Page 137 of Traitor

I blink, caught between shock and something that might be awe.

He just laughs, quiet, almost to himself. "Mama and Pops took me in, of course. I became part of their family. And Bones and I? We really did become brothers." He turns his head, locking eyes with me in the firelight. "I'll never forget my birth parents. But unlike you..." His voice lowers. Not in pity. Not in condescension. Just understanding. "I had the fucking luck to gain a second family."

I swallow hard, my throat tightening against the weight of his words. I wish I was that lucky, too.

"Temperance," he whispers, and I look back at him. "I knew he'd regret it. I knew how what happened to me affected him. I also knew that you weren't like Adora. We didn't talk much, but I watched you with him. And I fucking knew that, when the truth came out and Bones realized what he did, if you were dead, he would die too. By his own hand. Because he's not one to forge connections easily. He was twenty-nine years old when the two of you met, and he never had a girlfriend. Not even in high school. Fooled around with women, but never kept them. Until you. I knew I would lose him forever if he lost you for good."

He turns his head from me, staring at the dark expanse beyond the fire. "So don't thank me for coming after you. In the end, I did it for Bones. That's why I deserved your..." He lets out a chuckle, the sound low. "...paddling. Because I didn't want to rescue you out of righteousness. Because you were innocent. I wanted to do it so that I could save Bones."

"He's really lucky to have you in his life," I whisper.

He looks at me, something like curiosity flickering in his usually impassive eyes. "I'm the lucky one. Without him, I would've died in that prison. He was the one who convinced me to fight when all I wanted to do was give up because of a fucking broken heart. What he did to you..." He stops, his lips pressing into a thin line, like he's considering his next words carefully.

"Well, what he did to you was really fucking shitty, Temperance. But I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you. If you were anyone else, he would've killed you that night."

My stomach lurches.

"We are all killers," he continues, his voice flat, void of hesitation. "Our world is as brutal as it gets. We don't bat an eye at blood and spattered brains. Bones killed Tisha and had zero fucking remorse about it. He never killed a woman before. It's kind of an unspoken rule in our club — that you avoid killing women as much as possible. But in the end, she was a spy. A real one. So she got the treatment all spies get."

His gaze sharpens on me, cutting right through whatever fragile defenses I still have left. "All. Spies."

I can read between the lines. I don't fucking like it. But I understand what he's saying.

I sigh, shaking my head. "Yeah, I get it. But that doesn't make my rage lessen. Or my scars disappear. And it doesn't kill the feeling of betrayal that follows me around like a shadow. I gave Bones everything that I was, and in the end, he didn't even listen to you, to at least wait. Or listen to my full side of the story."

He studies me, his head tilting slightly. His next words are quiet, but they pack a punch. "You didn't give him everything, Temperance."

I narrow my eyes. "What the hell does that mean?"

"You didn't tell him the truth about your past." His expression is unreadable, but there's something knowing in the way he looks at me. "If you did, if you told him from the start that you were running from the Riders, what they did to you... He would've burned those fuckers down for you. They wouldn't be rotting in prison right now. They'd be rotting in the ground."

I inhale sharply, my spine locking.

"That sounds a bit much like victim blaming, doesn't it?" My voice is hard, but it's masking something else. Something I don't want to examine too closely.

And then he does something unexpected. He laughs. A full-on laugh.

I blink. Ghost laughing is... unnatural. Like seeing a fucking statue suddenly move.

"I guess you're right. Sorry," he says, shaking his head. "In the end, it was your story to tell. And you should have had the chance to tell it when you wanted. But you can't deny it was a stupid move on your part. Bunker down with the number one enemy of the guys you were running from and keep such a huge secret? That was a disaster waiting to happen."

I exhale, a small smile creeping onto my lips. "You might actually have a point. I'll give you that." I tilt my head, scrutinizing him with newfound curiosity. "Who knew you had such a talent for conversation? You've been hiding that skill all this time."

He smirks. "I'm wise beyond my age."

"Somehow, I doubt that." I chuckle and turn away, scanning the backyard for Mama. I see her across the yard, grilling Griffin about something. He looks desperate. The man is literally shifting in his seat, like he's trying to escape.

He definitely needs saving.

"I'll see you later, Ghost," I say over my shoulder.

I don't have to turn around to know he's still watching me as I walk away.

Bones

She invited fucking Ghost. And Tank. Both of them. But not me.

GhostandTank.

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