Page 30 of Into The Darkness

The worst part was that he looked exactly like Ember, except older and, just like I did, a little worn out. He was born and bred to be a leader, like myself.

I kept my head down, not wanting to say anything, until I saw one of the guys from the Den circling him, standing by the entrance of the library. Walsh’s men were always close to us, and we were always tailing them.

Fuck. This meant I had to come up with some sort of leadership bullshit I wasn’t in the mood for. All I wanted to do was be a fucking student who went to the library, but no, that wasn’t in my future, as my dad would tell me.

“Fuckin’ Solis.” I shifted my shoulders back and stood a little taller and slung my backpack over one shoulder. I wanted to know if he felt the same way I did. Was the weight of being groomed to be a leader of his organization exhausting for him too? I fucking hated the guy because I was supposed to, but I had so many questions for him.

I saw him first because he was walking out of the library into the parking lot with a girl. Good. I needed the upper hand, especially if I was playing so blindly with Ember.

Walsh locked eyes with me, then said something to the girl, and she sauntered away. I looked her up and down a few times just to piss him off more, but, in the back of my mind, the only person I wanted to look at hungrily was Ember.

“What do you want, Ortiz?” Walsh asked as we squared up. Rocco, the man tailing Solis, was now striding over to stand behind me.

A few people paused as they watched the two leaders of the most feared fraternities on campus suddenly bump into each other.

“Just comin’ by to say hi.” I winked at the fucker.

“I got shit to do.” He started to walk away before I stopped him by holding out my hand.

“You didn’t tell anyone that your little sister was on campus?” I mocked, knowing Walsh had one soft spot, and it was for his sister.

This was the man my father wanted me to be. The cocky son of a bitch who was born and bred a leader. I was to remain emotionless and stoic.

Walsh closed the distance between us, his gaze on mine, then Rocco moved beside me.

I gave him a curt nod to let him know I could handle this myself.

“I swear to fucking God if you touch my fucking sister, I will murder you, neutral zone or not. She is off-fucking-limits.”

I paused, letting him have his moment, but this was what I was born to do—lead a group of men and fuck up our enemies. What my dad didn’t teach me and what I learned quickly was that to lead, sometimes words cut deeper than a punch.

I responded coolly, “What if I just fuck her? Have little Ember Solis calling my name out on her lips over and over again? Would that be okay?”

His hand connected with my jaw. I laughed because he knew . . . he fucking knew exactly where my threat was now.

“She’s never been with anyone before, so I swear to God if you fuck her, Ortiz, I will not just murder you but torture you until you’re choking on your own fucking cock.”

Fuck . . . a virgin? I didn’t know why part of me thought how fucking hot it would be to be her first, but I knew immediately it couldn’t be at the initiation if that was the case. I owed her that much.

I laughed, swiping some of the blood off my lips before turning away from him and walking away. He was fuming, but I didn’t stop or falter until I got inside the library. Rocco continued tailing him, and once I opened the single-stall bathroom, I leaned up against the cool tile wall and ran my hands through my hair.

I hated using Ember as a tool to somehow mitigate this decade-long betrayal and animosity that two underworlds had for each other.

Ember was so much more, she brought so much light to cloudy days. She was complex, intelligent, and beautiful, and I wanted to bury my face between her thighs. The innate draw I somehow had for her was so different than I had felt with anyone else. It only solidified what I knew this morning—I needed to protect her from this. She couldn’t somehow end up between two gangs fighting for revenge. She would never make it out alive.

Yet the thought that I wanted more from Ember than a quick fuck scared the shit out of me. I was in a battle between what was expected of me and what I wanted, and I didn’t know what the next move was.

Chapter ten

I had been at the library working on filing some books back into the stacks just as my colleague came over to replace me.

“Thanks, Marcia,” I said, and headed back over to the circulation desk where the clock-out form was. It was old school, so everything was done through pen and paper, but I didn’t mind since there were only a handful of students that worked at the library. I was lucky to have gotten the job.

I was in a far better mood than when I came in this morning.

My boss, Nancy, a lady in her thirties with an affinity for wearing black maxi dresses and her hair down and sleek, gave me a pointed look as I was making my way to the desk.

“What’s up?” I asked.

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