I step in, shoulder to the door, and it flies open. Autumn screams. The sound rakes my ears. She swings in the dark, and I catch the thing in her hand and pull it away. She stumbles and almost falls but catches herself and runs for the bathroom.
I grab a fistful of her long, wet hair and pull hard. She screams again. Kaden moves like a shadow, fast and clinical. He clamps a hand to her shoulder, pries a space on her neck and injects. She yelps; tears spill down her face. Her limbs go suddenly heavy, like the world turned syrup.
I lean in until my lips brush her ear. My breath is hot against her skin. “Thought you could run from me, trouble?” I growl.
She chokes out a single, trembling “Flynn”, and the drug drags her under. Her body slumps, and I pick her up, pressing her hard to my chest.
Walking to the SUV, Kaden gets behind the wheel while I lay her across the back seat.
I watch her chest rise and fall, each breath slower than the last.
The drug’s working. Pulling her under.
I slide into the passenger seat. Kaden drives off.
I grab my phone and text Declan:It’s done. She’s unharmed.
His reply is fast:We’ll be at the mansion tomorrow.
That gives her time to wake up and scream all she wants before they arrive.
“Will you tell her the truth?” Kaden asks.
I adjust the rear-view mirror just enough to catch her face.
“The truth?” He needs to be more specific.
“About the Consortium. Who you really are.” He keeps his tone level, eyes steady on the road, but I keep mine on her.
“It’s not my choice,” I say. “If I tell her, she’ll start connecting the dots, and once she does, she’ll figure out that Declan and Viviana are part of it too.”
I close my eyes for a second, lean my head back.
Declan is the leader; he decides if we tell her, what we tell her, and when. It’s not my call. She’s not part of the families, not tied to any of our deals like Viviana was; she’s an outsider.
So every move I make, everything I say, it all has to run through Declan, and yeah, I love him like a brother, but fuck, that pisses me off.
“Viviana won’t let him tell her,” Kaden mutters. He’s right.
“Then she better come up with some excuse.”
I clench my fists, jaw tight.
“Because I’m not letting Autumn go while there’s some fucking maniac out there after her.” I need to find the bastard and bury him, but there’s too much happening now. The Bratva leader is coming next week.
John Flanaghan stirring shit again, and now Autumn, with her goddamn stalker, pulling strings from the shadows.
I want to hit something.
“Double the security at the mansion,” I tell Kaden, still keeping my eyes closed, forcing down the edge.
“She stays in the room next to mine. Lock all the windows. She doesn’t leave the room unless it’s with you or me.”
Kaden hums in agreement.
I think of Viviana. What she went through when she was forced into Declan’s world.
How she clawed and burned her way through it.
