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He basically told me how he feels about her. The fact that he feels anything at all is shocking. Unlike the others, I know Dal’s true depth and coldness. He would be classed as a psychopath, yet he feels with her and that makes him dangerous, especially toward a threat like Trav, who is with Reign.
The door is slightly ajar, and I step inside with my gun out as I head into the bedroom. I take in the scene in a second, my training kicking in as Astro protects my back at the door.
The bed is a mess, and I ignore my flare of fury and focus on Dal. He has a knife to Trav’s neck, and I see a drop of blood as well as a black eye, but he’s not dead yet so that’s good. He’s scared but also angry. If he knew just who Dal was and what he was capable of, he would be fucking terrified. Even I would hesitate to go up against Dal, but I have no choice. Reign would never forgive us, and for some reason, I don’t want to hurt her, even if she was up here fucking this rock star instead of us.
“Astro, go back down to Cillian,” I order without sparing him a glance.
He hesitates, looking between Dal and me before moving away as silently as we slipped into the room. I know Dal won’t react well if Astro hears what I have to say, and this is between Dal and me. I’m in charge, and if Dal can’t remain professional and calm, I will remove him or all of us from this job. I won’t let Dal kill innocent people simply because of these new, confusing feelings. I will always protect him, even if he doesn’t understand why.
“Dal, release him.”
The man is smart. He kneels with his hands on his head, and although his eyes are wide and terrified, he stays silent and doesn’t move, as if he’s facing a predator, which he is. Dal glances at the rumpled bed, his nostrils flaring, and I swear internally as I shift to block his view of it.
“Dal,” I warn, “if you do this, you will lose her.” I try to appeal to his careful side, but it seems to have fled when faced with these new, intense emotions. “She will never forgive you. She clearly likes this man, and from what I’ve read, they are friends. If she finds out you killed him simply for touching her, she’ll kick you out of her life for good. Right now, you have access to her, the access you need. Do this and you’ll be in jail. Not even I can protect you from the consequences of killing a rock star.”
The man glances at Dal. “Look—”
Dal presses the knife firmer against his skin, drawing more blood.
“I wouldn’t speak,” I hiss. “Dal, think about it. Do you want to lose her?” I know he doesn’t care about prison—hell, we have all been in worse places than some cushy cell—but he’d be trapped without access to the one person he clearly wants. I see him hesitate, thank God.
I don’t drop the gun, but I won’t kill him. He’s my brother, even if he never admits it or feels the same way, but I can wound him, knock him back, and give the man time to escape. I’d have to bribe him not to speak on this and get Reign up here to calm Dal down, but it’s the only plan I can come up with.
“We didn’t have sex,” Trav says very carefully, and we both look at him. “She called me to hook up like we used to sometimes.”
Dal snarls and I wince.
“But we didn’t. We kissed, but it felt wrong. I’m . . . I’m in love with someone else, and she likes someone else too—obviously you since you’re here threatening to kill me for even being near her. Reign is my friend, I would never hurt her, but I promise I didn’t touch her. Our clothes stayed on. We kissed once, and then we had food as soon as we realized how wrong it felt.”
“Are you lying?” Dal says calmly, too fucking calmly.
He shakes his head. “Check room service, check the bed or even my phone.”
Dal hesitates but slowly releases the man.
“You move, you die,” he whispers, and Trav nods as Dal moves away.
I watch as Dal walks to the bed, stripping it back and searching for any signs of sex. When he finds none, he moves to the trash to check for condoms, eyeing the man’s shoes on the floor. Dal calls down, checks room service, and then picks up the man’s phone. “Passcode,” he demands.
“2325,” he mutters. “Spells Beck.”
Dal raises a brow but types it in and seems to scroll through something. “The same Beck you’re texting here?”
He nods.
“Who is she?” I ask. If he’s cheating on our girl, I’ll kill him, even if they aren’t together.
“She’s our new lead singer,” he answers. “She’s totally off limits, but it doesn’t stop me from wishing though. That’s why I agreed to meet Reign tonight, to try and forget. It didn’t work.”
“She’s jealous,” Dal tells him as he drops the phone. “She likes you too. Fine, you won’t die tonight.” He puts the blade away, and I relax. “But if you try to touch Reign again, I’ll hunt you down, understand?” Dal crouches before him. “I’ve killed many people, Mr. Wright, and I won’t hesitate to end you. Not even Reign could protect you from me. Do we understand one another?”
A pale Trav nods, and Dal moves over to me. I put the gun away and start to follow him out, unsure how the hell to deal, with this when Trav calls out, “I might not have your skills, but if you hurt Reign, I will make you regret it. How do you know Beck likes me?”
“It’s a Saturday night and she’s at home texting you and jealous you aren’t with her. She likes you, idiot,” Dal mutters. When I shut the door, he nods at me. “I like him. He’s protective of Reign.” That’s it. That’s all he says as I gawk, unsure how the hell to proceed. He makes that decision when he heads to the elevator.
“We’ll talk about this later,” I snap.
He simply faces forward as if he didn’t hear me. “She didn’t sleep with him.”
