Page 58 of Roulette Rodeo
Like that ended well?
I pour another whiskey, this one larger, and knock it back in one burning swallow.
Outside, the sun is fully up now, painting Jackknife Ridge in shades of gold and green. It's beautiful here, isolated, safe.
The perfect place to hide from the world and our own failures.
The perfect place to keep an omega who shouldn't exist in our lives.
My phone buzzes again.
Shiloh:She's asking for you.
I freeze, glass halfway to my lips.
That's not possible.
She's unconscious, has been since the penthouse. She doesn't even know my name, doesn't know anything about me except that I'm the one who shot out the cameras and complained about defective goods.
Another text:Not asking exactly. But she keeps saying "ice." Figured that might mean you.
Ice.
Because of my eyes, probably.Or demeanor.Probably because I'm the only one maintaining any kind of rational response to this insanity.
I shouldn't go.
Should maintain distance, keep boundaries, be the voice of reason when my brothers have clearly lost their minds.
But I'm already walking toward the medical building, drawn by invisible strings I don't want to acknowledge.
She's awake when I arrive,barely. Propped up in the medical bed with IVs still attached, looking pale and fragile and nothing like the warrior who'd boxed in lingerie just hours ago.
Her eyes find mine immediately, those garnet depths with gold flecks that make my chest tight.
"Ice," she whispers, and it's not quite right but close enough.
"Rafe," I correct, staying by the door. "My name is Rafe."
She nods slowly, like the movement hurts.
"The one who doesn't want me here."
It's not a question.
"The one who thinks this is a mistake," I clarify.
She studies me for a moment, and I can see her mind working despite the drugs still in her system. See her cataloging details, analyzing angles, planning strategies. It's familiar. It's what I do.
It's terrifying to witness the feminine version projecting tactics that are similar to you…
Proves there can be compromise…
And I don’t want that.
"Probably is," she finally says. "A mistake, I mean. But here we are."
Here we are.
