Page 3 of Crave Me

“I want to hear it from you.”

He steeled himself, then told me, “Look, with your resources depleted at the time, yeah, I took advantage of it to get a little closer to Seb. I get that you’re pissed about that. But in this case if I hadn’t done that, even Skylar wouldn’t be here. When I showed up, they were overrun. I tried to save Seb, but he wouldn’t have it, especially after he saw Skylar take that hit. He begged me to leave him and save her. I tried to do both, but by the time I beat back the fuckers headed for her, it was too late, he was already being shoved into that van then spirited away.”

Fuck.

“All right,” I muttered.

He stepped toward me. “Whatever you’re planning, I want in.”

“Now isn’t the time.”

“He’s my brother. He’s been kidnapped. It’s exactly the time. You know what I’m capable of. I’m an asset in this sort of situation. Without Caleb here—”

I was wrapping my hand around his throat in the very next second and slamming him into the wall just a few feet from the bed. “Watch your fucking mouth!”

His eyes shot wide at my explosion of temper. I wasn’t exactly known for that. But all bets were off right now.

He held out his hands either side of him in surrender. “I’m sorry. I want them back too. You know that. You know it’s hurting me too. You know I’m on your side here.”

With a grunt, I released him roughly.

My gaze fell on Skylar and I grimaced, then turned away, scrubbing my hand over my face.

“I need you to get your mom out of town, then pack a bag and come to King Manor.”

“What?”

“The enemy might not be done. As Bastian’s brother and also being connected to me, you could also be a target.”

“Not to mention, my fake friendship with Jett.”

“That too, yes.”

“You’re really gonna put me under your protection?”

“Bastian would want it.”

He’d trusted him to save Skylar, for fuck’s sakes. The tide had clearly turned there between the two of them on Bastian’s end.

Jesus.

One set of major earth-shattering problems at a time.

“Okay, sure. I’ll go pack now.”

As he moved to do just that, I pressed my hand to his chest. “Stay with her for another few moments. I need to check in on Dante and Matteo. I don’t want her left here alone in case she wakes up in a panic after what happened.”

He frowned. “You want me to be somebody she wakes up to?”

“It is what it is right now.” He’d saved her and he’d been feeding her information for a long time too, so it was highly doubtful she’d still see him as any sort of threat as he had been beforehand. He was also a connection to Bastian, which would help too. “When I return, I’ll have two of my security team members with me. Allow them to escort you to your apartment to retrieve your things.”

“Got it,” he said, moving to sit back down at Skylar’s bedside.

I took a moment to stare at her and drink her in, that she was here and safe and well.

And then I forced myself to turn around and leave to deal with the rest.

As I worked on the press statement to calm things regarding Skylar and Bastian, typing rapidly on my phone while I made my way down to the room Dante had been settled into a few moments ago after being treated, a text notification lit up my screen.

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