Page 64 of Reign of Psychos

I rested my head against Kyril’s chest and closed my eyes.

30

Dario

This hotel wasn’t as nice as the London one, but the rooms were decent enough. Thea had woken up long enough to shower and then collapsed back into bed. Cassian and Landon had joined her, while Kyril and I drained the minibar.

Milo had stayed up for a while, checking Torrance’s phone. It turned out to be a goldmine of information. Plenty of incriminating data related to the Romanian mobster, Marku.

The Romanian was a loose end we couldn’t afford to ignore. From the snippets of information I’d gleaned from Torrance, Konstantin Marku had a thriving business in people trafficking, so the sooner his operation was shut down the better. Plus, from the calls to a Romanian number in Torrance’s call log, it looked like the bastard was still determined to claim Thea.

That wasn’t fucking happening.

I sighed. Thea had once again jumped into a dangerous situation without backup. Was it any wonder we were all furious with her?

Thank God she was safe.

The sight of her and Eden alive and well had been a relief. Although Landon had thrown up at the sight of all the blood, the pussy.

It wasn’t the first time I’d witnessed Thea soaked in blood. Back when we were kids, she’d appeared in the chapel late one evening, hours after we’d arranged to meet, blood spatters over her arms and torso.

I’d thought at first it was hers, but no. Her sick father had taken her to an interrogation and instructed her to fire the killing shot at point-blank range. She’d been more concerned about me thinking something had happened than cleaning up once Torrance dropped her off at the estate.

No kid should witness that kind of violence, but for Thea, it was normal. It was a wonder she hadn’t become a cold-blooded psychopath like her father or Torrance. My father always said she was more like her mother, though.

I’d often wondered whether my father had been in love with Thea’s mother, Lucia. Maybe he had been once upon a time. From the few photos I’d seen of her, Lucia had been stunningly beautiful. Much like her daughter.

I was happy the DIA had put the old bastard in prison, but a small part of me still wanted revenge. He’d killed my father in cold blood. He deserved to pay. But at least Torrance was out of the picture.

“Tea?” Thea nodded. She’d started drinking tea in lieu of coffee because it contained less caffeine. The suite had a small kitchen area with basics like teabags, milk, and sugar, and I’d made a pot of tea once I heard Milo talking to her. She’d appeared not long after, so the tea was still hot.

She took the cup from me and sat down on the small sofa, wincing with pain. If Torrance wasn’t already dead, I would have murdered him all over again, only slower this time.

“I need to make sure Eden is alright.” Typical Thea, always thinking of everyone else first. “Where are the others?” she asked, looking around.

“Asleep.” We’d all crashed after checking in at dawn. As much as Cassian’s wealth pissed me the fuck off, it was handy being with someone who thought nothing of paying for a high-end hotel suite at a moment’s notice.

“Thank you for coming,” she said after a moment. She sipped the tea I’d made her while gathering her thoughts. “I know you’re all mad at me for leaving in the middle of the night again, but I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I understand why you left without telling us,” I told her. Kyril wasn’t ready to forgive her yet, but she was safe now, which was the only thing I cared about.

“You do?” The hitch in her voice made me want to pull her close, but I resisted the urge. My self-control hung by a thread, and I wasn’t sure I could let her go once she was in my arms. She chewed her lip as she stared at me.

“Of course. You wanted to protect Eden.”

“He threatened to hurt her.” Rage flared in her eyes. “He said he’d kill her if I came with backup. I couldn’t let him do that. She’s my friend.”

“No,cara. The guys were angry, but they’ll forgive you.” Some of the tension left her.

She rubbed her eyes and stared at her steaming mug.

“Now go sit down and let me order some food. I can hear your stomach growling.”

“Um, I could eat,” she admitted before chewing her lip. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“Sorry?”

“Sorry you didn’t get to kill him.” A small flicker of amusement crossed her face. “I had no idea Eden had such violent impulses.”