My nostrils flared as I stood, keeping my new shirt hidden from view. “Assigned seats? How cute. Do we have a buddy system, too? Do we hold hands so we don’t get lost?”
Aiden cracked his neck, his fists curling as I taunted him more. “Evie.”
“What? Am I wrong? I’m trying to understand the rules you guys have laid out for me for the night. Wouldhateto break one of them,” I said, clearly ready to make him suffer.
He glared at me, his eyes narrowing. “What are you planning?”
“You’re only my bodyguard. Why would I tell you?”
He stepped close, pulling me against his warm, solid chest. “You’re damn right I’m your fucking bodyguard and if you think I’m taking a night off from that after you were attacked, you’ve lost your mind.”
“I don’t know how you never get sick of following rules.”
His nostrils flared slightly, but his face remained carefully blank. “Because rules are what give me the life I want. The rules mean I get to wake up every day to my friends—the people who have become my family—and work to have a stable life. Not all of us have true family who would do anything for us, Evie. Some of us live by rules to keep the things we love close.”
My breath hitched, the words settling heavy in my gut.
“Maybe we change the rules,” I said, but he was already shaking his head.
“Rules are rules for a reason. For most of us, the rules don’t bend to our whim.”
“And they do for me?”
He grinned, his hand coming up, fingers dragging along my arm until it rested on my hip. “I think you make your own rules and the rest of the world has no choice but to follow them.”
“Then maybe it’s time I change them again.”
His jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth might crack. I could feel it—the war inside him, the push and pull.
The blackmail deal still wasn’t satisfied and I knew I could use that, but I wasn’t sure if that would really make him snap now. He was so controlled, strong enough to push away what he might want for what he should do.
I thought he might have broken already. Thought he mightfinally cave in again, but this time as himself. Instead, his hands flexed against my waist once before he let me go, stepping back.
“You really want to start all this tonight?”
“Oh, Ireallydo,” I said.
“Get ready.” His voice was tight and rough. “We’re leaving in ten.”
And without another word, the wall he put up between us was back, firmly in place.
But he didn’t know how ready I was to tear it down.
Chapter 21
Aiden
Iwalked the bike out to the front of the house, waiting as Evie ran late.
Again.
Everyone else had already left for Syndicate, their bikes roaring down the road in the distance. But Evie? She was inside, wasting time on that damn computer of hers, probably digging into more shit she had no business touching.
I let the bike sway from side to side, tapping my fingers against the handlebars as I stared at the front door, daring her to hurry.
She was always late, never predictable—it was the exact opposite of my perfectly timed world—and I loved every second.
As I was about to storm in there and drag her out myself, the door swung open, and she stepped out, her boots hitting the porch with an angry thud.
