Page 28 of In the Shadows

“We don’t want to see you hurt,” Bishop admits. “That’s why we treat you like you’re made of glass.”

I stare at him for long moments because I didn’t actually think he was going to tell me, or at least didn’t think he was going to tell me the truth. The man is known for his ability to lie through his teeth, but I know with every fiber of my being that he’s telling me the truth right now. “Why?”

He lets out a breath, and for a second, I think he won’t answer. He’s already told me more than he likely wanted to. “That’s the question on everyone’s mind, love. Why do the city’s most powerful men care so much about a woman who could be the end of everything we’ve built?”

Before I get the chance to say anything or even think through the words he’s just spoken, for that matter, Kovu chuckles beside me, and I turn to face him. I almost forgot he was here. I don’t know how, because aside from Kaos, he’s the most intimidating man I’ve ever met in my life, but his amusement is written all over his scarred face. “I’m going to need a fucking cold shower or to kill someone if you two don’t cool it with the tension.”

My eyes widen, and I feel Bishop’s lips touch the shell of my ear. “In case you hadn’t realized, Kovu gets off on blood and violence.”

Why is that so fucking hot?

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

KAOS

Ipace restlessly up and down the hallway the following morning.

It’s not like I don’t have shit to do, but this is the time of day I’ve been coming to sit with Camilla, and it’s hard breaking the habit.

I wish I could say it was only routine that brought me down here, but it’s not. It’s the raw need to see her, to have her within my sights, and I hate us both for it.

Why do I care?

She’s nothing to me. She’s nothing to any of us. Just another future Mafia queen to have under our thumb, to make them follow the rules or show the consequences of their insubordination.

I did something I never do last night and watched her sleep on the security camera in the guest room. I think that makes me all kinds of creepy, but I felt more settled knowing she was okay after what transpired between the five of us yesterday.

She was nestled beneath so many blankets I’m surprised she could breathe with Kovu lying beside her. The fact he’s slept beside another human every night for the last week is surprising in itself. But the fact that his usually violent nightmares never come is what had me staring at the screen in disbelief.

The number of times I woke up with his hands around my throat when the three of us shared a room as kids in our shitty apartment is too many to count, but he seems almost peaceful beside Camilla.

Bishop slept in the armchair again. I don’t understand why he needs to be close to her so badly that he can’t just go to his own bed for a few hours to get some real sleep, but these assholes have it bad for the girl, and that in itself is confusing as hell to me.

But none of that answers what the hell I’m doing here.

I curse under my breath and turn on my heel to head back toward my bedroom when a figure at the end of the hall catches my eye. Crew is dressed in his usual suit, pressed to absolute perfection. He’s the one who always looks like he has his shit together, but right now he looks uncertain about walking up the hallway.

He catches my eye and sighs, obviously realizing he’s been caught out and has no choice but to join me in front of the guest room door.

I don’t even know why we have a guest room at all. It’s not like anyone has ever stayed here, but after my dad died and she was dragged down to hell where she belongs, there were a few extra rooms we had no use for, so we allowed Maggie to decorate them. Our housekeeper has been with us since the beginning, and I don’t think the four of us could function without her at this point. I’m man enough to admit I can’t cook for shit and wouldn’t know how to use a washing machine if it smacked me in the face.

“What are you doing down here, kid?” he asks, sliding the mask he usually reserves for the outside world into place.

“The same as you, I imagine,” I grunt, choosing not to snap about the stupid nickname. He’s been calling me kid all my life, but sometimes I wonder if he forgets we’re all equals now. Just because he’s the oldest and he’s Bishop’s father and my uncle doesn’t mean that he rules over us like we do the city.

“I was just here to see if Kovu wants to work out,” I lie.

“Bullshit,” he replies. “Try again.”

I sigh and lean against the wall across from the room Camilla is inhabiting, crossing my tattooed arms across my sweatshirt-covered chest. “I don’t know why I’m here.”

He chuckles, his eyes moving to the closed door before he matches my stance beside it. “I was thinking the same thing.”

I roll my eyes. We’ve never been like this with a woman. Even when she was here, we never fawned over her. There were no random visits to her room when we each had work to be doing. Perhaps that’s the most telling part of all this. Crew works eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. The man hasn’t taken a holiday since I was born, so the fact that he’s here at all shows he’s as conflicted about his emotions as I am.

“Are you going to go in?” he asks.

“Are you?”

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