Chapter Five

JACE

When I climb into bed, Natalia shifts closer to me, crawling over until her head rests on my chest. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tightly. She’s trembling, just enough for me to notice. My gut twists—I don’t need to guess why. She probably overheard some of the call, even though she tried to play it off.

I can’t blame her. She knows I’m involved in serious shit. She’s likely scared, wondering if she’s tangled in something too dangerous, or worse, that she might be in trouble just for being here.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” I say softly, running soothing circles along her back. My voice drops lower, a quiet promise. “I don’t know what you heard, but I swear it’s nothing you need to worry about. My guys are handling it.”

“Yeah,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper, unsteady. “I know.”

I hum, pressing a kiss to her forehead, letting my lips linger there. I give her a moment to speak, to tell me what’s on her mind. But the silence stretches, tense and heavy. She’s not ready.

It’s hard to hold back, but I have to. Natalia’s been through hell, and trust doesn’t come easy after that. Still, a part of me knows that if I give her something—just a little—it might help. I can’t tell her everything, but I need her to know she’s safe.

“I don’t want you worrying about this,” I murmur, threading my fingers through her hair. Her soft strands feel perfect in my hands, grounding me as I try to get this right. “The call was about that last job. Their boss’s daughter is missing, and they think we took her.”

She freezes in my arms, her body going rigid.

The shift is subtle, but it’s enough to set my senses on edge. I wait for her to say something, anything, but she stays silent. I think about pushing—pressing her to tell me what’s going on in her head—but I stop myself. This is all new to her, to us. She’s been hurt, and I can’t bulldoze my way through this. Not with her.

Slowly, she relaxes against me again, though it feels forced. My mind races, trying to figure out what’s bothering her. Then, it clicks.

The girls from the last mission were lured in by another woman. Red mentioned that. Maybe Natalia thinks this “boss’s daughter” is part of that world, someone who could come back and try to take her away.

The thought burns through me like wildfire. No one makes my girl feel like this. No one.

“You’re safe from her,” I say firmly, pulling her even closer. My hand tightens protectively on her back. “She’s not coming for you. And even if she tried, I’d deal with her. You’re mine now, Natalia. I’m not letting you go. You don’t need to worry about her—or anyone else.”

She makes a sound, something between a scoff and a sigh. It cuts, lodging deep in my chest, but I swallow it down. She’s been through too much for me to take that personally.

“I mean it, Natalia,” I say, letting an edge creep into my voice. Not anger, but something sharper. Something true. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Not now. Not ever.”

“Right,” she breathes.

The room falls quiet again, the stillness settling like a heavy blanket. I keep running my fingers through her hair, pressing a kiss to the top of her head every now and then. I assume she’s drifting off, finally letting herself rest. But then she stirs, her voice soft yet steady.

“You said you’d take care of her if you found her,” she murmurs, her fingers tracing slow, distracted patterns across my chest. “What does that mean?”

The question catches me off guard. I hesitate, searching for the right words. “I’m not sure yet,” I admit, my voice low. “Her dad wants us to return her, and honestly, that would cause the least amount of trouble for us. But…”

“But?” she presses, her voice barely above a whisper.

“But she was probably involved in the trafficking ring,” I continue, blunt because I don’t know how else to be. “And if that’s true, I don’t think I could just let her walk away.”

Natalia stiffens slightly against me, and I feel her breath hitch. She lifts her head, her gaze locking onto mine, intense and searching. “And you’d… what? Kill her?”

I pause, my jaw tightening. “I don’t know what I’d do,” I say, which is only half-true. The part of me that’s cold and calculating already knows what would happen. If she hurt Natalia—if she’s the reason for what Natalia went through—I wouldn’t hesitate. But saying that out loud would only scare her more.

“She’d be dealt with,” I add carefully, but it’s clear the words don’t sit well with her.

“What if she wasn’t involved?” Natalia’s voice rises slightly, her tone filled with a passion I hadn’t expected. “What if she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time? What happens then?”

I hold her gaze, stunned by the fire in her eyes. She’s asking me to consider mercy—for someone who, for all she knows, might not deserve it. “That remains to be seen,” I say after a beat. “If she’s innocent, she goes back to her family. We don’t mess with people who haven’t done anything wrong, no matter who their relatives are.”

Her expression softens, but there’s still tension in her shoulders. “And if she’s not innocent?”

“Then I make sure she never hurts anyone again,” I say, my voice steady but firm. I reach for her, gently pulling her back into my arms. “I need you to trust me, Natalia. No one’s going to hurt you. Not her, not anyone.”

She doesn’t reply right away, but slowly, she rests her head against my chest again. Her breathing steadies, though the weight of the conversation lingers between us. I hold her close, silently vowing to protect her, no matter what it costs me.

She gives me a shy smile, tilting her head in the most adorable way. Then, she says, “I think you’ll make the right decision when it’s time to do that.”

I love that she’s put her trust in me. Her belief in me makes me want to be right by her always. That’s all I want. It’s like I’ve found my purpose in life—to see her smile like I’m her guiding star home.

“Come here,” I say, sliding my hand up to the nape of her neck. I pull her down and kiss her, savoring her sweet taste.

She smiles against me as she kisses me softly, romantic and indulgent. I’ve soothed her worries, and her body tells me that she’s mine.

She tilts her head slightly, and I lick into her mouth. The whimper I get as a reward goes straight to my cock. My hands drift down her sides, pulling a shiver from her. When they come to rest on her hips, I grip her tight and pull her down against my quickly hardening length.

“Fuck,” I groan against her lips, bucking into her.

She grinds down against me, kissing me urgently, like I’ve unleashed something inside her. I wonder what other walls I can break down, because I will break through all of them. She’s already mine, but this is any indication of what is to come, I want her to stop protecting herself and be confident in my ability to keep her safe.

In fact, I want her to bring all of her dark parts to me.

With an impatient growl, I flip us over. Natalia’s eyes fly open in surprise, but I keep kissing her, keep claiming her with my touch. I’m going to take her virginity. I’ll irrevocably tie the two of us together forever. She’s never going to leave, never going to want to leave. She’ll know she’s mine because I’ll ruin her for anyone other than me. She’ll know that no other man can measure up to me, and she’ll understand that I’d do anything to keep her safe.