Page 57 of Claimed By Daddy

“You scared me first,” he confesses. “When I learned you were gone. Then, watching you walk toward me as he raised his gun, I thought…” He doesn’t finish. He doesn’t have to.

The SUV hums beneath us, racing us away from the airfield and back to the city. Sargsyan is dead—I saw Cillian standing over his lifeless body, but I don’t have closure. I’m cracked open and vulnerable. As much as I want to believe that we’re safe, that this ends here, I’ve been in this world long enough to know better.

“You okay?” Enzo asks, his fingers lightly dusting over my tender cheek from where that asshole hit me.

I nod. “I’m supposed to be asking you that.”

I brush Enzo’s hair back from his forehead, and he looks at me like I’m the only thing in the world that matters.Because, to him, I am.“I’m fine. I would’ve taken a dozen bullets to protect you. And a dozen more to keep you from being dragged on that plane.”

We both fall quiet, my head resting on his shoulder as we drive toward Midtown. Gunnar pulls into the garage and parks near the elevator. Cillian and Gunnar help Enzo out of the backseat and into the elevator. When we walk into the apartment, Nikolai takes my hand and leads me toward the stairs. “Let Gunnar get him stitched up. He’ll be all right.” He places his hand on the small of my back and ushers me up the steps. I don’t argue—mentally, I don’t have the strength to. “Let me take care of you.”

His hand not letting go of mine, we walk down the hall to Enzo’s room. We reach the attached bathroom, and he turns on the faucet of the sink before testing the water until it warms. He fills my hands with a generous amount of soap, and I scrub them together. My eyes focus on Enzo’s blood swirling down the drain with my pink suds. In the mirror, I look like a stranger—hollow eyes and wild hair. I touch my face like maybe that’ll ground me, but it doesn’t.

Taking my hands, Nik looks over the tiny cuts and thin bruises forming around my wrists and beneath my eye. “You good?” he asks. “These don’t look that bad.”

“Just a little shaky. I’ll feel better when I know Enz is okay.”

Nikolai nods in understanding. “I’ll go check on him while you finish getting cleaned up.”

My skin cleaned of Enzo’s blood and changed into a fresh set of clothes, I lie on the bed with my knees pulled to my chest. I don’t cry—not really, but I tremble for a while. All I can think about is how close it all was—how one wrong move or one misfired bullet would’ve changed everything.

“I’m fine.” I hear Enzo down the hallway arguing with Cillian; his voice is hoarse and quieter than usual. A moment later, the door opens, and he pauses on the threshold. He is shirtless, and his side is covered with fresh white bandages.

“I’m pretty sure he’s only telling you to take it easy.” I shake my head, pushing up from the bed.

“I did.” He grins. “I sat nice and still while Gunnar stitchedme up, counting the minutes until I could come up here and be with you.”

I rush to him, wrapping my arms around him as gently as I can. He pulls me close, his hand settling in the middle of my back and holding me tight like he’s been waiting just to breathe me in again.

Burying my face in his chest, I whisper, “I was so worried you weren’t going to find me in time.”

“Not a chance, princess.” Enzo presses his lips to my forehead before pulling back. He reaches for the skeleton key hanging around my neck, rolling it between his fingers as he lifts it. “I knewexactlywhere to find you.” I reach for the key hanging around my neck, my fingers tangling with his as I realize what he’s saying. “As long as you wear this, I’llalwaysknow exactly where you are.”

I should be upset that he didn’t tell me he’d fastened a GPS around my neck, but I’m not. He knew as well as I did that the Armenians would come for me. That sooner or later, they would succeed in taking me. This was his safety net.Oursafety net.

We climb onto the bed and curl together, his arms wrapping around me as I nuzzle into him—unable to get close enough. The room falls quiet, except for our breathing. I don’t ask if he’s in pain. I can see it. I can feel how tense his body is and hear it in the way he only takes shallow breaths.

“I don’t want to ask this,” I mutter against his chest, “but I need to know. What happens now?”

He sighs—long and heavy. “There’ll be fallout. Sargsyan is gone, but someone will try to take his place. Probably his son. That’s how our world works. Power doesn’t stay vacant for long.”

“So more fighting…” I sigh.

“Maybe. But not with you in the crossfire.”

“You can’t promise that.”

He holds me a little tighter. “I can guarantee I’ll do everything to make sure it never happens again.” I believe him, but it terrifies me. Because now I know exactly what Enzo—and my brother—will do to keep promises like that. I know what it costs.

Taking my hand, he presses his lips to my knuckles. “I love you, Eavan.”

“I love you, too, Daddy.”

His fingers thread through mine, lacing us together like he’s never going to let go of me. Gingerly rolling onto his side, he kisses me slowly—savoring me. I kiss him back, needing him like my next breath. It’s as if I’ve been holding mine since being swept off the sidewalk earlier today.

Tangled in each other and drifting to sleep, the only things I can think about are how close we came to losing each other and how much I want to spend the rest of my nights wrapped in his warmth. Because wherever he is, that’s my home.

ABOUT A WEEK LATER

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