Page 19 of Tempted By Shadow

“Naomi—”

“No.” I turn to look at him. “I’m not hiding anymore. I’m not pretending you don’t matter to me. You took a knife for me tonight. You came back for me. If King can’t handle that, then that’s his problem.”

Shadow stares at me for a long moment. Then something in his expression shifts — the resignation giving way to something warmer. Something that looks almost like hope.

“I love you,” he says.

The words hit me like a punch to the chest. Not because they’re unexpected — I think I’ve known for a while now — but because he said them. Out loud. Right before everything might fall apart.

“I love you too,” I whisper.

He takes my hand. Holds on tight.

And we wait.

CHAPTER 6

SHADOW

King doesn’t knock.

The door crashes open and he’s through it like a force of nature, Rogue and Lock flanking him, Ghost and Razor right behind. Five patched brothers filling Naomi’s small living room, leather and fury and the kind of energy that makes the air feel electric.

Every single one of them takes in the scene in under two seconds.

Three men zip-tied against the wall — one of them groaning, starting to stir. Blood on the floor, on the wall, smeared across the hardwood in a trail that leads from the kitchen to where I’m sitting. Naomi on the couch next to me, still in her sleep shirt, our fingers intertwined.

And me. Shirtless. Bandaged. Fresh gauze already seeping red. Obviously, just out of her bedroom at four in the morning.

King’s eyes track from the unconscious men to the blood to his sister to me. I watch his expression shift. Concern first, then confusion, then the pieces clicking into place. His jaw goes tight. His hands curl into fists at his sides.

The temperature in the room dropped about twenty degrees.

“Someone,” he says quietly, “wants to tell me what the fuck is going on here?”

Naomi stands before I can. “Three men broke into my apartment. They said my ex owed them money, and I was going to pay his debt. Shadow fought them off.”

“Shadow.” King’s gaze cuts to me like a blade. “And why exactly was Shadow in your apartment at three in the morning?”

Behind him, Rogue’s eyebrows climb toward his hairline. Lock’s face is stone, unreadable. Ghost is watching the zip-tied men with professional interest. And Razor — tall, dark-haired, with cold eyes that seem to be calculating something I can’t see — is looking at me like he’s already figured out exactly how deep this hole goes.

The silence stretches. I should say something. Should stand up, face King like a man, take whatever’s coming.

But Naomi beats me to it.

“Because he’s been here every night for weeks.” Her voice is steady. Strong. She’s not flinching from this. “Because we’re together. Because I asked him to stay, and he stayed. And because your prospect just took a knife protecting me, so maybe — just maybe — that matters more right now than who’s sleeping in my bed.”

King goes very, very still.

“You’ve been fucking my sister.” His voice is flat. The kind of flat that comes right before an explosion. “Behind my back. In secret. For weeks.”

“Yes.” No point lying. No point trying to soften it. “Yes, I have.”

“I pulled you off the street. I gave you a chance when nobody else would. I trusted you.” Each word is a hammer blow. “And this is how you repay me? By sneaking around with my little sister like some⁠—”

“Don’t.” Naomi steps between us, and something in her snaps. I can see it happen — the careful, placating version of herself she wears around her brother just... shatters. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”

“Naomi—”