He doesn’t take my bag for me, or even offer, and I love it. I love that he doesn’t see me like some damsel in distress who can’t look after herself. He knows I’m capable and treats me as such. The knowledge makes my heart flutter and my stomach clench.
The words he said to me last night, and assured me he meant this morning, still ring in my ears, but still, I can’t say them back. Not yet.
“Something’s going on,” Stella says, hopping up from the sofa and placing her hands on her hips the second we appear.
“Uh… What makes you say that?”
“I can just see it on your face. What’s happened?”
My eyes shoot over to Xander, and one side of his lips curl up.
He knows.
He knows, and he hasn’t said anything.
I grip Theo’s waist tighter in the hope that he caught that look too and realises that Xander is as loyal as they come.
“Luis Wolfe is dead,” I say.
“Good,” Seb spits. “That’s less than what he deserves for what he did to you."
“Why are you rushing back? Shouldn’t you be celebrating?”
“Yeah, we should,” I concede, not wanting to dive into our suspicions yet and incriminate anyone unduly.
“They’re saying Ram did it,” Theo says when I hesitate.
“Oh shit,” Seb gasps. “That’s…” A deep frown forms on his brow.
“Yeah,” we both sigh together.
“You’re right. You should get back. We’ll be right behind you.”
“No,” I argue. “Stay, enjoy the luxury while you’ve got it. We’ll be fine. I’m sure there’s no drama.”
They all stare at me like I’m insane, and a rush of emotions swells within me for the people surrounding me.
My family.
I might have fought it, with Theo especially, but everyone here, and a few probably still passed out elsewhere in the hotel, have become everything to me.
I left Lovell with nothing, and I fully intended to eventually leave Knight’s Ridge the same way after two years of torture there. But that’s not what I got. I found myself my ride or dies within the elite and privileged walls of that place, and quite honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
All of these guys would take a bullet for me, I have no fucking doubt. And, if I’m being honest, I’d do exactly the same for them.
“Okay, Em,” Stella concedes, but I know she’s just telling me what I want to hear. The second we walk out of this suite, they’re going to be getting ready to do the same.
“Ready, babe?” Theo breathes, tugging me tighter into his warmth and strength.
“Yeah. We’ll see you soon, yeah?”
In only minutes, we’re back in the lift once more and heading to the basement parking level.
Just like last night, the second the doors close on us, the intensity in the enclosed space almost becomes unbearable.
Pressing his hand to my stomach, Theo pushes me back until I hit the wall.
I stare up at him with my heart racing in my chest, waiting, begging for him to kiss me. But he never does. Instead, his fingers curl around my hip, grounding me with his sparkling emerald stare.