CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE RYKER
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
RYKER
NOW
After a particularly uncomfortable hitchhike back to the city involving a couple that either wanted to add me as a third or harvest my organs, I arrive at the De Marco estate, and the second I step through the front door, I’m met with a very agitated Kovu.
“You!” he snaps, shoving a tattooed finger into my chest. “You were supposed to keep her safe! Camilla was released from the hospital yesterday, and now she’s stressed as hell!”
Every part of me wants to argue, wants to push fault onto someone else, but I can’t. I have no one but myself to blame, and I have to own it.
I promised her I would keep her safe. I promised I would protect her. I swore she could trust me, and I went ahead and let her down.
And don’t even get me started on the boss.
He’s going to fucking kill me the second he sees me, so I have to make sure I get Chloe back before that can happen.
I can’t go to the grave knowing I failed her. That’s a far worse fate than death itself.
“Has she spoken to them?”
He gives me a jerky nod. “As soon as you texted, we called Damon, but even the threat of hell raining down on them wasn’t enough for them to bring her back.”
Crew strides into the room with far more color in his cheeks than the last time I saw him.
“I finally convinced her to get some rest,” he tells Kovu before turning mismatched eyes on me.
“We’ve called on the Saint James family for assistance.
They’ve had experience getting onto the Lombardi compound, and Elijah and Storm have agreed to stay until we’re able to recover Chloe. ”
I nod along, trying to decide whether I should let them know there’s someone else that will be part of her rescue.
His anonymity is part of the reason he can do what he does. He’s a ghost no one knows much about, and telling anyone about his connection to Chloe is risky.
“How’s Camilla?”
“Beside herself. She almost died a few days ago, and now she has to deal with potentially losing the woman who raised her after her mother died.”
“We’ll get her back,” I assure him, guilt eating away at me with each reminder of how badly I’ve failed.
“You’re damn right we will,” Crew snaps, disappearing toward the kitchen.
Kovu follows him, leaving me standing in the middle of the entryway alone with no idea when we’re going to talk strategy.
Sighing, I head up toward my bedroom but pause when I pass Chloe’s door, indecision tugging at me.
I should keep walking, but I need to feel close to her, and that’s all it takes for me to push her door open and step inside.
Her scent hits me immediately. The one I used to catch whiffs of when she would walk past me in the hallway and spend the rest of the day craving her.
She’s had me so fucked up from day one. I don’t know how I’m supposed to walk away once we’ve got her back.
Because I’ll have no choice but to do just that.
I had no right touching her to begin with, no fucking right putting my bloodstained hands on her.
Dropping down on the edge of the bed, I tug her pillow against my chest and bury my face in the soft fabric.
I’ll get her back. I’ll make sure she’s safe. And then I’ll leave.
Because a man like me could never be worthy of her.