Page 110 of Laila Manning
“Not anymore.” I shrugged, admitting the truth. “I’ll never think of this place for anything other than whatever we just did.”
His smile slipped as his eyes closed.
“Will you tell me what pushed you over the edge?” I asked after a while. “I think I know you pretty well by now, and I don’t think just the run-in with Kade’s mom did all of that.”
He swallowed and tightened his hold on my body. “I—” His lips parted and then closed as he struggled with whatever he wanted to say but couldn’t.
I leaned up on my elbow to look down at him, using my finger on his chin to turn his face toward mine. “Please Zeke. Whatever it is, I’m still here with you. I promise. I’m not going anywhere.”
His stare held mine for what felt like an eternity before his lips finally parted again. But what he said shocked me enough that I fell backward and out of his embrace as if he had physically hit me.
“I think I’m related to Kade.”
Chapter 29 – Zeke
We needed to talk; I knew that. But I didn’t even know how to start. Laila brushed her hair in my bathroom, glancing at me in the mirror as I sat on the edge of my bed, head hung, elbows braced—just watching her. We came in from The Shop an hour ago, but I was still raw.
I fucked her for hours. Using her body to alleviate the burn in my gut, and she let me. As if my cock could silence the questions in her mind, like her body silenced the fears in mine. Now that we were back in the barracks, my hands were idle, and I was losing control again. Kade was in his apartment across the hall, he said he didn’t want to talk about what happened earlier and just wanted to go to bed.
I didn’t know how to speak to him, with the noose of knowledge around my throat tightening with every minute that passed. How could I have been so blind? How did I not see it until his mother made her appearance today?
Finally, I spoke, my voice hoarse, and it felt like thousands of needles with each word. “She’s—my mother.” I swallowed, dropping my head further as her brush paused mid-stroke before she slowly turned to face me.
“The woman from the restaurant?” Laila asked with a scowl. I nodded once, forcing my gaze to stay on hers. “Are you sure?”
I nodded again, hating how sick to my stomach I was from just speaking it out loud. “I should have killed her years ago.”
“Zeke.” She whispered, but I shook my head, feeling that uncontrollable rage building again.
“She did it to him.” I hissed. “She got knocked up again and exposed him to this life! She had a baby and then threw him to the wolves to be chewed the fuck up like I was!” Clenching my jaw so hard my teeth nearly cracked, I fisted my hands into balls. “I should have fucking killed her before she had the chance to ruin someone else like she ruined me.”
“Baby.” She fell to her knees at my feet, but I shot up to stand and get away from her. I couldn’t take her gentleness. “Tell me what you need.” Laila begged, pleading to me with her eyes as I paced my studio apartment. “Just tell me, Zeke.”
“I need—” I cracked my neck and scrubbed my hand over my face before making my decision. “I need to end a life.”
“You can’t kill her.” She whispered. “Not like this.”
“I know.” I paused, feeling that calm power trying to take over the manic rage inside of me. “But I can kill someone else. Someone who has it coming. Someone who’s already mine to kill.”
Her pretty pink lips parted as her eyes rounded. She rose to her feet, the hem of my oversized tee shirt skimming over her thighs as she stared at me. Fuck, maybe I could lose myself in her again instead. Mycock hardened just looking at her, and her nipples pebbled under the worn fabric of my shirt.
Slowly, as if she were afraid of spooking me, she crossed the room until she gently laid her hand on my bare chest. “You’re going to kill the man who ruined me?”
“No,” I shook my head, covering her hand with mine. “But I’m going to kill the man whotriedto ruin you. He failed. You won.”
Her neck tightened as she swallowed, and I ached to feel it on the inside of my palm like earlier. “And you think it will settle you?” Her warm eyes looked up at me through her inky black lashes. “You think killing the man who hurt me will make your pain lessen, so it doesn’t swallow you whole like it is right now?”
“Laila.” I groaned, hating how on point she was with my emotions. How clearly she saw me.
“Do it.” She leaned up on her toes and offered her lips to me, and I eagerly took them, kissing her deeply until we both panted and moaned for more. “Kill him. Destroy him, Zeke. Because you’re right, he didn’t win. I did.” Laila fell back down onto her heels, staring up at me. “Your mother didn’t win either. I did. Because I have youandKade. Not her. Me. I fucking won, Zeke. You and I are the victors.”
“Fuck.” I groaned, lowering my forehead to hers before standing back up, feeling like my chest was going to break apart and darkness would spill everywhere if I didn’t get it out of me in another way.
“Go feed your demons, baby.” Laila said firmly, patting my chest again. “And then come back to us. We’ll be here when you’re ready.”
I kissed her hard enough to bruise her lips, and she gave it right back to me. Not once had I felt her strength so profoundly as I did at that moment. She believed in me. She trusted me. She was mine.
And she was right.
