Page 43 of Shamelessly Loyal

“Go home, Ezra,” I repeated. I would have to follow soon enough.

“Lainey,” he said, catching my arm. I expected it, but I didn’t pull away. He needed to see I was all right. His eyes narrowed more as he studied me. “Please… just come with me.”

“Not yet,” I said, then sighed. “There's more I need to do before I go…not more than a week.”

He didn’t like it. It was written all over his face. “One week?”

I didn’t want to negotiate this, yet I also didn’t dare leave it nebulous. One, he would never leave, and two…I already didn’t want to go except that I had to. Pretty Boy was…

Covering his hand on my arm, I squeezed it. “One week.”

He studied me for a long moment, then nodded once. I’ll be back for you in a week.”

“Come hell or high water?”

“If I have to burn the place down. Try to talk Emersyn into coming with us. You’ll be happier if she’s safer.”

He wasn’t wrong about that, although I was pretty sure she was safe right here.

“One week.” When I pulled away, he let me go.

“I’ll be waiting,” he called, and I wasn’t sure if it was a threat or a promise.

Probably both.

Pretty Boy straightened when I came out of the office and his thunderous expression wasn’t encouraging. How the hell was I going to tell him goodbye?

ChapterFourteen

MILO

“You know what happened.” It wasn’t a question. I followed Mayhem as she headed for the shower. She’d spent a big chunk of her day with Ivy, locked away in the dance studio. When they came out, they’d both been red-eyed, except neither had been in a sharing mood.

The guys were closing ranks around Ivy. As irritating as that behavior could seem, I respected their protectiveness of her. More, I valued it. For years, they’d helped me look after her from afar. Could I really fault them for wanting to protect her when she was right there?

I could, but I shouldn’t.

No, I wouldn’t.

Trying to get it all properly categorized in my brain was taking me more than a minute. All I wanted for Ivy was for her to be safe.

My life never had been. I needed hers to be.

Mayhem turned on the water before she began to strip off her clothes. I nudged the door shut, turning on the extractor and the heat lamp. It could be downright chilly in here, but I didn’t want her getting too cold.

It wasn’t long before she was nude. There were fingerprints on her hips from where I’d gripped her. I hadn’t meant to squeeze so hard. As she turned, the flash of hickeys on her breasts made me smile.

Those…yeah, I’d meant every single one of those, as well as the pair I’d left inside her thighs. Exploring what made Mayhem scream could rapidly become my new calling in life.

“Don’t look so smug,” Mayhem told me in a droll tone. I grinned as she raised her brows, daring me to deny it.

“You enjoyed all of that,” I said, both verifying for myself as well as teasing her.

“I absolutely did.” Then she slid into the shower, leaving me to watch her behind the see-through curtain. As tempting as it was to climb in there, I leaned back against the counter to watch. Showering with someone was an intimacy you should be invited to share, not just assume.

We’d already taken several giant leaps without consultation. The fact she’d kept her virginity to herself was her right, but I loathed being the one who hurt her thoughtlessly. I had tried to make it up to her in the meanwhile.

“Why are you scowling?” Mayhem asked, her tone almost plaintive, and it made my lips twitch. “A girl could get a complex with you scowling at her like that.”