RYKER
NOW
These fuckers are strong, but they’re allowing their emotions to power every shove, and that makes them easy to slow down.
“Move!” Ronan grunts, his eyes frantic as he watches Chloe flee from the apartment.
The little I know of their relationship almost has me feeling bad for the guy, but he helped to hurt her. Whether it was indirectly or not, he’s just as responsible for her pain as his father and brother, which means he’s not getting anywhere near my girl.
Fuck.
I have to stop thinking of her like that.
Maybe it’s time I request to be reassigned.
Even as the thought enters my mind, I’m shaking it off. I can’t leave her unprotected, especially now that the ghosts of her past have returned.
She needs me more than ever, and I refuse to leave her in harm’s way just because I feel more for her than I should.
“No,” I say easily, shoving Damon back when he tries to dodge around me.
I should have told her to leave without me. If she heads back to the De Marco estate at least, she’ll be behind a wall of security, but she’s in no shape to drive right now, and keeping her safe sometimes means protecting her from herself.
Cool metal presses to my temple, and it takes less than a second to recognize it as the barrel of a gun.
But I don’t flinch.
This is hardly the first time someone has held me at gunpoint, and I doubt it will be the last.
You accumulate a lot of enemies in my line of work, and there’s a certain thrill one can only get from your life being in the hands of someone that loathes your existence.
“Move,” Damon growls, pressing the weapon against my temple harder.
“No.” I smirk.
“Are you fucking stupid?” he snaps.
“No. But I take my job as Chloe’s bodyguard very seriously, and whatever you’re threatening me with sounds significantly less painful than Camilla De Marco’s wrath.” I shrug.
The five-foot nothing spitfire who wrangled the most ruthless men in the country is far more intimidating than these two pompous fuckers could ever be. They think because they’re the spawn of Salvatore Lombardi that they automatically reserve the right to his reputation, but neither of them has done anything even remotely notable enough to be in their father’s league.
There are few men in this world that are as unfeeling as Daddy Lombardi, but it seems the apple fell far from the tree with these two assholes.
What did Chloe ever see in either of them?
Kaos snickers behind me because he knows better than most what his woman can do with a knife. If this assignment has given me nothing else, it’s a healthy amount of gossip about the love life of the Syndicate.
I glance between them, my posture relaxed and bored.
I need to get out of here and get Chloe home before she does something stupid like run. The safest place in the world for her right now is with me, and I won’t hesitate to lock her up if that’s what it comes to.
“As fun as this has been, I have better things to do than measure dicks with the likes of you. So if you’ll excuse me.” I step back, keeping a close eye on Damon’s finger hovering over the trigger.
I may not be scared of him shooting me, but I’m also not a fucking idiot. Being shot in the face is hardly my idea of a good time.
“You’re not taking Chloe anywhere,” Damon barks, stepping forward with the gun raised.
Kaos sighs, producing his own weapon and holding it to Ronan’s head. “Take care of Chloe. We’ll keep you both updated about Camilla and Crew.”
