Page 51 of Slayin Villain
I barked out a laugh.First real one in weeks.
“But what if…” I started.
“The same way you’ve been keeping your secret all this time.”
I nodded.I knew some secrets would have to stay hidden.“I’m tired of the lies.”
“You can always come home.”
Shaking my head, I wouldn’t put my brother in danger.“I’m safe where I am.Someday…”
Rocky clasped my shoulder.“Yes, someday, our kin will run wild.Together.”
By the time I got back to Nashville, dusk had bled into the sky.I parked my Harley.My ribs still ached from the fight.My head from the guilt.But something inside me had settled.
Not peace.Not yet.
But maybe the start of one.
Tomorrow, I’d tell Rachel the truth.The truth I could tell her.
Tomorrow, I’d look Ember in the eye and give her the respect she deserved.
And maybe, I’d figure out who the hell I wanted to be.
Chapter 21
Ember
I didn’t plan to walk into Royal Road with a baby in my belly and a storm in my chest.But that’s exactly what I did.
The place still reeked of fire pits and spilled blood from the patch-over and the fall out.There were cigarette burns on the picnic tables and bloody handprints still staining one of the doors.Wild few nights.And yet somehow, my world had gone even wilder since.
Villain hadn’t called.
Rome was circling again like a dog who’d forgotten he chewed through the leash.
And Rachel?She was here.
I found her in the back hallway near the girls’ bathroom.Her red hair caught the hallway light like a warning flare.She turned at the sound of my boots and froze, like she’d been waiting for this.
So had I.
"Rachel," I said.
She crossed her arms under her chest.“Ember.”
We stood in silence for a beat, just breathing, just measuring.I thought she might slap me.I thought I might let her.But what happened instead was worse.
She looked tired.
Not club girl tired.Not I’ve-been-partying-for-days tired.
Tired of loving a man who only gives pieces of himself away while keeping his whole heart locked up tight.
“I don’t wanna fight,” I said first.
Rachel let out a bitter laugh.“Then what the hell are you doing here?”She wiped away a tear.
