Chapter 56
LEX
My parents’ house… freaking the fuck out.
Bella’s been gone too long. I glance toward the foyer where she disappeared to get some air. My gut’s already twitching. She said she just needed a second. Said she’d be right back. But my girl doesn’t go silent. Not like this.
The room behind me is a fucking circus. Mom dropped a bomb and walked off like it wasn’t nuclear.
Cade’s pacing, Tex is muttering threats to himself, and Dad is pouring bourbon like it’s water.
I’m two seconds away from throwing someone through a window when Ellie skids into the doorway like she just ran a damn marathon.
“Uh… guys?” She’s pale. Blue eyes wide. “So, Bella’s gone.”
Everything stops.
“And so is Cal.”
Tex is the first to move. “Gone?” he snaps.
Cade steps forward, voice sharp. “You mean left? As in walked out? Alone?”
“I don’t know!” Ellie throws her hands up, pacing. “I went to check on her. Door was open. No Bella. No Cal. And I looked outside, Cal’s car is gone too.”
My heart drops. I’m already pulling out my phone, calling.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Hey it’s Bella. Sorry I missed your call, but leave a message and I’ll call you back. Kisses!
“Fuck.”
Cade’s doing the same thing. “Cal’s not picking up either.”
“Fuck!”
???
Tex is barking into his phone now. He’s got Knox on the line, trying to ping her last location.
Ellie’s on the verge of tears, rambling about how Bella looked pale when she went out for air.
Savannah’s got her hand on her chest like she might faint.
And my mom—my fucking mother—is standing off to the side like she didn’t just set off the grenade that blew this whole day to hell.
“She said she just needed a minute,” I mutter, trying to not lose my goddamn mind. “She said she’d be right back.”
“It’s been over an hour,” Cade replies, looking just as worried.
Tex cuts in, still on the phone. “Knox has nothing yet. She must’ve disabled the GPS on her and Callum’s phones so no one would follow them. But he’s working on traffic cams to find Callum’s car. We’ll find her.”
“We better. Because if—”
I’m interrupted by Cade’s phone vibrating on the marble island. He glances down.
“Oh my God,” he says as the color drains from his face.
I step in front of him. “What?”
He holds it up.
CAL: Look bro, sorry I left with your girl, but something’s off. She’s not okay. You guys need to get here right now… 81st and Columbus.
I don’t even think. I grab my helmet and leave.
Baby, what the fuck did you walk into?
I’m flying through the city. Don’t remember how I got here. Don’t care. My girl said she needed air and now she’s gone. I can feel it in my chest, pounding with every second that ticks by.
Please be alive. Please be fucking alive.
When I hit 81st and Columbus, I nearly crash the bike. There’s a body on the steps. Blood everywhere. Callum’s slumped against the curb, bleeding. And Bella—
No.
She’s being dragged. Kicking and screaming. He’s got her by the waist, hauling her toward a blacked-out SUV.
Out of nowhere… BANG.
His fucking head explodes. Drops like a sack of bricks. Bella crumples with him.
“MALYSHKA!”
I’m off the bike, sprinting. My knees hit the pavement hard.
She’s shaking. Dazed. But she’s breathing. I grab her. Pull her into me.
“You’re okay. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
“Lex?”
“Yeah, malyshka. I’m here,” I say as she clutches my jacket.
We hear footsteps as he walks up. Calm. Slow. Like a king surveying a battlefield.
Roman Russo.
She sees him and stiffens. “You?” she breathes. “You followed us?”
He crouches.
I shift, putting myself between them. “Back. The fuck. Off.”
“I’m your father, Isabella. It’s my job to keep you safe.”
Tex and Cade come flying in behind us. Tex sees Roman and loses it. He tackles him. “Get the fuck away from her!”
Roman slams into a car. Tex pulls a gun on him.
“Tex, no!” Bella screams, lurching from my arms. “Don’t shoot him! He saved me!”
He doesn’t move.
“Tex,” she says again. Quieter. “Please. He saved me.”
Slowly, his hand lowers and she collapses back into me. But then Callum groans and Bella spins.
“Cal!” She runs to him, helps him sit up. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?”
He winces. “Yeah. I think. Just… What the hell happened?”
Tex steps in. Gun still tight in his grip. “Yeah, Bells. What the hell is this?”
Bella straightens. “It was a trap.”
I stalk closer. “What?”
She meets my eyes. “I got a text. From Laing. He said two kids. Abusive dad. In and out. Clean. We got here, no kids. No anything. Just an ambush. I got the one who hit Cal, but I just wasn’t fast enough for the other one.”
She shakes her head. “I should’ve seen it. I’m sorry, Cal.”
“Laing set you up,” I growl. “That motherfucker is dead. I’ll carve that damn dragon off his chest myself.”
Roman steps forward. “If this man betrayed you, I’ll deal with him.”
Tex snaps, “You won’t touch shit.”
Buzz. Buzz.
Bella pulls out her phone and gasps.
@LucaWasHere:
Oh Izzy, baby, so quick to accuse.
But your dragon-tatted plaything was just our bait to use.
You think he set the trap in your name?
Sweetheart, nothing in this game is tame.
I almost had you. So close. So near.
Heartbeat racing, edge of fear.
But Daddy dearest stepped into frame.
Always the hero, always the same.
Lexie was late, he nearly lost.
You slipped right through and look at the cost.
He swings, he guards, he plays the brave.
But I see the cracks he’ll never save.
So let him chase, let him play pretend,
But Lexie’s nearing his bitter end.
He should go home and stop wasting his breath.
Before I show him the shape of death.
I grip her arm. “We’re done. You’re not staying out here where poet boy can see.”
???
The door slams behind us. I throw my helmet so hard it bounces off the wall. Cade winces. Bella flinches. She still hasn’t said a word since we left that sidewalk.
Good. Because if she opens that pretty mouth right now, I might say something I won’t come back from. Or worse, pull her into my arms and never let her leave them again.
She walks inside like a ghost. Bruised, bleeding, silent. And I swear to fucking God, I’m two seconds from losing it.
“You should’ve fucking told me.”
She stops in the center of the room, arms crossed tight like she’s holding herself together by threads. “Lex—”
“No,” I cut her off. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to lie, disappear, and then act like this is just another fucking mission.”
Cade steps forward and tries to be the buffer. “Lex, maybe just let her—”
“Don’t.” I jab a finger at him. “You didn’t see what I saw. You didn’t watch her get dragged across the pavement like a rag doll while some fuck tried to throw her into a car like she was cargo.”
Bella’s chin lifts. But she still doesn’t speak.
“You could’ve died, Bella,” I bite out. “You think this is just another chapter in your tragic little war story? That this is some heroic solo mission? What the fuck were you thinking?”
Still.
Fucking.
Silent.
I step forward. “Do you get it? If I was ten seconds later. If Russo…” a deep breath shudders through me. “If Russo hadn’t showed up, you would’ve been gone. Disappeared. Or worse.”
“She was just trying to—” Cade cuts in.
“She should’ve had backup,” I snap.
“I did have backup,” she says, voice sharp now. “I thought Laing would be there. And I had Cal.”
“You had Cal?” My voice rises. “The guys a quarterback. What the fuck was he going to do, throw a spiral at the guy? Bella, come on. He’s not built for this.”
“Stop, Lex.” Her voice cracks. “Just stop.”
I’m too worked up to stop. My fists are clenched, my chest is tight, and my blood’s a wildfire. I want to grab her, scream at her, kiss her until she remembers who the fuck she belongs to.
I roll my shoulders to try to calm the fury rising within. “We can’t lose you, baby. I can’t. You matter too damn much.”
She lets out a broken laugh, sharp and empty. “You think I don’t know that? You think I didn’t want to tell you? You think I didn’t want you there?”
“Then why didn’t you?” Cade asks, stepping beside me. Calmer now, but just as wounded.
She spins on both of us. “Because I knew you wouldn’t let me go to The Obsidian. You’d try to stop me. And I had to see him.”
I pace a few steps away, trying to hold back the rage clawing up my chest.
She comes after me, eyes blazing. “I didn’t ask for any of this! I didn’t ask to be born to a ghost. To find out my mom was just as broken as me, or have Roman fucking Russo show up dropping bombs about knowing Zeke’s family!”
Her hands fly out, voice cracking. “Everything’s twisted and connected and fucked, and I don’t even know who to trust anymore!”
Her voice finally breaks, soft and shaking. “I don’t even know who I am.”
She falls to her knees. Like the weight of it all finally cracked her open. Her knees slam the floor.
I’ve seen this before—after ops, after trauma. When her emotions crash into her all at once and she can’t breathe through them.
Cade’s faster than me. He drops beside her in an instant, pulling her in. “Hey. Hey. It’s okay,” he whispers. “You’re okay, sweetheart.”
She clutches his shirt, sobbing. Fingers in her hair, clawing at her chest like she’s trying to crawl out of her own skin.
I stand there frozen. Watching her fall apart in his arms. Watching him hold her. Watching him completely fail to calm her the fuck down.
I drop down beside them and shove Cade back without even looking at him. “Get off,” I growl.
He doesn’t argue. Just backs up. Because he knows he isn’t what she needs right now. Not for this. He’s the calm. The light.
But the part of her unraveling on this floor? That storm inside her? That belongs to me. Only I can bring her back from that edge.
I’ve been doing it for months, after every mission, every panic spiral. Every time she broke down over him, over their breakup, over everything. Me. I’m the one who holds her when she falls apart. The one who knows exactly how deep that darkness runs and still doesn’t flinch.
I wrap my arms around her like I’m staking a fucking claim. Bella thrashes, wild and clawing, but I don’t let go.
“Breathe,” I whisper, my mouth at her temple, my grip iron. “Breathe with me, baby.”
Her fists slam against my chest—once, twice, again—until she breaks. Just fucking breaks. All that fire, all that fury, melts into sobs as her body caves into mine.
I tilt her chin up, force her to look at me. Her eyes are wild. Shattered. Full of betrayal and grief and something darker, something that looks a hell of a lot like surrender.
“Everything’s broken,” she whispers.
I nod once, firm. “Yeah. It is.”
Her breath shakes. “And I’m not okay.”
I lean in, nose brushing hers. “Neither am I, baby.”
Her fingers fist in my shirt like she’s drowning. “I need—”
“I know.”
I crush my mouth to hers. It’s not soft. It’s not sweet. It’s desperate. A full-body, bone-deep need to feel something other than this black hole inside us. She kisses me back like she can’t breathe and I’m the only air she’ll ever get again.
My hands are everywhere, her back, her waist, gripping her thighs as I lift her off the ground. She wraps around me like she’s trying to fuse our skin together.
I slam her into the wall. She gasps against my mouth. “Lex.”
“Tell me to stop.”
She doesn’t.
I rip her dress over her head. It tears. She doesn’t care. She yanks my jacket and shirt off, digs her nails into my chest like she’s trying to claw her way inside. We’re fire and gasoline. Rage and grief. Two storms colliding.
I bite down on her neck and she moans as her hands go to my belt. Fumbling. Shaking.
“I need you,” she pants. “Right now.”
I growl against her skin. “You have me.”
My pants hit the floor. Her panties follow.
I don’t wait. I line up, grab her hips, and slam into her in one hard, unrelenting thrust. Her scream is sharp.
Raw. And it rips straight through me. She digs her heels into my back and throws her head back against the wall.
I fuck her like I’m trying to erase the last twenty-four hours.
Like I’m trying to make her feel alive, feel safe.
“Mine,” I growl against her skin, lips brushing the sweat-slick curve of her throat. “You hear me, malyshka? Mine.”
“Yes,” she gasps.
And then I lose it. I drive into her with the kind of brutal rhythm that doesn’t ask, it takes. Her nails claw into my back drawing blood, but I don’t stop. Not when she cries out. Not when her entire body arches under me like she’s breaking apart from within.
I grip her jaw, force her eyes back to mine. “Look at me.”
Her pupils are blown wide, lips swollen from my kisses. “Lex…”
“Come with me,” I rasp, breath ragged. “Glaza na menya, malyshka.”
She shatters right there under me. Her steel eyes locking with mine. Her lips cursing my name.
I go with her, everything in me snapping loose as I bury myself deep and shatter so hard that I see the fucking stars. I stay there, forehead pressed to hers, both of us wrecked. Still moving. Still needing. Because even after all of that, I’m not fucking done.
I kiss her mouth, her cheek, her shoulder. I grip her hips and keep moving, slower now, grinding into her like I can rewrite every terrible thing that happened today. Like I can fuck the memory of that man’s hands off her skin. Like I can pull her back from the edge one thrust at a time.
Cade’s in the room. I know he is. I can feel his presence—tight, still, watching.
But right now? This is mine. She’s mine.
Her legs wrap tighter around me, like she knows. Like she needs this just as bad.
“Say it,” I whisper. “Say you’re mine, malyshka.”
“I’m yours, Lex,” she breathes, breaking again. “Always.”
“Now. Promise me you will never do anything that reckless ever again, not without me, baby.”
“I promise.”