“This best be worth it,” I grit out.
He clears his throat and stands taller. “Your father just arrived with three men.”
I rear back. Whatever he was going to say, I didn’t expect him to say that. No way was it that.
Like a lightning bolt has struck me, I suck in a sharp breath.
“Azrael?” He tilts his head, surveying me. “You weren’t expecting him?” he asks, but he already knows the answer. I would have informed him if I had known he was coming, and I would have hidden Hevan from him, given the chance. I shake my head.
Then I pinch the bridge of my nose to allow myself a moment of clarity to get my head on straight. He’s clearly coming here for a reason, and something unsettling flows through my veins like ice. “I’ll be out in a minute.” I close the door and head toward my discarded pants and shirt.
Hevan pops her head up out of the sheets. Jesus, she looks so small and vulnerable in this moment. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Her eyes rake over me, searching for a lie. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
I lean over the bed and take the back of her head in my hand, pulling her closer to me. I kiss the top of her head. “Yes. Put one of my shirts on and wait here.”
“Okay,” she whispers, and I wish I could bottle the sound of her tender submissiveness up and keep it forever. Just for me.
“Good girl,” I praise, drawing back, and head out of the door.
Closing the door behind me, my focus locks on the guard. “You’re not to let anyone in that room but me or Jensen, do you understand?” My tone causes him to flinch.
“Yes, sir.”
“Nobody,” I reiterate, knowing damn well he wouldn’t have a choice if it was my father, but Vector, he could stop, and anyone else my father brought along.
He broadens his stance. “Yes, sir.”
I nod and give Jensen my attention as we head down the stairs.
“Have you any idea what he wants?” he asks.
“Not a fucking clue,” I grunt, and drag my hand through my hair.
“But he knows about Hevan?”
“He’s aware,” I seethe as we continue our descent.He just doesn’t know she means something to me,I want to say, but refrain from doing so.
“Fuck.”
“What if he asks for her?” His question sends a wave of trepidation through my veins. Jensen knows my father likes to fuck the women after me; however, my only stipulation is he has them when I’m finished with them. Mainly because I can’t bear a broken woman in my arms begging to be put back together when he’s finished with her, but also the thought of touching a woman he’s fucked makes my skin crawl.
“We’ve no choice but for you to bring her in,” I state.
There’s no way in hell I’d let him hurt her. If he intended to do so, I’d die trying to protect her at the very least.
We get to the last step in time for the front door opening, and I hate that his access to my home is so easy. My jaw tics at the thought.
“Ah, there you are!” He waltzes in like he owns the damn place and holds his arms out toward me like a proud father, but we both know otherwise; he loathes me as much as I do him.
“What can I help you with?” I ask, straight to the point, as we head inside my office.
He scoffs, and I eye Vector and Harrison Davis. The latter is as dirty as we are, but the man portrays himself to be a moral citizen while brushing shoulders with the crime underworld.
“I have news!” He claps his hands together while Jensen hands out drinks, and I throw my feet up on my desk and light a cigar as they all take a seat. Just being in their presence is difficult at the best of times, but having them here in my home where Hevan is only feet away feels like the control and power I crave is being torn from me. He’s reminding me who is in charge, who is the Mafia don, and he’s wielding it like a weapon.
