“I’ll have Dominick bring you a car. ” He moved past me to open the door.
“Lucas?”
He hesitated as the door swung open.
“I did miss you. I really did. And I wanted to come home. But you should have let me do it my way. I needed time. ”
“I know. But, Secret, we needed you here. We’re your friends. ”
“Yeah. With friends like you, who the hell needs enemies?”
I slammed the door behind me.
Chapter Eleven
I knew Lucas was up to something the second Dominick showed me to the garage.
The smirking blond bodyguard had been gracious enough to loan me his leather jacket, and because of his slight build, it fit me perfectly. Plus, thanks to the DNA he shared with his brother, it smelled comforting and familiar.
“This one is yours,” Dominick said, indicating a pristine yellow BMW convertible.
Like all the other cars in the garage, the BMW Z4 was meticulously detailed and polished within an inch of its life. Something about this specific one, maybe the color, or some type of new-car magic, made me certain this car was more than a loaner.
When I shot Dominick an accusatory glare, he raised his hands and added, “Messenger. ”
“Harrumph. ”
“Will you feel better if I call it a loaner?” he asked, obviously picking up on my discomfort.
“My pride will. ”
“You live in a special country of denial, Secret. ”
“Have you met me? It’s more like a planet. ”
I couldn’t help but smile at him.
Dominick tossed a set of keys at me, and I tested the weight of the new object in my hand. It felt foreign but not unwelcome.
“Is it gonna blow up?”
Dominick laughed. “I doubt he’d go through all the effort of getting you back only to kill you. ”
I opened the unlocked driver’s door and let the scent of new leather waft out. I’d never owned a new car before.
Just a loaner, I reminded myself.
“Dominick?” I stopped before climbing in.
“Mmm?” As always, he was grinning and his blue eyes were alight with some inner mischievousness.
I reconsidered my question, opening my mouth to speak, then looked away from him and into the car so I wouldn’t have to see his face change.
“Was it bad? When I left, I mean. ”
He was quiet for so long I had to look back to be sure he was still there.
“For which one?” he asked, just as I was certain he wasn’t going to respond. When I couldn’t answer, he came and stood on the opposite side of the open car door and fixed a serious expression on me. I couldn’t turn away. “It was different for both of them. For Lucas, he was so busy trying to hold the pack together, if he was hurting, he didn’t let it show. But he needed you here. You killed Marcus, and whether you know it or not, that puts you in a pretty important position within the pack. I mean, like, Desmond-level importance. ”