“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Escorting me. Protecting me. Pretending like I matter.”
Rogue doesn’t answer right away. When he does, his voice is quieter, less playful. “Because you do matter.”
“To who?”
He glances at me. “To all of us.”
The words settle into my chest, heavy and warm and confusing. “That doesn’t make any sense,” I say.
Seriously. I just met these guys. Do they really give a shit about me? Or are they just toying with me, like a rat in a cage?
“It’ll make sense,” he replies. “Eventually.”
We reach a junction where the corridor splits in twodirections. Rogue steers me left, his hand briefly touching my lower back, a light, guiding pressure that sends a shiver through me despite myself.
“One more thing,” he says.
“What?”
“That girl who was following you yesterday?” His voice drops. “You’re going to see her in the work hub.”
My adrenaline spikes. “And?”
“And you’re going to see her,” he says. “And she’s going to see you. And when she does, you’re going to keep your mouth shut and your head down.”
Not fucking likely.
“I’m not afraid of her.”
“You should be,” Rogue says flatly.
“Why?”
“Because you have something she doesn’t.”
“What?”
Rogue’s eyes smile. “Us.”
Like these guys are some kind of goddamn prize. But I keep that thought to myself. I am, after all, dependent on them, at least at the moment. It’s not like there’s anyone else here clamoring to protect my ass.
And yet, I want to argue. I want to tell him that’s not true, that I don’thavethem, that this is all just... what? Some twisted game?
But I can’t. Because part of me, some small, treacherous part, knows he’s right.
We reach the work hub, and the noise inside is already rising, voices, movement, the scrape of crates against concrete. The air smells like people who haven’t showered in a while.
Rogue stops just outside the doorway and turns to face me. “Remember what I said,” he murmurs. “Keep your head down. Don’t give her a reason.”
“And if she gives me one?”
His eyes darken. “Then you wait. And you let us handle it.”
“I don’t need you to handle my fights.”
