by Heather Long
I didn’t think I could find my way back if I tried. Holding Rome though, I trusted my understanding of muscle movement and shifted my weight when he shifted his. When his body flowed right, I leaned into it with him, and then left or center again.
If he danced, I would love to see it. There was a fluid elegance to how he handled the bike. The last place I expected to go was into a gated, underground garage in a really nice part of town.
The stores lining the sidewalks here were designer. More than one were the types that my mother shopped in. Everything about the area declared its affluent separation from where we’d been. Once below, he cruised deeper. The lack of wind helped, but my arms were so numb, even with the jacket, and I’d long since lost feeling in my toes.
After Rome parked, he rubbed my hands, which I’d tucked up under his jacket against his abs in an effort to keep them warm. They ached like hell to unlink from each other, and I hopped a little as I swung off the bike. Rome caught my arm when I stumbled. Oh, wow. I was cold.
He unbuckled the helmet and tugged it off my head. After he secured it on the bike, he pulled my hands into his. I was pretty sure his were just as cold. Neither of us had gloves on, but he kept rubbing them as he headed for the elevator.
“Where are we?” My jaw quivered, and my teeth began to chatter. Rome hit the button to summon the elevator, then typed in five numbers without making any effort to hide them. When he pressed the last one, the doors opened with a ding.
Warm air washed out to greet us, and I didn’t hesitate to step into the vestibule with him. Once inside, he chose an upper floor and then kept rubbing my hands with his. Cold could burn if you got too cold. Thankfully, the helmet had protected my face and Rome had protected my chest, or my nipples and my nose would be ready to break off.
The elevator let us out on the twelfth floor. Rome guided me out and down the hall. From what I could tell, there were only three or four doors on this floor. So only three or four apartments?
The thick, plush carpet muffled our steps, and it was as expensive as the fancy marble tile inside the elevator. We were a long way from the clubhouse. The art on the wall was gallery purchased. At least two of them were Crowls.
At the end of the hall, Rome unlocked the door marked with only a two. He had a key card in his wallet. The electronic locks let go, and I stared a beat before he swung the door inward and ushered me inside.
If the elevator and hallway were quiet elegance, the interior of this apartment was an exercise in pure restraint. It was done in a series of grays and metallic tones to add some warmth without sheen. Lights came on at the flick of a switch. Two lamps, one at each end of the sofa, warmed the room with low-wattage light.
After the brightness outside, it seemed almost too dark. The walls were gunmetal gray. But there were paintings on each wall, each one done in vibrant colors and abstracts that made the whole wall seem like it had been designed to feature that single painting.
A gym was set up in one corner near floor to ceiling windows. A faux fireplace came to life in the center of the room. The electric fire offering a multitude of colors. Another spark of personality for what should be an almost institutional room.
Everything had a place, and everything was in it. I couldn’t imagine anything further from Rome. He was more controlled chaos, and this was precise, orderly lines where nothing should be left out of place. I didn’t even want to mess up the sofas or the chairs by disturbing their lines.
As he made his way through the room, Rome hit various buttons—one turned on another set of lights, one in the galley kitchen with the black marble floors and another that illuminated the workout equipment in the corner. A treadmill, weight bench, and what looked like a rowing machine waited for their next occupant. The vertical blinds along the windows retracted until the natural light from outside filtered through what had to be double-paned and treated glass.
The light couldn’t blaze through, so it wouldn’t fade the carpet, but if it was like the stuff on…well, like the stuff I’d seen before, it would also prevent others from seeing inside at night, even when the lights were on.
“Tea or coffee?” Rome asked abruptly, and I twisted to find him standing in the kitchen doorway. He eyed me for a moment. “Take off the coat and the shoes. Go take a shower. I’ll find you clean and warmer clothes, then put those through the washer and dryer.”
He didn’t wait for my response before he disappeared into the kitchen. I wanted to argue, but I was freezing and needed a minute.
Maybe I needed more than a minute.
“Okay.”
There was only one hallway, so I followed it down to find two rooms. They were both bedrooms, so I just eeny meeny miny moe’d the choice and finally took the door on the left. Like the living room, it had a wall of windows looking out over the city.
The bed in the center was huge, and there was more abstract art over the bed itself. Then a pair of framed photos on the bedside table. I resisted the urge to snoop, but I did take off the motorcycle jacket and set it down on the foot of the bed.
It was the single messiest thing in the room. The covers had been tossed back like whoever slept there just rolled out of bed and left. The bathroom door was ajar, and I flipped on the light switch.
It was as clean and modern as the rest of the apartment. Dark walls, dark tile, and bright lights gave it the atmosphere of a cave but a warm one, like a kind of sanctuary, and the counter was clean and neat.
After swinging the water on inside the oversized glass shower stall, I stripped out of the clothes I had on. There was some blood on my leg, and I froze at the sight of it. I didn’t think I’d gotten blood on my pants. I picked up my shoes and inspected them carefully. Nothing jumped out, but there was another spot on my socks.
A shudder of revulsion went through me, and I hurriedly pulled off the rest before rushing under the hot water. I didn’t even care if it scalded my too cold skin, I just closed my eyes and braced my hands on the wall as the water poured over me.
The pressure was amazing. The heat began to seep into my bones, and the spill of water hid the tears escaping from the corners of my eyes as the shakes took me.
We’d killed someone.
Again.
I counted myself in on the action because I’d been in the middle of that fight when Rome came in. The man had been there for me. If not for me, then Rome wouldn’t have had to kill him.
The violent trembling worked its way up and down my body. Eventually, even when the cold was gone and the shaking subsided, I lifted my head and glanced around for the shampoo.
The first dollop to hit my hand smelled of cloves, mint, and something distinctly male.
This was Liam’s place.
A weird little laugh eddied through me as I began to work the shampoo into my hair. Liam lived large compared to the other Vandals. But they didn’t always seem to treat him like he was one. Not that I wanted to pretend I understood any of it.
In no time, I’d washed and conditioned my hair. I didn’t know why he had conditioner, but I didn’t intend to ask. Maybe he entertained overnight guests and he was a fucking gentleman. Or maybe I was just a snob, but most of the guys on tour used the combo bottles. What did I know?
Just because he’d been a dick to me didn’t mean he was a dick all the time. And he was related to Rome, so there had to be something nice about him.
There was a stack of thick fluffy towels waiting for me and clean clothes on the vanity. I hadn’t even heard Rome come in. I dried off and mostly toweled my hair until it wasn’t soaking. Finger combing would have to do.
The clothes turned out to be an oversized, much faded T-shirt and an old pair of sweatpants. They had a tie I could pull tight to cinch them to my waist. There were no panties, and that was fine. I really didn’t want to borrow some other woman’s panties anyway. The shirt was a pale, pale gray, and there was no mistaking my nipples beneath the fabric, but whatever.
The door opened to the bedroom, and t
he air was cooler, less humid than in the bathroom, but the scent of Liam’s shampoo followed me as I padded back out to the living room. Rome stood by the windows and turned at my arrival. His hair was damp and slick, his face freshly shaven.
Like me, he’d changed into clean clothes, though his fit him far better than mind did me. “I made hot cocoa,” he told me, “if you’re still cold, and there’s food. It’s not much. Mostly microwave meals.”
“I could eat.”
His eyes lit at my response.
“Thank you for the towels and the clothes. I feel much better.” Not a lie. I did.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Rome told me as he led the way to the kitchen. If I wanted to know what he was talking about, I’d have to follow, or I could look out the windows at the view. The ocean was visible in the distance. Kind of gray and stormy-looking with the leaden clouds above it, but also stretching out to the horizon.
I bet it was really pretty when the sun shone.
The sound of a milk steamer in the kitchen pulled me around, and I tracked after him. There was a huge, fancy cappuccino maker set up on the counter. I tried not to gape, but the coffeemaker at…I hesitated to say home, but where the Vandals lived, had to be thirty years old, and I swore the one at the garage was older still.
Not that it had a carafe anymore, but I shook that off. Not what I wanted to focus on.
It took no time before Rome filled the mugs with frothy milk and stirred the chocolate up. My stomach growled at the rich scent now filling the air, and Rome flashed me a real smile.
“What do you mean it’s not my fault?”
“The guy at the garage,” he said as he added a dollop of whip cream to the cup before holding it out to me. “He shouldn’t have been there. He was trying to hurt you.”
“He was trying to take me,” I admitted. “He knew who I was. I guess…maybe he recognized me.”
Rome nodded once. “He had a partner. Don’t worry, Liam and Kellan already scooped him up.”
I shook my head slowly and stared down at the hot cocoa. The first sip coated my lip in whip cream, but the hot chocolate itself was divine. It warmed me all the way to my toes. “I should feel bad about that,” I half mumbled.
“Why?”
Nothing disingenuous lived in the question. “They tried to hurt you. To take you. They don’t deserve your compassion, Starling.”
“It’s not compassion,” I argued, though without a lot of heat to it. I took another sip as I tried to cobble my thoughts together. When I raised my head, I met Rome’s curious gaze head-on. “There’s a reward for finding me. I saw it on the news. They probably just thought they were rescuing me for an easy fee. Or maybe they didn’t care if they were rescuing me and just wanted to kidnap me for their gain.”
I gave a little shrug.
“I don’t know that it’s a crime that deserves death.”
“We don’t know what they would have done or why they chose to act as they did. They could have called your location in if they just wanted a reward.”
Pure fear jolted through my system at the suggestion, and if Rome hadn’t closed his hands over mine on the mug, I’d have dropped it. My heart thundered, slamming against my ribs like it wanted to escape. Oh fuck. What if they called him? What if he knew I’d been seen at the mechanic’s shop? I didn’t have to go back, but it could lead them to Kellan and maybe to Rome. What if they took pictures?
“Starling,” Rome said, and apparently, he’d been repeating it for a while. He pulled the mug from my fingers and then wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. Eyes closed, I tucked my face against his shirt and just held on. “Starling, you’re safe.”
“You don’t know that,” I finally managed to squeeze out. “What if they called them? What if they know where I am?”
“Then we’ll deal with it,” Rome said, his hand flat against my back before he began to rub in slow circles. “No one will hurt you. We won’t let them.”
But it could bring a world of hurt down on them. They didn’t know. They couldn’t. His arms flexed as they tightened, squeezing me hard, and I craved it, pushing against his chest like I could hide away in there.
I was not a coward. I hated that even the thought of going home reduced me to some quivering mess.
“Starling, I promise. We won’t let anyone hurt you. Not even us.”
I let out a little laugh. They hadn’t hurt me. Yes, they’d kidnapped me, and I’d been hurt when I got there, but that was because Eric hurt me. Vaughn and Kellan had stood up for me. So had Jasper.
They had taken care of me, even when I didn’t know who they were. I still had no idea why they’d taken me or why they were working so hard to make me comfortable, but I had been safe with them.
All the threats I’d faced had come from outside the Vandals, and they’d been there to protect me.
“You’ve had to kill for me twice now,” I whispered.
“I’d kill a hundred men if you needed it,” Rome said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “The only thing that matters to me is your happiness and your safety.”
I believed him. As scary as that declaration was, I believed him and I appreciated it. When I pulled back a little, he loosened his grip and tilted his head down to study me as I gazed up at him.
“I know I was all about escape…”
“That’s over now,” Rome murmured. “You went. You came back. Nothing more has to be discussed.”
I didn’t deserve him.
A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.” He nodded. “We have three things in life. The people we choose. The work we do. The life we make. You’re one of my people. I will always choose you.”
My heart squeezed. “You don’t know me.”
“I know you enough. I know you here.” He slid his hand over my heart, then raised it to cup my face. “And in here. You don’t see the world like I do. That’s okay. But I see you.”
Apprehension shivered through me.
“I’ve always seen you. I thought you were in a good place. But your eyes…” He stroked my cheek. “They’ve grown sadder and sadder, Starling. It’s like all the darkness that haunts you gathers there, but that darkness doesn’t frighten me.”
I swallowed.
“Your world was supposed to keep you safe.”
A laugh slipped out. It was more of a scoffing sound, but he gave me a slow nod.
“Exactly. Your world wasn’t protecting you. So now we will. I will. You will always be safe with me.” The warmth of his fingers traced up my cheek and then over my brow before he retreated to my jaw line and finally to my lips. My breath caught at the gentleness there. “My world isn’t kind.”
“No,” I agreed. “It’s not. And I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Then another smile turned up the corners of his mouth. “I’m okay. I’ve fought the darkness before.”
My gaze dipped to his mouth, then back up again as he continued to cradle my face against his palm.
“Will you trust me to look after you?” Rome asked. “Trust me even if you aren’t ready to trust all of us?”
I already did trust him. I wasn’t even sure when that happened. Licking my lips once, I nodded, but I didn’t get the words out that followed before Rome kissed me. With his hands cradling my face to hold me still, Rome took possession of my mouth as though kissing me was where he belonged.
His lips were so damn soft and warm where they moved against mine. I opened to the silky thread of his tongue seeking entrance, and the first stroke brought me up on my tiptoes. Heat bloomed and electricity sizzled as he delved his tongue hungrily against mine. All I could taste was chocolate, sweetness, and Rome.
Digging my fingers into his shoulders, I tried to get higher, and he dropped his hands down to my hips and lifted me in one smooth motion, not once letting go of my mouth. He deposited me on the counter and pulled back briefly, his eyes hooded and his gaze heated as he s
wept it over me.
I spread my legs, and he stepped forward into the cradle of them. I didn’t know which of us reached for the other first, but I craved the touch of his lips like I craved air. My nipples strained against the T-shirt as I rubbed against him and sucked on his tongue.
He threaded a hand into my damp hair, tilting my head this way and that as though desperate to deepen the kiss.
“I can still make you food,” Rome offered in between kisses, and I laughed a little. It was insane and sweet and perfectly him.
“I’m not hungry yet,” I promised him. Then he was kissing me again, and I stopped worrying about anything beyond where we were. Right here, this moment. It was the purity of chaos.
Just like him.
Brother Mine
Rome
“Let’s go boys,” the woman said with a snap of her fingers. I kept thinking of her as the woman. Mostly because she didn’t call us by our names. So I didn’t want to use hers.
“We’re not dogs,” Liam grumbled as he climbed out of the backseat first, then I clambered after him. Everywhere we went and everything she said, the woman snapped her fingers. Follow her. Snap snap. Eat your food. Snap snap. Hurry up. Snap. Snap.
We’d parked on the street in front of a low-slung brown house. It was just that—brown. Brown brick. Brown roof. Brown dirt. Brown porch. Brown door.
There was even a brown bike lying in the dirt of the chain link yard.
“Boys,” the woman said, snapping her fingers, and Liam nudged me. He had his backpack on, but I just held mine to my chest. The house we’d stayed at the night before had lots of kids in it, and one of them had tried to take my backpack.
Liam’s knuckles were still scraped and red from where he’d hit the other kid. His right ear was redder where the woman had grabbed him and yanked him off the other boy. When she was scolding him, I stomped that boy’s hand. His screams got Liam out of trouble, and the woman looked right past me as everyone rushed to help.
