“I-what?” he asked, glancing at Matteo to see if he would agree with my demand. I knew that it wasn’t normal to just claim a married woman.
I’d make her a divorcee or widow first if I could do it without hurting her.
I never wanted to hurt her.
“Just keep that in mind and know that I’ll be watching everything you do. Don’t fuck up, Latour,” I extended a hand, patting his cheek just harshly enough that he winced. “I’ll see you around.”
Then I turned back for my car, listening to every word they spoke as I went. “I suggest you prove very, very useful. Persuading Ryker to wait won’t be easy,” Matteo said.
“I got it,” Chad seethed, and I felt his eyes boring into my back as I walked. “This is fucking ridiculous. She’s my goddamn wife.”
“So treat her like it,” Simon grunted. “Otherwise he will.”
Damn fucking right I would, and I’d have the entire force of the Bellandis at my back when the time came. It was only a matter of time before Chad fucked up. They always did, and when he did, I’d be waiting.
Until then, I’d get to know my Sunshine.
Two
Calla
Three years ago
I needed to get home.
I rushed out of the corner store, waving at the man who held the door for me as I passed. My son at home alone with his father, who was also my husband, shouldn’t have felt so urgent.
I wished I could enjoy my time alone, browse through the grocery store and maybe buy things that weren’t on my list for once. I shouldn’t have needed to get back to them and should have been able to trust my husband with our child.
Instead, my son needed me. It took fifteen minutes for Chad to get frustrated with Axel and call me. It surprised me he lasted that long with the look Axel gave me when I left.
He loved Axel, but with his work hours being so demanding, sometimes it felt like my guys didn’t even know one another anymore.
In such a rush, I never noticed the figure waiting for me in the mouth of the alley that led to the parking lot at the back of the building. I never noticed the one trailing behind me either, clinging to the shadows like he lived in them.
I never did.
The moment I turned into the alley, a hand reached out from the side to grab hold of my purse and yanked it away from my body. “Hey!” I shouted, pulling back in a dramatic tug of war. Lifting the bag of groceries, I swung it for his face, the bag colliding in a resounding whack. I watched the faint hints of a face twist into a scowl as he recovered from the blow.
His fist shot through the air, aimed directly for the side of my face. I knew the moment I dropped my groceries and lifted my hand to protect myself that it would be too late. My eyes squeezed shut of their own accord, desperate to protect them in whatever way I could.
I waited for the pain to explode in my cheek, and yet the punch never came.
A grunt of pain came from in front of my clenched eyelids and made me thrust them open just in time to watch a second figure haul the thief off his feet by the throat. The savage growl my savior emitted had me stumbling back a step, staring at them in both awe and horror. Two faceless men, speaking in rough whispers that I couldn’t make out. Not with the ringing of my pulse in my ears.
I ducked down, gathering up the purse I must have dropped in the altercation. I needed to be ready in case I had to make a run for it. I should already have run, but something about the sight of the unknown man gripping my attacker in such a way appealed to the darkest part of me. The same part of me that wanted justice for the attempted robbery and injury I hadn’t even suffered.
Something about my savior felt familiar.
“You have a two-minute head start,” he grunted, his voice deep as he lowered the other man to the pavement. When he finally released the mugger, the smaller man darted off through the alley to escape, tripping over his own feet in his urgency to get away.
I didn’t want to know what happened at the end of his two minutes.
With wide eyes and shaking hands, I bent down and collected the items that had fallen free from my grocery bag.
As I shoved the last item back in, a hand stretched out from the shadows, holding the can that had rolled his way for me to take. With a nervous swallow, I stepped forward and accepted it. Our fingers brushed against each other. It was only the subtlest touch of my skin against his, but an electric current pulsed up through my arm so harshly that the can slipped through my fingers.
He moved like lightning, snatching it out of the air before it could crash to the pavement. But my eyes never left him, never left the shining blue orbs that seemed to glow even in the absence of light. The eyes of a wolf, of a predator who barely resisted the urge to devour his prey. The rest of his face remained cloaked in the shadows, a mystery despite my growing urge to see him.