Chapter 22

Mason

I’ve gotCharlotte on the ground under the protection of my body in a second, one arm under her back the other cradling her head as drywall from the ceiling rains down a fine dust on top of us.

This building is built to withstand a nuclear bomb, perk of being a real estate mogul, but I have to wonder what the fuck that was? Earthquake? Attack?

“Hellfire,” Jake snarls from the table. “What just happened?”

No one answers. No one knows.

“You and Charlotte all right?” Luke asks, his voice sounding muffled.

“Fine. You?”

“We’re all good,” he says.

“Does the elevator work?” Roman asks. Is he talking to me?

I don’t get up, keeping Charlotte under me as I lift my head to look around. I can’t see any of them around the island. “Check.”

Roman passes by me, half crouched as he pushes the button, the doors slide open. He looks back at me, shaking his head in disbelief. “And I thought you were crazy when you spent so much building this place that no one lives in but you.”

I don’t smile back. “Luke,” I bark, rolling to the side and taking Charlotte with me. “Go down with him. Find out what’s happened.”

Luke appears without a word, joining Roman in the elevator. I knew I wouldn’t get pushback because we’re all soldiers. The doors close and the two of them disappear. I don’t mean to put them in danger but I’m not leaving Charlotte’s side if we’re under attack.

Jake comes to squat next to us. “Charlotte all right?”

“I’m fine,” she answers, her hands flexing on my back.

Slowly, I start to get up, pulling her with me. She’s covered in the same dust as everyone else, but she looks all right other than that. Sitting on the floor, I pull her into my lap and start checking her body for injuries. I run my hands over her legs, down her arms, circling her ribs, watching her face for winces of pain.

She’s fine, not showing any signs of injury…but I can’t make my hands stop. I run them over every inch of her again, even weaving them into her hair to check her skull.

“Mason,” she says quietly. “I’m all right.”

In answer, I pull her close, kissing her head.

“Not a crier, eh?” Jake asks.

She shakes her head as she answers. “I cry as much as the next girl, I guess. But to be honest, this pales in comparison to when Roman found me in that alley. Or when my dad died.”

Jake cracks a small smile. “Warrior wounds and a fighting heart. Got it.” And then his gaze meets mine and he gives me the tiniest jerk of his chin to show his approval.

Maybe the kingdom really does need a queen. And maybe my men are in agreement about who she should be.

In the distance I hear sirens, and I know I’m going to need to speak with the police. Roman and Luke appear once again, the elevator sliding open. “By the looks of it, pipe bomb in the parking garage.”

“Bomb?” I say, standing up with Charlotte in my arms. “Are you kidding me?”

Roman scratches at his jaw. “With the nest that Leo stirred yesterday, it could be anyone.”

“Tipping over a slot machine hardly seems worthy of bombing my building.”

“Unless a certain family also found out that you were holding a witness for one of their family’s murder victims. Or that you got permits for your tunnel.”

It could be the permits, but then again, my brother might have let information about Charlotte slip…

But my blood is pumping at the idea, the tingle that I’m right pulsing through me. Yeah, my instincts are kicking in, the ones that never fail me and all of them are telling me that Leo is involved with what just happened.

If he endangered Charlotte’s life,my fists clench against Charlotte’s back, the lives of every member of this family, I’ll have his head.

I rise, holding her in my arms still. “As soon as the police leave, you find Leo. I’m going to start making calls…” It was time I personally spoke to the other families. Time they understood.

If tested, I would wipe them all out. I kept myself within the bounds of the law because I could. Because I chose to do so.

Did Leo want to unleash the crazy? I have a deep well and now I have an even bigger reason to fight. I drop a kiss on Charlotte’s head, my hold not easing up. Let anyone of them try and test me. They’d learn just how much grit held me together.

“You’re not going to help us find Leo?” Jake’s gaze slides to the way I’m holding Charlotte. He knows…knows that I’ve made a choice. Maybe I am embracing my old man’s brand of crazy after all.

But I can’t fight it anymore, and what’s more, only my Kincaid insanity is going to top Leo’s.

“No. But when you find him, if you find him, I want to see him.” My hand spreads out on Charlotte’s hip. “Immediately. Am I clear?”

“Clear,” Jake nods.

Her hand is resting on my chest. “Do you need to look for Leo too?”

I can see the worry in her eyes, and I give her a small kiss on the tip of her nose. “I’m staying here with you.”

“I’ll be all right, Mason. He’s your brother. You should?—”

“I’m staying here,” I repeat by way of answer. This is not up for debate. There is no way I’m leaving her.

The phone dings and I pull it out to see the police have arrived.

“If anyone asks, Charlotte is Charlotte Kincaid. Even if the Italians know she’s here, we’re not making her last name public and every man who learns her identity will know that she is mine. Messing with her means messing with me.”

Charlotte starts against me, and Jake’s eyebrows rise, but I don’t care. My priorities have never been clearer.

The next two hours are a long parade of police officers and firefighters, the building being declared safe.

The floors under me are apartments that are still shells or are built out but are empty. At some point, I’ll sell them off but, as the only current resident, the building is easy to check for damage.

When Luke, Jake, and Roman leave, I kiss Charlotte and head to my study, beginning the process of reaching out to the other families. No one knows anything, of course. And everyone is so pleasant on the phone.

Except for one man…

Toni Carcetti sounds as smug as a man possibly can. Yeah, I know the fucker lit the bomb. And I’ll add this one to his list of debts.

The Dukes swear to help in any way they can. The Russians are cordial but cold.

I expected that. I, however, make it known to each of them that information will be highly rewarded by means of debt forgiveness or increased real estate, and that silence will mean debts are called in, traffic to their establishments cut off.

Everyone in this town owes me money. Everyone. I made sure of that a long time ago and I’ll use it to my advantage now.

I don’t mention the tunnel. I don’t have to. They all know by now and I don’t need to be specific. That will come later when I really start applying the pressure.

As I talk, I hear Charlotte about the apartment. She’s humming as she works, restoring order to the chaos. The vacuum runs for close to an hour before things finally go silent.

But listening to her actually sharpens my focus. I think back to her tiny apartment, the one made beautiful, and I know she’s out there reordering our home as I make certain we are safe.

It’s a different version of Charlotte tending a home, and yet somehow exactly what I pictured in that moment when I’d stepped into her little place. The rest of Vegas, my brother Leo, they have not begun to see how hard I’ll fight to preserve her world, our world.

Leaving my study, I head toward her room, the apartment already spotless. I stop and take it in, every surface is clean, and the dinner I never ate is packed away. I pull out the container taking several bites, the food excellent even cold and covered in a bit of drywall.

Stuffing the rest back in the fridge, I make my way into her room just as the shower turns on. Who needs more food. I’ve got Charlotte for dinner. “Princess?” I call before I open the door.

“Mason? In here,” she calls back. I walk in just in time to see her tipping her head back into the spray, her arms over her head, her tits on full display.

For a moment I just drink her in. She’s gorgeous like this and I just watch as she begins washing her hair. She catches my gaze and gives me a soft smile.

I need to move her into the other bedroom with me. Get the rest of her stuff from her place. But that is a problem for a quieter time.

I shrug my shirt off, not waiting for an invitation. This is my woman and I have every intention of fully and completely claiming her.