Page 65 of They Will Burn

He stares at me for long seconds, and I hold my breath, fully expecting him to trash my office regardless of my pep talk, but then he gives me a curt nod and turns on his heel.

“I’ll get Kaos to text Knox,” he grunts on his way out, and I know without a doubt he’s on his way to the gym to beat the shit out of a punching bag.

I drop back into my chair and allow my eyes to fall closed. Every word I just said to him is the truth, but what I didn’t mention is that I’m just as close to the edge as he is.

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

CAMILLA

Ihold my arm against my body as Crew leads me into the living room. The pain is getting worse by the second, but I’m trying my best to appear as unaffected as possible. Not because I think Crew will look down on me for being in pain, because that’s not the case, but because this is what I was trained to do.

I loved my father, and I truly believe everything he did for and to me prepared me to take his place at such a young age. But some of his methods were not traditional, and one of the main lessons he taught me was to withstand pain.

The sweatpants Crew helped me pull on are so big he had to fold the waistband over and over just so they would stay up, and the shirt isn’t any better. But then, I’m used to wearing their clothes at this point.

“Elias will be here soon to stitch up your arm,” Crew tells me as he walks into the small kitchen and opens the fridge just to close it again.

This is the longest I’ve been around him without him working, and I have a feeling he’s going to struggle to sit still for however long we’re here for.

“Elias?” I ask.

He turns his attention back to me and nods. “He was a medic for the SEALs. I used the emergency phone we keep here to text him.”

“Have you let Bishop know we’re okay?”

“I just texted him to give him an update. Once Elias has been here and your arm is bandaged up, we’ll start planning for what to do next.”

I swallow heavily around the lump in my throat. How the fuck am I going to get control of my own people? They have no confidence in me already, and why would they? I’m eighteen years old, and my father didn’t share my training with anyone outside the immediate family and a few high-ups. Michael and Scott will have poisoned all their opinions of me already, and I don’t know how to sway them back.

I could kill them all. I’d rather not have that many dead bodies on my conscience, but it may be my only option in the beginning to gain control. Or perhaps I could set an example with Scott or Michael. They may be family, but I don’t have the same emotional attachment to them that I probably should, and I have no remorse for what I did to Scott when he thought he could put his hands on me.

A warm hand against my cheek brings me back to the present, and when I look up into Crew’s eyes, I allow myself to breathe. “What’s on your mind, Little Menace?”

I half laugh, but there’s no humor in the sound. “Apart from who just tried to kill me?” I shake my head and lean back, allowing my eyes to fall closed for a moment. “I’m just thinking about how I’m going to take control of the situation. I can’t let what happened today go unpunished if it was someone within my organization, and if it was outside, then I need to retaliate. Everything is happening so fast I haven’t even had a chance to meet with anyone, and I already know Scott and Michael are going to be ahead of the game. Hell, they probably caught wind of me being alive when Davenport took me and started making moves to take my place.”

“Don’t worry about that now, Camilla. We’ll work it all out.”

I groan. “But that’s the issue. You can’t help me with this. If the other leaders start noticing you’re stepping into things like this, there will be issues. It’s not the role of the Syndicate, which means I’m on my own.”

A growl escapes his throat at the same time he grasps my chin between his fingers and forces me to look at him. “No.”

“No?”

“No. You don’t have to do anything on your own. We’ll work it out. But I am not sending you into any dangerous situations without us being there to support you and, more importantly, protect you.”

I open my mouth to argue, because I know how many issues it will cause if they do just that, but then the door opens and he spins, stepping between me and whoever is walking through the door. The move is a simple one, but it makes my heart clench. Does he realize he just put his body between me and potential danger?

“It’s just us,” a man calls through the apartment, and the tension in Crew’s shoulders melts away.

When he still doesn’t move, I look around him to see two people walk in. The man is around the same height as Crew and every bit as broad, with dark hair and eyes that move over the space looking for potential dangers.

The woman he’s with looks tiny in comparison. Her dark curls fall around her shoulders, and her amber eyes dart around before they settle on me with a soft smile.

“Hi, Crew,” the woman says softly, her hand caught in the man’s much larger one. “And you must be Camilla. It’s so nice to meet you!”

Once again, I’m about to respond when Crew cuts me off. “It’s not safe for you to bring her here,” he snaps.

He rolls his eyes and pulls her further into the room. “Hi, Camilla, I’m Elias Ford, a friend of Crew’s, and this is my fiancée, Leighton.”

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