Page 79 of Ruthless Commander
Crack.
The shot echoed in the room as the bullet struck, hitting Blake between the eyes. He twitched for an instant, and then he stopped. There were no more foul fucking words from his lips, no more hate in his eyes…just the same empty stare he'd left behind in Rhys’ gaze.
A pang tore through my chest at the memory of my bodyguard.
“Xael,” Mateo murmured behind me. “I’d like you to meet my brother, Edon.”
I looked at the man. “Brother?”
No wonder the man looked familiar. He held my stare as I searched his gaze. Echoes of Mateo were in his face, the same jaw line, same dark complexion, but his eyes…they were empty, with the kind of darkness that terrified me. They might be blood, but they weren’t the same.
“The rest?” Mateo murmured.
“Dead…what was left. The other heirs of the Commission held their own. I just helped them even the playing field a little.”
“And killed everyone in their path,” Mateo finished.
Edon just held my stare. “It’s what I’m good at.”
I swallowed hard and glanced at the very dead Blake. I had no doubt about that. None at all.
“Who the fuck was this?” Edon asked.
“Him.” I jerked my head toward my biggest fucking mistake in a long line of them. “He said he was the last of the sixth family. The one they told stories about.”
“The sixth family?” Mateo repeated, and shook his head. “That’s bullshit, there never was a sixth family.”
I scowled and shook my head. “Yes, the stories—“
“Are nothing more than a fabrication. A tale someone made up to make the Commission seem even more dangerous.”
I’d heard the stories, had even asked my father about it once, earning myself a slammed door in my face. I was sure…
“Ask them yourself.” Mateo just shrugged, stepped closer and held out his hand. “Most of them will be here tomorrow.”
I flinched, meeting his stare, and took his hand. “Tomorrow?”
“They were already on their way before the attack started,” he said as we made our way out of the room, leaving the dead behind.
The thought of that weighed heavy in the pit of my stomach. My father hadn’t wanted me to come here in the first place…and now…I glanced at Mateo. After this, I’d be controlled even more. I tried not to think about that as we walked through the foyer of the building and out as the winds started gusting once more.
“Looks like we’re through the eye!” Mateo yelled in my ear.
I just nodded, unable to care anymore. Agony was a fist beating in the back of my head. My knees buckled as I stepped and I began to fall, until strong hands caught me.
“Easy now.” Mateo lifted me carefully.
He clenched his jaw, agony roaring to life in his eyes. “Hold on to me, Xael. Let me take care of you.”
It wasn’t in me to be weak, not after all I’d been through. But as I wrapped my arms around his neck, it didn’t feel like weakness. It felt like fate. I lowered my head to his chest as he carried me back toward the main building. As the doors opened and we started to step through, I realized we were alone.
“Your brother?”
“He’ll be around.” He carried me along the hallway, stopped outside the door to his apartment and reached for his card. “He’s always there when I need him.”
I wanted to ask him more about his brother, somehow I knew he was more than important…but very, very dangerous. But none of that mattered as Mateo opened the door to his apartment and carried me through. I Iet everything else fall away.
“Put me down, Mateo,” I murmured. “I want to take care of you too.”
