Page 12 of Until You

Max chuckled, a smooth, dark sound. “Probably because everyone involved in kidnapping her is dead, so it didn’t exactly make headlines.” Then he turned his attention back to Lauren so he could answer her question. “They used to be a sort of neutral organization that settled disputes and kept the peace. Now, they hand out justice in a much more…direct form.”

“They’re vigilantes,” said Theo quietly, shaking his head. “Holy shit.”

Max nodded. “They are. They do the dirty work that law enforcement can’t or won’t do in the hopes of making the city a better, safer place.”

Kayla let out a little laugh, the last of the adrenaline leaving her system. “Wait. Lucian is rich and handsome and secretly fights crime…so, basically, he’s Batman?”

Max’s lips twitched. “Don’t ever call him that, but yeah. Sort of.”

“How do you know so much?” asked Sebastian. “I mean, I knew some of it because of how much he helped me over the years, but I had no idea about any of this vigilante stuff.”

Max swallowed. “Because I help them.”

“You’re out there fighting bad guys?” asked Theo, a note of incredulity in his voice, although Maxwasthe biggest and strongest of all of them, so it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

He chuckled. “No. But I design software for them, help them get tech equipment.”

“He’s basically their personal IT guy,” said Willa with a soft smile, returning with two mugs of tea. Kayla accepted hers, wrapping her chilled fingers around the warm mug.

“Wow,” said Theo softly, shaking his head. He poured himself another drink and took a sip. “I’m just having a hell of a time getting my head around this. I thought…you know, I knew there was something there, but I assumed it was dark, criminal-type stuff that he didn’t want us to know about.”

Max tilted his head. “I think for a while it was.”

“So then what happened?”

“Olivia,” said Sebastian simply. “I think everyone in this room can appreciate how finding the person you’re meant to spend your life with changes everything.”

The person you’re meant to spend your life with.

Kayla rolled those words around in her mind as she sipped her tea. Her mind was reeling as it jumped back and forth between the home invasion in the past, and the present, where she was trying to wrap her mind around this new information about her boyfriend’s brother.

“…saved everyone,” Max was saying to Sebastian when she tuned back in, snapping herself out of her swirling thoughts. She sipped her tea and forced herself to focus on the conversation. “If you hadn’t gone up to the roof and seen the men, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”

A silence fell over the group as they all contemplated that. Lauren snuggled into Theo, pressing her face into his neck. Kayla tried and failed to name the feeling rising up inside her. It was a hollowness yawning inside her, a shakiness in her limbs, a sluggishness to her thoughts. It was overwhelming and oppressive and she felt the sudden urge to be alone.

Standing, she set her tea on the coffee table. “I’m sorry. I’m feeling…shaken. I think I need to lie down.” She turned and headed up the stairs, then closed the door to the guest room behind her. She didn’t bother to turn on any lights and laid down on the bed, letting the mattress and soft duvet cradle her. Tears pricked her eyes, and she let them come, watching the lights of the Manhattan skyline blur before her.

* * *

Kayla was only halfway up the stairs when Sebastian rose to follow her, tossing a hurried goodnight over his shoulder. His stomach was in knots as he climbed the stairs after her, guilt and the need to look after her obliterating everything else. Tonight had been traumatic for her, reminding her of what she’d endured, thanks to him. And while tonight’s events weren’t his fault, the original trauma was, and so he knew he bore some responsibility for the way Kayla was feeling right now.

That, and he loved her, more than he’d ever thought he was capable of loving anyone, and if she was hurting, he was hurting, too.

He walked down the hall and to their door, his mouth dry as worry spun through him. He pushed open the door and saw her laying on the bed in the darkness, tears streaking her cheeks.

“Baby,” he said softly, leaving the lights off and crossing the room to the bed. He laid down beside her and pulled her into his arms, stroking his hand up and down her spine, kissing her hair, holding her as her body shook. He could feel the ring box digging into his leg, but he knew the window for any kind of proposal had closed for tonight. Hell, it had probably closed for the weekend because he wasn’t going to propose at Lucian and Olivia’s wedding.

“I’m okay,” she said, burying her face against his chest. “It was just…a lot. To process. But I’ll be okay. I’ll be okay.” But the way she said it was almost more like a prayer than a reassurance.

He tightened his arms around her. “It’s okay not to be okay right now. It’s okay to feel whatever you’re feeling. Just know that you’re safe. You’re safe.” He kissed the top of her head again. “Tell me what you need.”

She lifted her head, her green eyes glittering in the dark, mascara smudged beneath her eyes. “Right now, I just need you.” She kissed him and her fingers went to the buttons on his shirt, undoing them slowly as her tongue teased against his. His blood heated and his cock grew heavy, but he caught her wrist and broke the kiss.

“Are you sure? It’s okay if you just want me to hold you, or—”

She used her free hand to work on the button of his pants. “You asked me what I need. Right now, I need you to fuck me so hard and so deep that I can’t think about anything except you inside me.”

He inhaled sharply, her words slicing through him like a hot knife through butter, and he released her wrist. Their mouths collided and she made quick work of his shirt, stroking her fingers over the ridges of his abs, dipping into the waistband of his pants. Panting, he broke the kiss and flung his shirt and pants to the floor, coming back down on top of Kayla, who looked like an angel with her blond hair spread out around her on the mattress, her slinky black dress riding up her thighs.

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