Page 108 of Crown of Steel

“I want to ask Amadou,” Régis continues, his voice soft, and careful. “I trust—you trust him, right?”

I reply with a single nod.

“I want him to take the cage somewhere far away. I can’t do it by myself.” His voice falters and I take that as my cue to slowly close the gap between us. He’s still sitting at his desk when I reach him, and take hold of his hands. Mine clasp around his, the smooth texture caressed by my bigger frame.

“You don’t want to know where the cage goes?”

He shakes his head.

“But you don’t want the cage destroyed?”

“No.” His voice is weak and strong at the same time. Insecure and determined. “I can’t bear the thought that the cage is no longer there. But I don’t want it in my life anymore. Because—”

“Because you have me now.” This time I definitely growl, the sound making Régis smile through his rising sobs.

“Exactly.”

I pull my little stepbrother out of his chair and against my chest in one smooth movement, then press us close together. “You feel that?” I mumble in his golden hair. “You feel how my heart beats for you?”

“Yes,” he breathes, then sobs once more. It’s not from sadness, I know. His arms curl around my shoulders and press me closer. It’s from something so much more. Something we share, like some precious treasure.

“The only people I trust with my life are my family. Amadou is part of my family,” I mumble.

He nods against my neck, his hair tickling my ear. “Call him. Ask him to come over. Let me do this,mon coeur.” He pulls back, his blue eyes large and proud. “Let’s do it now.Allez!” He insists, when I’m left fumbling with my phone.

“You’re such a bossy babe,” I complain, smiling when he mouthsbut you love it. I give Amadou quick instructions, and it takes him literally not more than three minutes to come bursting through the front door of our dorm, where the party has already begun.

“You’re joining or what?” Louis whines from the kitchen when he sees us, a whisk and bowl in hand. No one flinches when we walk past carrying the metal cage toward the exit. No one flinches in the corridor when we carry it all the way through the narrow hall and down the stairs, through the reception area and to the parking where the SUV is waiting. Amadou opens the trunk and we place the cage inside. It’s not until he closes the trunk that I feel the invisible weight lifted.

“I trust you,” Régis tells Amadou. “Please take it somewhere, far away.”

Amadou dips his head gracefully. “Thank you, Sir Régis. I will.” When he looks up, his dark eyes land on mine, that warm glow scorching in its recognition. His lips tick up.

“Régis?”

Someone calls from behind us, and Amadou’s gaze shoots up and behind us, only to flash at the sight of Régis’s friend, Maxime. He approaches in a slow jog, his ginger hair flopped to one side, his freckles glimmering like tiny spots of gold. He’s an attractive guy, though a little too gullible for my taste. When he sees us, he smiles, but his face flushes violently when he catches sight of Amadou. Turning back over my shoulder to sweep my gaze over our bodyguard, I’m only half surprised to find his eyes dark and dangerous, pupils dilated andstarved.

“I—I thought the party was upstairs?” Maxime stammers, eyes darting between the three of us.

“It is.” Régis says. He gives Amadou one final nod, the cage inside the trunk one final stare, then I watch him turn his back to both and sling an arm over his friend’s shoulders. But he doesn’t move. Instead he hangs on with a rigid spine as I watchAmadou get in the car. He doesn’t leave until I gesture for him to go. Only then, once the car slowly pulls off and through the gravel, does Régis turn over his shoulder. I can feel his burning gaze from here. We stand there, the three of us, until the car leaves our sight. Maxime doesn’t ask anything, making me appreciate him just that little bit more. Now’s not the time to talk. And so we stay there, in silence, until finally Régis clears his throat. Leaning into him, I brush my lips against his ear and whisper, “It’s done.”

When we make it back upstairs and into our dorm, I peel Régis away from Maxime, and with a growl in his ear, I push him toward our bedroom.

“I need you for one more minute.”

“I hope you’ll need me for more than that?” He teases, but lets me willingly pull him back inside his room. Once the door is closed, I lean a hand on it and drop my head, inhaling deeply as I’m briefly lost in my own jitters. I’ve been waiting for a fitting moment to give this to him.

“I’ve got you a gift,” I say, then flit my gaze to his. He looks surprised.

“A gift? But it’s not my birthday.”

“Come here.”

He follows me through the room, letting out some sputters on how I have made myself at home in his space. I open a drawer and take out a oak cube.

Régis eyes it warily. “What’s that box?”

“It’s not a box. Look.” I sit us both down on the bed, then place the gift between us. “Open it.”

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