Page 78

He hurries over to the bedside table, pulling open the drawer and pulling out another gun. Bringing it over to me, he takes my open palm and places the cold metal in my hand.

“Have you used one of these before?” he asks, eyes locked on mine.

I shake my head.

He preps the gun, unlocking the safety, and places it back in my hand.

“Wrap your finger around here. Don’t press unless you really need to, okay? It’s not locked. It will fire when you pull the trigger.”

I nod absentmindedly.

He strokes his knuckles down my face again. He hesitates for a second, but he pulls his pistol back out and leaves the room with a soft click followed by fast, thumping footsteps. I look around the room; the left-hand side has been cleared, and the carpet has been replaced by another low platform.

My eyes trail up to a pole right in the middle of it. My heart stalls as I take in the soft, green lighting. Xander Warren is full of surprises, and I can’t say I hate it.

Chapter 26

Xander

Ireturn downstairs to the absolute carnage that ensued just minutes ago.

I didn’t want to leave Camila alone—especially not defenceless—but this ambush was unexpected; I can’t leave Jac to handle it on his own. And they put my Angel in danger.

The way her fingers wrapped around the gun tells me she’s handled one before, but the look on her face was one of fear. She’s never used one, but someone close to her did. And I hate that thought more than anything. I hate that despite my efforts to keep her out of this snake pit, I’m dragging her deeper into it.

Jac stands next to a couple of dead bodies, on the phone to who I assume is our clean-up team. I approach him with hurried steps; he spins around and ends the call, hard blue eyes peering right into me.

I stop next to a body, using my foot to roll them over onto their back, revealing their face.

“What the—”

“The truth, Xander. Now,” Jac interrupts, closing the last few steps between us.

My jaw tightens, hands balling into fists on instinct.

He knows, and there’s no hiding it from him anymore.

I keep my voice low, pointedly darting my eyes around the room. “Do you really think now is the time for that?”

“You’ve really lost your fucking head. Do you know how long I’ve been watching you on the cameras?”

My heart sinks.

This whole time, I’ve been so enamoured by Camila that I haven’t wasted a single thought on what Jacques might be doing or where he is.

“Do you realise that the entire time you’ve been chasing this girl around, I’ve been cleaning up the mess that you put us in?”

My gaze sears into him.

He comes closer to me, chests almost touching, his stance unwavering. “You have no idea what’s been going on, do you? You let some girl wrap you around her little finger, and you’ve been panting after her like some starved dog.”

My heart pounds against my chest at his words. “Don’t ever disrespect her like that.”

He’s angry. He’s right to be angry. But it doesn’t make his disrespect any better.

I soften my face, letting out a laugh. He doesn’t baulk.

We rarely fight, but tonight, he has picked the wrong one. He’s not one to back out of an argument with me, and my vision is already filling with white-hot rage. He doesn’t know how whenever I’m around her, I feel like I can finally breathe.