9. Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Sylvie
When I unblocked my phone, I wasn’t surprised to see Drakos’s text waiting for me the next day.
Drakos : Your latest gift is quite something
I grinned and shot back a reply.
Sylvie: So glad you like it. I was afraid its subtle nuance would be lost on you
Usually there was some time between our responses, but he texted back right away.
Drakos: So you finally unblocked me. Are you done pouting?
Irritation rippled through me as I shot back a reply.
Sylvie: It’s a wonder no one has taken a shovel to your face yet
Drakos: So violent. I can think of other ways to relieve your stress. Roman thinks you suffer from insanity
Sylvie: I don’t suffer from it—I enjoy every single second. Tell him to leave my roommate alone
We were getting sloppy keeping our strange relationship a secret, and when my cousins found out, I worried they were going to put the puzzle pieces together about the missing bikers. I resolved to stay away from Drakos this time, and mean it . But I didn’t block him again.
Later that week, as I worked through a pile of dreaded paperwork, my caller ID flashed Campus Police . Both Alexa and Luna were at school, and a spike of anxiety twisted in my gut as I answered the call.
“Ms. Spade, this is Officer Jennings. I'm calling about Luna Cross. She was attacked on campus and is being taken to the hospital now. She asked us to contact you.”
The words hit me like a sucker punch. Luna had been attacked? Who would do that? Was she hurt? My mind instantly and irrationally blamed Roman. They were taking her to the hospital, so of course she’d been hurt. Fear clawed its way up my throat.
“How bad is it?” I started running to Ezra’s office.
“She’s conscious and has non-life-threatening injuries. Other than that, I can't say much. They're treating her now and taking her to the University Medical Center.”
I made it to his office as the officer finished talking. “Okay, I understand. Let her know I’ll be waiting for her at the hospital.”
Ezra stood. “What happened?” He retained his lean, good looks and distinguished white hair and mannerisms, even though he was eighty. He also had the trademark Spade smile. He wasn’t smiling right then.
“That was the campus police. It’s not life-threatening, but Luna was attacked at the school, and they’re taking her to the hospital. We need to go.”
En route, I called Alexa. I knew she was in class, but I left a message. After hanging up, I thought about how much I loved these women. Both Alexa and Luna had terrible parents and difficult childhoods, yet they remained loyal and kind, and I considered them my sisters. The last time I remembered Luna being in the hospital, she was twelve years old, and her father had severely beaten her and left her for dead. I wondered who had attacked her today.
Hours later, I stood over her bed after Alexa took off to see if she could dig up some information on Luna’s attacker. She looked so fragile and pale lying there in that hospital bed. I wanted to kill someone.
“Get some rest,” I murmured, tucking the hospital blanket around her toes.
She squeezed my hand and gave me a weak nod. A few minutes later, the hospital door opened. Stiffening, my hand went to the gun at the small of my back, but I relaxed when I saw it was Roman Fowler, his face a hard mask as he surveyed Luna. I didn’t like the man, but he wasn’t the one who’d hurt her. I still didn’t trust him though.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“Same thing you are—making sure she’s safe.” He folded his arms and studied me.
“You’ve done a bang-up job so far. Why are you really here?”
He ignored my question. “Give me a few minutes to talk with her alone.”
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow. “No?”
“Let me re-phrase that. Fuck , no. I don’t trust you.”
Shrugging, he started taking off his jacket. “Either way, I’m staying.”
I folded my arms as Luna stirred and opened her eyes. He leaned over her bed and traced her cheekbone, then glared at the IV and monitors attached to her body. His mouth clenched, and his eyes turned frigid.
They talked quietly for a minute, then Roman turned to me. “Will you get her a fresh ice pack and some water?”
I ignored him and turned to Luna. “Do you want some water?”
Luna nodded. “Ice chips sound divine. My tongue feels like it’s been freeze-dried.”
Roman stared at me. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep her safe.”
My instincts pinged, but Luna wanted ice chips. I stepped out, intending to get back to her as soon as possible. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead as I walked down the hallway, my shoes squeaking against the linoleum tiles in the unnerving quiet. A grip on my arm halted me mid-stride.
Whirling around, I lifted my fist to deliver a throat punch when I recognized Drakos. Despite the late hour, he looked fresh as a daisy and seemed perfectly at ease wearing a tie at two in the morning.
His blue eyes locked on mine, and his lips tipped up into a crooked smile. “Hello, Lollipop. We need to chat about Luna—and your latest gift.” Pulling me into an empty hospital room nearby, he closed the door behind us.
“What are you doing here, Lucifer? They haven’t quite mastered personality transplants yet. Or are you here looking for souls?” My flippant words didn't quite mask my agitation at having him so near.
He grinned. “I just want your soul.” The dim light coming through the window didn’t dispel the intimate gloom.
“I need to get back. Luna is alone with Roman.”
His eyes narrowed. “I hate to break it to you, but they are frequently alone, and I’m not ready to let you go yet.”
“Are you going to unlawfully detain me then?”
“Unlawful detention? Please. Let’s talk about the human hand you sent me.”
“With the middle finger extended. Don’t forget that part.” His overwhelming presence and delicious, spicy scent wrapped around me. My heart raced—whether from fear, irritation, or something else entirely, I didn't know.
“Tell me what happened with Luna.” His voice took on a steel edge.
I raised an eyebrow. “She said her attacker was someone at your strip club. Why would Roman be taking his intern there?”
“Don’t be jealous. I’ll take you too if you want.”
Rolling my eyes, I then told him what I knew. “I need to get back.”
“Sylvie, we want to help protect her too. Would you let Roman do that?”
He seemed to be feeling me out, but I didn’t know why. “I don’t trust him, and he’s been cold and domineering since the internship started. Why doesn’t he like her?”
Sighing, he rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not that he doesn’t like her. It’s much more complicated than that, and Luna needs to hear the story first.”
His words sent a chill through me. “Can you promise me that Roman won’t hurt her?”
“She’s safer with him than anyone else. Trust me.” Goosebumps rose on my skin as he reached out and took hold of my waist. “I want to see you again. Spend the weekend with me.”
His offer caught me off guard. “So now you think it’ll take a whole weekend instead of just one night to fuck me out of your system?” I hadn’t meant to blurt that out, and I realized I was still stinging from his crude offer the first time we met.
He tilted his head and studied me. “I think it’ll take much longer than that.”
His words eased some of the hurt. “I can’t. I have a funeral on Saturday morning.”
“Then come afterward.”
I didn’t know why this man made my panties wet and caused me to have such dark, dirty thoughts. “It’s such a bad idea.”
He bent and murmured in my ear, “But you want to. This heat between us is killing me. Say you’ll come.”
For one small moment, I laid my forehead against his chest and gave in to our chemistry. “I need to go,” I whispered.
“Say you’ll think about it.”
I sighed. “I’ll think about it.”
“No matter what happens with Roman and Luna, you and I have unfinished business. And I am coming for you.”
Stepping back, I gazed up at him. “We’re rivals, we have a sordid history, and we’ll probably kill or disfigure each other before it’s all over. This can’t end well. We need to walk away—” Drakos brushed his lips against mine and slid his tongue along my mouth. When I didn’t pull back, he cupped my face and ran a thumb across my cheek. I shivered at the gentle touch.
“Are you afraid? Am I too much for you? I never thought I’d see you running scared.”
I briefly wondered how Drakos could read me so well as I grabbed his hair and slanted his head to get a better angle.
“Shut up, asshole.” I kissed him hard until he took over and pushed his tongue inside my mouth, groaning low and deep while he devoured me. I could feel the vibration from his groan on my lips, and I wanted to wrap my leg around him and rub myself on his hard shaft I could feel digging into my stomach.
Drakos cupped my head and bit at my mouth, causing dark, jagged lust to erupt through my system. Our lips crashed together over and over, all the pent-up heat and frustration devouring rational thought. His hands tangled in my hair and I gripped his dress shirt, wrinkling the pristine fabric. It was utter madness—kissing Drakos Creed in a hospital room in the dead of night. He palmed my breast through my shirt, and I wrapped my leg around his waist and grabbed his ass to grind myself against him.
The rest of the world faded away—the hum of traffic and distant sounds from the hospital machines. In that moment, there was only heat, need, and Drakos. When he slid his hands up my shirt and began tugging it off, my senses returned. We were in a hospital, Luna needed ice chips, and she was alone with Roman. I pulled away, and he reluctantly let me go.
As I backed up, I tried to think rationally about why Drakos would be here at such a late hour. “Don’t lie to me. Why are you really here?”
His phone vibrated in his pocket, but he didn’t break eye contact. Something like regret slid through his eyes, but then it was gone.
He spread his hands out. “I’m here to help keep Luna safe. Please believe that.”
I slid around him, and this time he let me go. After filling a cup with crushed ice and water, I made my way back to Luna’s room, cursing under my breath for getting caught up in Drakos's gravitational pull. The fluorescent lights buzzed a little too loudly, and the smell of antiseptic was once again overwhelming. I pushed open the door and found Roman sitting on the bed next to a sleeping Luna. The room felt... different, and I detected a hint of aftershave or cologne that hadn’t been in the air before.
“Who was here?”
Roman glanced at me. “A doctor stopped by.”
My eyes narrowed. “Her physician went home hours ago.”
He stood and pulled his wallet, keys, and phone out of his pockets, then placed them on the bedside table. He slipped off his shoes and sat on Luna’s bed. “It must have been the on-duty doctor then.”
“When are you leaving?”
“I’m not, since Lionel Strack still hasn’t been apprehended. He’s the man who assaulted her. Don’t worry, you can keep the chair.” He lay on the bed next to Luna but didn’t get under the covers. I stared at him for a few seconds and sighed. It wouldn’t hurt to have him here too. I reclined the chair and finally drifted off.
A loud clatter in the bathroom woke me the next morning, and light stabbed at my eyelids. My body was a catalog of aches. Looking around, I noticed Roman’s wallet and phone were still on the bedside table. My back felt stiff, and I stood and stretched until I heard Luna’s raised voice in the bathroom. Knocking on the door, I stuck my head in.
“You okay in here?”
Luna turned to me, her face pale and her eyes wide. The bruise on her face stood out in sharp relief. “No. I mean, yes. God, I don’t know. Physically, I’m okay.”
Luna leaned heavily on the bathroom counter and raised her left hand. “It appears Roman and I got married last night.” I stared at the glint of metal on Luna's finger and realized it was a wedding ring with an enormous emerald.
Slowly, I pushed the bathroom door wide and stared at Roman. “What in the fuck did you do, Fowler? Son of a…” I trailed off, my voice a hoarse whisper. And then I started yelling. “Married? You fucking asshole. Why would you do that? You’re, what, ten years older than her? You are such a bastard !”
The only thing that kept me from trying to rip Roman Fowler’s head off that morning was Luna. She clung to the bathroom sink with both hands and Roman, damn him, stood there and made a solid case for wanting to keep her safe.
Hours later, I was still fuming. “I hate your guts, and I want to castrate Drakos Creed,” I muttered to him as he tucked Luna into his vehicle to take her home. My heart hurt when I thought about my conversation with Drakos last night, and I wanted to call Fennick and dump this all on him because I could not be objective.
Frustration buzzed through me as I took Luna’s hands in mine. “I’m coming over to check on you—frequently.” Then I turned to Roman. “If you hurt her in any way, I’ll make your death slow and painful.”
He nodded. “Understood. She needs a safe place to rest and recover, and I can give her that.”
“There are other ways to cause someone pain besides just physically. Don’t hurt her .”
Before pulling out of the hospital parking garage, I took a few angry breaths and called FUCK, Legal. I lied about who I was, and the uptight receptionist patched me through to Drakos’s office phone.
“Creed.” He rumbled out his last name, and his voice was a smooth stroke of dark velvet even through the phone. But right then, I hated the man with every fiber of my being.
“You're going to tell me everything you know about why Roman Fowler wanted Luna as his intern, and why she’s now married to him.” My heart jackhammered in my chest, betrayal seething through my veins.
“Just breathe, sweetheart. It’s not what you think.”
“ Breathe? Luna is my sister in all but blood. You think I'm going to let this slide?”
There was a pause on the line, and I could almost hear him plotting. “The man who attacked Luna is unstable, dangerous, and works for a drug cartel. Roman stepped in to protect her, and just like Luna is a sister to you, Roman is my brother. I’d die for that mean, grumpy fucker. I’m sorry I deceived you last night. Believe me when I say that, but time was of the essence. The marriage is a cover, a legal shield to keep her safe and under our protection. I detained you to give Roman time, but Lollipop, we both know that kiss had nothing to do with Roman and Luna.” His words hit me like a gut punch, knocking some of the wind and fury out of me.
“You never answered my question about why Fowler wanted Luna as his intern.”
He exhaled, suddenly sounding tired. “Roman and Luna need to talk first, but trust us to keep her safe. She gets the benefit of our security team and his name. It's temporary, and you’re smart and savvy enough to know this is in her best interest. None of this changes my promise.”
“What promise?” I ground out.
“That I’m still coming for you.” Then he hung up.