The fierce promise makes my eyes burn with tears.This is what I've been missing.What I've been searching for without even knowing it.
"I don't deserve you."
"Yes, you do.You deserve everything good in this world, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to give it to you."
"That's a long time."
"Not long enough."
I'm about to respond when light flashes from outside the window.Bright, sudden, unmistakable.
A camera flash.
We both freeze, reality crashing back in with brutal force.Hades is out of bed in seconds, pulling on his jeans while I scramble for my clothes.
"Stay here," he orders, his voice hard with fury.
"Hades—"
"Stay here.Keep the door locked.I'll handle this."
He's gone before I can argue, and I'm left alone in his bed, my body still warm from his touch, terror replacing the post-sex glow.
Someone was watching us.Someone photographed us through the window.
And I have a sinking feeling I know exactly who it was.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
hades
The camera flashsends me bolting from the bed, rage and adrenaline flooding my system.I'm pulling on jeans as I run, not bothering with shoes or a shirt, my only thought getting to whoever the fuck just violated our privacy.
"Stay here," I order Evangeline."Keep the door locked.I’ll handle it."
I don't wait for her response, just grab my gun from the nightstand and head for the door.The clubhouse garage is on the back side of the building.I burst through the exit into the parking lot, scanning for movement.
Nothing.
The lot is empty except for our bikes, lined up in neat rows.Security lights cast harsh shadows, but there's no one visible.No car peeling out, no figure running into the darkness.
Whoever took those photos is gone, vanished like smoke.
"Fuck!"The word echoes off the concrete as I move between the bikes, checking behind every vehicle, every shadow.
"Hades?"Tempest's voice comes from behind me.He's shirtless, gun in hand, clearly woken by my exit."What happened?"
"Someone was outside my window.Took pictures through the glass."
"That's not possible.We've got security on every entrance, cameras covering?—"
"I don't care what we've got.Someone was here.I saw the flash."
Tempest pulls out his phone, already calling for a security review."Get inside.I'll have the brothers sweep the perimeter."
But I'm not ready to go back inside.Not when my blood is pumping with the need to find whoever did this and make them pay.
"Hades."Tempest's voice is firm now, commanding."Inside.Now.Evangeline and those kids need you more than we need you running around in the dark chasing ghosts."
