Chapter 32
I didn't have a lock on my bedroom door growing up.
You need a door to have a lock. That happens when your stepdad loses his temper and slams his foot through the flimsy wood.
After he apologized to my mom, nobody cared about my privacy.
I kept to myself and used everything I learned from experience, like who could snap at the slightest noise or wrong word.
But it became harder the closer to adulthood I got.
I grew taller and bulkier, and no matter how I folded my shoulders, I couldn't hide anymore.
So I learned to slink in the shadows, and when that didn't work. I learned to fight.
Eventually, I had my house, and I fitted my own damn locks.
But I didn't need them, not now I could protect myself.
It was too late for the ten-year-old, who shivered in the dark, staring out into the abyss, hoping the stumbling boots would walk past rather than pick a fight with a child who couldn't defend himself.
My stepdad was long gone, and he hadn't bruised my skin for years, but the invisible scars remained.
Ray pulled out a key and fit it into Lara's lock. I fought the urge to show my surprise.
"Where did you get that?"
"I had a copy made months ago."
"Does Lara know that?" I arched a thick eyebrow.
"Of course not."
My face showed none of my surprise. I'd practiced for many years to become like stone. I'd been happy as some sort of gargoyle, with a hard heart.
Until I met Lara and fell slowly and stupidly in love with her.
I brushed my thumb over the tiny camera nestled in my palm. Priorities, Jonah. There was a basement with a dead body. I had to do my job right now.
"You're a menace." The affection in the words surprised me.
Ray Donato was a constant pain in my ass, but he'd wriggled under my skin.
He flipped me an apologetic smile. The kind that belonged on a movie screen, and it used to fill me with a surge of anger.
He'd done nothing to earn it, just like his name.
He was a sloppy, spoiled prince who still whined about how hard his life was.
But Ray had lost his crown, lost his kingdom.
Now he was no better than I was, a kid from a broken home who had to fight for every single thing, including Lara.
We walked into the open-plan apartment, not as nice as the one Adelaide organized. She straddled the chief with locked lips and rolled off with a squeak. Every time I saw her, it was like a punch in my gut. I felt like a fucking animal guarding its food, ready to growl and hoard her to myself.
"How did you get in?" Beck unfolded from the couch, adjusting his prominent bulge.
Ray held up a key, shoving it in his pocket, as Lara planted her hands on her hips.
"You and Beck are unbelievable."
"Come dig it out if you really want it back." Ray gave her an exaggerated leer.
"Can we come in?" I cleared my throat, still nervous around her even though I'd had my tongue down her throat many times.
Lara set me on edge, made my nerves rattle under my skin. She swiped at her swollen lips, her cheeks stamped with two pink dots.
"Too late now."
"Careful, I might get the wrong idea," Ray joked, ducking as I tried to slap him. "Didn't you just break up with us?"
Ray splayed himself out on her couch, hiking his shirt up like the peak of defined abs would tempt her. I rolled my eyes. Ever the opportunist.
"Have you seen anything like this recently? It's a long shot, but …" I pinched the camera for Beck, and he took it from me with flattened lips.
"Where did you find this?" He flicked a look at Lara, who'd drifted into the kitchen and was trying hard to ignore us.
"There was a situation at our warehouse. A bloody one. Turns out someone has been watching us closely."
Lara's shoulder blades jammed together.
"I've seen these before. Now, where have I seen these?" Beck hummed, his focus still on Lara.
Ray jumped up from the couch, his body doing nothing for Lara. Instead, he pulled out a hidden-camera detector.
"Want to see a cool party trick? I'll make your apartment safe with a swipe of my hand."
I rolled my eyes as he danced around the room. Waving the device with a manic gleam in his eye as it beeped steadily.
"What are you doing and what did you find?" Lara came closer, bringing her vanilla scent.
I stepped into her space, and she looked up at me, a flare of surprise in her eyes. Demanding attention. It was something Ray might do, not me.
"It's a camera. Can you believe it?"
Lara's eyes flared, and she opened her mouth, just as the beeping intensified.
"Can you turn that off?" Beck snapped.
Ray fumbled with a picture frame, one with a photo of Lara and Adelaide inside it.
"Hey, put that down," Lara huffed, but Ray fiddled with the side until it revealed a secret component, and another camera, identical to the one in Beck's hand, fell out.
Ray's face would have been comical if my bones hadn't turned to ice.
"Check everywhere," I said to him through gritted teeth as I wrapped my hand around Lara's upper arm and dragged her into her bedroom.
Beck followed like a shadow as Ray searched, his face drained of color.
"Jonah, stop." Lara clicked her tongue.
I flung open her cupboard doors and pulled a suitcase down from the shelf.
"Start packing."
Lara shook her head, and a rush of acid burned my veins. Did she not understand what that camera meant? Someone was watching her, and they'd been inside her new apartment.
"Listen, this place isn't safe for you anymore." I used my bulk to shuffle her slim body against the wall.
She pushed against me, looking over my shoulder as if hoping someone would stop me. But I heard the way they chuckled and knew I wouldn't get any argument from him.
"Sounds like Adelaide might have a mole." Beck added from his perch on her bed.
Lara's mouth opened and closed like she was contemplating saying something. She shook her head.
"I can look after myself," she said.
I was close enough to catch the flash of anger in her eyes. Fear trickled down into my stomach, making the acid roil and toss like a storm on the ocean. I melted Lara against the wall, pinning her gently with my body. She shivered as I cupped her face.
"How?" I growled. "How can you look after yourself?
You don't have weapons or the skills to use them.
You didn't grow up in this world. You fell into it.
I've been a guard for over a decade. I know what threats are and how to spot them.
Ray is a former crime lord. He can handle himself if he puts his head on straight. "
"Hey," Ray muttered, disgruntled as he walked in with a handful of cameras. "Don't trash me to our girlfriend."
"Not your girlfriend…" Lara sighed.
"This place is dripping with cameras. You can't stay here," Ray added.
I needed to get it through her head because I didn't know what I'd do if anything happened to her.
Adelaide kept her best friend protected, which I admired, but she'd also left her vulnerable.
Sweat prickled at the back of my neck as I thought about the warehouse.
Trained guards had no chance against our mysterious enemy.
What did Lara think she could do? I pinned one forearm over her upper chest and lifted her T-shirt.
I stretched the material and strangled her scrambling arms.
Freckles covered her small, naked breasts. Ray whistled behind me, and Beck let out a growl. Lara wriggled against my arm, her nails raking into my skin, but doing nothing except heightening my adrenaline. Blood rushed through my ears, blocking out her frustrated protests.
"What the fuck, Jonah?" she cried.
This was out of character for me, but this wasn't a time to ask nicely. Lara needed to understand what was at stake. Her life, which meant everything to me.
"Stop me." My voice came out guttural. "If you don't need our protection, our help, prove it. Because I don't think you can. I could do anything I wanted to you right now, and there isn't a thing you could do about it."
My insides jangled, tightened into knots as my breath came quick. But Lara surprised me. She wrapped her hand around my wrist and sank her nails in. Slow and deliberate.
"You wouldn't." A smug smile spread across her lips.
My fists uncurled for a moment, and I darted a look at her bare breasts. They were small and firm, with hardened nipples.
"Jonah might not. He's a gentleman, after all. But I will." Ray swooped in and lowered his head to her left breast.
His hands crowded her body, brushing against where I held her immobile.
Her eyes squeezed shut, and she wriggled ineffectually again, this time letting out a soft moan.
Her back arched, seeking more of Ray's mouth, and my chest squeezed at the sight.
Ray's pink tongue rolled around her peaked nipple, and his shapely lips sucked the soft skin.
"Looks like you can really handle yourself." I shook my head, and Ray chuckled, nipping the reddening skin.
Lara's eyes flew open, and her hand sank into the hair at the base of my neck.
"Oh really, I can shut you right up, though." She tugged my lips toward hers.
Her tongue slipped into my mouth before I could protest. My hold on her faltered, and the arm immobilizing her dropped.
But I didn't give her space, pressing in close, taking more of her mouth for my own.
She was like water to my parched throat.
Her fingers kneaded my skull, and her soft moans vibrated through me.
Ray's elbow nudged my side, breaking the kiss.
Lara trailed her lips down my neck, and my knees turned watery at the scrape of her teeth.
"Swap sides," Ray jerked his head.
"You interrupt and now take my place? I thought we had bigger things to worry about," Beck grumbled from the bed.
We all ignored him. My head spun from the velvet taste of Lara, her bold, commanding touch, so I shuffled over, and Ray lowered his head to Lara's other breast, lavishing it with attention. Lara's head dropped back against the wall.
"That feels so good, Ray."