Page 89 of Darkness

He is everything I never knew I needed.

I kiss him back, trying to be careful, but it’s hard to control myself when he’s so fucking irresistible, so I deepen the kiss, showing him as much enthusiasm as he’s showing me.

That is… until he hisses in pain.

My eyes shoot open when I see I’m leaning on his ribs, and I shoot up instantly. “Shit, sorry. Are you okay?”

“Better than I have been in a long time… just sore.”

I wince, taking in his nose’s crooked form and pointing to it. “I think it’s broken.”

“It is… I heard the crack.”

“I get it, you know…” Rolling my shoulders, I exhale. “Why they did it that way.”

He raises his brow like he wasn’t expecting me to understand.

“I didn’t love it. It killed me to watch. But you broke the rules… and other than killing you, that was the next best thing. That was their only form of punishment.”

“You don’t know how right you are. They could have de-patched me or taken my presidency… or, yeah, killed me. What I got was the tame version. All other variations would have involved some form of torture. Torque’s tough but fair. I did the club wrong, so the punishment must fit the crime. Two brothers died because of me. I got off lightly.”

“You knew… right back when you first took me, you knew something like this would happen.”

His hand comes up, stopping me as his swollen eyes meet mine. “I’d do it all over again for you, Eva.”

My stomach flutters. Nycto knew from the moment he saw me we’d end up here. I think I did, too, in some ways. I refused to believe it, being so caught up in finding my sister. I’m not sure we had love at first sight—that would be impossible—but there was chemistry. There was something pulling us together.

You can’t have light without dark.

And together, we’re that little bit of both each other needs to survive.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t…” I say.

He lets out a small laugh, then groans from the pain.

“I appreciate your sacrifice, Nycto. It means so much to Ivy and me.”

He squeezes my hand, then stretches a little because no more words need to be said. Now, it’s time to get on with our lives.

“Right. I need food. Shall we face the music?”

I nod and stand, then help Nycto up. Wrapping my arm around his waist, I do my best to gently loop his arm over my shoulder to help him walk. He’s not crippled, but he’s not stable either.

“Let’s go,” he says.

We walk out into the bustling clubroom, and all eyes focus on us as everyone watches closely. He wobbles slightly, and I steady him. He exhales, looking out at the sea of presidents. “I want to thank you all for coming…” He pauses, catching his breath. “I know I did the wrong thing. I knew I had this coming to me…” He wobbles, blinking a few times. “Tampa isn’t dealing in trafficking anymore. We’re out.” He stops to catch his breath. “We have a new business, which I’ll need to discuss with you, Torque… when I’ve had pain meds… and maybe less knuckles to the damn head.”

A light snicker filters through the room as Torque nods. “You got it. Nerve, get this man some drugs, some beer, and somewhere to sit with his woman while the rest of us party on his dollar.”

Nycto groans as the rest of the clubroom cheers. I help Nycto move to a seat, my heart pounding ferociously as I wrap my arm around his waist and lead him into the back corner, as far away as possible from the excessive noise, and sit him on a chair.

Trixie steps over with a giant plate of food. “You doin’ okay, Pres?”

He looks out at the sea of Defiance with a smile. “You know, Trix, I am. I have my woman. My brothers are here. Honestly, I might look like a massacre now, but I feel like a masterpiece. I’ve come full circle, and I know where my path is leading…”

“Where’s that?” Trixie asks.

He turns to face me, grabbing my hands. “Wherever Eva is.”

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