Ha.
I arched a brow at Lucas who just rolled his eyes in dismissal.
Ah, the joys of being the eldest—a burden both of us bore.
Maybe we had more in common than I fucking thought.
Taking a seat beside Savvie, I asked, "What was that about with Katina?"
"What was what about?"
"Now I know you’re trying to bullshit me."
Her sniff was another clue. "What are you talking about?"
"Why would you take her to Camden’s concert?"
A smile danced on her lips. "You know I love his music."
"Yeah, love to hate," I mocked, even more suspicious now.
Her soft smile turned into a moue. "The way she talked about Star, it was like she’s still talking to her. Don’t you think?"
I dissected the short conversation and nodded. "It was like that, yes." I considered her. "That’s why you’re here? You want to know if she knows where Star is?"
"A little bit of this. A little bit of that."
"Helpful."
"Now you know how annoying it is to be given half the damn story."
"My story could get your sexy ass killed," I remarked.
"Yeah, sucks to be you that you fucked up and as an apology, you have to be truthful with me," she retorted smugly.
"I bet you’re glad I lied, aren’t you?"
"It’s going to prove useful," she agreed, but her nail dug into my tee as she prodded me with her finger. "Don’t do it again. I wasn’t glad last night. I was fucking furious. And hurt." Her brow furrowed. "You hurt me, Aidan. I had five years of that when you made Casper look like a stalker. No more."
Sighing, I snagged her hand and raised it to my lips. "I’m sorry, little one."
"I don’t want apologies," she dismissed, swallowing thickly. "I just want us to be honest with each other. I know that you think that isn’t possible because of what you do, but you know I’ll never go to the cops. You know I won’t report anything that you don’t want to be made public. You can trust me."
"I know I can, and you know that my concern is our enemies—" Agony splintered in my chest. "The idea of something happening to you like what happened to Ma, Savannah—" My mouth worked, and when our eyes met, hers widened as I rasped, "I’d make what Da did looksane.
"You don’t understand what I feel for you, baby girl. You don’t know what I will do to keep you safe, and this world ain’t safe." I released a breath. "Last December… it was a stupid test, and I regretted it almost as soon as I fucking started it." I pressed my forehead against hers. "Shit got real witheverythingshortly afterward, and it just got pushed aside."
With our foreheads still connected, she tipped her chin up so she could kiss me. Her lips lingered on mine for a couple seconds.
"You trust me now?"
"I trusted you then," I said with no small degree of annoyance. That small degree was totally aimed at myself. I reached up and cupped her nape, keeping her in place as, against her mouth, I rasped, "I won’t just kill for you, Savannah. I willdecimateNew York City for you. I will tear it apart and I won’t put it back together again.
"I’ll make Da’s retaliation look like child’s play. Do you understand? Do you know what’s at stake if I share what you want me to share with you?"
Though she released a shaky breath, she whispered, "We can go to war together."
My jaw clenched at her words as I accepted that there was no going back.
She was all in.
I just hoped neither of us lived to regret it.