Page 140 of Piece You Saved

“Aden gets Sam out of harm’s way. Detective Morgan is at the upstairs window, an ambush Rylan wouldn’t expect, with Aden standing feet away from him. Dariel and Kade deal with the last of Rylan’s packmates.”

“And you?” I prompt.

“I keep a close watch over you. Help when you need it.”

“And did I need it?”

“No,” he says quietly. “No, you didn’t.”

“And Detective Morgan just agreed?” I ask.

Harley’s eyes dip to my lips. “Rylan killed his sister. There was a risk Rylan would see him, but we had to try it. None of us were going to let him take you.”

I nod, trying to ignore the fact I’m sitting on his lap. He has a hand on my face and he’s looking at me as if he’s thinking about kissing me. Too many intimacies to ignore. But I try.

“He must have seen what Rylan turned into. What will happen to him?”

Harley shrugs, his gaze lingering on my lips. “I don’t know. He wanted justice for his sister, and he has it. As I was carrying you inside, he seemed more concerned with making sure Sam was okay than screaming our secret from the roof.”

“Isshe okay?” I ask, telling myself to ignore a heated look that promises a kiss I shouldn’t want.

“I think I need to kiss you, Saige Leo,” Harley whispers.

My stomach clenches, and I shake my head. My eyes are glued to his mouth, as his seem to be to mine. What is it about this man I suddenly need with every fiber in my body?

“You can’t,” I whisper back.

Without knowing I would, I angle my head to line up our lips, fisting my hands in the front of his shirt.

“You see, the thing is, I don’t think I want to stop.” His voice is breathless.

His mouth is right there. All it would take is for me to tilt up my chin the tiniest of degrees and we’d be kissing. We’re already sharing the same air.

I don’t because of choices.

Rylan is dead now. Gone. I suddenly have a life—afuture—I never believed I ever would.

A fresh start.

But that fresh start is with Kade, Dariel, and Aden.NotHarley.

If I kiss Harley, or if I let him kiss me, I won’t just break that future in two; I’ll shatter it into tiny pieces too small to mend because I want Harley, but if it hurts Kade, then I can’t.

So I release my grip on Harley’s shirt, press my palms flat against the warmth of his chest, and push him away as I lean back. “Stop.”

He does at once.

When I move to stand up, he doesn’t hold on to me, just lets me go, his eyes watchful.

“You have to go, Harley,” I say quietly.

He looks up at me as if he’s never smiled a day in his life. “Even if that isn’t what you want?”

I consider lying, but it doesn’t feel right to lie about this. Not to his face. I nod once.

His expression hardens with determination. “I’ll stay. We’ll work things out.”

“There’s nothing to work out. I can’t risk my relationship with them,” I say.

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