Page 220 of The Monster and the Masochist

“Don’t worry, Muscles. You know Fairview is the safest place for you. I may be retired, but I’m sure Ryan won’t mind me making an exception if some bitch ass tries to come for you. I got your back.” He punched me affectionately on the shoulder, and I shot him an irritated glare.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to hide out at Fairview when there’s a fucking hit out on me. It’ll put you, Ryan, and my mother in danger.”

Cal rolled his eyes. “So it was okay when I was the one putting everyone in danger, but when it comes to you, we should all just abandon you and tell you that you’re on your own? Jeeze, Muscles. Give us some credit.

“You and Ryan saved my ass, now it’s our turn to save yours. What was it you said to me that time I was all fucked up and needed an intervention?”

I blinked at him, completely blanking.

“Uhhh…”

“Oh yeah!” He snapped his fingers as it came to him. “You said that I was family, and we don’t turn our backs on family. Well, that goes both ways, Muscles. We’re not going to let anything happen to you. We’re a team. You fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us. That’s what family’s all about, right?”

He was grinning so big, it was impossible for me to argue with him.

I just snorted and shook my head in resignation.

“Yeah, rock star. That’s what it’s all about.”

Both Cass and Cal’s grins widened, and I felt a warm rush of affection swell in my chest.

These people loved me.

They really fucking loved me, and that felt so damn precious and special. I’d never felt so safe as I did at that moment.

“Do you trust me?” Cass asked softly, and I glanced at her, that warm feeling spreading out from my heart and through the rest of my body. I felt the tingles all the way down to my damn toes, and I didn’t have to think.

I just nodded.

“Yeah, princess. I trust you.” My voice came out thicker than I intended it to, and the way her eyes shone with happiness made me melt.

“Good. Then stop asking questions and go with Cal. I’ll hopefully only be a few hours.”

She brushed one last kiss across my lips before stalking out the door, leaving me staring after her and wondering how I’d managed to get the most insane, badass, and gorgeous woman I’d ever met to fall in love with me.

The toxic smoke of my cigarette curled around my head as I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel of my Aston Martin. I hadn’t been here long, but I was already anxious to get this over and done with so I could get back to Naomi’s campus.

The little blue dot on my tracking app told me she was nestled in her dorm room where I’d left her, and I flicked over to my hidden camera feed to briefly check that she was safe.

I was hoping she’d stay in for the night, but it was a Saturday, and she had a bad habit of letting her idiot roommate convince her to put herself in less-than-ideal situations.

As much as it irritated me to no end, I wasn’t going to keep her from experiencing ‘college life,’ or whatever the fuck it was that made her want to go to shitty frat parties or filthy college bars, but I sure as shit wasn’t going to let her do all that crap unsupervised, not after what happened to her at Apex.

She still hadn’t told anyone, which felt like it was probably a bad thing… but hey. Who was I to judge her for that? It’s not like I told anyone about my shit either.

Frankly, I didn’t tell anyone anything at all.

So what the fuck did I know?

I was the only person in the world who knew what Naomi had been through, and I would slit my own throat before I allowed anything like that to happen to her again.

So, whether she liked it or not, I was going to be her shadow.

Her knife in the dark.

And anyone who fucked with her would meet a very swift, very violent death.

The issue was that since Cass had informed me that the piece of shit she’d been defending was actually running a conversion camp that might very well double as an underground trafficking ring, I’d been pulled away from Naomi more than I liked.