Whenever Selene’s world shattered, she retreated to Nikolai’s side.
Never mine. And after tonight, perhaps never again.
The exit sign for our property materialized through the windshield. I cut the wheel hard, tires protesting as I took the turn at dangerous speed. Twenty minutes of winding roads later,our estate emerged from the darkness. We’d chosen this location precisely because no one approached without the Watchmen spotting them miles away.
The security gates parted at the recognition of my vehicle. Only then did I ease off the accelerator, guiding the car to a stop before killing the engine. I didn’t hesitate to get out and go in. I wasn’t going to pussyfoot around this.
The house was silent when I entered.
It was the kind of silence that meant everyone with sense had gotten as far out of sight as possible. I went straight upstairs to find her. I made it halfway down the hall toward the nursery before I saw Santos standing outside the door, posture rigid, hands behind his back like he was trying to hold himself together.
His eyes lifted when he heard me.
Santos’s voice cut through the silence like a knife. “She deserves a better man than who she saw tonight.”
I froze mid-step.
“She deserves better,” he repeated, voice dropping to a whisper that somehow carried more weight than a shout.
In three swift strides, I closed the distance between us. My face inches from his, close enough to feel his breath quicken. His head tilted back, but his eyes never wavered.
“Did I fucking ask for your opinion on my marriage, Santos?” The words came out as a soft warning.
His throat worked as he swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing, but his stance remained rigid. “With respect—.“
“There is no respectful version of that sentence. You work for her safety, not her emotions.”
