Mihai
MIHAI
I ’m sitting on Maddy’s bed, her small frame curled up in my lap, clinging to me like I’m the only thing tethering her to reality. Her face is pressed against my chest, her hands fisting the fabric of my shirt, and she’s not letting go.
And honestly? I don’t want to move. Not yet. Not while she’s still clinging to me like this.
The guys are talking, but I’m only half-listening. My focus is on Maddy—how she’s trembling against me, how her breath is still shaky and uneven.
She hasn’t said a word since that first broken whisper of my name, and I’m not sure she’s going to anytime soon.
And fuck, it kills me to see her like this.
Nikolai’s pacing, running his hand through his hair, his face twisted in frustration. “This shouldn’t have happened,” he snaps, his voice sharp. “How the fuck did they get in? We’ve had security on lockdown since day one. This is supposed to be our safe haven.”
Giovanni, sitting on the arm of the chair, nods grimly. “There’s a mole closer than we fucking thought. Has to be. No one gets through our security without inside help.”
The word ‘mole’ has me seeing red. It’s the only thing that makes sense, but it’s still hard to process. Our fortress, the place we considered untouchable, was breached. And Maddy —my Maddy— was caught in the middle of it.
Connor stands near the door, his arms crossed, looking more serious than usual as he plays with his knife. “I’ll get on a conference call with our fathers, they need to know what’s going on. This is a fucking breach of trust.”
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath, my hand running through Maddy’s hair as I try to keep her calm. She won’t let go of me, not even for a second, and I’m not sure I want her to.
Nikolai’s still pacing, practically vibrating with anger. “We need to deal with this guy. Get whatever information we can out of him. I want names. I want to know who sent him and why the hell they thought they could come after us in our own fucking home.”
Giovanni cracks his knuckles, a dark glint in his eyes. “Oh, we’ll get it out of him. One way or another.”
I grit my teeth, trying to keep my own anger in check.
“I’ll go with you,” I say to Connor. I need to make sure my father knows exactly what happened, and that this isn’t just some small-time hit job. This is bigger.
As soon as the words leave my mouth, Maddy tenses against me, her grip tightening on my shirt. She shakes her head, burying her face deeper into my chest. My heart twists painfully. She doesn’t want me to go. I can feel her panic, the fear that if I leave, something bad will happen again.
Fuck.
I lean down, my lips close to her ear, keeping my voice low and soothing. “I’ll be right outside, frumoasa. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. Cat and Chiara will stay here with you.”
She shakes her head, her eyes wide and full of fear, and I feel like an asshole for even suggesting leaving her. But this is something I have to do.
She doesn’t move at first, doesn’t let go. It takes a few more whispered reassurances before I feel her slowly loosen her grip. Her fingers uncurl from my shirt, and she pulls away just enough to look up at me, her big brown eyes filled with uncertainty.
I brush a thumb across her cheek, trying to give her the softest smile I can manage. “I’ll be right outside,” I repeat. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She nods, and finally lets go, shifting off my lap to sit on the bed. Maddy’s breathing slows, and after a long moment, she finally lets go of me, though I can tell it’s taking everything she has to trust that I’ll come back.
I brush my thumb gently across her cheek again before standing up, leaving her with Chiara and Cat. Chiara immediately takes her hand, offering her a reassuring smile, while Cat sits down next to her, rubbing her back gently.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got her,” Cat says softly, giving me a reassuring nod.
Chiara adds, “We’ll keep her safe, .”
I glance back at Maddy one more time before I stand up, my jaw clenched as I head toward the door. The second I step out into the hallway, I’m hit with a wave of emotions—rage, fear, protectiveness. It’s overwhelming, and I need to get my shit together fast.
Connor, Nikolai, and Giovanni follow me out, the door clicking shut behind us. As soon as we’re downstairs, I can feel all three of them staring at me with matching smirks, like they know something I don’t.
“What the fuck’s with those looks?” I snap, already on edge.
Connor’s grin is the widest, and he gives me a knowing look. “Mate, I think she’s attached.”
I scowl, not in the mood for his teasing right now. “Shut the fuck up, Connor.”
But Nikolai chimes in, his smirk just as irritating. “Nah, he’s right. She didn’t want to let go of you, man. And let me tell you, I don’t think it’s just because you’re the closest Crown.”
Giovanni chuckles, shaking his head. “Can’t say I blame her. Looking at that fucker’s face, you went full beast mode back there.”
“Fucking hell,” I mutter, rubbing the back of my neck. I know they’re just messing around, but it’s not the time for jokes. Not when Maddy’s upstairs, scared out of her mind, and there’s a goddamn traitor in our ranks.
Connor slaps a hand on my shoulder, still grinning. “Relax, . We know you’re not going anywhere. But you’ve gotta admit, she’s gotten under your skin.”
I shrug off his hand, shooting him a glare. “Yeah, well, it’s not like I asked for this. I was doing fine before all this shit.”
“Were you, though?” Nikolai cuts in, raising an eyebrow.
I don’t answer, mostly because he’s not wrong. I have been on edge since Maddy came into our lives, and tonight just pushed it all over the line.
Giovanni leans against the wall, crossing his arms. “So what’s the plan? We break this guy and get the info, then what? We’ve got a mole, and it’s gonna take more than just interrogating one asshole to figure out who’s behind it.”
“Yeah, first step is making sure we get everything out of that piece of shit who attacked Maddy,” I say. “Once we have names, we go from there.”
“And our fathers?” Connor asks, his tone more serious now.
I clench my fists, trying to rein in the frustration that’s bubbling up again. “They need to know what’s happening. If there’s a mole, it could go deeper than we think. I’ll go with you to tell them.”
Connor studies me for a moment, then nods. “Alright. Let’s go.”
Nikolai walks beside me, his hands shoved into his pockets as he glances over at me. “You know, it’s not a bad thing,” he says casually.
“What’s not a bad thing?” I mutter, not in the mood for his cryptic shit right now.
“The fact that you care about her,” he says simply. “It’s obvious.”
I grit my teeth, biting back a response as we make our way toward the Crowns Main Suite for the conference call. Giovanni and Connor are talking quietly behind us, their focus already shifting to the business side of things—who we need to contact and how we’re going to handle this.
But my mind is still on Maddy, on the way she looked at me when I told her I was leaving, on the way she clung to me like I was the only thing keeping her safe.
I don’t know what this is between us. I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. But I do know one thing—I’m not letting anything happen to her. Not again.
I need to be there for her, not just as some protector, but as someone she can trust, someone she can rely on.
And fuck, I want to be that for her. More than I’ve ever wanted anything.