Page 36 of Forbidden Daddy
"Roman!" Declan dropped beside me, his own shoulder already dark with blood. "How bad?"
"I’ll live." I pressed my hand against my ribs, assessing the damage. Bruised, maybe cracked, but nothing vital. "You?"
"Clean through. Missed the bone." His pale eyes were bright with adrenaline and something else—something that looked almost like excitement. "This was a setup. Someone knew we were coming."
The thought had already occurred to me, but hearing him say it out loud made the betrayal sting even worse. Someone in my inner circle—someone I trusted—had sold us out. Again.
"Boss!" Joey’s voice crackled through my earpiece, panic threading through the static. "Connor’s pinned down in the north building. Tommy’s offline. We need to move, now!"
I forced myself to my feet, ignoring the fire in my ribs. "Fall back to extraction point alpha. Fighting retreat. No one gets left behind."
What followed was the longest ten minutes of my life. We moved through the warehouse district like ghosts, trading fire with anenemy that seemed to know our every move. I dragged Sean to safety when he took a bullet to the leg, hauled him behind cover while return fire splintered the concrete.
The warehouse exploded behind us in a ball of orange flame that lit up the night sky like a second sun. The heat washed over us in waves, and I realized with sick certainty that this hadn’t just been an ambush.
It had been an assassination attempt.
Someone had wanted me dead badly enough to turn a simple takedown into a war zone. Someone who knew exactly where I’d be and when I’d be there.
By the time we reached the extraction point, I was running on pure adrenaline and rage. Three of my men were wounded, Connor had taken shrapnel to the face, and we still had no idea who’d set us up.
But we were alive. Bloodied, battered, but alive.
"Hospital," Declan said, pressing a cloth to his shoulder wound. "We all need medical attention."
I shook my head. "Safe house first. Clean up there. Can’t risk civilian hospitals with this many wounded."
"Roman—"
"That’s an order."
He nodded, but I caught the flash of frustration in his eyes. Like he’d expected a different response. Like maybe, he’d been hoping for a different outcome entirely.
The drive back to the estate was silent except for the occasional grunt of pain from the wounded. I stared out the windowat the city lights, my mind racing through possibilities and permutations. Who had access to our operational plans? Who knew the timing and location of tonight’s mission?
The list was short. Too short. And every name on it was someone I’d trusted with my life.
By the time we pulled through the estate gates, one thing was crystal clear: the war wasn’t over. If anything, tonight had just been the opening shot.
And somewhere in my organization, the real enemy was still waiting to strike.
14
CASSIE
The sound of tires on gravel woke me from my restless sleep at three in the morning. I bolted upright in bed, my heart already racing before my mind caught up with what that sound meant.
Roman was home.
I threw on his robe and ran barefoot down the marble staircase, my pulse hammering against my ribs. The front door was already open, and what I saw made my blood turn to ice.
Roman stood silhouetted in the doorway, his black tactical gear torn and bloodied. His left shoulder was soaked crimson, and there was a cut across his cheekbone that hadn’t been there last night. Behind him, Connor limped through the entrance, his silver hair matted with blood, while Tommy supported Sean, whose leg was wrapped in what looked like a torn shirt.
They looked like they’d been through hell.
"Jesus Christ," I breathed, rushing toward him.
Roman’s eyes snapped to mine, and I saw something there I’d never seen before—not just anger, but something raw and broken. Like he’d stared into an abyss and barely crawled back out.
