Shattered (The Protectors 11)

The dick that he wasn’t currently touching.

How the fuck was that even possible?

Like me, it took several minutes for Jace to recover from his release. He carefully pulled his finger free of my body and let me slide down the wall. We ended up in a tangle of limbs beneath the spray of hot water. There was no kissing or touching, just clinging.

And the only words I could manage to muster in my exhaustion were, “You win.”

Chapter 23

Jace

Some of the pain in my chest eased as soon as I felt Caleb wrap his arms around me from behind. The funeral had ended nearly an hour earlier, but I’d stayed behind to watch the men work to put my sister’s casket in the ground. I’d insisted that Caleb go with the others to the lodge for the wake, saying I’d be along shortly.

But it had ended up being harder to leave than I’d thought.

So it didn’t surprise me in the least that Caleb had returned for me.

It had been Caleb’s idea to ask the owners of the lodge my family had once owned to allow us to hold the wake there. They’d been very accommodating and Caleb had been the one to work with them to make all the arrangements.

The trip to Germany had gone off without a hitch. I’d still been sitting with a representative from the police department working out the arrangements for my sister’s body when there’d been a flurry of excitement around us. The baffled-looking police captain had come striding into the room the representative and I had been in. He’d studied me for a long time, like he couldn’t believe I was there, then he’d announced that Ivan Petrov had been shot in the head by an unknown assailant while in the parking garage of his office building. All four of Petrov’s bodyguards had been taken out as well.

While he’d spoken to me in English, he’d conversed with the representative in German. I’d been able to follow along enough to understand what he was asking.

How long had I been with her and had I left at any time or made any phone calls? When the man had asked to see my phone, I’d readily handed it over.

Although suspicious, he’d left us alone after that. I’d played dumb, of course, by asking all the right questions about who Ivan Petrov was. But the officer had said he’d have to get back to me once the investigation had been concluded. He’d called me the following day as I’d been watching my sister’s casket being loaded onto Ronan’s plane. I’d only half-listened as he’d explained that Ivan Petrov was the primary suspect in my sister’s murder. I’d faked my surprise and subsequent confusion about the man’s death and then had thanked the officer for all he and his department had done to find my sister.

I hadn’t meant a single word of any of it.

It was while at the airport waiting for the plane to go through its final preparations before takeoff that a black SUV had rolled onto the tarmac and Ronan and another man had gotten out of the front seats. I hadn’t recognized the man, though I’d had a good idea of who he was, and I’d gone to shake his hand.

It’d been the least I could do to thank him for getting justice for my sister.

While I’d been thanking him, Ronan had opened the back door. If it hadn’t been for the eerie silver eyes, I wouldn’t have recognized the young man covered in bruises. Silver had clearly been right that Petrov wouldn’t kill him for his betrayal, but I had no doubt he’d suffered every second of every day after having been returned to the man. Once we’d gotten Silver settled on the plane and he’d fallen asleep, Ronan had told me that the young man had refused Ronan’s offer to examine him. The plan had been to get Silver on U.S. soil and take him to a hospital, but when we’d told him as much after landing, he’d lost it and tried to get off the plane while it was still taxiing. It was only after I’d promised him on Willa’s life that we wouldn’t take him to the hospital that he’d settled somewhat.

I’d tried to talk to Silver a few times about what he’d endured after being returned to Petrov, but he’d barely spoken to me. It was only when I’d shown him pictures of Willa on my phone that he’d shown any kind of emotion. I’d explained that the plan was to stop in Vermont for the funeral and then continue on to Seattle in a couple of days, but Silver hadn’t acknowledged the information in any kind of meaningful way.

We’d gotten him a room at the lodge, but hadn’t seen much of him. He had shown up for the funeral, but he’d remained on the outskirts of the small crowd. My hope was that he’d gotten a ride back to the lodge with someone, because I’d been too preoccupied to make sure.