“This.” With a smirk of her own, she lifted one of her legs and slammed her heel down into his crotch. His grunt of pain was pure music to her ears, and she sweetened her smile.
Even the grouchy one managed a small smile as the other guys all laughed. Despite being pleased she’d got in a single strike, Rose felt all kinds of out of sorts. Not enough sleep, not enough food, the torture, the roof collapsing, the run through the woods, it was all too much, and it was all catching up with her at once.
She needed something to hold onto before her world spiraled so far out of control she could never rein it back in.
“Steel,” Mr. Bedroom Man muttered, wisely slipping one of his hands under the blanket to cup his family jewels so she couldn’t get in another kick.
“Huh?”
“My name.”
“You playing more games with me?” she snapped. Nobody named their child Steel.
“No,” he said simply. “Steel is what everybody calls me. It’s not my birth name, but it is my name.”
“Why do I get the feeling my brother is the cause of that?”
Chapter
Eleven
December 28th
9:55 P.M.
His little ladybug was spiraling, and Steel couldn’t handle watching her fall apart.
Rose was too strong for that, and if she needed something to hold onto, he could give it to her.
Glances at his team told him they were okay with him providing information. They’d taken Rose for a reason, and while that initial plan wasn't going to work out the way they’d hoped, it didn't mean they couldn’t still use her in a different way.
Besides, if what Steel thought was true, then maybe Rose would be more than willing to voluntarily help them bring her brother down.
From the arch of her brow, it was obvious she still wasn't convinced that Steel was his name, but what he’d told her was true. It might not be the name he was given by his parents at birth, but it absolutely was his name now. It was who he was. There was no going backward to who he’d been before Dr.Gardner’s experiments, and he no longer thought of himself as that man.
He was Steel.
When his teammates all moved to take seats, he took that as their final permission to not hold back and share everything with Rose. Even Dragon looked resigned to this. More than that, there was a grudging flicker of respect in his unusual violet eyes.
It seemed that Rose had managed to win all six of them over. No easy feat, but as he met her gaze and held it, he almost regretted his earlier comment that she belonged to all of them, that she was at their mercy. Steel had said the words to taunt her, but the truth was, he didn't want anyone else ruining her but him.
Even Voodoo’s touch, professional though it was, had him itching to do something about it. Something he could see his friend was aware of by the smirk on Voodoo’s face as he finished checking Rose’s vitals and moved to sit in the armchair by the fire.
“So …” Rose drew out the word. “We’re all just going to sit here in silence now? Tell me what the hell is going on. Why am I here? How do you know my brother? What is with the superhuman skills you seem to have? Why did you save me from the roof collapse and then tell me I wasn't going to die?” That last question was asked with a hint of desperation, and he couldn’t not smile knowing that was what was bothering her the most.
“Guy you gave the black eye to is Voodoo. Guy with the longer on to hair is Lion. Guy with the nose that looks like it was broken at some point and healed a little wrong is Thunder.”
“You saying I’m ugly, dude?” Thunder piped up with a smirk.
“You said it not me,” Steel shot back. “Guy playing with the knife is Blade.”
“Very appropriate,” Rose muttered.
“And the guy with the unusual eyes is?—”
“The one who wants me dead,” Rose finished for him, making him chuckle.
“He doesn’t want you dead. And he’s Dragon.”
