“And what? You couldn’t stand me around all the time, so you all snuck out?”
He ran a hand down his face, clearly not in the mood. “Evie, this place isn’t exactly on the tourist brochure. It’s rough. It’s violent. Not somewhere I wanted you hanging out.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to decide what I can or can’t handle. Especially not wheneverythinglately has been dangerous. You’re not Dad,” I muttered, the old phrase slipping out before I could stop it.
He stilled for a beat. “Maybe not, but I promised him I’d keep you safe, and I always will. Being here isn’t safe.” He must have caught me glancing toward the ring. “And you’re not here to watch guys fight or be pissed about secrets—we came for answers. Stay focused.”
I bit my tongue. He was right, even if I hated it.
“I love that you’re around all the time, Evie,” he huffed. “And we don’t come anymore really anyway. There were some nights I needed to relax and not worry about... anything. Not only you. Anything.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “That still doesn’t make me feel great. You are saying I annoyed you so much you had to get away from me.”
“I was annoyed at making sure you were safe. It keeps me on guard every second of the day. You don’t bother me—if anything, I think I could say I enjoy hanging out with you.”
When I looked back up at him again, he was smirking. “Okay, maybe it’s fair because I could easily say you annoy me some days, too.”
“Hey! I specifically said youdon’tannoy me.”
“Fine. I won’t hold it against you, but I better not hear anything about keeping me safe tonight. We have stuff to do.”
We were chasing shadows like Anderson, but I was chasing more. If this place could bring me closer to the truth I was after, I wasn’t going to get distracted. Yet there Aiden was, everything dangerous and safe wrapped into one beautiful package. Every movement was sharp and predatory as he scanned the crowd and I couldn’t look away.
The fight had already begun. Sweat, blood, and danger wovethrough the dimly lit warehouse like a living thing. The walls trembled beneath the bass of a song I didn’t recognize, and the crowd pressed together in a mass of restless bodies, their eyes glued to the fight in the center of the makeshift ring. The energy was feral, intoxicating—I wanted to reach out and grab it, let it burn through me.
Another feeling nagged into my mind, one that had planted itself there days ago and hadn’t left.
The feeling of eyes on me when they shouldn’t be. Of someone moving when I moved, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I couldn’t shake the feeling and I tried to lean into it, knowing someone was after me and I needed to be on alert.
I couldn’t get lost in it—any of it. I wasn’t here for the thrill or the spectacle. I was here to find Anderson, to confront him, to figure out if he knew anything about my parents. Only then could I cross him off the list and move on to the next name tied to Veritas.
Patterson, F.
And god only knew who that was. This wasn’t going to be as quick an investigation as I’d hoped it would be.
A man went down in the ring with a sickening crack. Blood splattered the concrete. The crowd roared, surging forward with rabid excitement. I braced myself against the crush, but Aiden’s arm banded around me, pulling me back into his chest. The hardness of his body met the soft curves of mine, and for a heartbeat, the fight was forgotten.
He spun me around, his chest to my back as we looked over the crowd.
“The girls are over in the front row of Asher’s seats. He hasextra security in the area, so you will be safe if Anderson shows up. Stay put.”
I laughed as he pushed me toward the row of seating with Regan and Harper.
“Why do you continue to tell me what to do and think it’s going to work out for you?”
He leaned down, his lips at my ear. “Because if you listen, I play along and give you what you want. So why wouldn’t you sit and be good?”
“You’ve teased similar things before but never follow through. Why would I believe you now?”
He ripped me back into the crowd, bodies pressing around us as he turned me back to face him.
“Evie, fucking behave tonight. Do you know what would happen if you were hurt? Or worse, killed?”
“Your life would be immensely better?” I asked.
He paused, searching my face, but I didn’t know what for.
“My life would be so fucking dull, Evie. It would be empty. Be safe for me—not because I tell you to, but because I need you to.”
