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to ease the various aches. God, I was out of shape. Thankfully, I healed almost instantly. Otherwise, I’d be flat on my back for another three months recovering from the ass-whooping I’d just received. One thing about Raif, he took everything to the next level. Even a simple workout.
    “It’s still early,” he said, tentative. “How about dinner first?”
    The concern showed in his tone, the worried expression on his face, the way he closed the space between us like he thought I’d bolt at any second. It was nice, really. “Don’t worry, Raif. I’m not going AWOL. I’m just fucking exhausted. Seriously, I don’t think I could take another step. This is the most I’ve done in months. I’m ready to crash.”
    Raif raised a dubious brow. I didn’t blame him for not trusting me. He’d been trying to flush me out for weeks. I was like an addict on rehab watch or a cutter in a room full of razor blades. It wouldn’t take much to send me over the edge and into a relapse.
    “We’ve been working out for the past five hours. I’m
tired
.”
    “You’re not leaving the house?” More of a confirmation than a question.
    “I already told you. I’m staying here. I just need to rest, okay.”
    He threw the towel he’d been using into a bin near the door. “I’ll walk you to your room, then.”
    Jesus Christ
. This was going to get old. Fast. “If you insist.” I headed for the door, none too happy with my overprotective escort. “You going to post guards outside my room all night, too?”
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” Raif scoffed as he held the gym door open for me. “I won’t need guards. Xander already volunteered for the job.”
    I stopped dead in my trac Sad s. ks, and threw a caustic glare at the back of his head. Raif kept walking, his exaggerated laughter echoing down the hall.
    Ha. Ha.
“You’re hilarious, you know that?” I said, running to catch up. “You do realize that I’m going to be sleeping with one eye open from now on.”
    “You gave me the perfect opening.” Raif fought another burst of laughter. “It was just too hard to resist.”
    For two flights of stairs and a couple of hallways, Raif watched me from the corner of his eye. His little joke about Xander standing guard outside my room apparently got him only so far in the entertainment department. “Tomorrow, I’ll select candidates for your task force. You can have final approval, but I’ll make the initial nominations.”
    “I trust you,” I said. “I don’t need final approval.”
    Raif’s mouth became a hard, thin line. He kept his gaze straight ahead. “I can’t trust you to be in charge of your team if you leave the decisions up to me. A leader leads, Darian. You should only delegate menial tasks.”
    Oh, fine.
“I don’t know any of them. I’m not sure how I’ll choose.” I figured he needed fair warning. An informed decision, he wasn’t going to get. I opened the door to my room and leaned against the jamb.
    “I’ll have personnel files sent up in the morning. You’ll have all the information you need. Also, I can arrange for an exhibition if you’d like to see the candidates fight. Sometimes seeing a warrior in action helps.”
    Wonderful
. Paperwork
and
a show? Administrative duties, exactly what I signed on for. “We’ll see.” I wasn’t about to commit to a morning of watching Raif’s warriors fight unless I was sure I needed to. “I’ll read the files first and make a decision afterward.”
    “I can live with that,” Raif said. “But, Darian, I’m serious about being a leader. Don’t disappoint me.”
    That was the last thing I wanted to do. But, damn it, why did he have to heap so much on me? Was Raif trying to keep me occupied so I wouldn’t have time to think about the shit pile my life had become? Probably. He was such a noble, pragmatic pain in the ass.
    I nodded. For some reason, I was afraid of making any verbal promises or reassurances. Honestly, I had no fucking clue if I was