To Matteo.
I feel Cobra change before I look. The arms around me stay firm, but the rest of him goes sharp.
Carter steps forward first. “Why the fuck are you here?” His voice is deadly.
Matteo stands near the door, hands relaxed at his sides, one of his men behind him, the other closer to the entrance. He looks around the room like he’s mildly interested in the architecture instead of surrounded by armed bikers who all look ready to tear him apart. “Curiosity,” he says.
Carter’s jaw tightens. “Try again.”
Matteo’s gaze moves. Lands on Brooke.
Carter moves instantly, putting himself between them, his body a wall, one arm slightly back like he’s making sure she stays behind him.
Matteo laughs softly. “What is this?” he asks. “A clubhouse or a pound full of barking dogs?”
No one laughs. Not one person.
Blaze mutters, “Yeah, he’s getting less charming by the second.”
Hammer grunts. “Wasn’t charming first.”
Matteo’s smile doesn’t fade. “Sensitive crowd.”
Cobra’s chest rumbles beneath my hands. “Careful.” One word. Low. Dangerous.
Matteo’s eyes come to him, and for the first time since he walked in, something like true interest flickers over his face. “There he is.”
Cobra shifts like he might move, and I tighten my grip on him without thinking. He stops. Barely. But he stops. That matters.
I turn my head, still held against Cobra’s body, and look at Matteo. “Thank you,” I say. My voice is hoarse. Small. But clear.
The room stills in a different way.
Cobra’s body goes rigid against mine.
I feel the possessive spike in him immediately, the rejection of gratitude aimed at another man. But Matteo brought me back. That truth exists, even if it’s complicated and ugly and wrapped in a debt no one wanted. “For bringing me back,” I add.
Matteo inclines his head slightly. “You’re welcome, Olivia.”
Cobra’s arm tightens around me. His use of my name doesn’t go unnoticed.
I feel that too. Then a thought cuts through the relief so sharply I straighten as much as Cobra’s hold allows.
Nina.
I look at him fully. “Is Nina going home too?”
Matteo’s expression doesn’t change. But something in the room does. Silence. Complete. Every man freezes.
Cobra’s head dips slightly toward mine. “Who’s Nina?”
I swallow. “The other girl in the van.”
The room detonates without anyone moving. Not sound. Realization.
Carter’s gaze snaps to Matteo. “There was another girl?”
Blaze steps forward. “You bought more than one?”
