“And she can have it. My crown. Dick. My fucking throne. But the only thing she cannot have, Daph, is you.”
He forced my hand up beneath his tee, pressing it over his heart.
“Or me. Or this,” his lips spoke over mine, forcing me to pay attention, “This is yours.”
I curled my fingers inward, trying to claw it out before slumping in defeat. I hated Wolfe for making me want to kiss him instead of setting him on fire.
I knew better, but I didn’t give a damn. I wanted Thay and Wolfe beating inside me forever, and I did not care if that turned us to ash.
“Please, Daphne?” A soft plea came from behind him, needling straight into my lungs. I paused, glancing at Lyla, frozen in the shadows. “Please don’t take this from me.”
eight
Daphne: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Time stopped when I fell death-deep into Lyla’s bleary eyes, watching them fill with salty water. These men were her sanctuary. And while I didn’t know Lyla’s story specifically, I understood she came from the Brimstone district, which meant drugs and sex for the upper fucks who owned the tech empire. A sun walker might scrunch their nose at the way she nearly pissed herself on the stairwell, but for someone whose eyes began in darkness, she knew what it meant when Wolfe said he would throw her into a world without his protection.
It meant pain.
The thing about reality is that it no longer matters when you are starving and wandering the streets at night with no certainty you’ll make it to dawn. For Lyla, being queen of the Black Wings meant she had finally found stability inside a world that had none.
“Please,” the word fell between us in slow motion. “I’ve known you forever. You’re kind, pragmatic, and a little unhinged. You drink your whiskey straight and never apologize. And youfucking love Threx, which…” she shivered. “No one could ever do. You are a masterclass in humanity.”
“Careful,” Wolfe said low, when my pulse spiked.
“No, I just meant that he is scary, and you aren’t afraid of anything. Trust me, Daphne. I know where the men in this house's loyalties lie.”
I swallowed my pride.
“You earned that, Daph. I am not trying to take it away.”
“Lyla,” Wolfe’s disgust dripped off everything, and I shivered.
“Daphne, please.”
My eyes fell shut, clamping down on a thousand truths. I would leave tonight for a warm bed and a career, but she wouldn’t. There was no promise for her beyond this very moment.
“You can stay,” I said, dropping my gaze to the floor before Wolfe could see what would come next. You’d think doing the right thing would make me feel better, but if I were being honest, it only made me smaller.
So, fucking small.
“Shit,” she breathed in a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Daphne. I get why everyone loves you.”
“Go away, Lyla,” Wolfe breathed against me, and she turned, nearly running when his eyes locked into mine. “If you so much as flinch when I touch you or seem distant, she’s fucking out. Do you understand?”
I nodded, peering into the chasm he had put between us.
“You can’t play the martyr forever; eventually, all that darkness is going to catch up with you, Daphne.”
I said nothing.
“Now, what do you need in the utility room?” Wolfe glanced at the door and then back at me.
Shit, I had almost forgotten.
“Luggage.” The word made him shift, causing the muscles in his forearms to twitch. “I was offered an internship in Maine,” I blurted, wishing someone would turn the air on.
“As in the other side of the country, Maine?” Wolfe eyed me. “What the hell are you talking about?”