Claimed by Shadows (The Shadowmen #2)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“EVERYTHING” BY VIDE

HUNTER

I fucking hate leaving her, even if I know that deep down she needs this. And maybe that’s part of the problem, I muse as I prepare to leave her room while my fucking soul screams at me not to go. Maybe a part of me, a really selfish part, hates that I can’t fix this. That I’m fucking useless to help her get over what that cunt did to her.

We’ve all heard her screams at night, heard her whimpers and pleas for him to stop. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what he did to her. How he defiled and raped her every night. Sick, dead fucking bastard. I don’t care if Nikolai gets first cut or even the last one. We will take our pound of flesh from Sergi one day, and we will make him scream the way he makes her scream when she’s asleep.

“We have guys on their new security team,” I tell Iris, blinking away the violent thoughts as I brush some of her hair behind her ear, drinking in her features. “And Rowan tapped into their feed so we can keep an eye on you.”

Her delicate brows lift up, but her eyes stay on me, and my stomach clenches with the knowledge that I won’t wake up with her in my arms tomorrow morning. “Bit stalkerish, wouldn’t you say?” Her plush lips lift in a grin that has the side of my mouth tilting upwards.

“Oh, Peaches.” I lean down, placing my lips next to her ear and relishing the harsh breath she sucks in. “A stalker has nothing on the lengths we would go to watch you. The things we’ve planned to do, to make sure we have eyes on you twenty-four seven.” She shudders against me, sending a bolt of electricity straight to my dick. Placing a light kiss on her temple, I pull away, warmth spreading throughout my body at the hazy look in her hooded eyes. “Be good and I’ll visit every day, Peaches,” I tell her, dragging myself away so that Roman can say his goodbyes.

“I’ll miss you so fucking much, Princess,” he rasps in a thick voice, pulling her against him and kissing the top of her head. “Rowan and I will visit when we can, okay?”

She nods against his chest, her body sinking into his as her arms wrap around him. After our fruitless visit to the estate that they believe Lilly is being held at, I called Asher to let him know we’d found nothing, but that it looked like a nurse was coming in and staying all day. Plus there was a shit ton of security, which is suspicious as fuck. He begged for our help in getting a closer look, aka infiltrating the estate. I didn’t want to agree, but when I told Iris, she got that fire in her eyes again and told me that of course we would do everything we can to help find her.

We came up with the plan that the twins would become security for the estate so they can take a look round from the inside over the next few days. It means that I’ll be the only one free to visit Iris, but she insisted, saying that if Lilly is there, she needed the guys more than Iris does right now.

This woman, fuck. She’s so kind-hearted, thinking of others even as she tries to heal from the horrors that she’s been through. If I didn’t love her before, which I did, I would fall for her now.

“If you find Lilly, just make sure she and the baby are safe, okay?” she whispers, pulling away just enough to look into his eyes.

“Of course, darling,” he readily agrees, swooping down to press a kiss to her cheek. She’s become a bit more comfortable with our touch, not flinching like she did when she first came home, but kissing seems to be a line that we’re not willing to cross right now, none of us wanting her to associate our touch with Sergi’s.

Roman steps back, his hands clenching at his sides as he steps away from her like he wants to grab hold and never let go. Me and you both, Baby Boy. Rowan takes his place and I reach out, pulling Roman so that his back is against my chest, my arms banded around his hard body, which is thrumming with tension.

“She’ll be safe,” I whisper as Rowan tugs her into a hug, her body melting into his the way it did for his brother and me. “And I’ll come every day to check up on her, give you both a full report.”

He sighs, sinking into my hold, and it warms my insides. We’ve not been intimate at all since Iris was taken, and not since she came back either. It doesn’t feel right, not now that she’s here and hurting, but this embrace is exactly what we both need.

“I fucking hate this,” he murmurs as Rowan says something that makes her giggle softly, the sound like the first rays of the sun after the darkest night.

“I know, Baby Boy,” I say, the old pet name slipping out and pulling another breath from him as he sinks into me more. “But if this is what she needs to come back to us fully, then what choice do we have?”

Rowan releases Iris with a soft kiss to her head and an instruction to lock up behind us once we go.

“I will,” she agrees, wrapping her arms around herself as if to keep his touch on her longer. “I’ll be going straight to bed.”

“Good girl,” I praise, letting go of Roman and huffing a breath before stepping towards the door. “And don’t forget to eat and drink your water.”

“Yes, Daddy,” she sasses, her tone teasing, which does nothing to stop the flash of white-hot lust that bolts through me at her words. Fuck, that’s beyond inappropriate, but I can’t help the need to punish her for her brattiness.

“That’s earned you a punishment, Peaches, and don’t think for a moment that I won’t save them all up for when you’re home.” I watch as she swallows hard, a flush decorating her cheeks.

“Yes, Daddy,” she says again, though her tone is all breathy and full of uncertain promise. Good. It reaffirms my belief that she will heal. She just needs time, like she told Roman earlier, and we can give her that.

“Good girl,” I purr before taking a deep inhale. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Peaches.”

The twins also murmur goodbyes, and then we’re leaving her room, waiting by her door until the lock sounds. A security guard is standing outside, down the hall a little, his arms crossed over his chest. I prowl over to him, watching him stand taller at my approach.

“You don’t take your eyes off that door tonight, Grim, got it?” I order, his melting skull tattoo, the insignia of the Shadows, bobs on his neck as he swallows hard.

“Yes, sir,” he replies, his eyes sliding back to Iris’s door.

Without another word, I stride down the hallway, Roman and Rowan at my back as we leave the facility. They don’t usually let visitors stay this late, but given it was Iris’s first night, they gave us special permission.

I round the truck Roman and I drove in, which is parked next to Rowan’s vintage sports car he used to bring Iris. I want to be mad at him for allowing her to be parted from us, but I can’t. She needs this, and though it pains me to admit that we couldn’t help, I would do anything if it brings her back to us.

“We’ll see you back at the flat,” I tell Rowan, Roman opting to join me again, climbing into the passenger seat.

The drive home is silent, both of us lost in our own thoughts as the darkness of the countryside gives way to the bright lights of the city. I pull into our large garage, Rowan driving up as I put the truck into park. There are the shadows of a couple of cars around us. We’re not frivolous, but we all like different things and going fast so we have a small collection of cars and bikes.

We’re still silent as we get out and make our way up to the flat, nodding at the guys who are always patrolling. We upped security since the attack, and then upped it again once we got Iris back, so there are plenty of Shadows keeping everyone safe in their beds.

The door to the flat closes and we’re sitting on the sofa, glasses of whiskey in our hands before any of us speaks.

“I won’t apologise for taking her there,” Rowan states, taking a sip of the amber liquid. “I hate her being away from us so soon, but she wasn’t getting any better with us.”

A deep sigh rumbles from my chest as I take a deep breath. “I know.” I bring the glass up to my lips, swallowing a mouthful that barely burns anymore. I probably should cut back, but the past few weeks have been…intense. “I don’t like it, but it was the right call.”

“So, this job for the Knights,” Roman starts, and I know he’s not being callous by not talking about Iris. He needs the distraction, like we all do. “Run through the plan again, boss.”

My lips tilt up at his cheeky smirk. “You two will go there first thing tomorrow morning as part of the security detail that patrols the estate,” I tell them, running through the plan for a final time. “You will scout around, try and see if you can find her, and report anything to me as soon as you find it.”

“This shit is so fucked up,” Roman mutters, and I know he means Lilly and the fact it seems not only did her uncle kidnap her, but her father-in-law—Asher’s own fucking dad—seems to be in on it somehow according to the Knights.

“Yeah, family generally sucks,” I reply, knowing we all have had our demons when it comes to the people who were meant to take care of us. My gaze settles on Rowan, his jaw clenched hard. “You doing okay?”

After his confession to Iris, something that before now only the three of us have known, he’s been more quiet than usual. His amber eyes meet mine, darkness swirling inside them, then he gives me a sharp nod. “I’m going to check the feeds.” He places his glass on the table and heads to our office room. I don’t need to ask to know what feeds he’ll be checking. We have a camera in Iris’s bedroom, one Rowan set up when she wasn’t looking so we could make sure she’s alright. Serene Haven doesn’t install cameras in the bedrooms or bathrooms unless someone is high-risk of harming themselves.

“Best get to bed,” I instruct Roman, standing up and grabbing Rowan’s glass to take into the kitchen. “Early start in the morning.”

He follows me into the kitchen, passing me his own glass when I open the dishwasher.

“Are you okay, Daddy?” he questions, his voice soft like a caress.

Closing the dishwasher, I straighten up, locking eyes with him. His brows are wrinkled in concern, his gaze assessing.

“Sleep in my bed tonight?” I ask, and his shoulders lose some of their tension. “Just to sleep, anything else doesn’t feel…”

“Right. It doesn’t feel right without her now,” he adds, and I nod, relief making my knees weak. It’s not that I don’t want him. Christ, I’ve always wanted him, even when I shouldn’t have. “Let’s go to bed, Daddy.”

He holds his hand out, and I step towards him, sliding mine into his warm palm. It’s different to holding Iris’s hand. His is much larger for a start, and harder, but it sends the same butterflies fluttering around my stomach as when she takes my hand. He leads me out of the room, past Rowan in the office, whose face is lit up by the screen he’s staring intently at. There is no point in telling him to go to bed, he won’t take his eyes off her for a bit.

“How is she?” I ask, Roman pausing on the way to my room and looking back at his brother.

“Sleeping, but fitfully,” Rowan tells us, his eyes not leaving the screen.

My jaw clenches as lead fills my stomach. I hate not being there to hold her, to soothe her through her nightmares.

“Come on, Hunt,” Roman urges, and I look at him, tension lining his muscles. “We can’t do anything from here anyway.”

Huffing a breath, I nod, letting him lead me into my room. He lets go of my hand once we’re inside, gently stripping all my clothes, bar my boxers. He then takes his clothes off, leaving his boxer briefs on and dropping the rest all in a heap, which by his small smirk, he knows annoys the fuck out of me.

“Brat,” I mumble, his slight chuckle telling me my guess was right and it was intentional. “I’ll start a punishment tally for you too.”

“I look forward to it, as will Iris when she’s home,” he says, taking my hand and tugging me towards the bed. Pulling back the covers, he gives me a little nudge, so I climb in, lying on my side. He gets in after me, turning so his back is to my front, then scooting back until there’s not a breath of space between us. “Good night, Daddy.”

“Good night, Baby Boy,” I reply, placing a soft kiss on his shoulder and pulling him even closer.

Good night, Peaches.