Page 31 of The Warrior's Captive

She gripped her brother’s rough hand hard. The nails all had black crescents underneath and there was grease caked in the creases of his knuckles. She liked his hands better now than she ever had. Even after the worst trauma she’d ever seen anyone endure, Rome had come out the other side. It didn’t seem like he was happy, but she’d thought he was trying to move forward. Now it seemed like he was just good at fooling everyone, but maybe that’s what it took to get through life. On the outside he seemed like a completely different person from the brother she’d known. The old Rome was still in there, but that baptism by fire transformed him.

Or not. Maybe that was all just a front as well.

Whether it was real or not, it was clearly all for the four-year-old little girl who was currently at daycare.

“Why didn’t you tell Mom and Dad or any of us about her?”

“Kieran knows. When I got that call from the lawyer, I was living in a shithole in the seediest part of Casper. I honestly didn’t care if I lived or died. After finding out about Waverly, I knew I needed to get my shit together. There was no one else who could take her after Lila’s aunt passed. She was going to go into the system and there’s no way a shifter kid could survive that. I might have lost Lila, but I didn’t have to lose everything. I couldn’t fail Lila’s daughter the way I failed her. I needed to get it together so I could provide a stable environment for a sweet girl who’d lost the only family she ever knew. I’m still not…” His eyes flicked above her head and stayed fixed there on nothing at all. “I’m still not better. I still feel like I’m going to tear out of my own skin half the time, but the garage helps. The guys there. The work is physically demanding, and so that’s a relief. Just trying to breathe through the day, the hours, the minutes, that’s how I get through it. Whenever I feel like going out there and losing myself for good, I have Waverly here to keep me from doing anything so stupid.”

“You’ve had her with you for a month?”

“That’s right. Kieran gave me some of the pack money to get this apartment and buy into the garage. There are three other guys as part owners, but they’re cool guys. I think I can make it work.”

Briar May picked up the cloth and twisted it in her hands. Water droplets dripped over the floor by her bare feet. “So that’s why when I begged Kieran to give me your address, he didn’t lose his mind.”

“He called me right away and told me he’d try to deter you, but I told him to let you come if you wanted to. He knew I had a new place, the garage in the works, and Waverly, even if he kept that all a secret. He knew I was trying to get on some kind of track worth living, turn myself into a man worth the breath that I’ve been given. He still wanted you to stay at the pack, but when you asked him again, he told me he’d given in and warned me to let me know he was driving you over here.”

“I couldn’t bring myself to watch Castor leave,” she admitted, the shame welling up, turning into more tears. They leaked off her cheeks and joined the water droplets on the floor. “That would only have caused him more pain. I knew he’d pretend like he felt nothing at all. He probably wouldn’t have even looked at me when Kieran handed him and the other two back to his pack enforcers when they came to get them.” She sucked in gulps of air until it burned worse than the tears. Worse than the fire in her stomach. Worse than the pain gnawing holes through her chest until she felt like there was nothing left of her except tatters that would blow away in a stiff wind. “I can’t stop thinking about what kind of life he’s gone back to. What kind of a future did he think he’d have? Is he okay? Is he killing for hire again? The family he had back at his pack would sooner see him dead than their messed-up code of honor shit all over.”

Rome pushed up suddenly and offered his hand. “Let’s go to the kitchen. I want to make sure you get something in your stomach, even if that’s just toast and a bit of water.”

“Domesticated Rome. Who would have thought.”

He snorted, but she could tell he was glad that she was up and not curled over in a sorrowful ball again. “Do you want peppermint tea?”

She dropped the washcloth in the sink and tried not to really gape at him. “You don’t drink peppermint tea.” Rome was the kind of man who liked his coffee black and stiff.

“I don’t, but I could go out and get you some. It’s supposed to help with nausea.”

“I know. But how do you know that?”

He shrugged. “A guy at the garage has a pregnant mate.”

“Mate?” she asked. “So they’re shifters too?”

Rome nodded. “She’s like you, prone on the floor it’s so bad. He was rattling off a list of stuff that helped the other day—Ginger, peppermint, tea, chews, gum, supplements, candies… pretty much the whole deal. You should have seen the mountain of groceries he piled on his bike and took home for her.”

“That sounds really sweet.” It sounded like it made her want to die, thinking about Castor. Wishing he was here with her. Wishing it was him bringing her tea and worrying about her. Wishing it was him picking her up off the floor and giving her a cold cloth, rubbing her back, holding her hair, wrapping him in her arms at night, dreaming of their future family.

That he didn’t fit the token mold of a mate didn’t stop her from forcing him into that frame in her mind. She’d seen his tender side, and somewhere deep inside she knew he’d take care of his mate.

Rome put two slices of rye bread in the toaster and pressed it down. He got out margarine and poured a glass of cold water from the tap. His two-bedroom apartment was in a building that looked pretty dumpy on the outside, but had been remodeled on the interior in order to compete with other newer rentals. The appliances were even new. The walls had clearly been freshly painted and the flooring was all very modern. The light fixtures were just frosted glass, but they too had that fresh out of the box look.

“Who picked out the furniture?”

“Kieran ordered it online and paid for all of it. It was delivered here, and the furniture people brought it in. They offered to assemble it, but I drew the line there.”

The kitchen was a square with a bank of cabinets surrounding the stove and fridge and a square table on the other side with barstool style chairs. The sectional in the living room was black leather, curled around a plain round wooden coffee table, but there were two large leather recliners that were incredibly comfortable as well. Kieran splurged on a huge TV that Rome had mounted to the wall.

His bedroom had a brand-new queen bed in a dark sleigh frame with the matching dresser and nightstands to complete the set. Waverly’s room was everything a little girl could dream of, complete with bunkbeds and a creamy white dresser. She had her own toybox in there, a smaller desk, bean bag chairs, and tons of stuffed animals. Her closet was stuffed full of bright clothing and adorable shoes.

Briar May was currently bunking down on the bottom bunk because Waverly was brave and loved being up high in the top.

Her hand hovered over her belly, but she quickly put it down at her side. “If I meant anything to him and he’s free right now since his pack promised Kieran he’d come to no harm, why hasn’t he come back for me?”

The toaster popped and Rome spread a very thin layer of margarine over the top. He passed the plate and water over and let her nibble a slice standing up.

He crossed his arms over his chest. He’d never looked more like an outlaw than he did now, but he’d also never looked more human. Was faking it until making it really so bad?

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