Sorry I Put You In Danger

AMELIA

I was already pushing the door of the taxi open even before it completely stopped. It was almost midnight.

I’d signed that contract immediately like my life depended on it. Well, it did. Since it was quite late, Victoria tried to make me stay the night after showing me to my room, but I had politely refused.

I’d left an injured man in my house after getting pursued around the city by unknown gunmen. My car was covered in blood out front. Nathan had moved all his things out. And I’d landed a job I couldn’t have imagined getting even in a million years.

Mind you, all these happened in one night. Talk about the goddess working overtime.

I stopped in front of my car and looked in through the shattered side glass. What a mess. I quietly made my way to the front porch and opened the door carefully. Oh.

What was his name again? Rowan? Ru—No, Roman… if I could clearly remember.

He was still on the floor in the exact spot I left him, sleeping soundly. The bandages weren’t stained, and that was a good sign that his bleeding had stopped or reduced to almost nothing. And he was breathing; thank the goddess for that.

It would probably take him a full week to heal—if he didn’t get shot at with poisoned bullets again.

My phone started ringing immediately, making me gasp. I pulled it out of my bag and sighed at the caller.

“Maya.”

“Hey, didn’t you get my messages?” A car door closing told me that she was done with her shift. “I didn’t want to call before now so I wouldn’t interrupt you. How did it go?”

I looked at the man on the floor again.

“It went nicely, Maya. I signed the contract, even met some of the team.”

There was a short pause on the other end. “That’s good… right? You don’t sound as excited as I think you should.”

“I think you should come down here and see this for yourself.”

*^*^*^

“Maya, please put down the skillet.”

She grabbed it tighter and turned to me with a frown, pointing at the sleeping mass on the floor. “What if he gets up?”

“Then I’ll send him through that door,” I said, shrugging. “I’ve had such a long day. I just want to sleep.”

She didn’t relent. “Good goddess, Amelia. Look at the state of your car! He could have killed you.”

Exactly, and it would have hurt knowing that I died on the same day my life was going to change for the better. I was a wolf with no wolf, which meant that I couldn’t heal. I was as good as an ordinary human.

If one of those bullets had even grazed me… I didn’t even want to think about that.

“Maybe I should smack him awake.”

I turned to Maya. “Please, don’t. We need him alive so he can leave.”

She had something to say, as always, but a soft groan made her pause. We both turned to see Roman stirring slowly. Maya grabbed the skillet with both hands as he sat up.

“Stay down before I smack you in the face!”

I pinched my brows. I just wanted a nice hot bath and some rest. I deserved it.

Roman’s eyes opened and then he blinked against the light of the room. He grabbed his shirt off the floor but didn’t put it on. As he got to his feet, we both took a step back.

I had no idea he was this massive. He was as tall as a fucking pole!

“Amelia, thank you so much.”

The bass of his voice was like an abundance of cold water during a drought, and I hated that I wanted to hear him speak some more.

He took the first step forward and I instinctively reached out to help him. Maya pulled me back immediately.

“I’m sorry I put you in danger,” he continued speaking after finding his balance. “I was just trying to escape. I promise to pay for whatever damages I may have caused.”

I simply nodded, too tired to say everything I had in mind. “Thank you, but you have to leave now.”

That was it. He got to the door where we stood and bowed a little. When his large hand closed around the knob, he turned to look at me.

Good gods. Those emerald eyes. They dug straight into my soul. Maya didn’t let me go, but I felt like pushing her away and just collapsing into him. I could really use a warm crushing hug right now.

“You saved my life,” he murmured, not moving his eyes. “I will always remember that. I will reach out to you tomorrow.”

“Leave her alone. Make sure you don’t…“

Maya’s protest died in her throat. He was already gone. We both looked through the window. He stopped by my car, looked at the damage, and then continued walking forward. His shirt was still in his hand. All he had around him were the bandages I used on his injuries.

I collapsed to the floor. Good. I could rest now.

*^*^*^

When I stepped out of the house the next morning, my car had disappeared from the driveway, and there was a bouquet of roses in front of the door with an attached note.

The handwriting looked like the writer spent long minutes practicing it beforehand:

‘I will bring the car back by evening. I need to clean it up’

~ Roman.

I stared at the note for a long time before dropping it—and the flowers—inside the house. I didn’t even know what to think or feel. When had he even come for the car? In fact, who the hell was this man? He smelled too much like danger and I didn’t want that around me in any way.

He’d mentioned leaving a ‘Sonya’ behind, and thinking about it made me realize that he was probably in a gang. Maybe they robbed and killed people…

Without wasting time, I stopped the first taxi that rolled up. There was a smile on my face when I got to the Dark Wolves’ Headquarters. It was even busier today. Not crowded, but really busy. I could see more staff.

I made a mental note to go introduce myself later. My first stop was Victoria’s office. I wore my most beautiful smile, paused to arrange my dress, and then stepped inside.

“Hello, Vict—ah!“

I collided with someone coming out of the office. It was like hitting a brick wall. My bag met the floor as I stumbled back, almost crashing to the floor.

The impact I expected didn’t happen. I raised my head slowly, moving my gaze from a naked chest to large arms and then icy-blue eyes which were narrowed at me.

Austin Hayes.

His grip around my waist was the main reason I wasn’t on the floor yet. Oh fuck…