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He turns to face me then, his expression hard. “You’re going to bed. And you’re not leaving this room until tomorrow morning.”
“Xander!”
Picking me up, he throws me onto the bed. “I have some things to deal with, and I need to know you’re safe—and not getting into more trouble in my office.”
“This is ridiculous.”
He’s silent for a moment before leaning over me. “My sister could’ve died tonight. I’ll be damned if I involve you too, Sophia. I’m not losing you. So you can stay here, where I know you’ll be safe, or I’ll tie you up so you can’t leave. Which will it be?”
My breath catches as he pins my arms to the bed. I know he didn’t mean it in that way, but want still floods my body. “Xan...”
“I need you to stay put.” His voice turns uneven, just for a moment, and I see something I’ve never seen before—Alexander Hendricks, afraid.
My heart squeezes, and I nod. “I’ll stay. I promise.”
With a sigh, he closes his eyes and rests his forehead against mine. “Thank you.” Then, with a light kiss, he leaves.
And I stay. I stay, even though the world feels like it’s crashing down on me. Because that look on his face—god, that look.
I can’t go behind his back. I can’t break my promise to him.
So instead, I text Tristan, begging for more time.
And as I burrow underneath the dark comforter, taking deep breaths to calm my pattering heart, I realize what I have to do.
Take a leap of faith.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ALEXANDER
“HOW IS she?” I take a sip of the coffee Dominic brought me. Last night, he went to Brooke’s to help secure the house. Apparently, my little sister didn’t want Blaze to leave her side. Which is fine by me—I already called and told him he’s not allowed to let Brooke out of his sight.
“Better, I think. When I stopped over this morning, she said she was just sore and dealing with a killer headache.”
“Good.” Brooke is small, but she’s strong. She’s always been able to handle whatever life throws at her.
For the most part, that is.
We’re in the kitchen as the sun rises over the treetops. I gave Anna the morning off, since I’m not sure when Sophia is going to wake up. She tossed and turned all night, so I’m letting her sleep as much as she needs.
“We have a problem on our hands, though.”
My eyes snap up to meet Dominic’s. He looks even more grim than usual. “What?”
“She told him we have the drive.”
“Fuck.”
Up until now, we’ve been able to track Tristan’s movements without his knowledge—or at least without him getting too suspicious. We’ve stayed under the radar, learning as much as we possible can. When we realized David might be involved, things got complicated. Even more so when, a few days ago, Brooke found a hard drive he’d stashed in her house.
Stupid move on his part.
Of course, Tristan probably already had suspicions that we were onto him. We did try going to the authorities when we put the pieces together on a few of his most recent kills. When that didn’t work, we had to resort to other methods—taking him down ourselves.
But now? Not only does Tristan have rock-solid proof that we’re on his case, but he also has a decade-old hate for me. The feeling is mutual.
“We need to up our game.”
