Page 130 of Reaper Flame

“I don’t care that our lives aren’t simple.” Rocky propped himself up on an elbow and traced a finger down my stomach. “I always knew I wanted to spend my life with you.”

I rolled my eyes. “You can be really fucking cheesy sometimes.”

“Hey!” He tickled under my ribs, making me squeal and my bruises ache. All of us were still recovering from broken bones and injuries. “Not every guy is an asshole.”

“You could have fooled me…”

“Correction,” he said, kissing my neck, “not every guy is an assholeallthe time.”

Pounding on the door interrupted us, making Rocky swear under his breath.

“You’ve got five minutes to get your ass out of bed, Red!” Vixen yelled. “We’ve got shopping to do!”

Rocky tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Are you sure you’ll be okay while I’m gone?”

“Go!” I shoved him. “I’m perfectly capable of getting dressed without supervision.”

“I know…” His hand slipped further underneath my nightshirt. “But it’s so much fun to help.”

I slapped his hand away. “Go!”

“Fine,” he relented. “But don’t let Zander bore you to death today.”

“I’ll try.”

As Rocky left, Zander stood in the doorway. How long had he been listening? He stepped inside my room and clicked the door closed. Behind my smile, he had the unnerving gift of staring straight into my soul.

“You don’t have to go,” he said, “if you’re not ready.”

“Not you too!” I shook my head. “I’ve already had Rocky nagging. I don’t need another fucking babysitter. The only thing I need to worry about is staying awake.”

“I didn’t mean the appointment today,” he replied quickly. “I was talking about tomorrow.“

My shoulders tensed. “I already told you, I’m not missing it.”

“You don’t have to pretend everything is okay.” Zander tilted his head and studied me closely, but I avoided his probing gray eyes. “You may fool everyone else, but you can’t fool me. I know there’s more going on inside your head.”

“You don’t have to be a fucking shrink to know that burying one of my friends tomorrow is not going to be the best day of my life,” I snapped. My automatic defense mechanism to turn into a total bitch never failed when I didn’t want to talk.

“It’s about more than the funeral, and you know it,” Zander said. “Your nightmares have been getting worse. West said you woke up screaming last night.”

“Are you all comparing notes about how fucked up I am now?”

It was bad enough having one boyfriend checking in on me, but having three? They missed nothing between them.

Zander pursed his lips. “We’re worried about you.”

“What did you expect? Things to go straight back to normal?” I demanded. There wasn’t a magic potion to drink to make everything okay. “Whoever said that the truth will set you free was talking bullshit.”

I headed to my dressing table to start on my make-up, hoping it would hide what was going on underneath. Unlucky for me, lipstick couldn’t fake a smile.

“Hiram was poisonous,” Zander said softly. “He wanted to get inside your head. Don’t let him.”

I tried to thread an earring through my piercing. The damn thing wasn’t going through. “Fuck!” I gave up and launched the pearl across the room in frustration.

Zander was right by my side and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I didn’t pull away. “It’ll be okay, little one.”

“How am I meant to look at myself in the mirror knowing what I do now?” I whispered, keeping my gaze fixed on my lap. “Knowing that I’m part of him?”

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