Just like the time he’d spoken with the jackal, his dominance and intensity were pulsing around him. His infectious impishness was nowhere to be seen, but it hadn’t been replaced by anger or tension or any other emotion. No, he was cool and in control. But that shrewd, ruthless, unforgiving side of him had come to the surface.

He sank straight into the spot that her father—who looked rather pleased by GQ’s arrival—voluntarily vacated. Palming her nape, Dominic pressed a light kiss to her mouth. “I came as soon as I heard. How are you feeling?”

She swallowed. There was something . . . different in the way he was looking at her. Something that made her all tingly and wary at the same time. “Okay, thanks to Tate.”

“What happened exactly? All Tate told me was that someone managed to get into the building and tried to drown you in the basement pool.”

Mila took a deep breath and then told him about the attack. “Tate got there in time to drag the fucker off me. While Luke detained him, Tate gave me CPR. The healers took care of the rest.”

“CPR,” Dominic echoed, surprised by how steady his voice was. She’d had to have CP-fucking-R. That was how close she’d come to death. That was how close he’d come to losing her before he even had the chance to explore what was between them.

Tightening his grip on her nape, Dominic shot an accusatory look at Vinnie, asking, “How the hell did he even get into the building?”

“Our theory is that he entered in his snake form,” replied Vinnie. “They can fit through all kinds of small places. We’re working on finding all those cracks so that we can ensure another of his kind can’t repeat the move.”

Dominic’s jaw hardened—because it was too little, too late. He’d trusted that she was safe there. “I’d like to see him. Where is he?”

Vinnie licked his front teeth. “He’s . . . indisposed right now. I’m afraid he can’t talk.” Translation: he was dead.

Trey quickly introduced himself and Dante to Mila before turning to Vinnie. “I’m guessing the snake was a bounty hunter.”

“He was,” confirmed Vinnie. “His name was Roland Blum. He was a lone shifter.”

Trey pursed his lips. “Never heard of him.”

“We had a little . . . conversation with him about who sent him.” Vinnie looked at Dominic. “It went along the same lines as the conversation you had with the jackal at the club. He saw the bounty on the website and tried to cash in. He had no information that could lead us to whoever put out the hit.”

As Vinnie and Trey talked more about the website, Mila turned to Dominic and quietly asked, “Why did Tate call you about the snake attack?”

Dominic moved his hand from her nape to trace the shell of her ear. “Because I told him to contact me if anything happened to you. I call him every day, looking for updates. I also gave him some suggestions for securing the area.”

Mila narrowed her eyes. “You’ve been coordinating with my cousin?”

Dominic shrugged. “I like to be helpful.” She opened her mouth—no doubt to insist that her safety was none of his business—so he used his fingers to gently pinch her lips shut. “We can argue about it later. Or would you rather do it with an audience? Because plenty of people are watching us right now.” She briefly glanced around, saw that he was right, and gave him a look that said “fine.” He released her mouth. “Good girl.” He looked up just as her mother appeared and handed him a cup of tea. “How are you doing, Valentina?”

She sniffed. “I am tempted to slash Vinnie’s throat for not being aware of the weakness in security.”

Dominic didn’t doubt that she was serious. He turned to Mila. “What disturbs me is that the snake knew where to find you.”

“It was more likely luck on his part,” said Mila. “If he got inside through a crack in the foundation of the building, he would have gotten straight into the basement. He probably planned to head to my apartment, but then I walked straight into his grasp. Bastard.”

“There should not have been ways in which intruders could enter,” clipped Valentina, her voice loud enough to carry.

Vinnie grimaced. “We’ll fix any cracks in the building, any uneven doorjambs, and any other gaps we can find to make sure nothing like this happens again.”

That wasn’t enough for Mila’s mother, though. No. She gave the Alpha a ration of verbal shit, and he didn’t bother defending himself. That was one thing Mila respected about Vinnie. He owned his mistakes. Didn’t make excuses for himself. Still, it wouldn’t be long before he lost his patience with Valentina, an eventuality the woman was no doubt counting on. The wolverine was itching for a fight, and that was bad.

Mila looked up at her father. “Dad, I think it’s time you got her out of here.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.” James put a hand on his mate’s shoulder. “Mila’s tired. How about we all go home and give her some space?” When Valentina started to object, James added, “She’ll have Dominic with her, she’ll be fine.”

A conspiratorial look passed between her parents, and Mila rolled her eyes. They liked the idea of her being alone with Dominic. But since she wanted everyone gone, she didn’t complain.

Joel crossed the room. “I can stay with her. Adele and I can keep watch while she gets some rest.” He directed a look of challenge right at GQ that made Mila tense.

Dominic gave her thigh a reassuring squeeze and then smoothly got to his feet. “Not necessary,” he said to Joel. “I got her.” After everyone said their goodbyes to Mila, Dominic herded them to the door, assuring them all that he’d take care of her and call them if they were needed. He also promised to keep Trey and Dante updated on whatever came next.

Joel, the asshole, lingered at the doorway. “It’s sweet that you’d come to her rescue,” he said sardonically, “but you’re not what she needs right now. You’re not what she’ll ever need, and I for one think that—”

“You don’t want to get in my way when it comes to Mila,” Dominic warned him. His wolf wanted to rake the face of this male who, if things had been different, would have claimed her for his own. But things weren’t different. Joel had made his choice, and that meant Mila was none of his fucking business.

The blonde who Dominic was guessing was Adele tried leading Joel away, but he kept his glare locked on Dominic as he said, “I’m Mila’s friend—”

“And if she wanted you to stay, she’d have said so,” Dominic pointed out. “Just as she’d have told me to leave if she wanted me gone.”

Grinding his teeth, Joel took an aggressive step toward him. “I read those articles about you. Yeah, both seemed to be piles of shit. But that list of names—that long, long list . . . I don’t want Mila added to that. I don’t want her to be just another woman whose name you probably won’t even remember a few years down the line. She deserves better than that. Better than you.”

Dominic couldn’t even blame the asshole for thinking Mila was no one to him. Hadn’t he in fact forgotten a lot of those women’s names? But Mila was different. Since he had no intention of explaining himself to Joel, Dominic lifted a brow and asked, “Are we done here?”