His smile turned a bit sheepish. “You’ll go to the apartment?” he asked insistently.
“It sure beats crashing in an abandoned warehouse somewhere.”
“Good. You’ll need to buy food and whatever else until we can come see you—take this.” He dug out his wallet and handed me a wad of cash. Something in me balked at accepting the charity, but I knew he didn’t mean it that way. It was a matter of honor for him to make sure I was taken care of.
And grocery store food sure beat dumpster-diving.
After I’d pocketed it, he paused and then ducked down to kiss me again. His hands came to rest on either side of me, trapping me against the wardrobe. Our scorching breaths mingled with each other.
When he pulled back the second time, he rested his forehead against mine. “I’m going to miss having you around, Kitty Cat,” he said. He hadn’t called me by the nickname for so long that the mention of it almost startled me.
While I stood there cocooned in his heat and scent, a part of me didn’t want to leave. But I didn’t have much choice.
I nudged him away from me. “I think my hour is just about up. I’d better get going before I end up with Axel dumping me on the front lawn.”
Wylder lingered by the door as I swung the backpack over my shoulder. “Listen,” he said abruptly. “I’m not going to tell you to hide away in the apartment all day and night. I know you wouldn’t listen to me if I tried to order you to anyway.”
I laughed. “I’m glad we’ve gotten a few things straight.”
He shot a half-hearted glower at me. “Just… when you do go out into the Bend, be careful about it, all right?”
There was so much concern in those words, I softened. I reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I will be. I’d like to keep breathing too, you know.”
We couldn’t have more of a send-off than that. I walked down to the foyer alone. A few Noble men were gathered around. Patrolling had been doubled since the incident. All eyes turned to me as I sauntered past them.
Axel was with a few others out on the lawn, smoking a cigarette. He looked almost gleeful to see me leave. The grass glistened wetly, the traces of red finally gone, but a hint of the meaty smell lingered in the air. A sense of foreboding crawled down my spine.
I had one enemy behind me and another in front of me. Was Xavier still lurking nearby, watching me even now?
As I headed down the hill, I called for an Uber. If Kaige and Rowan were following me as Wylder had promised, they were doing a good job of staying discreet. As far as I could tell, I was on my own.
I dragged in a breath and touched my three lucky charms: the bracelet in my pocket, the knife at my other hip, and the pistol tucked in the back of my jeans. Two of those I could thank Wylder for.
Why did I have to be torn away from my guys right after I’d started discovering such a strong connection between us?
When the car finally arrived, I got in and threw one last look at the hill where the Noble mansion stood. Then I glanced down at the backpack on my lap. I’d come to Paradise City’s rulers with so little, and in some ways I was leaving with even less… but in other ways, I had so much more.
Of course, that just meant that now I had a lot more to lose.