Page 78 of Reclaim (Deadly Hearts 3)

His expression screams that he doesn’t believe me. “It’s okay to feel these things deeper than we do.”

I scowl at him. “That right there, is pretty condescending.”

“I don’t mean it to be. But I know that before you and Ruby got involved, none of this was part of your daily routine. Now, it seems to be normal, and you deserve better than that.”

His words, meant to reassure, anger me. “I’m not better than you,” I snap. “I’m not some little boy you need to coddle. I can handle this. All of this.”

He returns my scowl and removes his hand from my shoulder, folding his arms defensively.

“Sorry,” I mutter, feeling bad. “I know you’re only trying to help, but it makes me feel…less if you think I can’t handle all of this.”

“Definitely not less,” he says, those sexy lips curving up into a smile. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

I smile. “I’m good. Promise. If I’m ever not, you’ll be the first to know.”

He nods, happy with that and reaches out to cup my face before he leans over to press his lips to mine.

Rex’s loud, “Ahem” causes Declan to pull away and roll his eyes at me. I bite my lip to stop my smile. He and Rex have history. Long, involved and complicated. I often forget he is so much older than Ruby. Or that’s more like the other way around. I often forget how young she is to be dealing with all of this.

“Everything okay?” Declan asks.

“Yeah,” Ruby replies. “Let’s go home, and Rex, you need to get back to Mom. Don’t tell her anything about anything. I’ll call her tomorrow and tell her about my relationship, but that’s as far as this goes. She has had enough to deal with, she doesn’t need this on her conscience as well.”

“Ruby. She is your mother. You are never a burden to her.”

She puts her hand up to stop him. “Still. My life, my decision, okay?”

“It’s the wrong one,” he grouses.

“Sorry. I know it means putting you in the middle, but my decision stands. Mom doesn’t find out about Boomer or what I do, or the arrest.”

He gives her a grim nod and then with a sweeping gaze over the rest of us, he takes his leave.

Declan stoops to give Ruby a quick kiss and then follows Rex out to have ‘old friend’ words that don’t include the rest of us.

Ruby’s tired smile is real this time, just about. Layton wraps his arms around her and kisses the top of her head. “Ready?”

“More than.”

“Hey, does this mean we are also part of Solitaire now too?” I ask as we head to the exit.

“No!” the man Ruby referred to as St. Clare calls out as we pass him. “You were never here.”

“Got it,” I murmur and follow Ruby out of the club with a soft sigh. What a shame. Would’ve been nice to be part of some secret, elite club.

* * *

The drive home is quiet, everyone lost in their own thoughts. It’s only when we pull up outside Ruby’s house that anyone makes a noise.

Ruby grunts when she climbs out of the car and sees that her garden has been trampled and the front door left wide open. She marches quickly over and peers inside, shaking her head furiously at the mess. Striding over to the sideboard, she roots through the drawers that have been overturned, looking for something in particular.

Probably the handgun that I know she kept in there. Then her eyes widen, and she drops her bags, running in her heels across the sitting room and down the hallway. I follow her, as the other men set about righting the house, and find her on her knees, peering under the bed.

“What are you looking for?” I ask, as she scrabbles around.

“The box. The small one.”

“Is the big one still under there?” I have to ask.

---