“Oh, I don’t know. The fact that you’re about two seconds away from imploding every time she walks into a room.”
“Drop it.”
“Not a chance,” Zane responded, taking a long pull from his beer. “I’ve known you too long, Kane. You’ve got that look.”
“What look?”
“The one that says you’re torn between throwing her over your shoulder and hiding her in a bunker and throwing yourself off a cliff because you can’t handle it.”
Grayson’s laugh was humorless. “You’re an idiot.”
“And you’re deflecting,” Zane countered. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Look, I get it. The bond’s a mess, she’s a mess, and you’re…well, also a mess. But if you keep bottling this up, it’s gonna blow up in your face. Trust me.”
Grayson swirled the bottle in his hand, watching the condensation drip down its side. “It’s not that simple.”
“Since when is simple any fun?” Zane countered with a grin. “What’s so complicated about it? You’ve got a mate. She’s hot. She’s clearly into you—”
“She’s not into me,” Grayson snapped, cutting him off. “The bond is messing with her head. With both of us. It’s not real.”
Zane’s eyebrows shot up. “Not real? The bond exists, doesn’t it? You feel it, right? She feels it? What exactly about that isn’t real?”
Grayson shook his head. “It wasn’t her choice. Hell, it wasn’t my choice, either. I forced this on her. She didn’t ask for it, and now she’s stuck with me because of some screwed-up ritual.”
“Yeah, but she’s still here,” Zane pointed out. “She’s not running for the hills, is she? That’s gotta count for something.”
“She can’t run,” Grayson grumbled. “She’s tied to me.”
“Sure, but she’s also not, you know, actively trying to kill you. That’s a good sign.”
Grayson sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. “You don’t get it.”
“Then explain it to me,” Zane offered. “Because all I see is a guy who’s so scared of screwing this up that he’s not even giving it a chance.”
Grayson’s fist tightened around the bottle as Zane’s words barreled into him, hitting too close to home. The memory of Emily surfaced again, and it struck him how closely things with her echoed the present situation with Cora. He’d once thought he could keep her safe by following the mission and choosing duty over instinct, but it had cost her everything. Cost him everything.
She’d trusted him to protect her, and when the bond had gone silent when he’d felt it tear from his chest like a blade, all the justifications he’d clung to had meant nothing. There’d beenno second chances, no time to make it right. He’d failed her, and the weight of that failure had lived with him every day since.
And now, here he was again, caught between the same pull of duty and connection. Only this time, the stakes weren’t just his. They were Cora’s.
“She deserves better.”
Zane let out a low whistle. “Wow. We’re really going for the martyr complex tonight, huh?”
“It’s not a complex,” Grayson snapped. “It’s the truth. My life is a disaster. My job, my past, my enemies—it’s all a mess. And now she’s caught in the middle of it.”
“And what do you think happens if you keep shutting her out?” Zane asked. “You think that’s gonna keep her safe? Because I hate to break it to you, Theodore and his goons aren’t backing off just because you’re playing the strong, silent type.”
Grayson’s teeth clenched. “She doesn’t need to know everything. The more she knows, the more danger she’s in.”
“The more you keep her in the dark, the more danger she’s in,” Zane countered. “She’s not some fragile little flower, Kane. She’s tougher than you think. But if you keep treating her like she’s breakable, you’re gonna lose her.”
“I can’t lose her,” Grayson admitted, the words slipping out before he could stop them.
“Then stop pushing her away. She’s not a liability, Grayson. She’s your partner, whether you like it or not.”
Grayson leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling as if it might hold some kind of answer. “I don’t know how to do this.”
“Yeah, well, none of us do,” Zane said with a shrug.
