37. Dax
DAX
Dear Diary,
I don’t trust him, but he made sure she was taken care of. That counts.
I’d worked at the shop until late and then gone back to the Guerras’ mansion and put in a training session, even though it was close to midnight.
I’d needed it. My nerves were on fucking edge, being this close to Nyah, sneaking around with her behind the Guerras’ backs, playing with a fire that burned so fucking hot I was getting seared just from being near it.
And yet I couldn’t stop. Couldn’t walk away.
If I was being honest, it wasn’t only because of Nyah.
I’d told my father I was going overseas to fight for the Guerras, and he’d been so thrilled he’d shaken my hand and told me that this was it. It was what we’d been working for since I was a kid and taken my first class.
He’d always wanted me to concentrate more on fighting.
I’d tried every style, from boxing to Krav Maga to ju-jitsu.
He’d seen the potential, and fuck, so had I.
I’d had enough coaches push me to fight in tournaments, to practice harder and longer hours.
And yet all the natural talent in the world had meant nothing when your heart was pulled in other directions.
My heart had wanted art.
And I’d gotten it.
But even I could admit there was a part of me that wondered what if. What if I’d trained more? Fought more? What if I hadn’t quit?
Carlos had whispered dollar amounts in my ears that had me dizzy.
They were figures I could never earn as a tattoo artist, no matter how many full back pieces I did.
Especially not in a town like Saint View, where most people didn’t have the money for food, let alone luxuries like tattoos.
My shop had done well. We were profitable.
We could all afford to put food on the tables.
And yet the Guerras were offering me something more. A life I hadn’t considered I might want until I’d had a little taste of it.
The fact it brought me closer to her had sealed the deal.
It was always about her.
Every moon, star, and sun in my world revolved around Nyah Matish.
I didn’t know why Luca was mouthing her name at me as he was hauled away by his father’s man, but I didn’t need to know.
I walked out of the hallway, past Carlos’s suite of rooms, and headed for the stairs that led up to the bedrooms. Mine was at the far end of the long hallway, but Nyah’s was closer, one of the first, and I knocked softly. “Nyah?”
There was no response from within, so I jiggled the door to unlatch the lock and opened it just an inch.
Nyah slept in the middle of the large bed, a silky sheet pooled around her waist. She was naked, her perfect tits on display, nipples hard with the cool night air and silently begging me to suck them.
Except an ugly white bandage covered her chest, and my heart sank. I closed the door behind me and stalked across the room. “Nyah?”
I shook her gently.
She mumbled something, something that sounded like my name, but didn’t open her eyes.
My gaze flickered to the bedside table and the packet of pills sitting beside the first aid kit.
I picked it up, read the name on the back, and blanched.
“Jesus fuck.” They were the same painkillers I’d had when I’d broken my leg about five years earlier.
I remembered how strong they were. How fuzzy they had made my head. How vulnerable and weak I’d felt.
And I suddenly realized why Luca had sent me up here. Lynx was nowhere to be seen, and Nyah was hurt and so out of it she was completely helpless.
I bent and kissed her forehead tenderly. “I’ve got you, pretty girl,” I whispered, using the nickname I’d given her the night we’d met. “I’ve got you.”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one. The man downstairs, being dragged off to who knew where, apparently had her back as well.