Page 7 of Shamelessly Loyal

However, only one answer managed to evade the flames, and it was a brutal truth. “If I go, I’m going to kill every single person standing between me and her. If that is what she needs, then fuck it. We’ll burn it all down. But right now—Liam is thinking.”

The words,I can’tscarred my tongue. Rome and Freddie were going with him. They might be wild cards at times, but Rome would have his brother’s back and Freddie’s in turn. And of all of us, Freddie seemed the least threatening. Only, appearances were truly deceptive.

“Do what you need to do,” I told Kellan. “I’ll keep an eye on our guest.” My sister’s best friend. A woman who’d risked an awful lot to bring us the information she had. Maybe making peace with her should be on the agenda. It would have to wait.

Once I got past the need to blister her ass for putting herself in danger. She didn’t fucking know us, yet she just got in a car with Rome and Freddie?

“Raptor,” Kellan yanked my attention back to him. “You don’t have to be the one to look after her. Vaughn or I…”

I narrowed my eyes. The sudden possessiveness bursting inside of me had nothing to do with Ivy and everything to do with the fragile beauty locked in my room. The girl who radiated power, wealth, confidence, and intelligence. The fierce little being who’d bonded with my sister and built a lasting friendship when they were kids. Except, she wasn’t a child. Not even close. She was a lady. The kind of lady who would have nothing to do with the rougher side of life, but she marched in here like she was a woman on a mission.

“You find Ivy,” I told him. “You straighten out all this shit you said you wanted to take on because we aren’t doing it my way anymore.” Those words stung, although I deserved them. Walking back into my life had proven more impossible than going into prison in the first place.

“If we’re doing it my way,” Kellan told me dryly. “Then we send her home.”

Fucker was testing me. So I just gave him a tight smile. “Noted.”

His chuckle followed me as I headed for the stairs. If not for the lack of humor in his voice, I might have punched him. Brothers tested each other. They pushed each other. They guarded each other’s backs. Right now, I needed his attention on Ivy.

I neededherback. Even if it didn’t mean coming here. Halfway to my room and alone for the first time in hours, my steps faltered. Head down, I clenched my fists. Breathing exercises were bullshit, but the agony of finding Ivy immersed in our world vied a pitched battle with the ache of herleavingus to go back to her world—only to find out that world wasn’t what it should be.

Snapping my head up, I stared at the door at the end of the hall. The guys hadn’t changed a fucking thing in there during my absence. Hell, my old law books and half-finished papers were still on the shelves. Cases I’d been reading for class. A jacket that I’d thrown over the back of a chair before I left.

A fine layer of dust had coated everything. Not only had they locked the room up and left it untouched, but they’d also truly stayed out of it. It was like they’d sealed up the door the day I went to prison. It was a thoughtful gesture that cut deep past the fascia and into the muscle.

It had taken me days to work up the will to clean it. That was after everything blew up in my face with Ivy and Jasper. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I packed all the emotional garbage away. It didn’t do anyone any good. Dust wouldn’t kill anyone, and I’d gotten it all.

Fuck, my law books.

Shaking off the poisonous tendrils of melancholy, I resumed my course for the room. One thing prison had drummed into my skull hard—we didn’t have time for our feelings or to wallow in self-pity. A moment here or there? Fine. Much more, and you were vulnerable to attack.

I stuffed my hand in my pocket for my keys. I’d never locked my brothers out. Half the time, I forgot there was a lock on the door, only this particular lock was on the outside. The inner lock was pretty fucking feeble. I could kick it in if I really needed to.

Unlocking the deadbolt, I gave the door two firm knocks before I opened it. When I’d left her earlier, she’d given me a look that was pure impatience, particularly when I’d told her to stay put.

Even though I’d braced for it, the angry girl wasn’t waiting for me. In fact, the room seemed almost empty. The lights were on and the closet door was wide open, but the bathroom door opened a moment later, letting out steam and a towel-wrapped beauty.

Fuck.

My.

Life.

She was working a towel against her dark, damp hair and had legs for miles. The towel barely hit the tops of her thighs. They were beautiful legs, toned, tanned like she spent time outside, and capped by a pair of delicate feet with pale pink toenails. The contrast in the softer color to her bolder choices held me riveted.

A whistle cut through the air, and I yanked my attention up from her legs to find her watching me with thinly-veiled amusement. “Did you bring my bag with you, Pretty Boy?”

Pretty Boy. I shook my head. “No, I’ll get it for you. Though I’d rather put you and the bag back in a car and take you home.”

“Sucks to be you, then,” she said as she lowered her arm, the towel she’d been using on her hair fisted in one hand. “I’m not leaving unless it’s to go to Pinetree and get my best friend.”

“That’s the last place you need to be.”

“You say that like you know me, Pretty Boy. We’ve met all of once… granted, you left an impression.” The whole time she spoke, she crossed the room toward me. The way she moved was pure sensuality, and you’d have thought she was dressed in a power suit rather than a towel.

That had me raising my brows.

“Don’t be so impressed. I rarely forget a face, especially not one as pretty as yours.” Light fingers drifted down my cheek as she gave me a light pat. “Even if you have changed.”