Page 81 of His Reluctant Savior

“Iwasa Fed. Not anymore.”

“So, what? You just suddenly accept a killer and his family?” Dante asked, and rightly so.

I looked at him squarely in his green eyes. “Yes, and for many reasons. Reasons that, for now, belong to Sid and me.”

All the men watched me warily, but none moved to hurt me. My life hung in the balance. It all depended on whether Sid could get through to Malik.

“Now, if you’re done threatening me, I’m going to check on my son.”

With that, I walked off with fisted hands to control their trembling. I wasn’t intimidated easily, but fuck me, being surrounded by killers wasn’t for the faint of heart.

It nearly killed me to leave Dalton and Owen behind. It took all my strength to keep from grabbing them and running from my very family. I cared deeply for them, but I would do anything to protect Dalton and his son, which was why I came back home in the first place.

I just prayed they all kept Sully under control whileI was out of sight.

Malik had his hands casually in the pockets of his slacks as I followed him back to his office. He had his suit jacket off, with his shirt sleeves rolled up over strong forearms, covered in dark hair.

He exuded power, strength, and refinement. No, he didn’t just exude it. Hewasthose things. He had a lifetime of hardships and experience behind him. I respected the hell out of Malik, which made my betrayal all the more difficult, but if I could start over, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. Dalton was everything to me.

We didn’t exchange words as we stepped into his office and closed the door behind us. He went to sit behind his desk. I took the chair opposite him and crossed my ankle over my knee, waiting for the storm through the calm.

Malik was deadly, and if he wanted me dead, I wouldn’t see it coming. A quick death would be kind and a testament to our friendship.

He leaned back in his leather office chair, crossed his legs, and steepled his fingers to his face. “Do you have any idea how hard it has been to hold Sully back?” he asked, his accent thicker in the agitation he struggled to keep under control. No, not struggle… he intentionally showed me his frustration.

“I’m well aware of Sully’s nature.”

“Yet, you turned your back on us, anyway.”

“And I would do it again if I had to.” There was no point in lying to a man who could see right through me.

He nodded slowly. “Of course you would, or else you would not have done it in the first place.”

Before I responded, he stood, headed toward his small bar by the picturesque window of the Washington Monument, and poured two fingers full of bourbon into tumblers.

“It is early, but I think I need something strong right about how,” he said, as if he needed to explain himself.

After setting the tumbler on the desk for me, he sat back down and took a small sip. I joined him out of politeness and respect, even if I didn’t want to drink right then.

“Choose your next words carefully, Sid. I would very much like to understand why you choose to betray your family before I make a decision.”

That was the only thing that had kept me alive through all of this.

“I had to do the same with Easton when he found me. My life was on the line, and how I answered hinged on whether he would kill. He was very angry with me.”

Malik’s mouth twitched into a smile before he schooled his features. “Indeed. He is quite attached to you.”

“No less attached than Sully is to you, except East and I are not lovers.”

“He would, you know.”

I nodded, knowing that if I approached Easton with sexual intentions, he wouldn’t have turned me down. “And he’s a child and the same reason you held back from Sully when he was young. But while I care for Easton, I don’t feel the same about him, and he knows this. He gets… other transactional interactions from me, which are more important to him.”

Malik took another sip of his bourbon before setting the glass down. “And what convinced Easton not to kill you?”

“I told him the truth. I owed Dalton my life, who didn’t know it at the time, but he does now.”

“How so?”

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