Page 48 of Declan

It’s Hux. I have to answer.

“Hey,” I say, sitting up and rubbing a hand down my face.

“We’re meeting around the table in thirty,” Hux says.

“Got it.” I hang up and turn to Lena, already hating the distance starting to build again. “I’ve gotta head out.”

She nods, sliding to the edge of the bed and stretching her arms above her head. “It’s fine. I need to get home and shower before work anyway.”

“You’re still at Jeanne’s family store, right?”

She nods again, grabbing her clothes off the chair. The curve of her body as she bends is enough to make me reconsider going anywhere.

“Yeah. It’s boring as hell, but I get a discount, so…”

“What would you rather be doing?”

It’s been so long since we talked like this. Really talked. I was so focused on forgetting her, on burying every piece of her, I forgot to pay attention to the little things that made her her.

She shrugs, tugging her jeans on. “Not worrying about money.”

There’s something in her voice, quiet, raw.

“I’d rather be living off a trust fund,” she adds with a forced laugh. “Think my parents have one stashed somewhere?”

I open the drawer and pull out the cash she tried to leave behind.

“Here. This is yours.”

Her eyes narrow when she sees it. Then they flash with anger. “I’m not a fucking whore, Declan.”

“Excuse me?”

“You sleep with me, and now you’re handing me money. That’s what a whore gets.”

I toss the cash on the bed. “It’s your fucking money, Lena. I’m not paying you. I’m giving it back. I’ve never paid for sex, and Isure as hell wouldn’t start now. If you think that little of me, you don’t know me at all.”

She exhales, dragging a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry, okay? I just don’t like taking money. I never have.”

“I’m not giving it to you. It’s not mine. You left it, and I’m putting it back where it belongs.”

She steps into me, wraps her arms around my waist, and rests her cheek against my chest. My arms wrap around her instinctively.

“I know who you are, Declan. Better than anyone. How about we use it for dinner? Until it’s gone.”

I chuckle, the tension finally slipping away. “Deal.”

The scent of cigarettes,leather, and burnt coffee hits me the second I step through the doors of the Shattered Souls clubhouse. It’s familiar. Comforting in a way. But today, it’s not enough to settle the unease churning in my gut.

I spot Hux first, already seated at the head of the long wooden table in the war room. His presence is solid, immovable, like a mountain that’s seen too much shit to be rattled by anything anymore. His arms are crossed over his broad chest, and his sharp blue eyes lock onto me the second I walk in. There’s a flicker there, curiosity maybe, or suspicion. Fuck if I know.

Kaden’s next, lounging to Hux’s right. Our VP is the kind of guy who could smile while gutting someone, and you’d still think he was the nicest fucker in the room. Right now, though, he’s notsmiling. His gaze drags over me, and his brow lifts slightly, like he knows I’ve got something to hide. Probably does. Kaden’s good at reading people. Too good.

Wesley’s across the table, leaning back in his chair, boots propped on the edge. He’s got that same cocky grin he always wears, but I know him. That grin’s a mask. He doesn’t miss a fucking thing, especially when it comes to people close to him. And I’m close. Too close. My stomach knots just looking at him, because he has no idea I spent the night with his sister. That I’ve finally taken the thing I’ve wanted for years. That I’m never giving it back.

Lex Hayes is next to him, always calm, always watching. He’s a ghost in the room most of the time, quiet, calculating. There’s a darkness to him I’ve never fully understood, and I’m not sure I want to. He nods at me in greeting, and I nod back, trying to play it cool.

Elias Stoll is the last to join. He drops into the seat beside me, tattoos peeking from under his shirt sleeves, jaw locked tight. The kid's got something to prove. He always does. He's loyal as hell, though, and fearless, which makes him dangerous in the right or wrong hands.

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