Page 132 of Cruel Elite (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 3)

“You don’t even know the whole story yet. And I shot someone. Are you okay with that?”

“You came back for me. That’s enough.”

I take another deep breath. This one seems to get rid of the last bit of panic, but with the absence of adrenaline, the delayed fear starts to kick in.

My chin wobbles and my chest tightens. Before I can help it, I’m in full-on tears, clinging to Noah with both arms.

“I’m so sorry, Noah. They threatened Delanie, and I didn’t know what to do.”

He smooths down my hair and whispers comforting words in my ear, but I barely hear them.

I can’t hear him until I get it all out.

Until I tell him everything and know he won’t change his mind later.

“I stayed away from you this last week because I couldn’t look you in the eyes and lie to you, knowing what Tank had planned. But then I saw you today, and I was going to tell you the truth, but you kept talking, and then J.C. made his announcement, and…I forgot.” I press a palm to my forehead and shake my head. “I fucking forgot that a biker gang was coming to attack you. How self-absorbed am I?”

Haley laughs behind us. “She said it, not me!”

“Haley,” Noah warns, his tone biting. He squeezes me tighter. “It’s all okay, Penn.”

His face already looks worse than it did two minutes ago, and I feel nauseous. “How can you say that? Look at your face!”

“Ouch,” he says, chuckling softly. “That cuts deep.”

“I meant… your face is perfect, except they hurt you.”

Noah grows serious and grabs my shoulders. “I hurt you, Penny. So many times and for so long. I hurt you, and I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, really. What I did is so much worse.”

“Tank threatened our sister. I understand.”

Our sister.

I’ve never heard Noah refer to Delanie that way.

It takes me by surprise, but in a nice way.

“Our family dynamic is beyond fucked up. I mean, we have a sister.” He shakes his head and laughs. “But it sort of tracks, doesn’t it? We are a little bit fucked up, too.”

“Especially you,” I say, touching a cut on his face.

He winces and grabs my hand, pressing my palm to his lips for a kiss. His warm breath eases some of the cold from my fingers.

“I know I don’t deserve you, and we both know the Universe has tried everything to keep us apart, but somehow, we come back to each other. No matter how much it hurts, we come back. And that’s everything to me, Penny.You came back.”

I stroke the skin at the back of his neck and run my thumb over his square jawline.

I know this pain.

Our entire relationship crumbled because Noah’s father’s left.

Because he didn’t come back.

But I will never treat Noah that way. Seeing him in danger today made me more certain than ever that I’ll do everything in my power to protect Noah, body and soul.

I know he’ll do the same for me.

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