Page 47 of His Forever

Apollo stood up, cracking his knuckles. “I can’t fucking wait until she steps foot on Wyndemere. She’s not going to know what hits her.”

“We need to get ready. She’s going to hit sooner rather than later,” Sig said, his voice steady but edged with the urgency we all felt.

Leo tipped his head to the side, thinking. “We also need to figure out who Boone and his partner are. I’m pretty surprised she said he was a politician.”

I nodded, remembering the way Candace had casually dropped that little bombshell. It didn’t sit right. “She said he was helping with an MC,” I added, my fingers tapping lightly against the desk.

“I’ll talk to King and see if he knows anything about the Iron Fiends,” Leo said, determination creeping into his voice.

Apollo nodded. “I’ll let everyone else know what’s happening. We need to stay sharp.”

“I’ll come with you,” Sig added, his usual calm but focused demeanor in place.

Sig and Apollo left the office, quietly closing the door behind them. The second they were gone, Leo moved toward me, coming around the desk and gathering me in his arms. I let out a soft laugh, resting my hands on his chest. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one who should be hugging you,” I teased, still feeling the adrenaline buzz from the phone call. “I just made a deal with a woman to kill you, remember?”

Leo chuckled, a low rumble deep in his chest. “I’m not hugging you because of that,” he said, his voice full of warmth and amusement. “I’m hugging you because that was fucking amazing, watching you in action. You never hesitated. You did exactly what you needed. You had her eating out of your hand.”

I tilted my head, smiling. “Guy Maranga did,” I corrected. It was his voice, his reputation, that had lured her in.

Leo pulled back slightly, his eyes locking onto mine. “That’s what she thinks,” he said, his voice turning serious, “but I know it was you, baby. You’re ruling a fucking empire like it’s nothing.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it, the truth of it. “Kind of like you?” I asked, knowing Leo Banachi wasn’t exactly running a small operation either.

Leo shook his head, a slow smile creeping across his lips. “You’ve got a lot more power than me, baby.”

I studied his face, searching for any hint of resentment or doubt. There was none. Still, I had to ask. “And you’re okay with that?”

It had crossed my mind before that our dynamic might change as my power grew. While Leo held control in North America, I had inherited something much larger, with influence that stretched across the globe. It wasn’t something we’d talked about in detail, but it had been lingering in the back of my mind, a potential problem we’d have to face sooner or later.

“As long as you don’t turn on me, I’m good,” he said with a grin, though I could tell he was being serious.

His answer eased something inside me. I hadn’t realized how much I needed to hear that reassurance, how worried I’d been that my power could drive a wedge between us. If Leo’s ego had been in charge, I knew it could have easily gone a different direction. But it wasn’t. He was secure in himself, in us.

I sighed heavily, leaning into him, thankful that we were on the final step to take out Candace. This was it—this was the beginning of the end.

“So,” I said, breaking the silence, “now we wait.”

Leo nodded, his fingers brushing along my back. “We wait.”

Candace didn’t stand a chance.

Chapter Twenty

Leo

“I was hoping to find you in the kitchen.”

I startled at the sound of her voice, but I knew instantly it was Brynn. I’d been lost in my thoughts, staring out the window in my office. It was half-past one, and like usual, sleep seemed out of reach.

The day had been a whirlwind, especially after that call with Candace. Everyone was on high alert, waiting for her next move, bracing for the storm we knew was coming. The pressure of it weighed on me. Brynn had gone to bed earlier, but I wasn’t sure if she expected me to join her once I was done talking with Apollo and Murphy. Maybe she needed some space, maybe she didn’t. But it didn’t stop me from thinking about her. About us.

Brynn wandered into the office, closing the door softly behind her. “Couldn’t sleep?” I asked, turning toward her.

She shook her head, her eyes glinting with warmth despite the late hour. She was wearing pale blue sleep shorts, a white T-shirt that clung to her in all the right places—and no bra. The sight of her always did something to me, but like this? In the quiet of my office, looking so effortlessly beautiful? I was done for.

Brynn shrugged, walking around the office, her fingers trailing over the bookshelves and the desk, touching things lightly as if her fingertips could absorb some of the tension in the room. She stopped directly in front of me, her gaze locking with mine. “I woke up expecting you to be in bed with me, and you weren’t.”

“So you came to find me?” I asked, my voice lower than I intended.

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