Page 104 of Risking it All

Noah was quiet for a few beats, then he said, “Because I wish someone would have done this for me.”

I stared at him. He stared at me. Was that hurt in his eyes? Noah rolled his neck. “I was fourteen when my parents died. The system separated me from my brothers, and then it was one rolling shit show after another. I got lost. I had no direction, and all I wanted was my brothers and a home. I can’t fix what’s happened to you, but I can help you find a way to stay with your sister, and I can help offer you a home. I understand struggle. I understand feeling like you work a million times harder than everyone else and things still never go your way. Let us help you and Camila. Let us help make it easier. Let us help give you a home.”

Home. The word pierced my heart like an arrow.

The struggle. It was rooted in my marrow. So dug in that I had no idea if I could uproot it, let it go. My bones vibrated with confusion and fear. What would it feel like to not go hungry? What would it feel like to have heat on cold nights and air conditioning during blistering days? What would it feel like to not have to worry about getting shot?

Shot. I flinched. “I move in with any of you and I bring danger to your home.”

“We’re not going to let that happen,” Isaiah said with finality. Ariel’s dad was not someone I would ever fuck with, but did he understand my level of trouble?

“Take Camila,” I forced out before I could change my mind. “Get her out of this life.” As soon as I said it, my insides withered. Could I do it? Could I be separated from my sister? Could I live without her smiles? Could I live without her laughter? Could I live without her hand in mine? Could I live without seeing her day after day after day?

No. Fuck no. My throat swelled shut and my vision blurred as tears burned my eyes. I couldn’t live without her. Without her, I’d die, but I loved her more than I loved myself. I loved her so fucking much that I could give her up. “Please.” I tried to look atDemarius’ parents, but I couldn’t make them out past the tears in my eyes. “Please take her. Please love her. Please give her what I can’t. Please.”

“No, no, no, Relic.” Vanessa crossed the circle and crouched in front of me. “We will take Camila, but we want both of you. Do you hear me? We want you both.”

“I can’t bring that danger to you. I’m poison. I can’t hurt you. I can’t do it.”

Isaiah crouched beside her. “Look at me.”

Feeling like a damn mess, I tried to fight the need to cry. I couldn’t remember the last time I had, but being separated from Camila, giving her up was breaking me into pieces.

“Look at me,” Isaiah repeated, and the bastard had such a commanding low voice that I did. He pointed over at Rachel. “When we were your age, Eric put a price on my wife’s head. He had me shoved into a corner to steal cars for him. He kidnapped Abby.”

Stunned, my gaze shot to Abby who still leaned against the door, watching me with an impassive expression.

“You want to know why Abby’s an FBI consultant and not an agent?” Isaiah pushed. “She has a record. She was a drug dealer. Eric was her enemy. He had her shot.”

“I wasn’t just a drug dealer,” Abby challenged. “I was agreatdrug dealer. And technically, my being shot was more of a group effort of my crew and his crew, but semantics.”

“Not the point, Abby,” Isaiah bit out.

“You’ve never been any fun,” she said, and I ran a hand over my face as this entire conversation was sobering me up quick.

“Point is,” Isaiah said with his eyes still glued to me. “We went toe to toe with that bastard, and we’re still here. I know he seems big.”

“He is big,” I challenged. “He’s more powerful than he was before.”

“The bigger they are,” Isaiah said, “the harder they fall.”

“He sees me as his son,” I spat, and even Isaiah went quiet long enough that I could see that it was sinking in I was no good.

As I went to open my mouth to beg them to take Camila, Vanessa said, “Then we’ll have to make you our son.”

Isaiah looked over at her with relief. “She’s right. You decide to trust us with your and Camila’s life, you become part of our family. I promise you he won’t touch you or your sister.”

“That’s a promise you can’t make because you can’t keep it.”

“We have power over him.” Abby stared at the floor, boring a hole into it, her entire face hardening. “We’ve never used what we have over him, but we will now. Don’t bother asking us what because we won’t tell you. But believe us when we say he will not touch you.”

My mind was so messed up, I didn’t know what to do.

“Aren’t you tired,” Isaiah asked quietly. “Down in your bones, aren’t you exhausted being on your own? Because you don’t have to be. Let us be your family.”

More tears burned my eyes, and my head fell forward into my hands. I didn’t want to cry. Didn’t want to sob like a damn baby, but I was so tired, so fucking exhausted, and I wanted to be seventeen. Why couldn’t I just be seventeen? Why did my life have to be so hard?

Arms around me, Vanessa held me tight as my shoulders began to shake. “We have you, Relic. I promise we have you.”

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