Page 7 of The Villain

“What the hell is going on? First, Rhys texts me to check on you. Next thing I know, Ty is getting reports over the police scanner of an explosion, and a few minutes later, you call and tell me to meet you here.”

“There was a car bomb that went off,” I said,knowing my black jeans and black leather jacket weren’t enough to hide the black ash that seemed to be everywhere.

“Who was the target?”

“Remington sent me information. A photo—a lead on someone connected to Ivans.”

“What?” He growled his displeasure. “How? What did it say? Did he give you a name?”

A man like Remington would always have more answers about the criminal underworld than we did, but that was the key to his criminal empire. He brokered information—bought and sold connections when it suited him. And right now, it didn’t suit him to give us Ivans’s new alias—if he knew it.

“It didn’t say anything. There was only a photo in an envelope addressed to me.”And barely that.“The image was of Ivans—his new face—and he was with a woman; they were sitting at a restaurant. Looked like they were on a date.”Dammit.I tried to clear the irritation from my voice before continuing. “I looked up her address and went to confront her—was about to when her car exploded.”

“Jesus…” He shook his head and started to move toward the bed.“Who is she?”

“Harm—” I grabbed his arm, but it didn’t stop him; he reached the side of the bed,his swift inhale marking the moment he recognized her.

His gaze whipped to mine.“Is that…Athena?”

There was not a man on this earth who could see this woman and forget her—or not recognize her even after almost two decades. Even when she was lying in a hospital bed, bruised, concussed, and covered in ash, it would be like seeing the sun and then forgetting its light.

I gritted my teeth and nodded. “Yeah.”

He let out a long breath and ran his hand along his jaw. He was always the best of the team and of the two of us at keepinghis emotions in check. Meanwhile, I still hummed with adrenaline and anticipation…and something else I wouldn’t admit to.

“She’s…here? Living here, I mean?”

My muscles tensed. “At her mom’s house.”

“Did you?—”

“No.” The word smacked down between us.No,I didn’t know she lived there until today. I didn’t know anything about her life now—nothing except all the reasons I had no right to be in it. Our past—what happened between us—had nothing to do with this. “I didn’t get a chance—didn’t even get to her before her car exploded. She’s been unconscious ever since.”

I’d given up my chance with this sleeping beauty a long time ago. Now all that was left—all that was honorable for me to do—was what I’d been trying to do all along: protect her. And for that, I’d risk her hate—and her hurt—if she’d only wake up.

“So, Remington sent you a photo of Ivans and Athena?”

My eyes flicked to the door, willing Rorik to walk back through it with some kind of fucking assurance that she was going to wake up and be okay.

“Yes.”My jaw locked tighter, and I looked back at her.

“And you have no idea if she and him?—”

“No,” I clipped, not wanting to hear the end of that statement. “All I have is that photo until she wakes up and can answer questions.”

He made a low noise, but I refused to look at him. Not that staring at Athena was any better, with the way my brother read into my focus.

“When I got there, her car was already running in the driveway, so the bomb wasn’t triggered by ignition.”

“On a timer?”

“Or a remote.” I focused my gaze on the steady rise and fall of her chest, letting the rhythm hypnotize me.

“Maybe Ivans was the target.”

“He wasn’t there.” Not that I could see. Not that I wanted to consider.

“But he’s the more likely target if she’s involved with him?—”

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