Deviant (Boys of Winter #3) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,88

It’s the only thing that has circled my mind for the past five hours, but sometimes to get through something, you need to laugh, and right now, I need these boys to keep my mind occupied with anything but Paris Moustaff and her insane obsession with ending my life. I need the boys to distract me with the promise of a good time because my only other option is to focus on the pain shooting through my abdomen. And if I do that, I’m going to break, and something tells me that isn’t going to be a pretty sight.

“Geez,” I mutter under my breath, grabbing hold of Cruz’s thigh and using it to push myself back up into a sitting position to each of the boys’ dismay. “You really are the fun police.”

Carver meets my stare in the rearview mirror, watching me for a long moment, surprised by my audacity to not take him seriously right now, but he doesn’t need to know that I actually do. I take him more seriously than I ever have before. “This isn’t a joke, Winter. You can’t be going around playing these stupid little games anymore. Call me the fun police all you like, but from now on, until we take this bitch out, you’re playing by my rules. We have to set up a meeting with the heads of Dynasty to figure out how to proceed with Harding, and then after that, you’re staying in bed until you’re healed. There won’t be any more sneaking out in the middle of the night to beat the shit out of someone, and you’re going to have one of us watching your ass everywhere you go, even if it’s to take a piss. I am not taking any chances. With us all knowing her real identity now, we all have targets on our backs. Her game just got four times bigger. The stakes have risen, and now it’s not just about protecting you, it’s about protecting us all.”

“You don’t think I know that?” I demand. “You don’t think the thought of something happening to one of you guys has been circling my mind since the second Harding first mentioned it? I know the stakes have risen. I know this affects us all now, but I’m not going to go running scared. I’m not going to hole up in my room, terrified that she’s about to come barging out of my closet with a chainsaw and a death wish. I get it, I’m injured and I’m not helping anyone while I’m like this, but the second I can, I’m going to be out there with you guys, doing everything I can to end this, and there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me. Dynasty is mine, and I’m not about to let some identity stealing bitch take it away from me.”

Carver’s stare doesn’t waver despite being the one in control of a vehicle currently speeding down the highway. He watches me for a second, his stare hard and as lethal as they come. The moment seems to go on forever, and when he finally rips his gaze away, the breath is knocked right out of me.

Silence fills the car, and for a while, I’m grateful. But all it does is allow the train wreck of thoughts to come steamrolling back inside my head.

“You good?” Cruz asks as we travel down the road, closing in on the massive gate at the front of my property.

I nod as he squeezes my hand. “Yeah. My head is foggy from the pain meds,” I say, knowing damn well that he’s not asking about my physical wellbeing but more so the mess that’s going on inside my head. “I just want to get upstairs and sleep for a week.”

“No problem,” he tells me. “I’ll help you up the stairs.”

“Thanks,” I say, and not a minute later, the Escalade comes to a stop outside my home. Cruz helps me out and carries me right up the stairs as King enters the code for the automatic lock on the door.

We get inside and I rest my head against Cruz’s chest, the exhaustion of the day quickly creeping up and reminding me that I didn’t sleep all night. No, instead of curling up in my bed like a good little girl, I went out and decided to get stabbed by the asshole who’s been plotting against me this whole time. Where the fuck were my survival instincts when I decided to