Page 15 of The Hate We Breathe
I close my eyes and whisper my reply. “Thank you.”
Maybe he hears it. Maybe he doesn’t. But a few seconds later, Gio reaches over and his hand is warm on my thigh again. He holds it, and me, the whole way back.
6
GIO
Juliet disappears behind Lex’s door without looking back, and for a second, I just sit in the drive. Her scent clings to the passenger seat—something soft and clean. When I first met her, I didn’t think she belonged near a guy like me, didn’t belong on the rough side of Silverwood. Now, she’s proven she more than belongs—Juliet has proven that there’s nothing she won’t do to survive.
I grip the steering wheel until the leather creaks and force myself to back out of Lex’s driveway. Gravel crunches under the tires of the Firebird, and as I hit the main road, I punch the gas harder than I need to. A plume of dust kicks up behind me.
I want to turn around. Go back. Crawl into bed with her and pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist. But I can’t.
Becausehestill exists. Darrio Vargas. The devil in flesh and bone.
My jaw clenches as I merge onto the highway. I have no doubt the fucker is waiting for me at home. I haven’t been back in days and I haven’t answered his text messages or phone calls. The last one was less demand and more threat. I roll my tongue into my cheek and consider that.
Everything happening with Juliet almost made me forget that he’s been the darkness in my closet for a long damn time. Our time in Silverwood is coming to an end and before we leave, I’m going to make sure to take the bastard out.
My mama might love that piece of shit, but what’s good for her and the rest of the world is his death. He doesn’t know it yet, but creating me was the beginning of the end for him.
My phone rings from the console, the screen lighting up with Nolan’s name. I reach down and swipe once to answer and then hit the speaker.
“Yeah?”
“You got Jules?” he asks. His voice is low, but there’s a gruffness in it I know too well. We both feel it. The pull to her. The need to keep her safe.
“Just dropped her off with Lex,” I answer. “On my way back now.”
A pause. Then, a moment later, Nolan’s voice comes through the phone speaker with an all-too-familiar edge of worry. “You good?”
I snort. “Probably about as good as you are right now,” I tell him honestly. We’re all fucked up.
Nolan blows out a breath. “That’s fair.” Empty air drifts into the cab of the Firebird and I wait for him to get to what he really called me about. After another beat, he does. “What do you think about her going back to school?” he finally asks. “You think it’s a good idea?”
“No,” I answer without hesitation. “But she’s not the type we can lock away.”
“She’s going to walk into that building and every single person’s gonna be looking at her like she’s the devil.”
“They already do,” I mutter, voice like gravel. “They think she killed him.”
“Morpheus,” Nolan spits, the sound of the bastard’s name making anger rise in my blood.
I say nothing. My fingers flex around the wheel.
“She didn’t do it,” he adds. “We can tell people until we’re blue in the face, but…”
He doesn’t need to finish. I know what he means. Who would trust a couple of small-town gangsters and drug dealers? We work for my fucking father and have for the last few years. We might have earned respect on the football field, but outside of it? We’re feared. No one will ever actually believe us and they're damn sure not going to believe Juliet.
“We need to figure out a plan if the truth never comes out,” I say, an idea forming in my mind.
Another beat of silence, then, “I’m listening,” Nolan says.
My lips twitch as the thoughts in my mind combine and form a cohesive plan. “What do you think about killing two birds with one stone?” I ask.
“Your old man?” It doesn’t surprise me that he guesses my intention rather quickly.
“He’s made it no secret that he hates the north side of Silverwood. He loathes anyone who makes him feel less than—Morpheus Calloway represents everything that makes a man like my father feel small.”
