Deviant (Boys of Winter 3)

His fingers move over my shoulder, rubbing back and forth as he holds me close. “I nearly lost you.”

“I was never going anywhere,” I whisper. “Do you really think I would have left this earth without somehow convincing you to a gang bang? Yeah right.”

Carver draws in a deep breath before slowly raising his head and allowing me to see the agony deep within his eyes, but for the most part, my stupid attempt at a joke has given him the strength to hold himself together. “Come on,” he says, pulling back just a bit. “Let me help you get ready.”

I watch him for a short moment, neither of us moving off the bathroom floor as my wet hair drips all over his expensive suit. “Are you good?”

Carver’s eyes soften and he nods. “Yeah,” he rumbles. “Good.”

I lean in and gently brush my lips over his. “Good, because you’re going to have to help me up.”

A small smile pulls at his lips, and in an incredible show of strength, Carver lifts us both off the bathroom floor, and he does it without even the slightest bit of pain tearing through me. He walks with me straight out of the bathroom, and as he is placing me down on my bed, King, Cruz, and Grayson stride through the door.

Cruz holds the black dress and heels he’d swiped from my closet back home, while Grayson holds all of my bandages and painkillers, more than ready to keep me safe. I’m surprised he didn’t bring an industrial-sized roll of bubble wrap. That would have been more effective.

King though, he’s just here because today of all days, he could really use the company.

Today, Dynasty buries Tobias King.

Grayson instantly strides across the room to bandage me up, while Cruz studies my dress, trying to work out how the fuck to get it on me without making me curse his name. King makes his way into the bathroom and grabs my hairbrush, blow-dryer, and makeup, while Carver just watches, completely out of his comfort zone.

Within half an hour, the boys have got me dressed and ready, and as Grayson carries me down the stairs, too afraid that I’ll trip, Carver subtly reminds me that the rest of Dynasty hasn’t been informed of London’s temporary state of … aliveness? And as it is, we’ll be keeping that one on the down-low until we can get in for a full council meeting. Hell, perhaps we shouldn’t tell them at all. If they knew just how screwed up I am right now, they could see it as a sign of weakness and use it against me.

Who am I kidding? They all saw the ambulance screeching out of my driveway. With Dynasty’s technology, it would have taken less than two seconds for them to figure out that I was the latest victim of a gunshot wound.

We get to the car and I scoot in beside King, glancing up into his warm, ocean eyes and slipping my fingers between his. “You know, you don’t have to be strong today,” I whisper into the silent car, trying to keep our conversation private, but in close proximity, I know they all hear.

“Thanks,” King tells me, looping our hands over my shoulder and pulling me in closer as his fingers trace the lines and curves of my brass knuckles. “But if anything, being strong is more important now than ever before.”

I let out a sigh, knowing that he’s right. King is now the head of his family, and along with that comes a shitload of ridiculously high expectations. There’s an unsaid demand of being stronger, wiser, and fiercer than his father before him. Nothing less will be tolerated by the other heads of Dynasty.

We drive for twenty minutes, the car in dead silence, and before I know it, we’re pulling up to a massive cathedral. I gape out the window, staring up at the incredible building that until now, I didn’t even know was here. “Shit,” I breathe. “This place is massive.”

“Wait until you see inside,” King grumbles. “This was my father’s favorite place on earth.”

My brows furrow as I meet King’s stare. “Oh?” I ask. “I, uhh … I didn’t realize that he was religious.”

“He wasn’t,” King says with a soft chuckle. “But he would come here to seek peace and guidance. I don’t know, I think maybe it was a combination of things, but whenever the world was falling to pieces around him, he would come here and just sit in the pews for a few hours until he got clarity.”

I nod and look back at the massive cathedral, watching as people dressed in black suits and dresses begin flooding through the front doors of the impressive building. King pushes his door open and climbs out before turning back and helping me.

Once I’m balanced on my feet, his arm instantly slips through mine, holding me discreetly. To the outside world, it would look as though he’s just using me for comfort, but in reality, he’s holding me as tight as fucking possible to make sure that I don’t fall and tear my internal stitches.