Page 128 of Savage Promises

Dorian.

He steps between us like a wall.

“Move,” I snarl, rising to my feet, fury lacing through my grief. “You work forme.”

“No,” he says calmly, shielding her with his body. “I workfor her.”

“It’s too late, Shane,” Lennox breaks. “You threw meout ofyour house!”

“I know. I’m sorry. Please.”

Shaking her head, she says, “You’re just like everyone else. You only want me when youneedme. I can’t... Not now.” She wipes her tears away and runs inside the club.

She doesn’t look back as Dorian guides her inside. Through the glass doors, I see him get on his phone. Fuck. I know the call he’s making.

I stand there like a goddamn ghost in the night, shaking from the inside out. I lost her.Again. But by the time I get back to my car, I see I have a bigger problem.

Ewan, Griffin, Connor, Trace, and Rhys surround the Sentinel.

“Keys, Shane.” Creed stands up to me after stepping out from behind Quinlan Empire.

With my car hanging off the curb, I see this through their eyes.

I hand over my keys. “Here.”

Creed speaks low and controlled. “I have orders to bring you home.”

“Understood. When we get to the brownstone you can—”

“No. To Astoria,” he says.

“Ma wants to see you,” Griffin clarifies, his guards Zeke and Ace standing nearby.

Aw, fuck.

I don’t speak. I don’t fight them. Not when there’s nothing left to say. Not when Lennox looked at me like I was a pathetic stranger. And just walked away from me.

The way I walked away from her.

I get into the backseat of the Sentinel, fists clenched in my lap, eyes burning.

When we reach Quinlan Manor in Astoria, the front door opens before Creed kills the engine. Ma stands, glowing in the vestibule. It’s close to eight p.m., but she’sstill in her pearls and Chanel. I see how I’ve failed in her soft eyes.

I step out of the car, and with my shoulders back, I hike up the steps. Barely to the top, I hear her voice.

“Come here, sonny.” Only Ma calls me that. And only when we’re alone.

“Aye, Ma.” I don’t think. I move into her embrace.

Ma wraps me in a hug that takes a while for my memory to kick in, remember how this felt. I’m more used to her pulling my ear for things like getting caught with a broken vase and bloody knuckles.

She doesn’t scold me this time. She steers me into the house and puts me in her parlor. After the kitchen,thisis her domain. She sits beside me on the sofa and lays a gentle hand on mine.

“I know why you’re closed off,” she says softly. “And it’s because of me.”

I glance at her, startled. “What? No.”

She nods, tears shining in her eyes. “I loved you all the same. But with your father gone so much, I only had two hands.”

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