If I wasn’t certain that the unhinged man in front of me would never do anything to upset Camilla, maybe I’d be afraid of being locked in a room with the human equivalent of a wild animal, but instead I’m weirdly at ease.
Kaos closes the door behind him, returning to the living area while I take a seat on the edge of the bed, my hands tangled in my lap the only outward sign of my anxiety.
I need to call Ryker. I can’t leave here alone knowing I’d likely be leading Damon straight to where I’ve been hiding all these years, but I don’t want to ask for help.
Not from him.
Not from anyone.
I press my eyes closed and drag in a long breath.
Breathe in for four.
Hold for four.
Breathe out for four.
The only exercise that ever worked to quell my anxiety repeats in my mind, but it does little to calm my racing heart.
“Are you okay?” Kovu asks after a few minutes, his voice coming out rougher than normal.
“No. Are you?”
“Fuck no.” He scoffs, but there’s no humor in the sound. I need to ask if they’ve made any progress finding Camilla and Crew, but I can’t find the words.
If I’m honest with myself, all I can think about is the icy glare that’s haunted my dreams all these years and the urge to run as fast and as far as I can to stop myself from being caught in his snare.
He doesn’t get a chance to ask any other questions because the door swings open and Bishop strides in, quickly slamming it shut behind him.
“I’m sorry,” I choke out, dropping my head into my hands.
Today was already one of the worst days of my life, but now? Now it’s solidly in the top three.
The day I ran.
The day I lost everything.
And now the day my past came back to haunt me.
A gentle hand touches my shoulder, and I know without looking that it’s Bishop. He’s the softest of the four of them.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Chloe,” he says carefully.
“Your priorities should be on finding Camilla and Crew, not me. I should have stayed home like you told me.”
He sighs and drops to the mattress beside me. “We appreciate the food you brought. It’s been too long since any of us thought to eat.”
I nod, dragging my bottom lip between my teeth.
There’s still a nagging worry that Bishop’s allegiance to the Lombardis will make him inclined to hand me over, but I push it down.
“Tell me how you want to handle Damon and Ronan.”
I glance up at him, shock moving through me slowly. Every man in my life has always dictated how things are going to go, and they’ve made decisions for me rather than asking for my opinion.
“Kaos has them in the living room and I swear they won’t make it past that door, but I need to know how you want to proceed.”
I bite down on the inside of my cheek as I consider what I want to do, but I don’t know.
