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“I won’t let you hurt her.”
“You’d better pray this isn’t Lucas.” I let go of the picture, letting it drop to the floor. “Be ready to go in an hour.”
I leave him standing in the middle of the gym floor as I walk out. The door thuds behind me. I feel like a raging animal. It seems like everything is collapsing around me. I was deluded to think that this would go smoothly, that I would take over the keys to the kingdom without a few casualties. I never thought Geo could be one of them.
I never thought Lilliana would be gone.
I never thought I would be married to a siren who attempts to lure my ship against the rocks every chance she gets.
I haven’t forgotten that Francesca is still holed up in Wryn’s room.
I won’t let Francesca bring us down either.
She leaves tonight. I dial security and have them ready a car to take her to a hotel. I won’t force her to go back to Chicago, but she can’t stay here. I can’t be the one to protect her. It seems I can barely protect myself.
I storm up the stairs and throw open Wryn’s door. The two are sitting on her bed, their heads jerking toward me as I glower in the doorway.
Wryn starts to climb off the bed, and I growl, “I have a car ready for you, Francesca. You have to go.”
I watch as the timid girl stands, nodding. She’s resigned to her fate.
“It will take you to a hotel, and I have some money for you. Cash. I can’t harbor you here; it’s too dangerous.”
“I understand,” she says before lifting her eyes to me. “Can I at least see my brother before I go?”
I mull it over and then shake my head. He can’t know she was here.
“No.”
Wryn is seething as she stands beside the bed. I see her fists clenching and her jaw working. She opens her mouth, but I cut her off.
“Pack her a small bag.” I turn and leave before anything else can be said.
I feel like the biggest asshole, and it helps take the edge off, if only for a moment. I head to take a shower, wiping away the sweat of my workout and trying to work through my own thoughts. Tumultuous though they are.
Forty-five minutes later, I’m downstairs, opening the car door for Francesca like a gallant gentleman, ushering her into the backseat and rapping twice on the hood after shutting the door.
It’s the least I could do after kicking her out, right?
I can feel Wryn’s stormy gaze on my back, but I don’t turn and look at her. I have to make the hard decisions. I’m the one who has to live with it, not her. If it means being the bad guy, I guess I am. I never was the good guy though, not in my story or in hers.
Geo is standing beside a nondescript silver car. It’s been in storage, but it looks perfect, not like it’s been sitting under a tarp for years. We use it to look normal. Ominous black cars seem to draw attention. In this one, you are another average joe, making your daily errands, eating lunch inside your car, bringing groceries home to your wife.
It’s safe. No one would pay it any mind.
I climb in the driver’s seat, holding my hand out for the keys. It’s been a while since I’ve driven. I’m usually content to let someone else do it, but I’m tired of that today. I want the control. I want to maneuver the wheel, feel the power underneath me. Well, as much power as this thing has.
I suppose it’s a metaphor for my life right now. I feel out of control, so I take it wherever I can. But fuck it.
Geo drops the cold metal in my hand, and I insert the key, cranking the car. He opens the passenger door, slipping onto the cool leather seat. He looks out of place. Our roles are reversed. Or maybe he’s still shaken over my actions earlier. I don’t care either way.
I peel out of the drive, glancing in my rearview mirror once to see Wryn still standing on the front steps. I swear her eyes penetrate mine, trying to sear me from the inside out, even from across the distance.
I look back toward the road, knuckles white while wrapped around the steering wheel.
It’s beenhours of sitting here, staring at nothing, and the occasional person coming and going. Nothing suspicious and no one we recognize. I open my mouth to yawn again, getting another side-eye from Geo.
“What?” I bark at him.
