Page 49 of Pretty Wicked Secrets

I guess it bothers Madd too, because as soon as we get back to the house and Logan hits him with some bullshit he’s got to step in and handle, he jerks his chin at me, directing me to follow Riley when she heads up the stairs.

I’m already headed that way though, Maddoc and I both on the same page as always.

Riley disappears into the bathroom, and I follow a few steps behind her, not really stopping to question why.

Or whether it’s smart to give in to this new craving I’ve got to constantly be around her lately. To go out of my way to make sure she’s okay.

The door isn’t locked, and she looks up, startled, when I walk in. She’s sitting on the closed toilet, looking fucking devastated, but the minute I enter she straightens up, schooling her features. Shutting them down.

“I’m pretty sure I was here first,” she says, an edge to her voice that has me grinning.

“That’s right.” I take a seat on the edge of the tub, my knees crowding her in so she can’t leave without crawling right over the top of me. “And here I am, last to arrive. One of us gonna get a trophy for that?”

She rolls her eyes, but I can see her lips twitching a little. It’s a hell of a better look on her than wrung out and devastated, so I’ve already won.

She crosses her arms over her chest. “What do you want, Dante?”

Man, isn’t that the question of the hour? The truth is, I don’t really know when it comes to her anymore, and I’d prefer not to think too fucking hard about it, thank you very much. Although at least in the right-the-fuck now sense, the answer is easy. I want to get that look off her face. Even though there aren’t any guarantees in this world so hope is something I generally have no use for, I don’t like the idea of her not having any. So I go with the facts.

“Maddoc’s fucking relentless. You know that, right, princess?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, I think I’ve picked up on that personality trait. You’re telling me this, why?”

“Because you gotta understand that the news about McKenna today, that changes nothing.”

“I’m pretty sure it changes everything,” she says, glaring at me. “It means he knows Chloe’s out there. That he’ll want her. That he’s looking for her. That he—mmph.”

I cover her mouth with my hand before she can work herself up any further, grinning at the death glare I get for it. I half expect her to bite me. Hell, I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy it. The fact that she doesn’t, the way she settles down and lets me get away with that shit without a fight, says a lot.

She might be acting prickly and playing it off like she wants to push me away, but she’s craving some kind of reassurance just as much as I’m driven to give it.

So I do.

“What I mean is that when Madd sets his mind on something, he gets it. McKenna being in the game now ain’t gonna change that. Or, if it does, it only means it’s gonna spur Maddoc to pull out all the stops.”

She finally pulls my hand away from her mouth, and neither of us comment on the fact that she lets it fall into her lap… and keeps a hold of it.

“So what you’re saying is, he can’t stand competition,” she says with a tiny wisp of a smile.

I laugh. “Nah, that’s not it. McKenna isn’t competition. He’s fuel. Motivation to get where we’re already going, just a little bit faster. What you gotta understand is that Maddoc doesn’t justwantto find Chloe, he’s decided—”

I almost sayhe’s decided we need her, but I don’t want to start that fight right now, so I pivot and go with, “—he’s decided we’ll get her back, so we will. No other option is on the table.”

Riley stares at me for a long time, like she’s trying to read the truth of what I’m saying in my eyes.

Then she sighs, looking away. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I repeat, grabbing her chin and tilting it back my way so I can figure out what the fuck she means by that. And I do. She’s this gorgeous mix of closed-the-fuck-off and vulnerable as hell, and in the few weeks she’s been in our lives, I’ve started to get a handle on her tells.

Right now, “okay” means she’s taken some comfort from my words, just like I meant her to.

But not enough comfort.

I don’t know why I’m so fucking driven to fix this moment for her, but I need to. Guess that’s why, despite a lifetime of knowing some cards should always be played close to the vest and the cardinal rule of the relationship I’ve got with my brothers is that Reaper businessstaysReaper business, the last thing I ever thought I’d share with her pops out of my mouth next.

“A few years ago, when the Reapers didn’t hold as much territory yet but were definitely starting to make some waves in Halston, some of the other gangs didn’t take it so well. The ones who stood against him didn’t stay standing for long, because like I said, relentless, right?”

She nods, and something swells in my chest. That defeated look is fading, her interest piqued by my story. So I keep going.

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