We lapsed into silence, waiting. The only sound was the soft hum of the running engine and the distant crash of waves against the rocks below us.
“Where’s Lena?”
I followed the direction of Weston’s gaze to see Caiden jogging towards us, a dark shape blending in among the shadows, barely visible since Cassius hadn’t yet turned on the headlights. He threw open the door, and Weston immediately turned to him. “Where’s Lena?” he repeated, his tone urgent.
“She’s right behind me—” Caiden’s head shot around. “What the fuck? She was there a minute ago!”
Everything seemed to happen at once. I heard Cassius’ Oh, shit and looked up to see another dark figure streaking towards us, closely pursued by yet another figure. A light bobbed up and down, the glow from the torch the pursuer carried dimly illuminating the ground as they ran, but too weak to illuminate Lena.
Caiden swung into the car, all business. “Go! Drive at them. When we get there, slow down. Get Lena in, turn your headlights on to full fucking beam and drive at the fucker chasing her.”
Cassius nodded, already slipping the car into gear and moving, flying towards Lena and suddenly screeching to a halt as we reached her.
She wrenched open the door and threw herself into the car, landing in the footwell by Caiden’s feet, and Cassius was
ted no time in speeding straight back up again, flicking on the powerful headlights to full beam. I caught a glimpse of the horror on the night guard’s face as he threw up his arm to shield his eyes from the sudden blinding light, and then he was diving out of the way as we drove at him. Cassius spun the wheel, sending the SUV skidding onto the road. The car shot across the tarmac, and we left the docks behind us, obscured by a cloud of dust.
Lena laughed wildly. “That was insane,” she gasped out, clambering out of the footwell and sinking onto the leather seats, pulling a tiny backpack from her shoulders before she sat back, her phone in hand.
“What the fuck were you doing?” Caiden hissed at her, the fury clear in his eyes.
Her thumbs flew over the keys as she sent a message, ignoring the rest of us.
“Lena!”
She sobered up as she took in Caiden’s expression and noticed the thick tension in the car, the adrenaline rush fading away. “I had to go back for my bag.”
“You were almost caught.” Cassius glanced at her in the rear-view mirror, grinding his jaw as he gripped the steering wheel tightly.
“I wasn’t caught, though,” she pointed out.
“That’s beside the fucking point!” he roared, and even I shrank back in my seat.
Lena wisely shut her mouth, slumping back with her eyes closed. I was desperate to ask her questions—had she been the one to save me? Now was most definitely not a good time, though. My questions would have to wait.
Back at the house, the tension kicked up another notch, if it could possibly get any higher. Lena disappeared off down the driveway pretty much as soon as the car came to a stop, muttering something about needing to try and get hold of her contact.
We sat in the lounge, waiting. Tense, silent.
“What happened at the docks after we went back to the car?” I climbed into Caiden’s lap, speaking low in his ear.
He bent his head, his breath hot against my skin, making me shiver, even though this most definitely wasn’t the time or the place. “I waited, and watched her. All she fucking did was peer in the windows of that warehouse we were hiding behind.”
“That was it?” I raised a brow.
“Yeah. I stayed back—I’m trying to learn from your example.” He met my gaze, his stormy eyes boring into me. “I know you don’t like me interfering. I’m…I’m trying, baby. But she’s not you. Cass would’ve killed me if anything happened to her. I kept eyes on her the whole time.”
“I’m glad you stayed behind,” I told him honestly. I recognised a kindred spirit in Lena, but there was also a recklessness to her. I couldn’t help feeling like she didn’t take things seriously, and that worried me. A lot.
While we were waiting for Lena, Caiden tried to get hold of Zayde, but he wasn’t replying to calls or messages. After the fifth try, he threw his phone down on the sofa in frustration.
I couldn’t bear the tension in the room, and I turned to Weston and Cassius. “Let’s trust Lena, okay? She knows what she’s doing.” Actually, for me, the jury was out on that one, but I wanted to give her a chance. “While we’re waiting for her, let’s talk about code names. I want mine to be Snowflake, since that was Caiden’s original nickname for me.” I laughed. “Even though it started out as a total insult.”
His arms tightened around me. “Sorry, baby,” he muttered in my ear.
“Good thing you came to your senses in the end, huh, King Caiden?” Smiling, I turned to kiss him again, sliding my hand up over his hard chest, feeling his muscles flex under my palm.
“That wouldn’t work as a code name.”