Page 5 of Claimed By River

“I don’t know.” The admission tastes bitter because I hate not knowing things. “She had a panic attack. She couldn’t breathe. So I reached toward her, and she flinched like she thought I was going to hit her.”

Royal goes completely still. The silence stretches between us until it becomes uncomfortable. Finally, he mutters a quiet curse beneath his breath.

“I knew this was going to happen eventually.”

I look up sharply. “What does that mean?”

“It means that there are things about Nadia’s background that you don’t know, and you need to back the fuck up and stop finding ways to rile her up every fucking minute!” Royal’s voice has gone somewhere I’ve never heard it go.

“What the fuck, Royal.” I’ve never seen him this pissed except when he’s researching our targets. The dregs of society.

“What is it about Nadia that you’ve kept from us?”

“It’s not my story to tell.”

“The hell it isn’t.” I step toward him. Anger flares hot beneath my skin.

I hold Royal’s gaze. And for the first time since I’ve known him, I don’t see the easygoing one—the man whose family wealth didn’t corrupt him, who spends half his day behind a computer cracking jokes. I see someone protective. Someone angry. Something ugly coils low in my chest before I can stop it.

Does he have feelings for Nadia? The thought fills me with more panic than I expect.

“You don’t need to know everything about her, River. Just know that Nadia isn’t just our receptionist,” he says, cutting through my spiraling thoughts.

Relief sweeps through me so suddenly that it catches me off guard.

He gestures toward the front of the shop. “She’s part of this family. She has been since the day she walked through our front door. Raiden sees her like a little sister. Roman would flatten anyone who looked at her wrong. I feel exactly the same way. We’ve all got each other’s backs in this place, and that includes her.”

I don’t respond. Because he’s right.

4R Ink has never just been a tattoo shop. We built this place together after walking away from lives that stopped making sense—Raiden off the prosecutor’s bench, sick of watching men walk free on technicalities. Roman from the SEALs…and whatever disillusionment it dredged up for him. Royal out from a father who has no use for him. Me out of a badge I couldn’t stand to carry anymore. We bleed together, fight together, and clean up each other’s messes. Somewhere along the way, it stopped being a business and became a home.

“Nadia deserves to feel safe here,” Royal continues quietly. “Whatever happened before she got here stays with her until she’s ready to talk about it. You don’t get to force it out of her.”

I sigh. “I wasn’t trying to.”

“I know.”

“But I am going to find out.”

Royal’s eyes meet mine. “Why?”

I don’t answer immediately because the truth sounds insane, even inside my own head.

I’ve spent the better part of a year convincing myself my interest in Nadia is professional. She works for us under a name that doesn’t quite fit, with a past she refuses to discuss and instincts that scream she’s running from something…or someone.

In a year, no one has ever picked her up after the shop closes. No one has ever called the shop asking for her. She goes home alone every night, and I have never once let myself examine why I keep track of that. The former detective in me has insisted I simply wanted answers.

Standing here now, I know that’s only half the truth. The other half is far more dangerous.

The thought of someone putting that fear into her eyes makes darkness unfurl inside my chest. I don’t just want to know the person responsible; I want them to regret it.

“I don’t know,” I admit quietly.

It’s the first lie I’ve told all morning. Because I know exactly why. I just don’t like the answer.

Chapter Two

Nadia