Chapter 13
I started to grow into this new life, building on a routine of sleeping the morning away, the afternoon I would get up and spend time in the garden or contacting people regarding the arrangements for the club.
The days passed in a semblance of peace, late afternoon I would go and lie back down so that Roman would wake up to me next to him.
The only problem I had in all of this, was that I still hadn’t managed to speak to Rosemary.
Therefore, the moment Roman said he had organized the meeting with Rosemary; I felt my stomach twist. I felt part dread and part guilt because I knew what a fight I was in for with my sister.
He insisted it be a controlled setting, neutral ground and that Ashen and Rael would be there as security.
I knew that Roman would also be there and that the neutral ground he spoke about, which, in Roman-speak, meant somewhere he owned.
The meeting was set in one of the private lounges attached to his skyscraper headquarters.
Everything in the room screamed understated power with leather, steel, and glass, all the surfaces were polished to a threatening shine.
Roman didn’t leave my side, not once. Rael and Ashen flanked the doors in their usual silent menace their eyes continuously searching for hidden threats.
Rosemary walked in late, sunglasses perched on her head like a crown, her mouth already curling into a pout. "Wow," she said, twirling slowly in place. "Nice digs, it must be nice living in the lap of luxury, hey Layla."
I shifted in my seat. "This isn’t about that, Rosemay."
She dropped into the chair across from me like she belonged there. "Yeah, talk about how you forgot about me, about how my baby sister suddenly has a rich man taking care of her, and she can’t be bothered to return a call. "
"You know better than that, I didn’t forget about you," I reply, already feeling the pressure behind my eyes.
"I called you twenty-one times in two days, are you saying that’s not forgetting." Her mouth pinched. "I was worried about you! And I needed you, but you didn’t answer."
"What was the problem? Did you need money? Did you get lost and need a place to crash? Or did you just need another night for me to clean up your messes?"
"Don’t pretend you’re better than me just because you let him fuck you in a penthouse," she hissed.
My face burned, and I felt Roman stiffen beside me. I saw his hands fist and I knew that he wasn’t going to keep quiet any longer no matter how much I had asked him not to interfere.
"Enough," he growled.
I reached over, placing my hand on his thigh, calming him. "If it’s money you need Rosemary, I’ll give you money. If you need my help? Fine. You know that I have always been there for you when you needed me before. But don’t insult me just because my life is finally starting to make sense. "
She blinked, surprised at my tone. Then she leaned in, eyes pleading. "Just one night, Layla. I just need you to come home with me, one more night. I miss you."
Roman didn’t even let me speak.
"No." His voice was like ice, Final.
"It’s not up to you," Rosemary snapped. “She’s, my sister.”
"Everything involving her is up to me," Roman replied, deadly calm, his eyes like two orbs of fire looking at Rosemary. His voice, though low, carried the weight of centuries, of blood, war, and unrelenting power. The words weren’t just spoken, they were law.
Even the air seemed to quiet in deference to his fury.
"That includes who she sees, where she goes, and what she’s exposed to," he added, stepping closer to Rosemary. His towering frame cast a shadow over her as the temperature in the room seemed to drop. "You don’t get to show up, bark demands, and spin lies to manipulate her. That part of her life is over. You don’t get to control her anymore. "
Rosemary’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her eyes flicked to me, confusion and fear swirling in their depths. Roman didn’t relent.
"She’s mine. That means her safety, her peace of mind and her future, it all rests in my hands now. If you care for her at all, you’ll step back and understand that she’s no longer yours to use when it suits you."
He didn’t raise his voice, didn’t move aggressively, but the power in his tone made my pulse stutter. I had never seen anyone shut Rosemary down so effectively, so completely. He wasn’t cruel but it was a warning a promise. And judging by Rosemary’s paling face, she heard it loud and clear.
We left soon after, Rosemary still fuming as we stepped out into the cool evening air.
We said our goodbyes, promising to talk again tomorrow.
I watched her walk away and then Roman holding my hand walks towards the car that was just pulling around when everything changed.
Shadows warped and figures emerged from the alley.
My heart jumped in fright as it felt wrong in every way as I saw the figures, their skin too smooth, too grey.
Movements like marionettes with snapped strings.
I realized they were Demons when Rael was the first to move, he was a blur towards them.
Ashen had a blade in each hand before I even screamed.
Roman had explained to me about the Demons, still I was shocked at seeing them.
Roman pulled me behind him and then he was on them, silent and vicious, his fangs bared, claws out.
He tore through one demon like it was paper.
When I saw one demon coming for me, I tried to run, but something grabbed my arm.
Pain shot through me as my shoulder was pulled, my dress tearing and cutting my arm.
I stumbled back, my vision tilting, my scream lost in the chaos.
I heard Roman’s roar; it was a monstrous sound warning all around him that death was coming for them. The demon that touched me didn’t live to try again as Roman ripped its spine free, his eyes were glowing a iridescent white with fury.
"Layla!"
I was already falling but he caught me before I hit the ground pulling me up into his arms against his chest. Blood slicked my arm, hot and fast. "You’re okay, baby. You’re okay. Just hold on."
He was shouting over my shoulder into his phone. "Draugr… We’re hit. I want a full fo rce. Bring hell down on these fuckers. I want the fucking streets black with their blood. I want every demon nest turned to ash…Tonight Draugr."
I felt the wind shift as the SUV doors were thrown open.
Ashen was already behind us, clearing the way.
Rael swept in next, flanking Roman as he moved with inhuman speed, carrying me like I weighed nothing.
Blood dripped from my elbow onto his shirt, but he didn’t even glance at it.
His grip tightened like he could keep me safe just by sheer will.
"Secure perimeter!" Rael barked, slamming the SUV door behind us as Ashen climbed in beside me. Roman cradled me in his lap, holding my face in his hands.
"You’re safe now," he whispered, voice ragged, but I could feel the fury in him burning like a live wire. The SUV roared into motion, tires screeching as Rael peeled out.
"She’s bleeding bad," Ashen said calmly but urgently, already pulling a field kit from the compartment under the seat, “she might need stiches,” but Roman didn’t move.
"She’s stable," he muttered, as if convincing himself. "She’s going to be fine. "
"It was an ambush," Rael growled from the front, looking back at Roman. "They weren’t random demons, those were trained, and they were structured."
"We clocked three different blood signatures," Ashen added. "They knew we’d be there."
Roman’s jaw flexed, his eyes burning gold as he stared at me. Then he shifted his gaze to the twins. "What do you know about the breach?"
Rael replied, low and cold, "They appeared from the south alley, back entrance. We cleared it before arrival, but there must’ve been a cloaking spell. Those fucking Demons used the shadows."
Roman's eyes snapped back to me as I tensed when Ashen pressed a sterilized cloth to my wound. "No more slip-ups," Roman growled. "They drew her blood, that’s a declaration of war and we are going to eradicate them from the face of this earth."
I trembled against Roman’s chest, not from the pain, but from the sound of his voice. I had never heard him like this. He sounded lethal, his voice was deep with a sliver of death. His whole energy was terrifying, a palpable force of mortality.
Roman leaned down, brushing his lips against my forehead. "They’re going to pay for this. I swear to you, Layla, no one touches you and lives."
The mansion gates loomed ahead, already opening as the SUV accelerated through them. Inside the car, the air was thick with silence and fury, the only sound was the throb of tires on pavement and my shallow breaths. Roman never stopped holding me. Not for a second.
I clung to him, shaking. Silence was thick and bloody.
As soon as the SUV rolled to a halt in the courtyard, Roman was out the door with me in his arms, shouting orders like a storm. The front doors flew open before we reached them. The staff moved like shadows under Roman's wrath, disappearing into corridors to follow his commands.
"Bring clean towels and disinfectant…now!" he barked to one of the housemaids who nearly dropped the basket she was carrying. "And get the damn doctor here, now! "
"Hold on, baby," Roman murmured against my temple, his arms felt like bands of steel around me as he carried me up the stairs, two at a time. "I’ve got you. I’ve got you."
I couldn’t speak; the pain was shooting through my shoulder with each step he took. I didn’t have the strength. I buried my face in his neck, breathing him in, grounding myself in his scent while the pain in my arm flared white hot.
When we reached the room, he laid me gently on the bed, his hands already moving to inspect the wound. I winced when he touched my shoulder which had him growl deep in his throat.
A maid arrived moments later with a basin, cloths, and antiseptic. Roman snatched them from her with a growl of thanks, his movements sharp and controlled. Another servant appeared, bowing low.
"The doctor is on his way, my lord." Roman just nodded, already tearing through the sleeve of my dress to reach the bleeding gash.
The twins stepped into the room, faces tight, clothing streaked with demon ash. "We lost two of ours," Ashen said, his voice low .
"We killed seven," Rael added, teeth bared. "But something’s different. They came prepared."
Roman’s eyes snapped to them. "Then we need to be fucking smarter, I want you to double the perimeter. Speak to Gideon, no one gets within a hundred feet of this house without my approval."
"Understood," Ashen said with a nod, already backing out.
Roman returned his attention to me, his hands gentler now, dabbing at the wound even as fury radiated off him in waves. "You’ll be okay, Layla. You hear me? You’re safe now. No one touches you again. Ever."
I nodded weakly, my vision blurring, not from pain but from the overwhelming force of his protection. The monster that ruled cities and burned empires now knelt beside me, his rage only matched by the way he held me like I was everything.
And in his world, I was.
Later, after the chaos calmed and I was patched up, I heard him on the phone again. "There’s residue on the sister, she is tainted. It’s Demon kind. I could tell she’s been touched, maybe even marked. "
I froze behind the half-open door.
Roman turned, already knowing I was there. "Layla…"
"Is it true?"
He nodded once. "We don’t know how deep it goes. But she’s not clean." I felt my legs give out, sitting down hard on the edge of the bed.
"She’s, my sister. This is my fault."
"And that’s why I didn’t kill her, because she’s your sister. This is not your fault my angel, this could have happened to her either way." I looked up, shocked.
Roman crouched in front of me, his voice low.
"You’re everything to me, and I know how this would hurt you.
If something tries to get to you through her, I will destroy it.
But I won’t act until we know for sure. That’s my promise to you.
" His hand raised as he stroked the hair away from my face in a loving, gentle way.
And somehow, that was enough to hold me together, just barely.