Casing ✔️

Chapter 41

Marius looked guilty as shit when he walked out of the building. He looked at me for all of two seconds, before his gaze dropped to the ground, and then Damian walked out, his dark eyes moving quickly to check all the people there, I assumed, before he stalked over to James and I by the gray car.

Thankfully, James had a jacket in his car that he wrapped me in, so I wasn't that cold in my ripped dress. A little. But I could handle a few more minutes.

"Are you alright, Elina?" The question startled me, but even more than that, I was surprised to see something along the lines of concern in Damian's eyes.

"What, were you afraid for me?" I shoved his shoulder playfully.

"I think he cares about you, princess," James whispered against my ear, a low chuckle making my stomach turn over.

"You can both fuck off," Damian growled, rolling his eyes. He looked annoyed, but that same look was mixed in with concern, so I stepped forward and put my arms around his waist in a hug.

"I'm alright," I assured him, as he patted one hand on my back in return. "Thank you for coming."

"Yeah." He cleared his throat and pushed me away. He took a step back and nodded to James, who was quick to put his arm around me to shield me from the cold. "Glad you're fine. I'll see you later."

He turned away with a hand through his hair, setting course for Marius. The two of them went to Damian's black car together, and Damian waved his hand at Diana before he got in and they left.

Diana understood perfectly what her boss wanted her to do and rounded up several men who joined her into the building, presumably to clean up and get rid of all the bodies.

I shuddered at the thought, and James started rubbing his hands up and down my arms. "Ready to get out of this place?" he asked.

"God, yes," I replied, and sank into the seat as soon as he opened the door and let me.

The warm air from the heating was quick to make my bones stop chilling, and I basked in the comfort of the seat as James took us to my apartment. He'd told me his parents were worried when they all realized I'd been taken, and his mother made him promise to get me back.

I liked her already. Mostly because it sounded like she was a bossy woman who knew how to get what she wanted, and I related to that. A lot, actually.

January flew by, and February was just as short. I'd had driving lessons with James, dad and Hank, and they'd been going pretty good. Except that dad found it hilarious to scare me while I was on the highway, and Hank just fell asleep during our rides. James was the only one actually teaching me stuff, but I didn't complain.

I loved all their lessons in their own ways. And I loved my new life just as much.

I still had nightmares of the stinky cloth and waking up tied to a chair, where those blue eyes stared at me and touched me—but every time I woke up from them, James had either an arm or a leg draped over me, snoring softly. So it never haunted me while I was awake. I was too lucky, and too happy, to let it.

Marius left the city a few weeks ago, and I'd been getting small updates of how it was going since. He sent a bouquet of wildflowers to us all, thanking us for getting him out, and kept texting me pictures of his new apartment and his name-tag at the job he'd gotten.

He never told me where he was, though, which was probably smart. Considering who we were, and who our enemies were. The Wreckers might be gone for now, but there was still families causing tension in Datoches.

I was ready to face it. Because I had James next to me, holding my hand as I drove my very own car through the darkening evening sky.

"Up here," James said, pointing to a dirt road that led to a hill I vaguely recognized.