He must sense my hesitance because he reaches out and takes my hand with a comforting squeeze. “We have your back, just like you’ve always had Camilla’s.”
“Please don’t let them take me,” I whisper, the words as broken as my heart when I think of the boys I once loved.
“Never,” he swears. “You’re Camilla’s family, and that makes you our family. We won’t let any harm come to you. Ever.”
I want to believe him. I want to lean into the safety his words offer. But I’ve heard them before.
And if there’s anything I know about a promise like that, it’s how easily it can be broken.
CHAPTER FIVE
RYKER
NOW
My tattooed fingers tap against the steering wheel as I lean forward in my seat, looking up at the nondescript building Chloe’s car is parked in front of.
This woman makes being her bodyguard really fucking hard some days, but I suppose that could probably be solved by her knowing she had a bodyguard in the first place.
But Camilla insisted that if she found out, she would only make my job harder by insisting she didn’t need one, and my boss will kill me if I get myself fired.
I drag a hand through my ice-blond hair and sigh.
Chloe Weaver is an enigma.
Feisty and headstrong, she hides her fragility from the world. Ever since the first time I met her, I’ve longed to drag that side of her out, to give her a safe place to be the version of herself that she hides.
But once again, my boss would fucking end me if I ever laid a hand on her.
She doesn’t make it easy, though, keeping my distance and acting like nothing more than just another De Marco guard.
She’s been in there for too long.
She was only meant to drop the food off and then come straight home, and I hate the idea of her sitting upstairs with a bunch of criminals.
You’re a criminal,I remind myself.
Technically true, but I didn’t get that badge of dishonor from running drugs or selling arms.
I got it by killing the worst of the worst. Serial killers. Rapists. Pedophiles. And only when I’m certain of their crimes. If there’s even a shadow of doubt in my mind that someone didn’t do as they were accused, I don’t take the job.
I won’t have the blood of an innocent person on my hands.
Glancing down at my phone, I find the screen blank, no new messages from the woman who promised she would call if she needed me.
Maybe I should head up there. Just to make sure she’s okay.
I don’t know how I’ll explain my presence to Chloe, but I can cross that bridge when I come to it if it means making sure she’s safe.
I blow out a breath. Perhaps it’s for the best that I don’t let myself get any closer to her, because if I’m this fucked up about keeping her safe and she’s only a job, I don’t know how the hell I would keep my shit together if she were more.
Decision made, I make my way into the building, bypassing the elevator in favor of the stairs. I haven’t had a chance to get a workout in today, and it’s making me twitchy.
By the time I reach the top, I have a mask of indifference shuttered in place. I’m about to walk into a room full of people that probably know multiple men that have died by my hands. Not that any of them would know who did it. Boss and I are verydiscreet and have the best cleanup crew in the business in our pockets.
I raise my hand to knock, but the door swings open before I get a chance. Kaos, a mountain of a man, stands with annoyance, dipping his brow.
“You here for Chloe?”
