Page 119 of Piece You Saved

I force a smile to my lips. “I know.”

It’s a lie. I don’t see how it could. There are too many things that could go wrong. If we survive Rylan, there are too many clashing wants to make everyone happy. Some things might work out, but not all.

“And not just with Rylan.” He strokes his fingers up my arm and cradles the nape of my neck with an overly hot palm. “Allof it will work out. We’ll talk about it after.”

I know what he’s talking about. It’s not the first time he’s brought up the subject of Harley, and it’s not the first or even second time I’ve shrugged it off. He’s seen that Harley likes me and guessed I liked him back.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” I work harder to make this smile feel more genuine than the first. “I’ll kill Rylan. We’ll save Sam, and everything will be over.”

His smile is faint. “The end.”

I wrinkle my brow in confusion. “The end? I don’t understand.”

He shakes his head. “Just something Kade mentioned. Sleep, okay? No staying up all night stressing or flashing our neighbors trying to crawl out of the window to do this on your own.”

The mental image of me dangling from a window in a sleep shirt draws a reluctant smile to my lips. “No flashing. Promise.”

I could try slipping out, but I’ve run before, and that didn’t work out well for anyone. I can’t do this on my own, and I don’t think the Hounds can either. Not and survive it.

We study each other for a long moment. I want to tell him I love him again, but I’m not sure how. His smile widens, and he leans in close, claiming my lips in a sweet, lingering kiss.

“I love you, too.”

Sliding my arms around him, I press my face to his throat, inhaling the scent of him deep into my lungs. “I didn’t think people like you were real.”

“People like me?” he whispers, stroking a hand up and down my back.

I squeeze him one last time and lift my head from his neck. “Good guys. I thought you only existed in movies or books.”

“I’m not a good guy,” he says. “But I’m glad you think so.”

I kiss him again and pull back before he can hold me. If he did that, I think I would forget why I wanted to leave this bed at all. And I need to. “Good night.”

He reluctantly releases me, and as I rise from his bed wearing one of his t-shirts, I feel the heat of his gaze track me to his doorway. There, I pause and peer over my shoulder. He’s sitting up in bed. Our eyes connect, and he lifts his hand in a wave I return, wishing I could stay with him for the rest of the night.

With my thoughts as jumbled as the tangled vines in the overgrown garden, I’d only ruin sleep for both of us. A dangerous thing to do when we need to be alert and refreshed tomorrow night if we’re going to survive Rylan.

I make my way down the hallway to the lavender room that once belonged to Monica but which now belongs to me. I’m still not sure what she was to them, but with every kiss, touch, and smile, it gets harder to feel jealous about a dead woman.

The house is quiet. If anyone is moving around downstairs, I don’t hear them. Kade’s door is open, and there’s an occasional flashing bright light, probably from his laptop monitor. If I were to venture closer and he was awake, all it would take is one look at my face and he’d know something was wrong. Aden hasn’t pushed the issue, but Kade would.

Harley, at least, isn’t here. After I came back inside from shooting for hours, every time Kade looked at Harley, I swear I heard his wolf snarl. When Harley said he’d go home and come back early tomorrow morning, I wasn’t the only one to sigh in relief. The garden outside is big, but how many bodies can one garden hold?

I don’t bother turning any lights on, just make my way to my bed and crawl under the comforter. The sheets are cool and refreshing on my bare legs and arms.

I think about tomorrow. About the chain in Rylan’s wall, and how it felt around my right wrist. When my heart skitters in my chest, I wrench my mind elsewhere.

For the briefest of moments, I let myself imagine everything working out. Rylan dead, the Cerberus open, serving drinks alongside Sam and Aden. Kade watching me from the darkest corner, a glass of whiskey in his right hand. He would put it down if I went over to that corner for a kiss, so he could hold me instead.

I think about Dariel finding a balance with his wolf, so I don’t have to live in terror that he’ll maul me one night. Maybe in this future, he’s lost his frigid exterior and smiles at me. Maybe I’ve even forgiven him and agreed to make him Mom’s cocoa.

Yeah, right.I mentally snort as I burrow deeper into the sheets and let my eyelids flutter closed. Not to sleep, though. Who could sleep with what’s happening on the bridge tomorrow?

It might not be me who kills Rylan. I let myself visualize Detective Jake Morgan getting justice for his sister. I think I could be happy with it not being me if he was the one to put a bullet between Rylan’s eyes.

And Harley…

My mind wants to slot him into this future life I know will never happen. It feels too impossible to envision us all together when I know how strongly Kade is against him even being under the same roof as him. What kind of future could we have?

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