Page 21 of Venus

“So he didn’t tell you the reason I ended up in Salvation’s Bane.”

He narrowed his eyes. “No,” he said slowly. “I just assumed he sent you there.”

“No.” I frowned. “At least, I don’t think so. Am starting to wonder.” It didn’t escape me I was talking through my doubts with Piston when he should be last person I trusted. Had he truly been in shadows all this time?

“OK. Why did you take up with Bane? You made a pretty good impression on Thorn or he wouldn’t have patched you in. He’sthefuckin’ hardass in a room full of hardasses, so you have his respect.”

“I helped him out of tight spot on ExFil mission. Together we saved his team even if mission got scrubbed.”

“Must have been one hell of a save. He basically took you in the same day you came back.”

“It was.” I looked around, finding my pants and snagging them. “I need to leave.”

“Venus, stop.” That fucking gruff voice of his was my bane. It had been hard to resist him before, but after we’d had sex, after he’d completely blown my mind, I wanted to obey him. At least, my body did. My mind was screaming and railing at me to bust his balls and leave.

I took a breath. “I don’t want to.”Blyat! I sounded like petulant child.

“We’re not done. No matter what you believe my motives are, you know I’ll always protect you. Youknowit.”

He was right. I did know, but I didn’t want to give in too easily. “Just because you’ve been shadowing me for years doesn’t mean I know you as well as you know me. And you’ve already been lying to me.”

“I have never lied to you. I didn’t tell you everything about me, but I’ve never lied to you.” His face hardened as he spoke. Clearly, Piston didn’t appreciate my accusations.

“So? Tell me now.”

“Not a whole lot for me to tell. You came back to the US with your sister. The two of you split up. You ended up with Giovanni. When you did, he pulled me off a security detail he had me on with ExFil and put me on your six, permanently.”

“Permanently?” What the hell? “Did he not trust me?”

“Was that when he started supplying you with tech?”

I didn’t answer right away. Mainly because it was on tip of my tongue to spill everything, and I wasn’t going to do that. Not right away. I tried to fool myself into thinking he could rot in hell before I told him anything, but the fact was, Piston had proven himself to me. I was stubborn, but not so much I wouldn’t admit how much help he’d been. Even if I didn’t want to admit it. Because I’d also been replaying scene in my head over and over when he’d shoved me aside night Victor had slipped through our fingers.

Victor got away because I’d hesitated to leave Piston in middle of deadly fight. Not because of anything Piston did. Had he not interfered, I might have been killed. Finally I sighed, sitting on edge of bed in nothing but his T-shirt. My pants were bunched in my hand, and I laid them beside me. There was plenty of time to get dressed later and I wasn’t drawing more attention to my naked body than I already had.

“Thorn is… family.” How to explain this?

“Family how? MC family?”

“No. Is my first cousin. His father’s youngest brother is my father.”

Piston’s eyes narrowed as he put it all together. “Wait. Thorn. Why does this feel like it’s more important than you simply being Thorn’s cousin?”

I debated my next move. I didn’t want to disclose what I’d learned because I didn’t want to put any of the people involved on Victor’s radar. That meant the fewer people who knew who Thorn was related to and how, the better. Not necessarily because Thorn needed protecting either. Because it meant every foundation of every club I was associated with would be in jeopardy. Especially Bones. If anyone knew secrets kept in that club, it could be used to take ExFil away from Cain and quite possibly land several of Bones in prison. For treason.

“I’m here to helpyou, Venus. Not Giovanni. Not Thorn. Not even myself. I’m the killer who has your back. There is no one I wouldn’t destroy to protect you.” I saw the truth in his eyes but wasn’t ready to give in just yet.

“Why should I believe you?” My voice was barely above whisper.

He didn’t hesitate with his answer. “Because you’re a woman who trusts her instincts, and you haven’t killed me yet.”

When his words penetrated, something inside me gave way. Before I realized what I’d done, I threw myself at Piston, wrapping my arms around him and clinging so tightly he probably thought I was trying to kill him by strangulation. Dam I had guarding my emotions disintegrated into nothingness. Everything came rushing out. I sobbed into Piston’s chest, clinging to him like I’d never held on to anyone in my life. I couldn’t even remember going to my mother for any kind of emotional support. After my father died, I’d been too busy taking care of both Millie and my mother to indulge in grief.

“Shortcake.” His soft murmur was right at my ear. He had his arms around me, holding me as tightly as I held him. One hand moved up and down my back before threading through my hair and holding my head against him. “It’s all right. Everything’s gonna be all right. I swear to you, I’ll kill whoever you want me to, just…please stop.”

Alarm in his voice made me laugh through my tears. Had I ever in my life cried more than few simple tears? “Thebadass in room full of badasses, huh?” I swiped my cheeks and offending moisture. “Yet few tears bother you?”

“With you? Yes. If something is bad enough to bring you to tears, I need to kill it.”

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