The wire glinted in the warehouse lights.
I shook it off my thumb with enough force to yank the small battery pack from her leggings.
It swung back and forth in an obscene manner.
I snapped a look at her guilty expression. “What the fuck, Noelle?”
“It isn’t what you think.” She shoved at the wire, her eyes glistening. Her voice trembled. “Rafe, I can explain.”
Her chest heaved, and she wiped away a steady stream of tears.
Yeah, fuck that.
She’d snowed us.
Every last fucking one of us.
“All those pretty words. All fuckinglies.” I spat the word at her and felt a rush of pleasure when the color drained from her face.
“Do you have any idea what this means?” I spun and pointed toward Ash and Bishop. “Do you have any fucking idea what this does to them?”
To me?
I left myself out of it.
I’d dealt with worse, but Ash and Bishop were in this mess because of me.
I’d allowed Noelle into our home, into our trust.
Ash’s expression shifted from curiosity to betrayal.
He stood open-mouthed, his eyes locked onto Noelle’s tense back.
Bishop’s face folded.
He’d given himself a part of her when they sat by the fire and he revealed his painful past.
Had her cohorts heard his confession as well?
Bishop was almost as recalcitrant as me.
For her to betray him like that was unconscionable.
He stepped forward when she wavered on her feet, one hand out like he might steady her.
He froze, blinked, and dropped his arm to his side.
I’d been careful to protect them.
Careful not to let my walls slip.
Until Noelle.
Howling, I kicked the crate hard enough to crack the edge.
Wood splintered and sprayed in every direction.
My protective shell was gone.
