Page 104 of The Piece You Stole

“I’m supposed to sit in this room and heal while Rylan kills you?” A thread of anger makes my tone sharp. “Because you wouldn’t be leaving Leandro to watch me if you weren’t off talking about something you didn’t want me to hear, right?”

Silence.

Theyareplanning something. Neither of them will tell me about how they saved me, so it has to do with Rylan. It has to be something bad. Panic bubbles in my gut and creeps up my throat at what Rylan could do to them.

“Whatever plan you have won’t work. Rylan is…” So many awful things that I struggle to find the right word that will sum him up. “A monster. You don’t want to involve yourself in this. I’m not worth dying over, and hewillkill you.” My voice breaks on the last word because I can’t be responsible for killing them. I just can’t.

Aden cradles the back of my head with one hand. “We’re already involved in this.” He smiles. “We’ll be okay.”

No, you won’t.

Aden kisses my forehead. “I’ll bandage your hands and you can sit with Kade while I make us some lunch, okay?”

I nod. But I don’t agree.

Aden releases my head and gets back to rebandaging my palms.

All the things Rylan did to me—that his pack did to me—is nothing compared to the cruelty they’ll unleash on Kade and Aden. I know I should leave, but after what happened the last time I ran away from Aden, I’m too terrified to do it again.

I have to convince them to help me leave the city. Or even the country. I’m not sure how I can leave the country with no passport, but there must be a way.

And if I’m gone, Rylan will forget about them and just come after me.

I hope.

Because I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to these men who have made it their mission to save me.

I lift my head and find Kade’s gaze so intently focused on me, it’s as if he’s peeking into my brain, and he knows what I’m planning.

His next words prove he must be a mind reader. “We’ll keep you safe, angel eyes.”

But who will keep you safe?

CHAPTER 26

SAIGE

After a night spent in the lilac room, this time with the bedroom door closed, I pad down the hallway, still dressed in one of Kade’s white t-shirts that I wear to bed.

It’s so early that it can’t yet be seven, and yet, as I creep down the staircase, Kade and Aden’s voices float up the staircase. If Dariel is somewhere down there, I don’t hear him. Since the night I woke to find him outside my bedroom, the only time I’ve glimpsed him was when he was forcing Leandro out of my room.

My stomach grumbles as the scent of frying bacon tickles my nose. I wish I was going downstairs because I was so hungry I didn’t want to wait for Kade to bring food up to my room. I’m not even going down the stairs because I woke early. I’m going downstairs because I had a dream.

I move quietly, straining hard to listen to anything that might tell me whatever they’re planning, but by the time my bare toes touch the glossy reddish-brown hardwood floor in the entryway, Aden and Kade are talking about the weather.

Something tells me they weren’t talking about it a few minutes before.

Briefly, I take in my surroundings. A dark wood door with three locks must lead out to the front. Three other doors, all of which are firmly closed, probably lead to a dining room, maybe a living room, and a den. The last is one a little further down a short hallway on my left, which has a glass-fronted top half that reveals greenery just outside. Must be the wild garden that Aden told me about.

There are no photographs on the wall, but whoever chose the paint color, a soothing pale green, chose right because it feels warm and inviting down here.

I turn to my left, following my nose and my ears to the kitchen.

It’s painted in the same light green as the entryway, with gray-flecked white marble counters, stainless steel appliances, a large window over the sink that overlooks a wild but beautiful garden, and a round white dining table in the center of the room.

For a moment, I can’t speak. I just take in Aden, standing with a spatula in hand in front of a spitting pan of bacon, and then I shift my focus to Kade sitting at the dining table, a laptop open in front of him, one leg crossed over the other.

Both look like they’ve been awake for hours, dressed the same way they have since we’ve been here, in t-shirts and sweats.

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