I’ve seen many sides of Snow over the years I’ve followed her.
I’ve seen her sweet side and her sassy. The woman she hides from the world, and the persona she puts on in front of strangers. I’ve seen her happy, sad, excited, scared, and every other emotion under the sun.
But this is new to me.
Fiercely protective.
And what’s more, it’s me she’s protecting.
I shouldn’t have allowed them to get the jump on me, not when I figured out what I was doing here before I even made it into the basement, but I couldn’t be the one to draw first blood, not when my Snowflake was caught in the middle.
Rayne’s eyes widen in shock as he watches his little sister put her body on the line for me. If it was anyone else, I would reprimand her for putting herself in danger, and hell, I might still do that, but the men in this room would rather die than hurt her, and I find comfort in that fact.
She looks at me over her shoulder, worry etched into her brow as her eyes move across my face. Blood drips down my cheek from a cut in my eyebrow and from the corner of my mouth. I don’t want to be the one to tell her I’ve had beatings far worse than this one in my lifetime, and I’m sure there is far worse in my future.
I drag my stiff arms from behind me, barely swallowing the groan that claws up my throat. It was beaten into me as a child to never show weakness to anyone, but especially not my enemies.
“Can you walk?” she asks quietly, although her voice carries through the large basement.
I nod once, pushing myself to my feet despite every muscle screaming at me. The three of them hadn’t gone easy on me, each one taking their turn to try to make me talk. My only saving grace is that Tommy wasn’t here to do even more damage. I’ve seen that crazy fuckers work, and I don’t want to be his latest victim.
Footsteps on the stairs draw our attention to the door where Wynter stands, fire flaring in her eyes. Apparently, my Snowflake isn’t the only one who’s angry at the men in their lives.
“What the fuck?” she demands.
Storm scrubs a hand down his face and Rayne takes a step back from us, as if it’s occurring to them for the first time that maybe they were wrong about me. “He’s our enemy,” is all the defense Storm can muster.
“No, he’s not,” Wynter snaps. “Our sister is marrying him. He’s about to be our goddamn brother-in-law. Would you do this to Emerson or Everett?”
“Of course not,” Storm replies at the same time Rayne growls, the thought of his wife being in harm’s way enough to bring out the beast within. I can relate to that, because the monster lurking inside me will tear anyone who dares to lay a hand on my woman into shreds.
Wynter descends the stairs, pushing her way past the other men until she’s standing in front of me. “I’m sorry, Elijah. I knew they suspected you of orchestrating the shipment being stolen. I should have warned you.”
I force a smile to my lips. “It’s not your fault, Wynter.” I turn my attention to the rest of the room, carefully wrapping an arm around Snow and tugging her back into me. “If there is still question about my involvement in the missing shipment, I would like to assure you that I had no part in it. I do not currently have a second in charge, nor do I have the manpower to pull off such a seamless operation. As I’m sure you’re aware, when you had my family killed, I took out a lot of the people who worked for us to prevent them from retaliating. There were many loyal men who would have taken any opportunity to get back at you for what happened to my father and uncles, but I was sincere when I said I wanted an alliance.” I take a deep breath and barely withhold a wince at the shooting pain in my ribs. “Perhaps it was too soon to propose such a thing.”
“You’re not going anywhere with him, Snow.” Rayne steps between us and the exit.
Snow steps toward her brother, her stance wide as if she’s going to battle, and I almost can’t stop my face from morphing into a smile. “I’d like to see you stop me.”
If he even thinks about putting his hands on her, regardless of his relation to her, I will break them without hesitation, so he needs to choose his next moves very carefully.
“Rayne, stop it,” Wynter snaps, inserting herself between her siblings.
Everett reaches for her, trying to pull her out of the thick of the conflict, but she slaps his hand away.
“It’s like you three haven’t learned a goddamn thing over the last few months. Just because we’re women doesn’t mean we are incapable of making decisions and looking after ourselves. If Snow wants to marry Elijah, then that’s what she’s going to do. Just the way Emerson was able to choose to marry you, and I’m able to choose to marry Everett.”
Silence echoes through the space, and before anyone can say anything else, Snow grabs a hold of my hand and pulls me with her through her siblings. She doesn’t stop when we hit the top of the stairs, or when we reach the front door. It’s not until we reach the car that she dips her hand into my pocket, tugs the keys out and walks around to the driver’s side without a word.
Anger vibrates through her as she revs the engine, and a moment later, she’s taking off down the driveway like a bat out of hell.
“Snow,” I warn, keeping my voice low and non-confrontational.
“Shut up,” she snaps, turning out onto the main road faster than I would have liked in the car that cost me half a million dollars, but I’m not game to fight her right now. After being the siblings everyone always underestimated, she’s finally taking back her power, and I don’t want to become collateral in her rampage.
She speeds back to the house as if she’s been there a thousand times, when in reality, I’ve only taken her out twice since she arrived.
The tires squeal as she slams on the brakes out the front and powers off the engine, finally releasing her death grip from the steering wheel. Her knuckles are stained white as she rests her hands in her lap and lets out the breath she’s been holding.
“Where did you learn to drive like that?” I finally ask.
She scoffs, shaking her head slightly. “Don’t you already know everything there is to know about me?” She smirks at me.
I drop my head back and chuckle, barely swallowing the groan of pain. While I never doubted Snow’s ability to stand by my side, to be the fierce leader she needs to be to survive in my life, today she proved herself. She stood tall and strong, defending me even though it meant going against her family.
“Rayne did effective driving, his words not mine, training with us a few years ago after someone followed me one night and I couldn’t lose them.”
I chuckle. “Well, that’s one less thing I need to worry about with you. I don’t think any of my men can drive like that.”
She flashes me a smile, but it quickly drops when her eyes narrow on my injuries. Worry replaces the amusement and she closes her eyes for a moment to school her emotions. “Let’s get you inside and cleaned up.”
