Page 46 of Lady Death

“It’s okay, Keres,” Adira said, laying a hand on her arm. “We’re not pressuring you.”

She threw Adira a grateful smile, but in that moment, she had a desire to explain. “A little over a year ago, my best friend, Abigail, and I were raped.”

Both girls gasped. Adira reached over and placed her hand on top of Keres’s in a show of compassion and comfort.

“When the men were done, they didn’t want us to survive,” she continued. “I caught sight of this tattoo on one of their arms. A broken skull with a scythe sticking out from the top.”

“The Deathmen,” Vivi muttered. “I overheard Lincoln talking about them.”

Keres nodded. “A man passing by saw them hurting us and came to the rescue, scaring away the attackers. His name was Darby, and he took me in. Then he offered me a lifeline. He suggested we fight back. Make them pay for hurting me. For killing both Abigail and Jonathan, his husband. Darby taught me to fight. To defend myself. He also taught me to kill.”

Adira tightened her hand over hers, and Keres wondered if this was when both of them would walk away. Accepting without knowing details was more palatable than cold, hard realization.

“That must have hurt you so much,” Adira said, sorrow in her voice.

Vivi rose and came around to hug her. Tears welled up in Keres’s eyes and ran down her cheeks. She never thought she’d feel this type of closeness again. Ronin was one thing.Thiswas completely different. Once the storm of emotion had passed, Adira handed her a napkin so she could mop up her tears and blow her nose.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“I can’t even imagine what you’ve lived through,” Vivi said. “Lincoln was shot in the chest by this other biker who wanted my superpower. For the split-second I thought he was dead, I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. Or function. In an instant my whole word shattered.”

“Oh, no.”

Vivi shook her head. “Obviously he survived. He was wearing a bulletproof vest that I didn’t know about. I knew I loved him, but right then I realized I loved him more than anything. More than I loved my sister. More than I loved myself. I’d jump in front of a gun if it meant saving him.”

“Me too,” Adira said. “And Iwasshot.”

“Do you feel like that toward Ronin?” Vivi asked. “Would you die for him?”

Keres mulled over those questions before inserting him into the role of Darby. If Ronin would’ve been the person shot instead of her friend. Devastating loss stared back at her. It was agonizing that Darby was killed, but if it had been Ronin, she had no doubt her heart would shatter into a thousand pieces, unable to be put back together.

Did that mean she loved him?

“Yes,” she replied softly. “I would die for him.”

Chapter Twenty

“Got a question for you,” Ronin murmured, making sure to keep his voice low.

Ghost glanced at him with an eyebrow raised.

“How did you know Sidonie was the one for you? I mean, what was it about her that turned your head away from club pussy?”

Ghost gave him an incredulous look. “Seriously? You’re asking for relationship advice?”

“Never mind,” Ronin muttered.

“No, no, no. Sorry.” He flashed a smile. “Okay. It was lust at first glance with Sid. And then second glance, then third glance. Before I knew it, I’d fallen for her hook, line, and sinker.”

“Wasn’t that just about sex?”

“Notjustsex. I liked talking to her. I liked hanging out with her. I liked watching movies and cuddling with her, and no, that doesn’t make me soft or a fucking pussy.”

“Didn’t say it did,” Ronin said blandly.

“With Sid, it was the whole package. Brains. Beauty. And for some goddamn unknown reason, she liked me back.”

Ronin inserted Keres into everything he said. She was beautiful. She was smart. And she seemed to like him as much as he liked her. Or, at least liked fucking him as much as he liked fucking her.

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