Page 79 of Slayin Villain
“You wear this,” he murmured.“And I’ll spend the rest of my life makin’ sure you never regret it.”
That night, we drove back to Royal Road.
Kingpin raised a brow when he saw me walk in with the vest already on.He didn’t say a word, just nodded once and turned away with the faintest smirk.
Rome’s brothers hollered and clapped him on the back.Pagan muttered something like “bout damn time,” and Irish winked at me before returning to Cece’s side.
And Villain?
He saw me.
And he looked away.
I didn’t flinch.
I tightened my grip on Rome’s hand, leaned into his side, and kept walking.
I had everything I needed now.
I was finally home.
Chapter 35
Villain
The second I walked into Rachel’s trailer and saw the place empty, clean, like nobody’d ever lived there, I knew something was wrong.
Not just wrong.
Final.
The little dreamcatcher she hung by the window was gone.The candles she’d never lit but kept for the scent were gone.The photo strip we took at Dollywood when she finally smiled without hiding it behind a sarcastic comment?
Gone.
I kicked the damn door shut and leaned against it, hands in my hair, breath ragged.
“She left,” I muttered aloud.“She really fuckin’ left me.”
I didn’t waste time.I tore off toward Silver Springs next, tires squealing out of the lot.
The place was quiet.I climbed off my bike and stormed up to the main office where her boss, that sun-baked, always-nervous guy named Gus, sat behind the desk.
“Where’s Rachel?”
He blinked, stammered.“Oh, uh, Villain, hey, man.I thought she told you…”
“Told me what?”
“She quit.Said she had to take care of some family stuff.Gave notice yesterday.Dropped off her badge this morning.”
I nearly punched the wall beside his head but managed to hold it in.
“Where’d she go?”
He raised his hands like I had a gun on him.“I swear I don’t know.Just said she was leaving town.I thought you two were…” He stopped himself, reading my face.
“Say it,” I demanded.
