Page 4 of The Mafia Bloodline
“No,” I cut in sharply. My tone snapped their attention like a whip. “First, I take the roof.”
Viking cocked a brow, smirking like he was waiting for me to crack. “The roof? What, you seem obsessed brother?”
I ignored him. “Something’s off. Whoever’s up there isn’t Malakai’s. I want them in my hands before we move on the site.”
Roman’s dark gaze lingered on me. Assessing. He knew me well enough to hear the edge in my voice, the rare note of something that wasn’t cold strategy but something…sharper. More desperate.
He didn’t push. He just gave one clipped nod. “Fine. But don’t waste time.”
My fist tightening around the photo until the paper crumpled into a ball. Already, my body itched to move. To close the distance. To see what was driving me.
The night air outside was sharp, laced with rain and earth. The Escalade’s engine rumbled low as I slid into the backseat, Draugr decided to accompany me instead of Jericho, he is now at the wheel, two of our men in the second vehicle following close.
The ride was silent. Draugr never filled the quiet with meaningless words, and I wasn’t about to start. But my mind wasn’t still.
The photo replayed behind my eyes. The angle of the crouch. The strand of hair spilling from under the cap, the faintest glint of light catching it. My jaw clenched hard enough to ache.
Why did it matter? Why the fuck couldn’t I let it go?
I’d faced demons, slaughtered armies, dismantled entire families who thought they could stand against us. Nothing rattled me. Nothing got under my skin. But this…this shadow of a person had cracked something open in me that I didn’t recognize.
It was madness. Or maybe something worse.
“Your head’s not here,” Draugr rumbled finally, his eyes still fixed on the road.
My gaze slid to the dark glass of the window, the city bleeding past in streaks of light and shadow. “It’s exactly where it needs to be.”
He didn’t argue. Draugr rarely did. But his silence was weighted, like he knew something had shifted in me, and he was waiting to see what it was.
I closed my eyes briefly, exhaling slow. And still, behind the lids, I saw that figure on the rooftop. The pull in my chest only tightening, demanding, insistent.
Whoever it was, it wasn’t part of Malakai’s group. The person wasn’t just another pawn in this war.
No…she was mine.
I didn’t know how I knew it, but I did.
And tonight, I’d find out who my mate is and why she was so careless to put herself in such danger.
The roof was slick with mist when I pulled myself over the ledge, the night air sharp in my lungs. My boots landed silent on the concrete, and my eyes locked instantly on the shadow ahead.
Closer now. The scent hit me first…wild, sharp, threaded with something sweet. She was definitely not demon. She was human. But not ordinary as she had the kind of scent that set fire to my veins.
She shifted, another strand of honey-coloured hair escaping the cap pulled low over her head, catching the faint light of the moon.
“Not the smartest hiding spot,” I murmured from behind her.
Her body jerked, almost slipping off the ledge, but I quickly clamped a hand around her wrist, steadying her. I hear her breath catch as she spins towards me.
Honey eyes flicked up, wide and startled, pinning mine for the first time.
And just like that, everything seems to click into place. The pull wasn’t imagined. The hunger tearing through me wasn’t madness.
I was right, she is my mate.
The word thundered in my head with a finality that stole the breath from my chest.
My fangs ached, pushing sharp against my gums. My body moved before thought, before reason, every instinct demandingI close the space between us, drag her to me, keep her where nothing and no one could ever reach her.
