Page 50 of The Lies We Believe

Bane linked his fingers with mine, peeling them off his neck and pulled back. My heart froze, fear icing my veins. This was it. This was the moment he realized I was too much. That he’d leave, because no one wanted to tie themselves to a mess like me.

“River.Angel.” Bane’s gravelly voice was raw and unfiltered. His hands cupped my slick cheeks, his left still entwined with mine. “Look at me, baby.”

My eyes fluttered open at his heartbreaking plea. I looked up at him through wet clumpy lashes and even though he wavered in front of me, nothing could hide the depth of emotion painted on his face. His contrasting eyes were wells of honest love, and the sweet smile that lifted his full lips breathed life into me.

“I know you’re scared.” He brushed the still falling tears from under my eyes. “I know you don’t believe me, and you have good reason to doubt me, given everything you’ve been through. But I will never lie to you.” I tilted my head to the side in question, and Bane chuckled. “Not when it comes to matters of my heart. With that, I will lay every god’s honest truth at your feet.”

Chewing the inside of my cheek, I let my eyes trace every detail of his face and committed them to memory, searing them into my soul. Never had I felt so cherished as I did right now, even if it did feel like I was standing at the edge of a cliff with everything I’d ever dreamed of waiting for me at the bottom, if only I was brave enough to jump.

The sound of the door clicking open made me jump, but Bane didn’t release his hold on my face. Instead, he leaned forward, brushed his lips over my clammy forehead, and whispered, “Iwould love you in any form, in any world, in any time, with any past. All I want is you. Never doubt that I would lay my life down for yours without a second thought, because you are worth fighting for. You, River, are everything.”

His words settled into my soul, etched in starlight and dreams. And I knew at that moment that I would not let this chance slip through my fingers like the sands of time—I would fight for the ember coming to life in my heart. I had never known love in any form, but what I felt for Bane was what I believed love to be. I would love him like the world was ending, because I knew what a lifetime without it was like.

Resting his forehead against mine, he took a shuddering breath. “We do this together.” His words melted into my skin and fused in my bones. His certainty took hold like roots in the darkest parts of me and pulled me toward his light. I could do this if he was beside me every step of the way. I wasn’t strong enough to fight on my own, but with Bane in my life, I wasn’t alone anymore.

“Together,” I mouthed against his lips and felt him breathe them in as they curved in a tentative smile that I mirrored. He slowly pulled back, and I saw a lifetime with him moving like smokey shadows in his eyes. All we needed to do was give them life, color, and form.

A throat clearing made us both turn. Montoya leaned against the door, ankles crossed and hands shoved in her pockets. “Sharon’s bringing you something to eat. She’s also completed your paperwork.”

My eyes darted back to Bane, and he shrugged. “I knew you wouldn’t want to stay here any longer than you had to.”

I snorted. Even though every inch of my skin burned with pain and every movement felt like my bones were crumbling to dust, I was climbing the walls being trapped in another cage.

“T-true,” I rasped. I felt the weight of Montoya’s gaze on me as I slicked my bottom lip. “I-I…m…my…bag?”

“They said—” Bane began, but Montoya swiftly cut him off, reading something in me Bane couldn’t.

“I’ll go check with Sharon about what happened to your belongings.” With that, she slipped from the room again without another word. I struggled to get a read on Montoya. She seemed nice, but I still hated her for every day she’d spent with him that I hadn’t. Whether or not my jealousy was warranted, it slithered through me, completely unrepentant.

After eating some dry toast and orange juice, Sharon changed my dressings and promised she’d pay me a home visit to check on my progress. I had a feeling it was more of a favor to Bane, who lost his shit when he saw the extent of my injuries. I reminded him this was nothing I couldn’t handle. He’d scoffed, balled his hands into fists, and left in a cloud of frustration.

“He’ll be okay, sweetie. He acts like nothing affects him, but still waters run deep.” When I’d looked up at her in confusion, she snickered. “He’s like an iceberg when it comes to his emotions. What he shows you is nothing compared to what he buries inside. Officer Benson has always been so very careful with his words and actions, not just because of his size, but also his position. But mark my words, that man has the softest, purest heart.”

I’d smiled at her while she gave my dressings a final once over before she helped me into some of Bane’s clothes and told me she’d keep searching for my belongings. I wasn’t worried about my clothes, but there was something I needed, something I’d been willing to sacrifice my life for that I needed to give to Bane. Without it, I feared we’d both be living on borrowed time, and now that I had him, I wasn’t prepared to lose him again. Dahlia wasn’t one to give up control, and once she realized I hadsomething vital to her operation, it was only a matter of time until I took my last breath.

Night had turnedthe sky pitch black. Even the glow from the streetlights seemed to be swallowed by the ominous darkness. Montoya pulled the car to a stop in front of Bane’s house. My gut dropped as guilt overwhelmed me for everything I’d put him through, but I’d done it all with the best of intentions.

Bane slipped from the car, unlocked the house, and stepped inside, weapon drawn. I watched enraptured as the lights slowly flicked on in room after room as he checked to make sure it was safe. A weighted sigh slipped from my lips at all the extra stress my reappearance had brought to his settled life.

Montoya’s gaze caught mine in the rearview mirror as I stared longingly at the house. I winced as her eyes narrowed. “They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, kid. I don’t know why you did what you did. Why you left...” A sharp inhale caught in the back of my throat as I struggled to find the words to justify what I’d done, but she held her hand up. “I don’t want your excuses.” My shoulders slumped, and every reason why I was a poison to Bane flared to life in my head. “I know you had a reason. I just hope the pain you’ve caused both of you was worth it.”

Luckily for me, Bane appeared at the front door before her words could flay the skin from my bones, his strides devouring the distance between us. He opened the back door, wrapped his hand around mine, and helped me out within seconds. Instead of aiding me to walk the short distance, he hefted me intohis arms with an unnatural gentleness for a man of his size, cradling me against his chest like I was something precious. The steady beat of his heart soothed my ragged edges as his body heat seeped into me through the layers separating us. His warmth filtered through my veins and lulled me to the edges of unconsciousness. My eyelids turned heavy, and after a few steady beats of his heart, the world fell away.

I woke with a start, sheets tangled around my legs, gasping into the near darkness of my room. It felt like the air from every breath dissolved before it reached my lungs. My throat was raw, and the fading echo of a scream hung heavily in the air. Before I could blink, my door crashed open, ricocheting off the wall. Bane stormed into my room, gun raised, eyes darting around, before his stormy eyes met with mine and the violence melted away, leaving only concern behind.

“What’s wrong, angel?” he rasped, sleep wrapped around every syllable.

Clutching my throat, my mind spinning a mile a minute, my nightmare refusing to release me, I sobbed out unintelligible sounds.I need you. Please don’t leave me. I’m scared she’s coming for me. I’m terrified she’s going to kill you and burn everything you love to the ground.Bane locked his gun and placed it on the nightstand, then slipped onto the bed like it was second nature, gently pulling me into his arms. I felt like I was falling, spiraling out of control, only seconds away from crashing into the ground and splintering into a million irreparable pieces.

“It’s okay, Riv. I’ve got you. You’re safe. Nothing can get you here.” His deep voice flowed over me in a wave of comforting warmth that thawed my frozen bones, but did nothing to stop the unending deluge of tears falling down my cheeks. “Shh, baby. Please don’t cry.” The rough skin of his thumbs sent shockwaves over my flushed face as he swept away the tears that continued to fall.

The tension in my muscles eased as time passed unmeasured, and Bane’s presence—his embrace—became a metronome I could set my soul by. Deep purples bled into the dark night sky as dawn approached, but I wasn’t ready to be alone. I never wanted to be on my own in the dark again. And as my body slowly relaxed, exhaustion taking over, my mind clung to the fear that everything I’d dreamed of was moments from being ripped away.

Soft lips brushed across the nape of my neck, startling me. “I should go and let you get some sleep.”

Fear slithered down my spine. “N-no S-stay…p-please.” His heavy exhale ghosted across my skin, making goosebumps prickle across my neck and shoulders.

“I’ll stay if that’s what you’d like.”Always.I had never felt safer than when I was cocooned by his body. It was irrational, but logic had no place in my life.

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