Page 68 of Crimson Heart

“Not gonna happen,” Byron replied and pulled him toward the door.

Charlotte and her mother stepped aside to let him pass as he dragged Steve by his feet along the corridor. Behind him, he heard Maggie enter the master suite.

“Oh, Danielle,” she said, her voice full of sympathy. “Are you alright?”

He didn’t hear Danielle’s reply. Instead, he heard more footsteps. Charlotte was following him, and to his surprise, Danielle followed, her mother-in-law a few steps behind her. Arriving at the top of the stairs, Byron stopped for a second. Instead of letting Steve get to his feet, he kept holding on to one leg and began pulling him down the stairs. With every step, he heard a dull thump made by Steve’s head as it hit each step.

“Fuck, man!” he complained. “Let go of me!”

Byron looked over his shoulder. “You’re lucky I’m not tossing you down the stairs.”

By the time they were halfway down the stairs, he could see the door of the living room, from which several people now emerged, clearly curious about the noise from upstairs.

“What the fuck?!” one of the strangers yelled. “Take your hands off my son!”

But Byron didn’t comply. “This asshole attacked Danielle.”

And would have done terrible things if he hadn’t come upon them in time. He shuddered to think what would have happened to Danielle.

Jude hurried to the stairs, gazing past him to Danielle. When he reached the foot of the stairs, Danielle flung herself into his arms.

“Baby, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there,” he could hear Jude murmur.

“He just came into the bedroom and attacked me, before I could even take a breath,” Danielle said, her eyes welling up with tears.

Jude turned his face to Byron. “Thank you, Byron. I owe you.”

Byron nodded. “She’s my sister. I protect my family.”

He let go of Steve’s leg, but kept his eyes on him as the jerk scrambled to his feet.

Still holding Danielle closely, Jude now glared at the alpha of the Leon pack and pointed his index finger at him.

“You snuck your son in behind our backs and had him snoop around? How dare you?”

The alpha squared his shoulders as if that justified his son’s actions. “You were clearly hiding something from us.” He lashed a glare at Danielle.

“Leave,” Jude ordered, “or I’ll do to you and your brother what Byron did to your son.”

A glance at Steve and Byron saw with satisfaction that Steve tried to suppress the pain the beating had caused him.

James Beaumont suddenly cleared his throat. “Uhm, Bruno, I think it may be better if you leave now. We can discuss things later.”

Byron stared at James in disbelief. “Discuss things later? You can’t possibly still consider⁠—”

Jude unexpectedly put a hand on his forearm, indicating that they’d have a real conversation once the Leons had left the property.

“Francisco,” Jude said. “Show the Leons the door.”

Bruno Leon grunted, then looked at James again. “A contract is a contract. We’ll be back.”

He watched as the three men walked outside. Francisco remained at the door, watching them get into their car.

Byron turned to Francisco. “How come you didn’t know that Steve came with them?”

Francisco sighed. “The security cameras showed me only two men in the car. He must have been either in the trunk or lying down on the backseat with a blanket over him, or I would have seen him.”

“Then it’s probably a good idea to add more cameras and check every visitor’s car to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Byron suggested.

To his surprise, Jude agreed. “Byron is right. Let’s add cameras along the driveway and check every visitor’s car.”

Byron looked at Jude. Finally, Jude was taking his suggestions. He realized now that he’d been looking for Jude’s approval ever since he’d taken over the pack. The incident with the Leons had changed things between them for the better.