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34
Pen
After sending a text to Clancy and River telling them that I’ve left the club, I sit in silence looking blindly out of the window as Dax drives us both back to the Academy. Well, at least that’s what I thought he was doing. Only when we pull into an underground car park filled with expensive cars, all gleaming and shining, do I realise we’re not at the Academy at all.
“Where are we?” I ask as Dax pulls into an empty bay with the number 605 painted in yellow on the concrete wall in front. There are three empty bays next to it all marked with the same number.
“Come with me and I’ll show you,” Dax replies, stepping out of the car. I watch as he walks around the bonnet and opens the door for me. “Come with me, Kid.”
“Tell me where I am first,” I reply, my head still fucked up from everything that went on in the club. I feel like I’ve been hit by a freight train. My head is spinning with all the emotional punches I received tonight. I feel vulnerable, uncertain.
“Pen, this is our home. TheBreakers’home.”
“Yourhome?”
“Yes, come with me.Please?” He asks, framing his request like a question.
“Okay,” I say, taking his proffered hand, too exhausted to question him. His warm fingers curl around mine and I step out of the way whilst he closes the car door, locking it with a click of a button.
Beneath my feet the concrete floor is cold, and I wince, shifting from foot to foot. Dax takes one look at my shoeless feet, and just like he did when we left the club, lifts me up into his arms and cradles me to his chest. My initial reaction is to stiffen in his hold, but as his familiar scent washes over me I find myself relaxing against him, my head leaning against his shoulder. With me held aloft in his arms, Dax walks over to the elevator and presses a button to open the doors. They slide apart and he hits the button for the sixth floor.
“I can walk now,” I murmur, as he steps out into the hallway from the lift with me still in his arms.
“Nah, I got you,” he says, stopping only when we reach apartment 605. “The key to open the door is in my inside jacket pocket… Could you grab it?” He keeps his gaze fixed on the door, and when I cast my gaze down it’s because the top of my bustier has slid lower. I adjust myself, wriggling in his arms a little.
“You could just put me down and open the door yourself,” I suggest.
“No.” Now his eyes clash with mine, and I swallow hard at the determination I see swimming in the grey-green depths of them. He was always my protector. Always. He seems to be reverting back to that role tonight and a large part of me likes it.Wantsit.Needsit, actually.
“Fine,” I mumble, sliding my hand between his shirt and jacket, trying not to pay attention to the way his heart is thumping beneath my hand, or the firmness of his pecs beneath my fingers.
Twisting slightly in his arms, I manage to pinch the credit card style key between my finger and thumb, then wave it over the lock. A green light flickers on, and the door swings into a large open plan living space with floor to ceiling windows that look over the city spread out below us. A grey L-shaped couch is set off to one side, with a large flatscreen TV attached to the white wall directly opposite it. To the left of the room is a flashy white kitchen with a large island and four black bar stools placed around it. Dax strides into the room, with me still in his arms. I’m acutely aware of how Dax’s fingers are digging into my bare flesh as he clutches me against his chest. It’s like he’s afraid of dropping me, even though that isn’t possible, given his strength and size.
“Thisis your place?” I ask incredulously as he lowers me gently to the floor.
“Yes. We bought it six months ago.” He moves towards the kitchen and starts making tea. I perch on one of the bar stools and watch him closely.
“We?”
“The Breakers, of course.”
“Where exactly are we?” I ask, hiding my shock behind another question. I wasn’t exactly paying attention in the car, too lost in my own thoughts to notice what part of London we were heading into.
“Islington.”
“Is this an apartment in one of the new developments?” I ask, recognising some of the landscape through the huge window. It might be dark but there’s no mistaking those familiar buildings.
“Yes.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, having no other words to say. I can’t even begin to think how much this place cost to buy. “But why have you all been staying at the Academy if you’ve got this place?”
“Not all of us. Xeno and I live here whilst York and Zayn stay there.”
“Why? Why not all live here, together?” I press, not understanding.
“For reasons I can’t go into just yet…” he says, shutting down my line of questioning. I frown, but leave it at that.
“Here,” he says, passing me a cup of tea. “You still like two sugars?”
