Demand (Careless Whispers #2)(10)

“She’s the reason we had to move Enzo. She’s lucky it wasn’t me. What else?”

“When I was walking up the stairs to find you, I got lost in a memory, and then I was at the top level and I don’t remember the steps. It also happened about an hour ago, when I was changing clothes.”

“Has it happened before tonight?”

“No. Not like this.”

“Then I’d say it’s stress and trauma. If it continues for more than twenty-four hours we’ll run tests, but I don’t think it will.”

I give a nod, comforted by his lack of concern, and by the easy friendship I feel with him. “I know Kayden hasn’t told me everything.”

He doesn’t so much as blink at my sudden change of topic. “In our world, everyone is an enemy until they’re not. And sometimes even then, they are.”

It’s not the answer I want, but perhaps, as Kayden said earlier, it’s the one I need. “Does it ever get to you?”

“It gets to all of us.”

“Then why do it?” I press.

“I believe in Kayden.”

“Why?”

“Do you know how many men in The Underground would be criminals, if not for Kayden? He shows them another way. He wants more for them and the organization, and he keeps order in his two countries in ways you can’t even begin to comprehend yet. So my answer is, I’m here because he’s here.”

Footsteps sound and I push to my feet, standing next to Nathan. A moment later Adriel appears in the doorway, his hands on the frame, still dressed in black, still wearing guns, his gaze flicking to Enzo, then us. “How is he?” he asks.

Nathan gives a grim shake of his head and Adriel inhales sharply, his expression hardening, and I have a sense of him trying to rein in the emotions he never shows. I wonder if those emotions are why he’s not dealing with Giada right now.

“Do you know what happened with Giada and Gallo?”

“I know,” he confirms, “and I’ll deal with her. But it’s not in my sister’s best interest for me to do that now.”

It’s at that moment that the machine next to Enzo starts screeching and the green lines go flat. Nathan is on his feet in an instant, running across the room and pulling some sort of cart with an electronic box on top of it to the edge of the bed. “Get the sheets off of him,” he orders, yanking open a drawer in the cart and removing paddles that begin to hum in his hands.

I pull down the sheets and Adriel appears at the end of the bed, helping me get them all the way down Enzo’s body.

Nathan shocks Enzo with the paddles, and Enzo’s body lifts and trembles. Seconds tick by and we watch the monitor, but the green line remains flat. Nathan shocks him again, and again without success. The next few minutes become a blur of shocks and failures, until the dreaded moment arrives.

Nathan shoves the paddles into the drawer and announces, “It’s done. He’s gone.”

He pulls the sheet over Enzo’s face, and watching it is like being punched in the chest. I sink against the wall, squeezing my eyes shut, fighting images that I can’t escape. Suddenly I am transported into the past, leaning over that bleeding man again. I try to hone in on his face when I hear Adriel say, “I’ll call Kayden.”

My eyes snap open and I shove off of the wall. “You can’t call Kayden when he’s with Raul. He’ll be furious with Raul. He’ll get killed.”

“Like I said,” Adriel replies, “I’m calling Kayden.”

“You’re going to get him killed,” I accuse.

“Because you f*ck Kayden,” Adriel bites out, “does not make you an expert on how he wants things done.” He rounds the bed, heading for the door.

“Adriel!” I shout. “Wait!” And when he doesn’t stop, I turn to Nathan. “Stop him, before you’re covering another man with a sheet!”

He shakes his head. “Kayden’s orders were specific. He wanted to know any news on Enzo immediately.”

“You have to see why that’s a problem!”

“He wants to know. Let it go, Ella.”

“I won’t let it go,” I say, dashing for the door and the hallway to find Adriel nowhere in sight until I reach the stairs. I see him in the foyer below, his back to me. I run down the stairs, and watch as he slips his phone into his pocket and turns to face me. “You told him, didn’t you?” I demand, walking up to him.

“I left him a specific message. Yes.”

“If he dies—”

“He won’t, because he’s not dictated by his emotions. And if you can’t remove yours, to stand by his side, you will get him killed. You will be no different from Giada, who doesn’t belong here.”

“I’m not—”

“This is not your world,” he says from between gritted teeth. “And people who don’t belong in this world, but stay here, end up like Enzo. Dead.” He steps around me and starts walking, his boots sounding on the stone floor, no longer covered in a rug, and each booted step echoes, not like a warning, but a threat.

I decide right then that my uneasiness with Adriel isn’t going away, no matter how much Kayden trusts him. But now, when we’re all riding an emotional roller coaster, is not the time to go to war with him. Especially since I’m fairly sure that the only thing I’m objective about right now is the fact that I’m not objective.