Page 91 of The Prom

He heaves a sigh. “When she hooked up with our number one suspect, Flash nearly pulled her out. Ryder insisted Drake would protect her, and he soon filled her in on things. They’ve been working together to save your friend and bring the society down from the inside.”

I can only stare as I digest his words. Imogen was working with a Reaper—Drakeis a Reaper and now everything makes sense. He wasn’t trying to corrupt her, he was saving her and my eyes shine with tears when I consider how brave my friend is. She was aware of the risks and agreed to help Jesse. I’m guessing she also had another motive in mind, and I don’t blame her.Drake is seriously hot, but I’m not a fool. They will have a lot of explaining to do when Flash learns the news that his daughter is in love with a fellow soldier. This may not end well. For any of them.

It seems to take ages for the dust to settle and then we note the Romanos and their men leaving the building.

“It’s over.” I remark to Snake, and he nods.

“So it appears.”

He listens to his headpiece and smiles. “The threat is gone. You can go and join your friends. Don’t move an inch, though. I’m still watching you.”

I make to leave and then turn, heading back and throwing my arms around his huge body. As I press my face against his strong chest, I whisper, “Thank you, Snake. I love you.”

“I love you too, darlin’.” He presses a kiss to my head and squeezes me hard.

“Now go and reassure your friends, but not too much.”

He chuckles softly and as I run to the crowd watching us, I fall into Frankie’s arms and it’s a homecoming of sorts. As they wrap around me, he whispers softly, “I’m sorry, baby. That didn’t go as planned.”

Jack joins us before I can answer him and says gruffly, “Fuck, Cassie. This is bad. My dad is pissed as fuck, so God only knows what you’re about to face.”

I glance over his shoulder and note Brewer’s concerned face and yet he drops me a wink and a sympathetic smile without his son seeing.

Like Snake, Brewer is one of my closest uncles, and where Snake is my father’s right arm, Brewer is his left. We are a family. We always will be and I swallow my emotion because it’s so god-damned reassuring that they are here now.

Frankie’s phone lights up and he nods with satisfaction. “Uncle Malik.” He explains. “They’ve taken out several housestonight. The Serpent Society has been extinguished and is no longer a threat.”

“Thank God.”

Luca is deep in conversation with his father and uncles, and a shiver runs down my spine. Luca is hard to deal with on his own and with four of them standing there, surrounded by somber guards, I can only imagine the life he leads. It certainly explains a lot, and I wonder if I would have the same reaction if Frankie’s family was standing here now. I’m guessing worse because there are more of them. Frankie can be every inch as dark as Luca, but not with me. Never me and I reach for his hand and squeeze it firmly as I prepare to face the wrath of my father as I introduce him to my guy.

FORTY-SEVEN

CASSIE

We don’t have long to wait either because emerging from the house with an extremely grim expression is the man who means the entire world to me and despite my misgivings I break away from Frankie and run like hell toward him.

I fall into his outstretched arms and sob like a baby as they close around me, holding me close, protecting me, always there for me.

I cry tears of relief mixed with guilt. I went against everything he ever taught me. I took things into my own hands and never asked for help.

He kisses the top of my head and says gruffly, “You tryin’ to give your old man a heart attack, princess?”

“I’m sorry, daddy.”

I snuggle into his chest and his sigh of relief doesn’t make me feel any better because I’ve caused him pain and I will never be okay with that.

He pulls away and stares deep into my eyes, and his expression terrifies the shit out of me.

He is so angry. His dark eyes flash with anger and his features are stretched across his face like a canvas over a trampoline.

“It appears that I need to remind you of something, Cassie.”

I hold my breath as his husky whisper is loaded with emotion.

“You are the beat of my heart, my reason for living, and if you hurt, I hurt one thousand times more. If anything happens to you, I die inside. You will destroy me because you are the best part of me. The part of me that is so proud I struggle to breathe when I look at you. The moment you were born, I learned what love is and if this has taught me anything at all, it’s that I still have a lot to teach you about surviving this sick and twisted world. But it’s also taught me that you’re a woman now. My little girl has grown up and makes her own choices, no matter how bad they turn out to be.”

His eyes flicker to Frankie, who is standing a short distance away, staring at us with concern. Then he swings his gaze to Jack, who is bleeding remorse close by and he sighs heavily.

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