Page 32 of Venom
I hold her tighter as the thought chokes me, and Viper, not seeing the shock I’m currently under, asks, “She said out of everyone, only you and her dad have a key to her place, could you go pack a bag for her, enough for a month at least?”
Raya sniffles but nods, and I mutter, “Come on, kitten, I’ll drive your car.” and I gently guide her towards the waiting room door before my sister can jump in and demand to go with her.
I know she wants to speak to her, to fix their friendship, but I’m going to be selfish. I need this time with her, not only to come to terms with my thoughts, knowing there is fuck all I can do about them, but because I need her to talk to me. Before I decide to say ‘fuck it’ and do something I have resisted doing since the day I realized I can access everyone’s details online.
“We’ll be about an hour, brother,” I say as we stop near Viper, and he nods and admits, “They’ve got to keep her for seventy-two hours on suicide watch,” and Raya flinches and he murmurs, “Don’t feel guilty, Raya, she hid a lot because she didn’t want you to worry.”
“Too late,” Raya whispers in return as she goes to her tiptoes, causing me to drop my arm as she kisses his cheek. I swallow my growl and lock eyes with Viper, who raises a brow but nods in understanding.
Fuck, guess I’m not the only one who sees it.
Taking a deep breath to control my sudden, quick breathing, I gently wrap my arm back around Raya’s waist. The need to pull her tight against me high, and I listen to it and guide her out of the room towards the exit.
Twenty minutes later, I unfold myself out of Raya’s tiny ass car with a groan as I climb out and mutter, “Fucking hell, you need a bigger car.”
“Or you could have just let me drive my own car,” she retorts, finally giving me some of that attitude I have so fucking missed as she grabs Lake’s keys and walks up the pathway.
“Yeah, I’m beginning to regret not following on my bike,” I admit, and she looks my way with shock that I actually admitted it.
I shake my head with a small smile as I take the keys from her, touching her fingers, hoping she feels the electric spark I just did, hoping she missed my touch just as much as I missed hers.
“Come on, kitten, let’s get some of Lake’s things,” I murmur as I gently tuck a loose piece of her hair behind her ear and she swallows hard, trying not to make eye contact with me. I sigh as I open the front door and mutter, “You’ve got to talk to me at some point, kitten.”
She walks past and whispers, “No, I don’t,” making my stomach tighten.
Angel has claimed and publicly announced she is indeed pregnant with my child, even though she’s refusing to do a blood test to confirm it. She showed me a pregnancy test but I know she didn’t piss on it, Helena our barmaid at the night club who is five months pregnant did. Trent confirmed it by the footage he took and the bitch has also been taking more men to the back room at the strip club, several complaining because she wanted to go bare, a few actually agreeing but only coming on her tits or in her mouth afterwards.
She’s not pregnant but is trying her hardest to be, and Raya believes, just like the rest of town, that she is and that it’s mine.
The woman won’t let me in, and knowing that she is my one, my fucking everything that I overlooked and treated like shit, is making it hard to breathe.
Sighing, I follow Raya inside the apartment and down a small hallway before entering a light lilac bedroom. Raya stands near the bed, her eyes on a picture on the nightstand, and I swallow, seeing it’s a picture of Viper grinning at the camera, before my eyes go to the bed.
“Is that…” my question trails off, eyeing the t-shirt folded up neatly on Lake’s bed, and Raya smiles a little and finishes, “Yeah, it’s Viper’s shirt, though somehow I don’t think she’ll want him to know she has kept it for this long.”
Shaking her head, she goes to the closet and grabs the bag, and I look back at the t-shirt.
Does Raya have one of mine?
No, why would she…
Shaking my head at my stupid thoughts, I look back at Raya to see her wiping away a few stray tears, the need to hold her consumes me like it has for the past two months. As if she can hear my thoughts, she walks away towards the en-suite bathroom, and my body deflates.
We weren’t in a relationship, yet I feel like I’ve lost the other half of my soul because of my stupid actions, not just with Angel but also because of everything over the years.
Fuck, she’s never going to forgive me, is she?
Chapter 12
Raya
I swallow hard as I try to ignore the urge to turn around and throw myself at Venom, the need to be in his arms pulling me hard which isn’t okay that is for sure. He has bigger things to deal with right now than the love I’ve had for him for years that disguised itself as hate.
For two months, I have done everything I can to avoid not just him but also his family, the club, and his sister, so I don’t become a distraction right now.
Angel has claimed she’s pregnant, actually she’s shouted it from the rooftops, ensuring everyone knows it’s Venoms. Showing everyone she’s not lying because no one is stupid enough to claim a brother like the way she has and becoming distant was the best route to go and honestly, I need to concentrate on school and work and to do that. I’ve cut my friends out, the constant messages asking if I’m okay overwhelming me. While Ivy, I haven’t spoken to her in two months, not for the lack of trying on her part.
She could have warned me, been the friend I have been to her, but she didn’t because, blood is thicker than water, than us. I get it, I do, but a little heads up so I wasn’t blinded would have been nice.
