“Why did you call him?”I asked.
Gianni snorted.“Because he would’ve killed me if anything happened to you on my watch, Atlas.”
I grumbled something under my breath that sounded like half irritation, half reluctant acceptance.
He threw me a sidelong look.“Don’t ‘hmm’ me.You know I’m right.And tonight proved it.We walked straight into a shitshow with a spotlight on it.”He shook his head, incredulous.“Remind me to never listen to you again.”
Despite everything that happened tonight and all the danger we were in, I couldn’t help it.I grinned.A slow, dangerous curl of my lips.
Because he did listen.He always did.And he’d do it again.That’s the curse of being family in my world: you follow me straight into hell, and you trust I’ll drag you back out.
31
Atlas
Neve woke like a bomb going off.
One second she was motionless on the bed in my penthouse, bruised everywhere, wrapped in blankets because she wouldn’t stop shaking, breaths thin and shallow like her body was fighting against itself.
The next, she shot upright with a gasp that rattled the room.
Her eyes were wide and wild.She fought for air like she was drowning.Her hands clawed at the sheets, searching for something solid.
And then she saw me standing in the corner of the room, arms folded, spine stiff, watching her.
I hadn’t slept in two days as I watched over her.I stayed awake through every twitch, every nightmare, every small sound she made in her sleep.
Her gaze snapped into focus.At first, there was shock.Then recognition.Followed very quickly by pure, blistering rage.
“You,” she spat, scrambling back so fast she hit the headboard.“Get the hell away from me.”
I didn’t move.I felt the tension in my shoulders pull tight, but I stayed where I was.
“You’re safe.”
She laughed, although it was more like the sound someone makes when the world finally cracks in half.
“Safe?With you?”
Then she lunged.
She was exhausted.Starved.Barely healed.Her legs shook when she stood.But she threw herself at me like she was ready to tear me apart with her bare hands.
I let her.
She hit my chest, my arms, my jaw.She delivered wild, sloppy swings that would have been so easy to stop.But I didn’t stop them.I didn’t raise a hand.I just took it.Every strike.Every shove.I let her get it all out, even as she stood unsteady on shaky legs.
“You followed me,” she yelled, voice climbing.“You stalked me.You brought them right to me!”
“I didn’t,” I answered, calm in a way that clearly made her angrier.
She swung again, nails scraping my skin.
“You almost got me killed!”she screamed.Her voice cracked on the edge of the words.“You ruin everything you touch!”
She shoved me so hard she trembled with the effort.But my huge bulk ensured I didn’t even sway.
Then she tried to bolt, to get around me, past me, anywhere but here.