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They each watch me a second longer before finally nodding, but it’s Grayson who finds the balls to actually speak. “The second you’re ready, we’ll start training.”
I don’t bother responding. There’s no point. They know I’m grateful, but far too stubborn to fall in line with my praises of thanks. Instead, I turn and start making my way toward the ramp to lead us out of this bullshit parking lot maze.
Twenty minutes later, the latest stolen car comes to a stop inside my family’s garage. We all bail out and both Carver and I head for the internal door of my home, seeing as though the rest of Dynasty thinks we’re dead. King, Cruz, and Grayson take off to their homes to check on their siblings, and in this moment, I truly feel for Carver. He’d do anything to go and check on his sisters, but he can’t, not until we tell the world that we’re still alive. Until then, he’s stuck hidden away in my home, just like me.
The garage door draws down and I make my way up to my room, feeling Carver following me up the stairs. Once inside my room, I close the door behind me, a silent message that I want to be left alone—whether he’ll respect that or not is a mystery for now.
Within seconds, my clothes are on the bathroom floor and the hot stream of the shower is rushing down over my skin, washing away the chunks of brain and making me gag as I see them hitting the shower tiles and falling down the drain.
I take my time, scrubbing my body clean until I finally feel like myself again and only then do I turn off the shower and wrap my towel around me. I turn out the light and walk into my darkening bedroom to find Carver already half asleep in my bed.
I drop my towel and slide in between the sheets with him, letting him pull me into his warm, inviting arms. As the exhaustion quickly begins to claim me, I do everything I can not to think of the horrors still yet to come.
CHAPTER 12
Hands rest against my shoulder before gently shaking me awake. “Babe,” Cruz's voice seeps through my sleep-deprived mind. “Wake up.”
“Get lost,” I grumble, pulling away and falling back into Carver’s arms, feeling as though I’ve only slept for a minute or two, but the brightness of my room that has my eyes clenching with irritation tells me otherwise.
“Okay, I can go,” he says in a teasing tone. “But I kinda thought your morbidly inclined mind would wanna sneak into your own funeral and watch everyone sob for you. Plus, it’s after midday. I mean, if it were nine in the morning, I’d get it, but you’ve been asleep for at least fifteen hours.”
My eyes ping open to find a gorgeous face grinning down at me. I push up onto my elbow, earning a groan out of Carver who clearly doesn’t feel the same excitement, but if Cruz is right and we have been asleep for that long, then Carver can shove it and deal with the real world. “My funeral’s today?”
“Uh-huh,” he rumbles. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting fucking days to watch the big fake sob-fest that Ember puts on for her fallen bestie.”
“Shit,” I laugh, pushing up until I’m sitting cross-legged. I rub my hands over my face, wishing these people could have organized the Elodie Ravenwood day of mourning for a much healthier hour. “Did you really have to go and mention her name? I kinda forgot that she existed for a while.”
“Sorry,” he mutters, a cheeky grin stretching across his delicious face and momentarily making me forget that we’re in a weird place right now. “You know me, fuck ups are my number one talent.”
I give him a hard stare as his gaze drops to my body, only to remind me that I went to bed stark naked last night. “Seriously?”
Cruz just laughs. “Come on. Get up. I’m sure we could find you something perfectly appropriate to wear.”
“Damn it, Cruz,” I mutter, throwing the blankets back and getting a slight thrill out of the way Carver flinches at the cold before forcing myself out of bed and onto my tired legs. “Why does that have to sound so freaking good?”
Cruz steps right into me, cutting me off with that fine, ripped body that has me drooling with need. It’s been far too long since I’ve felt his touch, when in reality, it’s only been a few painful days. His hands fall to my waist and I tilt my head to meet his intense stare, unable to keep myself from leaning into his hold. “It’s always fucking good when it comes from my mouth.”
I raise a brow, desperately willing myself not to crack a smile as I try to remember that I’m still so angry with him, but Cruz Danforth comes fully equipped with a set of special skills to make any woman fall at his feet and forget her own damn name. Hell, right now, I don’t even think I remember why I was angry in the first place. All that matters is drowning in a sea of green as I stare up into his hypnotic gaze. “That cocky confidence of yours is going to get you in trouble one day.”
