Page 9 of To Claim A King
Aaron’s face remained passive as I spoke; chillingly blank and unsettling to anyone but me. I took comfort in the calm, detached way he listened, knowing he’d unleash his anger when the timing was right.
Kellan, despite his stoic facade, held the stone stiffness of a gargoyle, and the blazing red eyes to match. He held himself so neutrally in public, but he could never turn off his protective rage around me. It too was a comfort, knowing the only people who could unravel the Viking were sitting in this room. We would need that energy to shield us—hopefully using his FBI status and his mafia connections.
They interjected occasionally, voices thick with incredulous rage and dispassionate ire, processing the layers of indelible shit we now found ourselves trapped between.
Lucky stepped up to my side, dispelling the quiet, as I wound down the last few details of one of the worst days of my life. Wrapping an arm around my waist, he tucked an errant strand of hair behind my ear with his other hand before settling it against the small of my back.
“I’m so sorry, love. That must have been horrifying.” The most earnest expression filled his gaze.
His breath tickled the shell of my ear. No ego, no humor, just… empathy. It was soul-settling, this look. Lucky himself was soul-settling when he tucked the conman persona away and allowed the real man out for a change.
He said nothing more, only brought his hands up to cup the back of my neck and pulled me forward, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. The sweetness of the single gesture sent tingles down my spine, despite the circumstances.
Lucky was the light amid our triad of darkness. We were going to need it more than ever.
“You won’t be left alone again. From now on, we’ll be the American version ofThe Human Centipede, yea?”
Ugh. Moment ruined.Classic Lucky.
“I am going to have to rise from the dead.” Aaron’s gaze fixed on Kellan’s, a meaningful look passing between them. “It is the only way,compañero.”
“It is one way,” the brooding Viking admitted, ignoring the look of confusion on Lucky’s and my faces. “We’ll have to consider all the angles—especially since I wasn’t informed of this fucking Mutilation Mistress disaster.” He shook his head emphatically. “Trish should have told me the FBI was being brought in. We’re missing something.”
We were missing a lot of things. On the small spectrum—who had hired Lucky to con me? On the largespectrum—who was about to kill us first? We wouldn’t be able to hide here for long, not with so many questions left unanswered.
“I’m going to need a lawyer, and Lucky and Kellan are going to have to lie low right now. Alvarez knows way more than he should, and Antonio won’t let this betrayal stand for long.” I circled the room so I could address all of them at once. “I can’t think of a more secure place in the state right now, and we have people to protect, so I don’t want to be too far away, anyway.”
Kellan’s eyes slanted into angry slits. “We’re not going anywhere tonight, or tomorrow.” He dipped his head toward Aaron, whose eyes were already shutting with exhaustion. “He needs to heal, we need rest, and we need to fucking eat something more than the damned protein bars I have in my gym bag.”
Piercing blue eyes turned from the group as a collective to stare directly at Aaron. Kellan stood tall and broad, calm confidence announcing his status as a leader of men, and it settled the unease roiling in my gut, if only for a moment.
With a thick blond eyebrow raised in challenge, the steel in his gaze turned the navy coloring to pure ice. “Tomorrow, we plan. Tonight, we’re resting.”
With a note of finality, he stalked out of the room, leaving us behind in his wake. My gut roiled anew.
Iawoke from a restless sleep, held hostage by the strangest dream.
That I’d fallen asleep against Lucky’s chest on the only king bed in the entire complex was its own miracle. Joey had discreetly dropped off a box of groceries with some takeout, but I hadn’t remembered to request my sedatives or the noise-canceling headphones.
My condo was no longer a place of safety, and this shell of a building was the sole sanctuary in the state where I could feel some level of security. Or maybe it was the warm chest and calm heartbeat of the man who hadheld me in his arms. The man who was no longer holding me, his side of the bed empty and cold.
We’d wheeled Aaron’s hospital bed into the sparse bedroom after eating lukewarm Thai food. Lucky and Kellan took turns showering in the tiny acrylic corner shower in the bathroom. Then the three of us settled beneath the sheets with me in between them.
I rolled sideways to see Kellan splayed out a few feet away. The sheet shoved down below his abdomen exposed the colorful painting of tattoos across his skin.
My Viking was a beautiful portrait in sleep, slow breaths a stark contrast to the intense energy of his waking personality.
Who would he have become if he’d been raised in a normal family? Who would any of us have become?
Somewhere along the path of our twisted fate, I knew I’d fallen for him, just as I had Aaron. Probably sooner than Aaron. Years of distance and denial had kept him deep in the recesses of my heart, but he’d always been there. My words hadn’t made it that far, but my body begged to tell him in its own way every time he ordered my submission.
His bulky arm shielded his eyes. He hadn’t reached for me in the night, keeping his distance on the other side of the mattress.
He wasn’t the warm and fuzzy type on the best of days, but his lack of touch after such a dangerous day left me feeling… empty. Our connection had never been just sex, even though it would be far more convenient for both of us if we could leave it at that.
After everything we’d been through, from the first time we’d worked together to save Winter and her family from Georgio to now, I could finally admit he was a central point in my life. I wasn’t willing to lose him. I loved him.
I would do anything to protect him. To protect all of them.
