Page 84 of Deranged (American Street Kings 3)

Wraith nodded. “He killed them and burned their bodies along with the house.”

“And that’s why you were loyal to him,” Neon stated. “You felt like you owed him because he made the abuse stop. The rape. The torture.”

This time, sobs wracked through her body, her shoulders shuddering as sorrow tore her apart. Her cries were gut-wrenching, and it grated against my spine causing me physical fucking pain. I couldn’t take it anymore, seeing her like this. Witnessing her agony. It was just too fucking much.

I rushed over to her, taking her face in my hands and forcing her to look at me. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t have to—”

“I’m sorry, Wraith. I’m sorry for what your parents did to you. I’m sorry for what your brother did to you. And by God,” I inhaled sharply, “I’m sorry for what I said to you.”

She placed her hands over mine, her tears telling tales of too many sorrows for one person to carry. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“No.” I shook my head almost violently, biting my bottom lip. “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry. Don’t you ever fucking apologize, you hear me? Ever.”

I kissed her. I took her mouth with mine, and I tried my damnedest to kiss away every ounce of pain this woman carried around inside her. She was no fucking void. She wasn’t a wraith. Her life would have been so much better had she been empty like her name implied. Her soul was filled to the brim with so much hurt, as everyone who was supposed to protect her didn’t. Those who were supposed to keep her safe were the ones who put her in harm’s way. Well, not anymore.

My lips remained on hers for a while longer, and I could taste her sorrow as her tears penetrated our kiss. Placing my head against hers, I weaved my hand in her hair. “I swear to fucking God, no one will ever hurt you again.”

Her sobs cracked, hiccupped as she cried. “Onyx—”

“I’m in love with you, Wraith. And I think I’ve been in love with you since you sat down at my goddamn table, pretending to be my date.”

She let out a half-hearted laugh, a beautiful sound that fused with her sorrow.

“I don’t care who you are, whose blood runs through your veins, I will take care of you. No one will ever touch you again but me.”

I sucked in a breath when I felt her wrap her arms around my neck, pulling me closer, crying as she buried her face into my neck. “I didn’t think I’d ever be able to love someone,” she whispered between tears. “But now, because of you, I know I can.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Neon standing by the door about to walk out. There was a gentle smile on her face, and I knew she pushed Wraith to tell the truth so I could realize exactly how much this fucking woman meant to me. No lies, no amount of betrayal, no crew, no rules, and no motherfucking president tag would ever change that.

“Wraith,” I took her chin in my fingers, gently lifting her face to mine, “I want you to stay with me. I want you to be with me, be my woman.”

She nodded, face wet with lingering tears.

“But you need to know, I’m going to search for him. I’m going to turn this motherfucking city upside down, and I will find him. And when I do,” I tightened my grip on her chin a little, gritting my teeth, “I’m going to kill him. You understand that? I am going to kill…your brother.”

For the longest time, she just stared back at me, not saying a single word. Her striking blue eyes were faded, tired, red from purging herself of so much pain and sorrow. Yet as she placed a palm against my cheek, some of the blue hues in her irises illuminated. “I know you need to do what needs to be done.”

I was probably being a beast for smiling at her words, but I couldn’t help it. Her words showed her strength, proved there was still iron left in her will to live, in her drive to take back what had been taken from her.

I was no idiot. I knew this was only the beginning of our road to happiness, and that we probably had to get to know one another again since all of this started with a lie. But what I did know was I was never letting her go, no matter what. I finally understood how and why Granite made the decisions he did once Alyx came into his life. Love changed a man. It made you realize what was important, what really fucking mattered.

Family and love mattered, nothing else.

I was the president of the American Street Kings, and I would do whatever I had to in order to protect my brothers, our women, our family.

And no one would be able to stop me.

Epilogue

Ink

It smelledlike dead rodent in here, and I could practically feel the filth cling to my skin. It was warm, humid, the summer heat surrounding us like a motherfucking bitch, and the lack of ventilation made it a thousand times worse.

I walked across the concrete floor, my heavy footsteps echoing with menace. The way my heart raced, adrenaline and excitement brewing in my gut, I could feel my blood sing with vengeance.

The constant drip of water was annoying as fuck.Drip, drip, drip. I imagined the water dripping in a pool of blood, the crimson spreading through the ripples. Blood, it was all I thought about.

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