Lucien - Silvia Violet Page 0,49

warehouse door. Once Angelo verified that my window was locked and my room empty, he agreed to stand guard outside.

I felt restless, but my legs were too shaky for me to pace, so I sat on the chaise and toyed with one of the pillows, tracing my fingers over the embroidered design. I was anxious for Lucien to return but also nervous. Could I be okay with him now? I would have done anything I could to protect him, but I wasn’t sure how I’d react to seeing him again. My mind kept replaying what I’d seen. The blood, the man’s dead eyes staring right at me… I shivered and pulled a blanket around me.

20

Lucien

I wasn’t sure what state Peter would be in when I arrived. I had no doubt the events of the night had changed his perception of me. Knowing I could be brutal and seeing me kill were not the same, but he needed my protection now more than ever. So even if he asked me to let him go, I wouldn’t. If he couldn’t bear my touch, I would leave him alone, but he was staying where I could ensure his safety.

Can you even do that?

After that night I wasn’t sure, and that made me want to go straight to Damian Ricci’s house, drag him from his bed, and choke the life out of him. I doubted I’d make it back out alive, though, and I didn’t just want him. I wanted every piece of shit who’d allied with him, and everyone who thought to move against me. How dare they come to my home and make me question whether I can keep my lover safe?

I could send Peter to stay with Sabrina. Maybe I would, but first I had to see him. I had to know what he thought of me now.

I remembered the horror on Peter’s face when I’d approached him and the scum of the earth who’d dared try to take him from me. Peter had been terrified but not just for himself, for me too. He’d tried to save me. He couldn’t hate me if he did that, right?

Angelo was standing by Peter’s door. He’d lost most of his color, and there were dark circles under his eyes, but the worst thing was the defeated look in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Luce. I was focused on Peter, not what was around us, and… I’m sorry.”

I’d been angry when I’d realized what had happened, but I’d had men patrolling the perimeter of the warehouse. They should have found the man before he ever had a chance to go for Angelo and Peter. I squeezed my brother’s shoulder. “I forgive you. We all underestimated the strength of their attack.”

“It won’t happen again.”

“No, it won’t. Now go get some rest. Devil will wake you in a few hours to make sure you’re still breathing.”

Angelo grinned then, looking more like his usual self. “If I’m not breathing, I’m not going to wake up.”

“Fuck off.”

He gave me a mock salute. “Fucking off to bed, sir.”

I hugged him before he left, needing the reassurance that he was there, whole and alive, the one person I’d been able to count on my entire life.

When he left, I opened Peter’s door and walked in. He was curled up on the sofa. His hair had fallen down over his forehead, and he looked especially young and vulnerable. At first, I thought he might be sleeping, but he stirred as I approached. I braced myself for fear or anger. Instead, he held out his arms, and I knelt in front of him and pulled him to me.

“I was so scared.” His voice broke as the words tumbled out. I held him tight as he sobbed.

At least he wasn’t scared of me. “I told you I’d protect you.”

He sniffled as he pulled back and looked up at me. “How can you live like this? How can you do what you did to those men?”

“I promise you those men wouldn’t have hesitated to kill me—or you—if they’d been ordered to. I do what’s necessary to protect my family.”

“And your business.”

I nodded, hating the accusation in his eyes. I shouldn’t need his approval, but I wanted it. “That’s true. It’s who I am. It’s what I’ve been raised to do.”

“But that doesn’t mean—”

I shook my head. “I can’t walk away. There are people counting on me, people who need my protection, family, employees, men who would be on the street or dead if they weren’t working