Chapter 40
Saint
Amy falls asleep with her hand wrapped around my sleeve. Even in sleep, she doesn’t let go. I remain where I am, watching the rise and fall of her breathing until it finally settles into something steady. The room is dark except for the light spilling beneath the bathroom door.
My eyes drift toward the desk. The envelope where the marriage license sits like it’s a bomb waiting to go off.
Roman Mancini.
I stand carefully, easing my sleeve from Amy’s fingers before crossing the room. The paper feels heavier than it should.
My jaw tightens, and then my thoughts go back to where I’ve been the past few days. The first lesson Valet taught me wasn’t about money. It wasn’t about power.
It was this.
A man’s intentions are never hidden. They’re written in what he believes belongs to him.
Roman wasn’t asking. He was making a point.
Behind me, Amy shifts in her sleep. The whisper is barely audible. “No...”
I look back. She’s dreaming again. Even asleep, whoever it is still reaches for her. I’m not stupid enough to think he isn’t one of them.
Quietly, I pull my phone from my pocket. The black phone Valet gave me rests beside my regular one.
The difference between two worlds. I ignore the black phone and call Zero.
He answers on the first ring. “You disappeared.”
“I’m back.”
He stays quiet for a minute. I can hear his wife in the background.
“Everything okay?”
“No.”
And that is all it takes.
“I’ll wake Valen. And Azriel. They’ll meet us at your house.”
“Alright.” I end the call and take one last look at Amy.
She’s curled beneath the blanket, one hand tucked beneath her cheek like she’s trying to make herself smaller. Something inside me twists.
For years, I survived men trying to break me. Roman spent years trying to break her.
The difference is that he succeeded.
Until tonight.
I walk back to the bed and brush a strand of damp hair away from her face, careful not to wake her.
“I’ll be back before you wake.” The promise is quiet.
More for me than for her.
I switch off the lamp and lock the door behind me.
My house is almost silent when I arrive. My car wakes up the neighborhood. Zero is already waiting on the porch.
One look at my face, and his grin disappears. “You found something.”
“I found someone,” I correct.
He gets up and opens the door without another question. Valen and Azriel are already inside the living room.
Blunts, maps, and campus security reports are spread across the table. They know this isn’t about the Order. I pull out the marriage license and set it in the center of the table.
Valen picks it up first. His expression hardens. “What the fuck is this?”
“Roman.”
Azriel reads the names. Who the fuck is Roman?”
“He came to see Amy and gave her that.”
Zero swears quietly. “She didn’t tell Azriel.”
“I wasn’t here,” I point out.
I don’t make it a big deal, but why the fuck would she go to Azriel? I’m madder at myself that I wasn’t here to protect her.
“No.” Valen looks at me. “You weren’t.”
The room falls silent. I reach into my jacket again and pull out a photograph. It’s of Amy. She’s walking across campus. It was taken from across the street. Then another of her outside her dorm.
Roman hadn’t just found her. He’s been studying her. I found these in her room before she did. What I witnessed in the shower, I didn’t want to upset her more than she already was.
Zero’s voice is barely above a whisper. “He’s making a point. He wants her to know that she has nowhere to run. And I bet she isn’t too thrilled about being almost married to the prick.”
“No, she isn’t.” I look down at Amy’s photograph. “He already believes she’s caught.”
The words settle over the room because everyone understands the difference.
Valen leans forward. “So what now?”
I glance out the back glass window overlooking the pool.
“Victor is still on the hunt for Prey, and I’m not naive enough to think he changed his mind about Amy.”
A beat.
“But Roman...” Azriel trails off.
I slide the photographs into a neat pile. “Roman wants Amy.”
We all glance at each other. Zero picks up a blunt and lights it.
There are two wars. One with the Order and whomever Roman is a part of. My guess is Mafia. I pull out the photograph Zero sent me, hating him with the thought of him touching Amy.
Zero takes a drag. The scent of marijuana fills the air. He pulls out his laptop. Zero’s fingers move over the laptop. His expression changes.
“What?” Azriel asks.
Zero doesn’t answer right away. He turns the screen toward us.
A file tree fills the display.
Mancini Legal Holdings.
Private domestic contracts.
Medical releases.
Marriage license drafts.
Photographs.
My blood goes still.
Valen leans closer. “Roman’s archive.”
“No,” Zero says quietly. “Victor’s copy of Roman’s archive.”
The room changes.
Azriel’s face drains of color. “Victor has her files?”
“Everything Roman kept,” Zero says. “Everything he used to control her. The license. The photos. The surveillance. The notes from when she was fifteen.” His jaw tightens. “Victor didn’t just find her. He bought the map to every wound Roman left open.”
I look at the marriage license on the table.
Roman is dead. But his cage still has keys. And Victor Sokolov has them.
“I’ll keep tabs on Victor and the Order,” Zero says. “They don’t know you left. I took care of the feed. Valen took care of the Order.”
I tap Roman’s photograph once. “Now this one is mine.”