Page 13 of Stolen Love

“Not on purpose.” Riot swallows thickly. “She’s not shutting down the trial. But she’s isolating herself again.”

Rebel clasps his hands behind his head and blows out a breath. “Fuck.”

“Yeah.” Riot looks broken. “She wants space.”

“From everyone?” Summer asks. “Or…from you?”

Riot races a hand over his face and through his hair. His eyes are suspiciously bright. “Both. She says it’s not the right time for her to be involved with anyone.”

“Okay,” Rebel says. “And how are you doing?”

“Rough,” Riot admits, collapsing into a seat at the small informal dining table. “But I can’t force it if she doesn’t want to be with me.”

“Perhaps she just needs time,” Adira says. “She really is going through a lot because of that bastard. Someone ought to make a piñata out of him.”

I imagine my brother hanging from a beam. Thick chains wrapped around his waist while he dangles upside down and we each take turns beating him with a Louisville slugger until red, red candy spills out. I imagine what it would feel like to punish him for all the terrible things he’s done to me… to Rochelle. And to who knows how many others. I imagine the weight of the wooden bat in my hand. The flex and torsion of my muscles as I swing and the jarring sensation as I connect. I feel the hot, sticky splatter of his blood on my hands and face.

I’m so angry that my family ruins everything good. My brother hurts people and gets away with it. My mother hurts me and I feel so powerless. I hate it so much. But that fantasy… the idea of hurting Alec like that… I’ve dreamed about it. Fantasized about it. I wish I could feel that strong for real.

Adira is looking at me funny. His gaze flits to the strangle hold I have on the edge of the counter. His expression asks if I’m all right.

I nod. I’m just so angry for what my brother has put Rochelle through. And for Riot’s heartache over it. I’m angry for the way that our family has treated Adira when they should celebrate how special he is. I’m angry that they’re threatening Rogue to get to me. And that I can’t stop any of it.

“What about her bodyguard? Tex still with her?” Rebel asks.

“Uh.” Riot glances away, taking a moment to compose himself. “As far as I’m aware.”

“So she’s safe then. She’s not alone. She’s protected.” Rebel starts announcing the positives. “We’ll be here for her when she needs us. When she’s ready, whatever happens with the trial.”

But none of us are safe, and Alec keeps hurting people and getting away with it. Because of my mother. Because Nicole makes everything just go away for him. No matter the cost. And I am not powerful enough to make him pay for his misdeeds. I’m not even formidable enough to get her to back off when it comes to my own freaking life. “There’s nothing we can do.”

“Ivy?” Adira calls after me as I dash from the kitchen into the dining room.

I press my back to the wall once I’m alone. Tears blur my eyes, and I take frantic sips of air. I’m going to have to say goodbye to him, aren’t I? There is no other way. That photographer died and Alec will soon be free. Nicole can make anything she wants happen. And we have no way of fighting back.

A noise startles me. I expect it to be Rogue, but as I drag my gaze up to meet his all I see are white roses with blood dripping from the tips of the petals. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of them, with wickedly sharp looking thorns, all in a six foot monstrosity of a flower arrangement. And it’s teetering toward me.

Chapter Six

Ivy

“What the hell?”

Rogue’s voice reaches me as I cover my face with my palms and cower, waiting for the flowers to land on me. The arrangement is huge and probably weighs a ton, but it’s the thorns I scramble back to protect myself from.

I stumble over my feet and my head hits the wall as I fall against it. Stars burst under my eyelids. My heartrate spikes. Velvety petals brush against my cheeks, and my breath catches, waiting for the pain that will surely follow.

Only those petals stop touching my skin and Rogue wraps his arm around me and buries my face in his chest. A second later there’s a loud crash right next to us. Water drenches my feet.

A woman yelps. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. They almost fell on you.”

“Are you hurt?” Rogue takes my face and searches it as Jackson comes rushing into the room with his weapon drawn. “I heard you scream.”

“I…” I must have screamed from shock at those roses falling on me.

“Is everything okay in here?” Jackson scans the room before his gaze lands on Dizzy and the mess of roses. He must have heard me too. He holsters his weapon as the boys and Summer rush in. “Are you all right, Miss Love?”

“I’m fine. A little shaken.” The tops of my ears heat. “I just wasn’t expecting that.”

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