Leo, my protector, the man that had gone out of his way to make sure I was taken care of, looked terrifying. My heart pounded in my ears as I fought to settle down, to not shrink away, to remind myself this was Leo, he was in there and he would come back to me.
“Mistake,” he suddenly spoke, repeating my words back to me like he needed me to confirm it again.
“Mistake,” I said on a nod, my voice little.
His jaw clenched, and I caught the displeasure on his face. He searched my eyes, and I let him see the sincerity in them, but I was still rattled. My breaths came out in short pants as I nervously reached out for his hand, cupping it. He didn’t close his hand around mine; it felt weak and heavy in my hand. I shook it, staring up at him, pleading for him to come back to me, but Leo—there was something edgy in his expression as he peered down at me like…like he wanted to punish me, like my apology wasn’t enough for him.
His eyes—unforgiving and angry—ran over my body slowly, like he was deciding the next step, and I was at his mercy, willing to fix this any way he wanted. My skin tingled from his loaded stare, unable to decipher his thoughts.
So wrapped up in that dark stare, I jumped when the sound of his phone vibrating on the nightstand erupted suddenly.
Leo
She jerked as his phone vibrated, shaking him out of his riotous thoughts. He waited with clenched teeth for it to ring out, and when it did, he made to move to her, to tell her how fuckingangryhe felt—
The phone vibrated again, and this time she stared at the phone like it was an escape she needed from him. “Should you silence it?” she asked him in a small voice.
He turned his head in the direction of the phone, watching it light up as it danced around the table. “It’s not my business phone.”
“So, it’s important?”
He didn’t answer straight away. It could only be one of two people on that phone: Shane, or Hunter. It couldn’t be good news if it was either of them. He let out a cool breath, restraining himself. Fighting to remain calm, he yanked the phone off the stand and pressed it to his ear. “Yeah?”
“Big trouble on this end,” Shane said quietly.
“What sort of trouble?”
“Hunter.”
Leo’s rage ebbed away instantly as his blood pumped harder, the words hard to push out as he quietly demanded, “Alive?”
“Hardly.”
He felt like he had just been plunged into darkness. He twisted away from Skye, his other hand clenching into a tight fist. “What happened?” Leo nearly shouted—nearlybecause he needed to be calm, controlled—
“Stabbed multiple times in his mother’s home.”
“No.”
“She is dead.”
Leo’s body stilled.Dead.Kayla was dead. His head felt light as he weakly trudged away from the bed, his vision spotting as he fought for breath.Be calm. Be calm.But he felt anything but calm as his eyes reddened instantly. He growled out,“Who did this?”
“I’m working on it—”
“The bikers?”
At the mention of the bikers, Skye was out of bed and hurrying to him, staring at him intently now with wide eyes.
“No,” Shane answered, though his tone changed now, like even he was horrified and trying his hardest to remain calm. “They arrived on scene. The president discovered them, and he is not doing well, Leo. He is—he is not well.”
“But Hunter’s alright?” Leo demanded again, this time sharper.
“What’s going on?” Skye rushed out, turning the lights on now. “What’s wrong with Hunter?”
Leo didn’t answer her. “Shane,” he pushed. “Tell meeverything.”
“It was a hit,” he explained. “The clubhouse is in disarray.”