Page 73 of Say It Slowly

There are fresh-cut flowers on the table, and I pick up a fallen pedal, rubbing it between my fingers. “Yeah, well, things have gotten a lot more complicated in the last few hours.”

Understatement of the century.

Ash places his hand over mine. His skin is cold, but the gesture is comforting. “Hey, whatever you need, I’m happy to help. I just don’t want to make things more difficult for you, and you staying here isdefinitelygoing to piss Roman off, regardless of how complicated things have gotten.”

“Thanks.” I flash him a faint smile. “Don’t worry about Roman. I can handle him.”

It’s a baldfaced lie, but Ash doesn’t need to know that...

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Roman

“Did that just fucking happen?”Christian asks arms crossed over his chest.

We’re standing in the gym, considering what our fucking options are. After Lux rushed out of the house, I gave chase, but she’d done a fucking number on my balls, and I didn’t get very far.

I’m staring down at my phone, trying to refresh my tracker app, but her last known location was an hour ago. She must have her phone off. Cursing, I shove my phone into my back pocket.

Jackson is pacing, furious. “Fuck, how was that door leftunlocked?”

Lucas and I were the last ones through the door, so we should have been the ones to lock it behind us. But no one comes down into the basement, except for the Sacred Sons. It’s off-limits, and everyone knows that. Everyone, except Lux, apparently. But honestly, even if she did know, I doubt she’d give a fuck.

But she was up in the bedroom, weakened from what Tyler had given her last night. So, yeah, locking the door wasn’t what I was fucking focused on.

For real, though, I’d give my left nut to go back in time and lock that fucking door. The look of abject horror that came over Lux’s face will haunt me forever. She saw me. She saw what I’m capable of doing, and she was repulsed by it.

Shaking my head, I discard that thought. I can’t dwell on something I can’t change. All I can do is move forward.

“What if she goes to the police?” Christian asks, voicing the concern that I’m sure we’ve all considered.

Lucas glances at Jackson. “You think your uncle could bury it?”

Jackson’s uncle and cousin both work for the Malibu police department, and as handy as that can be, there’s only so much they can smooth over. There’s a new Chief of Police, and the entire department has been under a lot of scrutiny lately.

Jackson leans against the weight machine and shakes his head. “Yeah, no. A dead body is beyond his ability to cover up right now.”

I push out a breath. “She won’t go to the police,” I say. I don’t know that, actually, but if the guys see her as a threat, there’s no telling what they might do. We took an oath to protect the society at all costs.

“How can we be sure about that?” Lucas asks.

I turn my head and look him dead in the eye, more warning than reassurance. “I’ll handle her,” I say through gritted teeth. If he dares touch her, I swear to God…

He sighs. “Fine. But I want assurances she’s not going to fucking talk.”

“Why don’t we just initiate her?” Christian offers. “She’d have to take a vow of secrecy—”

“No,” I cut in forcefully. “She’s not being initiated.”

I can’t even stomach the fucking thought of that.

“It would solve our problem,” Lucas says with a shrug. “She’d have to pledge her loyalty to the society...”

God, this line of thinking is really starting to piss me off. “She’s not being initiated,” I yell in a burst of anger, my voice echoing off the stone walls. “And that’s the fucking end of it.” I look at each one of the guys. “I said I would handle her.”

The guys have sense enough to back off the topic of initiation.

Jackson sighs, shaking his head. “Let’s just hope she didn’t go straight to the police station. I’ll call my uncle, and ask him to let us know if she shows up. He can give us a heads up, at least.”

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