get to her!”
Zayde’s weight was suddenly gone, and I could breathe again. I lay there, kind of stunned, and then I was suddenly lifted, surrounded on every side by pure, hard male. Muscles. Fucking delicious ocean scent. Strength but gentleness. Arms holding me tightly.
I burrowed into his warm body, sliding my arms around him. He carefully carried me, lifting me into the car, then pulling me back to him. He tightened his grip on me, running his fingers through my hair, and I closed my eyes.
I felt the rumble of an engine, and we were on the move. He held me still, cradling me in his arms.
“It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you.”
I was starting to feel a little awkward. Now we were safely back at home, Caiden had deposited me on the sofa and was currently pacing up and down in front of me, his jaw set. The others were giving each other sidewards glances, which I translated as “you be the first to speak.” “No, you do it.”
Finally, Weston broke the silence with a heavy sigh. “What happened to your shoes?”
I chewed my lip. They weren’t going to like this. “Um…they’re in the hedge somewhere around the back of your dad’s house.”
“What the fuck were you doing?” Cade stared at me accusingly. “You’d better not have gone off on your own again.”
“It was a total accident. I didn’t mean to…I overheard something.” Before he could say anything else, I held up my hand. “Just a minute. Answer me this—how long has Allan worked for your dad, and how well do you know him?”
“Allan? What’s Allan got to do with anything?” Weston stared at me, confused.
“About nine years. We know him well enough.” Caiden stopped pacing and spoke slowly, the same confusion entering his gaze.
“What about his family connections, friends, things like that?” I looked between Caiden and Weston.
“Winter? What’s this all about?” Weston leaned forwards in his seat, his whole body tensing up as he took in my seriousness.
I swallowed hard, glancing up at Caiden. “You might want to sit down for this.” He frowned but sank down next to me on the sofa, and I reached out to grip his hand. “Something happened.”
I told them the whole story.
The four of them sat in stunned silence, but as I described how I’d decided to check out Allan’s room, the air grew thick with tension. Caiden’s eyes darkened, and he let go of my hand, clenching his fists, and the others eyed me with varying expressions of disapproval. When I got to the final part, where I heard Allan coming and escaped out of the window, Caiden went very, very still. As soon as I stopped speaking, he stood without another word and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Shit. “He’s really angry with me, isn’t he?” I asked the room in general.
“You were irresponsible and you put yourself in danger. Fuck, Winter, couldn’t you have even given him a heads-up?” Cassius shook his head at me. “Do you know what he was like when you were missing? He was out of his mind with worry. He’s afraid of anything happening to you—we all are, for that matter. You’re his world, and for you to go and put yourself in danger like that, without telling any of us… And on top of that, he finds out that Allan is most likely a bad guy…” He trailed off with a shrug. “Y’know?”
“I thought I’d be okay.” My voice was small. “I’m really sorry, guys. I honestly thought it would be a quick in-and-out kind of thing while he was downstairs.”
“The window, though? You could’ve slipped and broken your back!” Weston glared at me, the anger in his eyes mixed with worry as we stared at one another.
“I’m really sorry,” I repeated. The guilt swamped me as I took in their faces.
“I’m gonna go and investigate Allan. Just be careful, please?” Weston stood and crossed over to me, leaning down to kiss the top of my head, before stalking out of the room.
I needed to see Caiden. Standing, I went to follow Weston out of the room, then stopped in the doorway at the sound of Zayde’s warning. He spoke low and evenly, but his tone was coated in ice.
“He’s not happy. Don’t antagonise him any further.”
Without looking back at him, I nodded once, then slipped out of the room.
Heading towards the stairs, I paused in the hallway as I noticed the door to the basement was ajar. Acting