And yet, I didn’t understand a single reason why I would feel this way. Didn’t ask for it. Had no idea what it meant. I just knew something inside me had changed, and it had changed forever, which scared the shit out of me.
A crash jerked me from the moment, and my eyes flew open. My hands instinctively searched under the pillow, fingers curlingaround cool metal. My knife. Running my fingers across the silver handle engraved with my family’s words gave me comfort.Family is everything. The rest is just extra.I was home.
Reaching across, I felt my thousand-count Egyptian thread sheets and the goose-down comforter that felt like a cloud was covering my whole body. I was in my bed.Why am I in my bed?
Confusion clouded my brain like fog on glass. I closed my eyes, pushing through the static to try to remember how I’d gotten here.
The last thing I could recall was the intruders. My club. We’d taken care of them. Guests were leaving, then a set of arms circled me. Arms that held me like I was something precious.
Alic’s worried face. A set of cerulean eyes flicked back and forth, devouring me with a sense of urgency and caution. I wanted to tell him I was fine when a new scent filtered in, fresh, earthy, raw, beckoning me to turn my head.
Maso.
He was there.Helping me.
The man I thought I’d never see again, my one-night fairytale, was suddenly tangled in the madness of my world, and I didn’t know why.
Just like that, my thoughts yanked into place. The puzzle pieces slammed together, bringing with them a wave of panic.
The wolf on stage.
The one I’d fucked in front of a crowd.
That was Maso.
Shit!
I jackknifed upright.Double shit.That made two times now that I’d fucked him without meaning to. He was never part of the plan.
The first time was that stormy night. I’d just taken over the Glovefox seat and needed my own territory to spread my wings, which led me to New York. Papa Avery already had a lot of connections in place, so it was the most natural place for me to go, but it still meant starting over.
Wanting to ride out the stress, I had taken Nova’s bike—mine was already packed—on a scenic ride from Vegas to New York. Somewhere in rural upstate New York, rain came down like bullets, and I wiped out hard, skidding into a ditch like some rookie.
I remembered limping through the dark, soaked and pissed, until I saw the porch light of a house flicker in the distance. Garage open, the sounds of someone tinkering with their car filtered through the air despite the pounding of the rain. I was never so glad to hear that sound.
Knocking on the metal door, I thought I’d use my charm, or magic if necessary, to get this person to help me and be gone before morning.
Then he rolled out.
Eyes the color of electric storms. Onyx hair brushing his ears, where it began to curl, just long enough to tug. Mediterranean-tanned skin, all golden and warm like a summer memory. And that smile, crooked with a dimple so criminal it should’ve come with a warning.
He offered to help, no magic or convincing needed. He was just a nice guy… so I let myself have one selfish night with a stranger who didn’t know my name, my legacy, or my title. For one evening, we were just a man and a woman with a warm bed and no expectations between them.
I disappeared before the sun rose. No note. No goodbye. Reality had come knocking first thing in the morning with Nova texting me, and I knew my fantasy couldn’t survive daylight.
Now, here he was, tangled in my life again. No longer a memory.
Voices echoed from the kitchen, dragging me back to my reality. That warmth that had once felt golden turned acidic. The threads twisted inside me, anger, dread, guilt, need. Emotions surged so hot, so fast, that it made my stomach churn.
Curling my fingers into the sheets, I willed myself not to lose control.
Focus, Aniyah. What are you really feeling?
I closed my eyes and pulled the chaos inward, imagining each wild emotion like an object, then shoving them into a dark iron chest inside my mind. Once they were all inside, I slammed the lid and locked it, telling myself I’d deal with them later.
I took one shaky breath, then another. The weight inside of my chest eased.
Swinging my legs off the bed, I stood and glanced down at the blood crusted on my robe. My face scrunched in disgust.They put me in bed but didn't change my clothes?
