Her words break me. Because she’s lived so many years on the run from my family.
Fromme.
“Not anymore, Chloe. I’ll take care of everything. I promise.”
I know I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep, but I mean every word.
Because if I have to kill every single person in my bloodline to keep her safe, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
No legacy is worth losing the heart that beats outside my body.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
RYKER
NOW
“Will you stop that?” Kaos snaps, and it takes me a second to realize he’s talking to me.
I haven’t been able to sit still since we arrived at the clinic.
I’ve paced up and down the hallway so many times I’m surprised I haven’t worn a hole in the linoleum. And when Camilla told me if I didn’t sit down she was going to have Kovu use his favorite knife on me, I sat my ass down and my leg started jiggling.
Which I suspect is what has irritated the brick wall of a man.
I lean back in the hard plastic seat and cross my arms over my chest, but it’s no use.
No matter how hard I try to stay still, I’m itching to do something.
To kill someone.
To hold Chloe.
To talk to my boss.
Sitting here and doing nothing goes against my very nature, and after days of it, I’m starting to lose my fucking mind.
“They should be here soon,” Camilla reminds me, as if I haven’t been watching the clock on the other side of the room tick away ever since Ronan gave us an ETA.
Seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds remain if his estimate was correct.
And if it wasn’t, I’m likely to lose my ever-loving mind.
The doctor and nurse Crew organized sit behind the desk, their hands where we can see them at all times. It’s probably not their first time dealing with criminals, and they know the drill.
If they do everything they’re told, they’ll get paid and walk out here with their lives. But one wrong move, and they’ll have a bullet between their eyes.
It’s not as if we kidnapped them. They drove themselves here knowing they would be dealing with something shady, so I don’t feel bad that the nurse’s eyes flick between us, constantly trying to figure out who is the biggest threat to her.
The doctor, a man in his sixties, doesn’t look as worried, which tells me this isn’t his first rodeo.
He knows there’s a big fat envelope of cash in his future if he doesn’t fuck up.
I itch to call the boss again, to give him an update, but he has my number blocked, and my calls aren’t even going to voicemail anymore.
Crew checks the time before pushing himself to his feet and straightening his suit. “They’ll be here in a few minutes, so let’s go over some ground rules.”
I scowl at him when he looks directly at me.
