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He nods his head. I move Evie between us on the bed as Lev discards his towel on the floor and crawls in beside her. I have plans to rock their world in the morning, but for now, they both need rest. I toss the blanket over the three of us and settle in, but sleep doesn’t claim me. Lev is never violent, not unless he’s ordered to be. The fact that he tortured a man of his own will is a huge fucking deal.
I look down at the two of them, Lev has Evie pressed up against him, his arm pulling her tight to him even in sleep. They both look so peaceful in each other's arms. For hours I watch them, and for the first time in my life, something feels right. I feel like I’m starting to feel whole. I never knew it was possible to feel that way. I thought being broken was all I had to offer the world. Somehow, the two of them seem to be gluing pieces of me back together one at a time. I can’t go back in time and change things, but I can let them help make me into someone who can be whole for them.
As the sun begins to rise, I finally drift off with a small smile on my lips as I embrace the comfort the people laying in my bed bring to my soul.
???
A ringing sound startles me awake, and I glance at the clock seeing it’s not even six yet. I’ve only been asleep for a little over an hour. I grab my phone and answer it without looking to see who it is.
“What?” I ask, my voice thick with sleep.
“Were you fucking sleeping?” My father's voice asks, instantly souring my mood. He scoffs like he’s already pissed. I sit up, pinching the bridge of my nose. I don’t feel like dealing with his shit today. “Sounds like you, sleeping while a job is being done. Are you aware that the shipping containers holding twelve of our priceless cars and enough heroin to last us a year were intercepted and stolen this morning?”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, still bored with this conversation. Evie sits up next to me, rubbing my arm and snuggling close to me.
“You worthless piece of shit,” he babbles on, but I just tuck my girl under my arm, not really processing his words. That is until “They are all dead. Your men. Just like what happened with Alexi. I thought you’d do better, but no, you’re ever the disappointment.”
My body goes stiff.My men are dead?I think about the plan. We used a new route after everything that went down with Alexi’s shipment at our fucking airport. We only let our best people in on this one, knowing how important it was. We even used a new dropoff location.
I get up out of the bed, pushing Evie off of me. I don’t want to hurt her. “What the fuck happened?” I’m gripping the phone so tight I’m surprised it doesn't shatter.
“You failed, you little bastard, and you made me look bad in the process. If it wasn’t for Alexi’s father insisting you stay there, I’d bring you here just to whip your ass. When you get home next month, don’t expect to have a place to stay. Until you fix this, I don’t want anything to do with you.”
I don’t give a shit about his threats. I hang up without a word when my phone rings again. An unknown number flashes on the screen and dread slips under my skin as I pray this isn’t what I think it is.
I press the answer button, and my heart rate kicks up until my chest physically hurts. “Who is this?”
“You know who this is.” An anonymous voice says. “Soon your empire will fall. There is more at play than you realize. Tread carefully, The Shades are closer than you think.”
The call ends. My mind refuses to process what the fuck is happening. This is going to get worse. So much worse. I can feel it in my bones. I just found my calm, I just got my people, and they were threatening to take them away. It would start with the organization. I knew how these people worked. They didn’t want our empire, they wanted us. Who the fuck did we piss off to have The Shades after us like this?
Panic grips me, and for the first time, it’s not caused by my father. My teeth are clenched, and my hands are balled into shaking fists.This isn’t happening. This has to be a dream.
A small hand slides up my back, turning me. I look deep into those steel gray eyes that are finally starting to trust me. I do everything I can to memorize them because I know I won’t be able to keep her safe. I won’t be able to hide her from them.
“Damien?” she asks softly. “Who was that?”
I clear my throat and pull her close, as if my embrace could shield her from the world. “The Shades,” I say, my eyes finding Lev’s next as he sits on the edge of the bed. My throat constricts, not wanting to face this reality. “I think they’re here.”
Evie pushes away from me then, panic shining in her silver eyes. This girl has been through more than any of us combined, and we just gave her another thing to fear. “What do you mean ‘they’re here’?”
I reach out but she backs away. “I can’t think straight when you guys are touching me. Just tell me what they said,” she demands. I save that tidbit of information for later. Her fire almost brings a smile to my face. Almost. This little spitfire, standing there, commanding I share privileged information with her as casually as she would tell me to fuck off.
“They said they are closer than we think. That’s it. I don’t know if it was a tactic to get us to be paranoid and slip up or if they’re already here.”
Her eyes widen. “We need to tell Alexi,” Lev says, standing and pulling a pair of sweats out of my drawer. His bare ass flexes as he steps into them, and I imagine sinking my teeth into that ass. I want to mark it.
Stop it. Focus. We could be about to die here.
“You should probably wait in your room,” I tell Evie, feeling like a parent talking to a child.
She crosses her arms across her chest. “Like fuck I am.” She grabs her blades, making sure to grab the one I moved away from the nightstand, and straps them to her leg as she stomps out of the room. She walks to Alexi’s door and throws it open in an instant.
A gun cocks the second the door is fully open, but Evie has her blade to Alexi’s neck before he can aim it properly.
“Want to see who’s faster?” Evie says. Her back is to me, but I can tell she’s just teasing him. My cock is hard as steel in my pants. I swear if we weren’t in the middle of a crisis, I would bury myself inside her right here with how hot she looks wielding that blade.
Lev elbows me, knowing my thoughts. He gestures for me to hide thevery obviouserection tenting in my pants. I adjust myself quickly.
