Page 38 of In Another Lifetime

Dayton collapsed over me, still lodged deep. I welcomed his weight and the way our scents combined.

“There have been questionable people in my past,” Dayton whispered into my nape. “People with vendettas who I’ve had to protect my loved ones from.”

“I know,” I murmured. He didn’t have to tell me he hadn’t always succeeded.

“It was a knee-jerk reaction, and I’m sorry I lumped you in with them.”

Reaching back, I curled my hand around the nape of his neck, holding him to me. “Don’t do it again.”

“I won’t.” He pressed his lips to the skin between my shoulders. “I’ll protect you, Vale. I’ll always protect you. You’re mine. I let my instincts kick in, and I shouldn’t have. Not this time. I won’t let it happen again.”

I closed my eyes, nodding. I knew he meant that, but I also knew it was a promise he couldn’t keep. When—if—he ever found out about the soul switch, his instincts would kick in again, and he wouldn’t believe me. What sane person would?

Twenty-Two

Vale

“We don’t have to go,” I said, offering Day an out while he drove us toward the club. His hand clasped around mine while he navigated with the other. The grim resolute expression on his face told me more about his nerves than he’d admit, but that was only because I knew him so well. To be sure, he probably thought he was hiding his feelings from me.

Wrong, sir. Wrong.

“Are they expecting us?” he countered.

“Yes. It’s ‘family’ dinner.”

“Then we’re going. They’ll think…well, probably a lot of things, if I don’t show up.”

“No, they won’t.”

He grimaced. “I’m not scared of them, and I’ve…changed my opinion about them, but if I don’t show up, they’ll assume things that aren’t true.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“I learned some information about the club—proving I should have listened to you, for one.” He motioned to the building up ahead to the left. “Is that it?”

“Yes,” I croaked. Maybe, I was more nervous than he was.

Day pulled up to the gate, and after a moment, it rolled open to allow us entrance.

“There’s a camera,” I told him. “Otherwise, we’d still be cooling our heels out on the curb. We’ll have to get Kale to set you up with a sensor that will automatically let you in.”

He nodded, his gaze taking in the area as he parked and scoped out the camera locations. I watched him steel himself, and that alone told me he wasn’t quite all in yet, but he was doing this for me.

“Let’s go in,” he said, but when I reached for the door handle, he grasped my thigh. “Wait for me to come around.”

“Oh…” I forgot this about him. Yeah, he’d opened my door on dates, but this wasn’t a date. But Dayton Windsor was always in protective mode. It was burned into his DNA, and with current circumstances, it was in overdrive.

As soon as he’d opened the door and guided me down to my feet, his arm went around me to usher me inside. The moment we stepped through the door, though, I knew something was off. How could I not? But it took a moment to process exactly what I was seeming.

“What the hell?” I whispered while Dayton’s fingers tightened on my waist, silently telling me he saw it, too. He shifted, adjusting me partially behind him.

In front of us, Wrecker seemed to be levitating a trio of metal plates while Turk flung lightning bolts at him. Biter, Ice and Kale were yelling at the pair to cut it out. Ice, for his part, also seemed to be shooting sheets of ice between Wrecker and Turk.

My brother dove toward Turk, his hands glowing, but Turk flung a lightning bolt at Kale’s chest, the light from it emerging from Kale’s back. My brother flew backward onto his ass, skidding for a few feet. Biter dove at Wrecker, while Ice shot a blanket of ice at Turk, freezing him in place.

It was my scream that cut through it all. Day grabbed me when I tried to run toward Kale, then pushed me behind him again, his arm reaching around to keep me clamped to his back. My fingers clutched in his shirt, while I peered around his shoulder.

I appreciated his protection, but what good could he be against energy bolts. He’d be better off with me in front of him. The guys wouldn’t hurt me. At least, I didn’t believe they would. But I never would have believed this, either, or that Turk would hurt Kale.

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