Chapter 14

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

PIKE

The room was dark, save for the soft light of the moon filtering through the curtains. Natasha was sound asleep, her breathing steady, the tension from earlier seemingly drained away. I leaned over, brushing some stray strands of hair from her face. She stirred slightly but didn't wake, just curling onto her side, drawing the sheet with her.

For a moment, I just watched her, the rise and fall of her chest a reminder of what was at stake. She was safe now, but this thing, whatever the hell it was, was far from over. I couldn't afford to let my guard down, and I needed to take her safety more seriously. I'd thought that the Bratva guards that Maxim had hired would take care of that, but either they are incompetent fucks, or this Victor person is just that good. Either way, she was mine to care for, which made a difference.

With one last glance, I slipped out of the bed, pulling the covers up around her shoulders before quietly leaving the room. The hallway was silent, and the house settled into a false sense of peace. But I knew better. Nowhere was truly ever safe. I'd learned that lesson early on.

I moved through the house with practiced ease, and my mind was already working through the next steps. Dimitri would be waiting for me, likely still reviewing the security footage and planning our next move. We couldn't let this slide; the stakes were too high.

As I reached the study, the door was already ajar. Maddox and Dimitri were seated side-by-side at the large desk, Dimitri's laptop open in front of them, a small cluster of screens to one side displaying various feeds from the security cameras. I had to take a moment to appreciate my friends and ignored the slight pang in my chest. Fuck — I had friends. Who would have imagined that I would be here? A woman and friends. Jesus. They should be in their own homes with their women, but they had come to help me. I wasn't sure I deserved them, but I'd take their help.

Dimitri didn't look up as I entered, his focus laser-sharp on whatever he was reviewing. Maddox looked up with a smile, his hand rustling into a bag of chips as he mowed through the Ruffles he'd stolen from the girls' kitchen.

"You get her settled?" Dimitri asked without preamble, his eyes still on the screen.

"Yeah," I replied, crossing the room to stand beside him. "She wanted to stay."

Dimitri finally looked up, his gaze hard. "She's stubborn."

"Tell me about it." I ran a hand through my hair, the frustration I'd been holding back starting to leak through. "What did you find?"

Dimitri clicked through a few screens, pulling up a particular section of footage. "Whoever it was, they knew what they were doing. The cameras caught some movement, but nothing was clear. Shadows mostly, staying just out of sight. But there was a breach—here." He pointed to a corner of the screen, where a faint distortion flickered. "They hacked the system, just for a few seconds, long enough to slip past the perimeter."

"Can you fix it?"

"Already done." Dimitri's voice was matter-of-fact. "I've upgraded the system and added extra layers of security. Whoever they are, they won't get in that way again."

I nodded, relieved but still on edge. "What about the grounds?" I'd been itching to get out there and look for myself, but guarding the house needed to be my first job.

?

"Enzo and Luca are handling that. They're doubling patrols, and we've got more men coming in. We'll have eyes on every inch of this place." Maddox said this time. "Cross is helping, too."

I leaned against the desk, crossing my arms. "This feels personal. It's not just some random attack."

Dimitri met my gaze, his expression unreadable. "I know. We'll find out who's behind this, and when we do…"

"Yeah." I didn't need him to finish the sentence. Whoever was responsible, they'd pay for it. We both knew what was at stake.

"What was thrown at the window?" I asked.

"Rabbit," Maddox answered, his eyes on me carefully. "A small one, but skinned. Fresh."

"Jesus. That's creepy."

"Agreed." Maddox nodded.

After a few more minutes of discussing security details and confirming the new measures, I pushed off the desk. "I'm gonna check in with Ronnie." I was concerned for her. I knew it was necessary to get all the information, but I was also worried about someone leaving her things. Concerned that it was Eli who had an interest in her. How fucked was that.

Dimitri gave me a chin lift and then indicated to his screens. "Watch her. She's been holding back."

"I know. I'm just worried for her." Maddox and Dimitri just nodded at me, relieved that we were all thinking along the same lines. I left the study, my thoughts shifting to Ronnie. She was sharp, no doubt, but she had a way of keeping things close to the chest. I needed to find out if she knew more than she was letting on.

The stairs to the daylight basement creaked slightly under my weight as I descended. The lower level of the house was cooler, quieter, almost a world apart from the rest. Ronnie had taken up residence down here, her little den of secrets where she could work undisturbed.

When I reached the bottom, I found her hunched over her laptop, a small desk lamp casting a circle of light over her workspace. She didn't look up when I approached, too absorbed in her work.

"Ronnie," I said, keeping my tone even but firm. "We need to talk."

She glanced up, her expression guarded. "About what?"

I leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "You've been holding out on us. What else have you found?"

She sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I've told you everything I know."

"Don't bullshit me," I snapped, the frustration from earlier bubbling up again. "You said there's been a pattern. Things left on the patio? What things, Ronnie?"

She hesitated, and I could see the gears turning in her head, trying to decide how much to reveal. Finally, she pushed her laptop aside and crossed her arms over her chest. "Small things. Flower petals sometimes, but mostly small stones. I thought they were just some prank, maybe someone trying to mess with me." She bit her lip, uncertain. "Then I realized that they were gifts. Tokens." She clicked a few buttons and tilted her screen towards me. A man's face was frozen as he placed a small rock on the corner of the table near her patio door. I watched as he walked up, hands in his pockets. It replayed over and over. He set the rock down, looked directly at the camera, paused, smirked, and walked away. He knew the camera was there.

"That's Eli, right?" she asked.

"Yeah." He had brown hair and a scar by his eye.

"I didn't know who it was until you mentioned the conversation tonight. I'd been running facial recognition software but wasn't getting any hits.

"And you didn't think that was worth mentioning?" My voice was tight, struggling to keep my anger in check, but it burned bright that she'd keep something like this from her sister. "You have some strange man so close to the home you sleep in."

"I didn't want to worry anyone," she shot back, a flicker of defiance in her eyes. "It didn't seem like a big deal that someone left me rocks."

"Ronnie, this isn't a game." Suddenly, I was mad. The anger stoked hot like a blacksmith's fire. "If this is Eli, he isn't someone that you just play with. He isn't some high school boyfriend." I threw up my hands in frustration at the implacable look on her face. "Someone is targeting us, and you keeping quiet could get someone hurt."

Her shoulders slumped slightly, and the defiance faded. "I know. I'm sorry. I just… I didn't think it would go this far." She seemed to be thinking through something, and I was hoping she'd speak, but she stopped herself before she said anything. Fuck.

I softened my tone, trying to reach her. "Ronnie, you've got to tell us everything. We can't protect you if we don't know what we're dealing with."

She nodded, her eyes dropping to the floor. "I get it. I'll tell you everything from now on."

"Good." I pushed off the wall and moved closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, her bones so delicate under my hand that I feared I'd break her to touch her. "We're all in this together, okay? You don't have to handle it alone."

She nodded again, and I could see the tension in her easing slightly. "Thanks, Pike. I appreciate that." Her chin set stubbornly. "I'm not afraid of him, you know. Of Eli."

"You should be," I snapped vehemently. "You have no idea what could happen. I have no idea what could happen or who he is, and I'm his brother." Her shoulders squared as she considered me.

"I get that you're worried and don't know who he grew up to be." Each word hit harder than the last, like lead bullets pounding into my flesh. "That doesn't mean he's evil like this Victor guy."

"It doesn't mean he's not either. You don't know him." Her face fell, but I didn't feel bad about it. He was my brother, and I didn't know him either. She couldn't know him — I wouldn't believe that. She'd been here in the area for a hot minute. It wasn't safe to be getting gifts from him like that. "Get some rest," I said, squeezing her shoulder before heading back upstairs, ignoring the sad look that she gave me before I went. Suddenly, I didn't want to talk to her anymore about the tiny pile of river rocks that Eli was leaving her. Fucking weird. I was scared for her, honestly. God only knew what Nat was thinking about this whole situation. What if Eli did something to her sister? Fuck, she'd never forgive me.

As I climbed the stairs, my mind was a mess of conflicting emotions. Ronnie's stubbornness was a challenge that I had been enjoying when it benefited me — which made me a dick, but this was different. This wasn't just about her being tough or independent. This was about survival, and she didn't seem to grasp the gravity of the situation. Eli was dangerous—hell, he might be even worse than Victor. The fact that she couldn't see that terrified me.

As I headed back upstairs, my mind churned with everything I'd just learned from Ronnie. The pieces were starting to fit together but formed a picture I didn't want to see. Victor pulled the strings, the mastermind who enjoyed toying with people's lives. This situation—manipulating Eli, getting into Ronnie's head, leaving those strange little gifts to unsettle her.

I moved silently through the house, double-checking the locks and windows, even though I knew Enzo and Luca had already done the rounds. I needed to feel the security measures for myself, to reassure myself that we had things under control.

The house was quiet, almost eerily so, and I longed for the comfort of Natasha's presence. She had a way of calming the storm in me, but I couldn't bring this to her—not yet. She had enough on her plate.

I heard a soft creak behind me as I passed through the hallway. Instinctively, I reached for the knife tucked in my waistband, spinning around to face the threat. But it was just Dimitri, standing at the edge of the shadows, watching me with his unreadable expression.

"Everything okay?" he asked, his voice low.

"Yeah," I lied, slipping the knife back into its sheath. "Ronnie's just… being Ronnie. Stubborn."

Dimitri nodded as if he understood everything from that one sentence. And maybe he did. I knew he'd not had that much time with his cousins. I did trust him to handle this with me. Not only ensuring the girls were safe but also the ensuing drama with my brother. We'd been through enough together that words were often unnecessary.

"I don't trust this," I admitted, running a hand through my hair. "This whole situation with Eli… it feels wrong." I struggled to put my feelings into words. It wasn't the right one. "Not wrong exactly, just ‘off,' I guess. Something about the whole thing doesn't sit right."

"No, I agree. Something doesn't smell right," Dimitri agreed. "But we'll handle it like we always do. Whatever weird fucked up games this guy wants to play, then we'll try to counter them. Let's not get too caught up in our own heads. Or overcomplicate it. We are here to protect and defend. If we can, we'll trap this asshole at Kent's."

"Yeah," I muttered, but the doubt lingered. Something about Victor coming into our life now with Eli's return, about how he was playing his hand, made my skin crawl. He wasn't just toying with us but laying the groundwork for something much bigger, but essentially, Dimitri was right. Letting him plant worms in our brains made his job easier and ours harder. We needed to stay focused on the task.

Dimitri stepped closer, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We've got each other's backs, Pike. We'll get through this."

I nodded, grateful for the reassurance, but it wasn't enough to ease the tension coiled in my gut. I couldn't shake the feeling that we were all pieces in a game Victor was orchestrating—and that he was always three steps ahead.

"Get some rest," Dimitri said, his hand dropping back to his side. "We'll regroup in the morning. We've got men all over the place and the security locked back down."

"Yeah," I repeated, knowing sleep wouldn't come easy. Not with everything hanging over us like a guillotine. "I'll check on Nat, at least."

I returned to Natasha's room, my steps slower and heavier than before. When I pushed open the door, I found her still asleep, curled under the blankets like she was trying to shield herself from the world. The sight of her like that twisted something in my chest.

I stripped off my clothes and slid onto the bed beside her, careful not to wake her. The warmth of her body against mine was a balm, soothing the frayed edges of my nerves. I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, and she sighed softly in her sleep, nestling into me.

As I lay there, staring at the ceiling, the weight of everything settled heavily on my shoulders: Ronnie, Eli, and the security threats felt too much. But with Natasha in my arms, the world seemed a little less terrifying. I'd protect her, no matter what.

But as the night stretched, my thoughts circled back to Eli, the rocks, and the skinned rabbit.

?

"No, no, no. Don't make him go. Please don't put him in the water," Eli screamed against the wind and the noise of the lapping water. He didn't cry. Crying wasn't something that we did anymore. His eyes were fixed on me as Kent pulled me further into the pond.

"You watch him. Eyes open." That asshole Kent said as he yanked me deeper.

The wind whistled, and there was no mistaking the goosebumps under my thin clothes. Mud and silt squished beneath my feet, pebbles scrabbled, but even those didn't freak me out so much as Kent's fingers on my torso as he shoved me under the water. It was always the same; he'd hold me under until I choked and struggled, and then he'd do it again. I'd come up with Eli's eyes locked somberly on mine each time.