We went inside, and I expected we’d go to my place. We didn’t. When I started for the elevator, Cole caught my hand and pulled me another way. His hand fell to my hip, and he opened an exit door in the corner, revealing another elevator. I knew no other code would work for this one.

Cole said, “Open.”

The doors obeyed, and we stepped inside. There were only three buttons to choose between. He touched the middle one, and we were moving. When the doors opened again, Dorian stood waiting for Cole. His head jerked back when he saw me, but he pressed his lips together in a tight line.

Cole sat down in a chair, and Dorian went right to work.

I didn’t look around. I knew this was Cole’s place, but he was my focus in that moment. My determination lasted thirty minutes. The exhaustion was hitting me hard, and at one point I almost fell to the floor before catching myself.

Cole grinned at me. “Go to sleep, Addison.”

“I don’t know how to get there.”

He pointed behind him. “Follow the hallway. Take the stairs to the top floor, and you’ll see the bed.”

He wanted me to sleep in his bed. I could only blink at him. That meant something.

“I’ll be up in a little bit.”

I could tell Dorian didn’t approve. His face had told me when I came in, and now he stiffened and sucked in his breath when Cole sent me to his bedroom. I looked over at him, then back at Cole. Cole shook his head.

Okay. That was my cue to do as he said. I walked around him, my hand touching his good shoulder briefly as I passed. I looked down. It felt wrong to explore Cole’s home without him. When I came to the stairs, I followed them all the way up. There was a door right ahead of me. It was the only place to go, and when I opened it, I saw the biggest bed I’d ever seen in my life.

I almost cried out with joy. Almost. I refrained, figuring Dorian would try to kick me out if he heard. Instead I staggered into the bathroom and tried not to drool over everything inside. There was a Jacuzzi bathtub in one corner and a glass shower along the entire opposite wall. A basket of towels sat between two sinks. They looked large and warm enough to heat me like a blanket.

I stripped, showered, and grabbed one of those towels. I was right. They were heated, too. I didn’t waste time looking for a shirt to wear. I crawled under Cole’s sheets still wrapped in the towel.

I tried to stay awake. I wanted to wait for him to join me. There were things I wanted to say and lying here, I thought about what all was happening. Right now, men were heading out to the stables. They would clean up the bodies, the glass. They’d take care of everything, and my job—I looked to the doorway. Cole was there, his hands rested on the doorframe as he stared back at me.

Cole was my job now.

We’d changed. We had been changing, but we had graduated to a new level tonight. Cole took care of me. I took care of him. We were a team.

We were together now.

I felt sleep coming on, and knew I wouldn’t be able to fight it, but as my eyelids started to drop, I whispered to him, “I choose. I choose you.”

I woke and could only lie there.

I’d shot a gun last night. I might’ve killed a man. Cole did kill five of them, and maybe that last one, too. They came, they shot Carl, and they tried to hunt us down.

At the end of it all, I chose Cole.

Everything was different now.

The first time Cole and I were together, I felt possessed by him. And I claimed him back. That night had been intense, but it was just the beginning. We’d grown closer and more connected each time we were together. After last night, there was no going back.

I was his. He was mine.

There should’ve been a red alarm going off in my head. Cole was dangerous, so dangerous, and I should’ve been hysterical or curled up in a fetal position sobbing. Last night had not been a normal night, for anyone, but here I was—disturbed mostly by how undisturbed I was. The only thing alarming to me was how nonchalant Cole had been last night.

I looked over and found him right next to me. His eyes were closed, those long eyelashes resting against his cheek and his head turned slightly toward me. He was beautiful, like a fallen angel, but so lethal at the same time. The bandage over his shoulder was a stark reminder of that fact.

A shiver went down my spine. He’d never hesitated last night. He was calm the entire time, only showing some impact after he was shot.

“What are you thinking?” He spoke as he opened his eyes, looking right at me.

He was looking into me.

I didn’t hesitate. “You scare me.”

There’d been a twinkle of amusement in his dark eyes. It fled now, and he lifted his head slightly. “I do?”

I nodded, moving my head against my pillow. “We were attacked by six men last night, and I feel like it was just another day for you. Yeah. That scares me.”

He grew pensive, lowering his head back to his pillow. His voice dipped low. “Because it was.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. He had more to say. I wanted to hear it all.

“I told you about my family, but I didn’t go into detail.” He closed his eyes, just for a second. When he opened them, I saw his ghosts. They were right there, and he remembered each and every one of them. His voice grew hoarse. “They killed my dad first. He was going to my sister’s piano recital. They gunned him down in the streets. That was a message from them. They were coming for us.”

“Cole.” I laid a hand against his cheek.

“My mom was the next week. That was the joke on us. We thought it was done. The Bertals declared war when they killed my dad, but we never realized what was coming next. How could we?”