Jayce walks in and stands next to Dorran, and looks exasperated as he glances around at the four of us.
“What the hell are y’all talking about?” he asks.
“About Dorran hiding the fact that my uncle and mom are your clients,” I provide, then bunch the hem of my dress, get to my feet, and face the man in question. “Were you even going to tell me?”
He shoots daggers at Alex and Varsha, then brings his intense gaze to me. “Honestly? I don’t know. Iseriouslydon’t know. Maybe, maybe not. I’m content with how things are, and I didn’t wanna fuck anything up.”
“Telling me the truth wouldn’t have changed things between us,” I say truthfully.
Dorran sighs. “I’m sorry,” he tells me, and his crew whip their heads at him like he’s said something forbidden.
“What?” He glares at them. “I’m capable of accepting when I messed up, okay?”
Jayce makes a grunt-like noise, whereas Alex remains surprised. Varsha, on the other hand, has her signature all-assessing look on her face.
I cross my arms over my chest. “It’s not gonna work if you keep things from me,” I address Dorran. “I need to know shit so that I’m well-prepared for certain situations.”
He nods. “I agree.”
“So?”
His brows furrow. “So what?”
Sweet Jesus, gimme patience.
“Are you hiding anything else from me?” I grit out.
He thinks on my question, then clears his throat and slides his hands into his pant pockets.
“Well, Solo doesn’t know about us,” he confesses. “I’ve been meaning to tell him, but I don’t know how. So, if you see him tonight, just act indifferent. Or better yet, ignore him until I’ve told him everything.”
“And when will that be?”
“Not tonight, I hope,” Jayce cuts in. “I wouldn’t want the old bastard getting a coronary in a room full of unsympathetic elites. It wouldn’t be pretty, even by his standards.” He chuckles, and the rest of us join in.
“So…” I let go of a breath and try to sort the facts in my head. “Solo doesn’t know about us, and neither do Mave, my uncle, and my mom. Right?”
“Correction: Miranda knows,” Jayce says. “Dorran made sure of it, by not only murdering Steven and cutting off his tongue, but also threatening your mom with it, and letting her know that you’re under his protection. You should have been there. It was a whole thing.”
“Jayce,” Dorran warns, his voice clipped and laced with anger.
Fuck me ten ways to Christmas.
“Whythe fuckwould you do that?” I ask. “If Mom tells Uncle Chase about this, the–”
“She won’t,” Alex states, then gets to his feet and stretches his arms above his head. “If she knows what’s good for her, she won’t. Besides, Chase thinks Miranda fired Steven for misconduct. He doesn’t know about Steven’s murder. Not that he’d care if he did.”
No wonder she’s been ignoring me tonight. Giving her a verbal warning is one thing, but killing her bodyguard and in turn taking away her assurance of being protected? Yeah, that’s some next-level shit.
“I screwed up, didn’t I?” Dorran asks me, and there’s this vulnerability on his face that’s so beautiful in its rarity, that I have to blink just to make sure it’s actually there.
It is.
“I’m not an ungrateful bitch,” I say, then walk over to him before fixing some of the curls on his forehead. “You killed a damn human being for me – just in warning. And, as crazy as it sounds, I appreciate it. It may make me seem fucked up or weird, but I don’t care. I like this; I likeus. I don’t know what this is, but it’s good, and it’s something I want more of.”
Dorran smiles. “Don’t go soft on me now, Little Swan. You know I’ll kill anyone who tries to wrong you or hurt you, and when I do, I’ll take all the fucking pleasure in it.”
It’s a little questionable, but that promise of his turns me the hell on.
