Page 32 of From the Ashes

Kaos’s tracker is bouncing off the tower near the apartment. Did he sleep there again last night? There’s no real reason for him to stay there instead of the compound, but maybe he just needed some time to himself. The last few days have been hard on all of us, but none more than him. The father he thought was dead strolled right back into his life like the last three years haven’t passed, and he’s got all our opinions coming at him. It’s reasonable he may want some time to feel through everything and understand how he feels about his dad being alive.

I dial Kaos’s number again, but it goes straight to voicemail.

With a sigh, I drop my phone back to the desk. This is not the shit I signed up for when we took this position. But back then, we lived for work. We would have done anything if it meant climbing the ladder and reaching the top, even if that meant working twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

But now?

Now we have something to live for. We have someone we need to give our attention to make sure she doesn’t run from us again in the future.

I’ll be honest, it never even occurred to me to tell her Kovu was the one who killed her father. Not because she didn’t need to know, but because by the time things settled down around here and she was comfortable with us, too much time had passed, and when you do the kind of work we do, there have been a lot more dead bodies since her dad’s.

I dial Kovu’s number next and sigh in relief when he answers.

“Hey,” he says sleepily.

“Where are you?”

“Where do you think I am?”

“I think you’re parked out in front of the De Marco residence stalking our girl.” I half laugh.

“Well, you’d be wrong,” he tells me smugly, and I’m about to remind him about the tracker when he continues. “I’m inside the De Marco residence. In the spare room next to Camilla’s.”

“Does she know you’re there?”

“She knew I was here last night, but we had a…disagreement.”

I blow out a breath. “What did you do?”

“I reminded her who she belongs to,” he says simply, and I drop my head into my hands. For fuck’s sake. If he’s not careful, he’s going to keep driving her further away from us.

“Kovu,” I growl.

“She’s fine. She’s getting ready for work at the moment. I assume she’s heading to the office, seeing as she hasn’t spent much time there since she took over, so I’ll follow her there, and once she’s inside, I’ll head back to the compound.”

“Have you heard from Kaos?”

“Not since I left yesterday. Why? Did he not come home?”

I shake my head even though he can’t see it. “No. The tracker shows him near the old apartment, but I don’t see why he would spend another night there. This place is more than big enough for him to get space from us while never leaving these four walls.”

“Do you want me to swing by on my way back?”

I tap my desk a few times, considering my options. On the one hand, I should leave him be to process in his own way. But on the other hand, there’s no telling what Caleb will do, and I won’t risk any of our lives, not even to my brother.

“That would be great. The spare key is still where we used to keep it.”

Kovu chuckles. “I’ll make sure the little lamb gets to work okay, and then I’ll head over and let you know.”

He ends the call, and I drop the phone back on the solid wood of my desk.

Why does it feel like the more we try to hold it together, the more our family is falling apart?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CAMILLA

Even though I’m wearing the loosest skirt I own and panties I was certain wouldn’t disrupt it, the cuts Kovu inflicted on my ass are giving me hell.

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