Page 123 of Savage Hearts

“Thanks,” Maverick said smoothly, ever the diplomat. “If you’re done, we’d like a moment of privacy.”

Her face deflated—or, as much as it could with all the work she had done. I didn’t think she could frown. She was only a little older than Silas by a year or so, but this fucking life ages one before their time, and she was definitely experiencing that.

It was easy to ignore it when we didn’t spend all that much time with her, and at one point, it had been about getting off as quickly as possible—as much of an asshole as that might make me sound.

“I thought I could stay around, in case you guys need anything,” she said, running her fake nails up and down my arm. I slid my chair back until her hand dropped.

“I’m fine,” I said.

She looked around at us. “Are you sure?”

I didn’t return her gaze when I answered, “Yup.”

Huffing in annoyance, she walked out the door, her heels clicking loudly on the hard floor.

Neither of my brothers said anything, and I wasn’t in the mood for them to ask me why I didn’t take Zoe up on her offer when I usually wasn’t the one to turn her down.

Knowing Zoe, she wouldn’t have minded if I told her to suck me off here, even with all the people around.

“Let’s get to work. We should talk about opening nights and get one of the bouncers here to coordinate with security. You know the feds are going to show up,” Maverick said.

We had one of the longtime feds in our pocket, but the two they’d sent here from DC had been a thorn in our sides since the moment they’d stepped foot off the plane.

Maverick nodded and moved to the couch, sitting down. We each grabbed a chair and sat around him, then we got to work.

We worked through the night.

All the while, my focus stayed on the video feed I must have watched over a hundred times before my brothers showed up.

It was earlyin the morning.

The sky had taken on a blue hue, but the sun wasn’t up yet, and I didn’t think it would be for another hour.

Everything was quiet, and everyone was fast asleep, save for the night guards we had on the property.

They greeted me silently as I walked through the house, a small black box in hand.

I didn’t know where Maverick or Silas had gone at this hour.

Knowing Maverick, he probably went back to the company building to see if he could do some last-minute work. While Silas probably went to sleep in one of the rooms at the club.

I should either be sleeping or working, but instead, I was walking back into her room.

I didn’t know how to stop myself, and all of these back-and-forth feelings were giving me a headache.

Quietly, I opened the door.

The dawn sky provided enough light that I could make her out right away in the bed.

Her legs moved slightly, shuffling the blanket, but she didn’t wake up.

I walked over to the edge of the bed and watched her sleep.

She looked peaceful.

As if she hadn’t been taken against her will or was living in the house with the three men who had killed her father.

My eyes came to a stop at the end of the bed when I found a bit of gray fabric. Frowning, I grabbed it to see it was the gray sweats she had put on for bed the night before.

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