Even without her memories, she trusts me with everything she has left.
And that?
That terrifies me more than the men hunting us.
Because now I know with bone-deep certainty if I lose her again,
there won’t be enough of me left to bury.
Eighteen
Kelly
Fear is loud but the Kings and Riot are louder.
The underground safehouse hums with quiet power — generators somewhere beneath the concrete, faint vibrations running through the floor, the low thrum like a heartbeat.
I stand in the middle of the dim-lit interior, arms wrapped around myself, staring at the steel door Riot disappeared through less than a minute ago.
I feel the echo of his touch everywhere.
On my cheek.On my jaw.On my heart.
Because whatever this is between us, whatever we were, feels terrifyingly close to love.
Maybe it already was.
Maybe it still is.
I inhale, sharp and shaky, pacing a small circle.The air feels heavy here dense with tension and fear and everything we’re not saying yet.Riot told me not to be scared.
But he looked almost frantic when he said it.
As soon as that text from Nitro hit his phone, Riot changed.Not into someone different but into a version of himself that feels closer to a storm than a man.
Focused.Furious.Deadly.
He’d said it softly, but the words rattled through me.
“Someone’s gotta bleed before sunrise.”
I don’t want him walking into danger alone.
I don’t want to lose him again.
I don’t want my memories to be the only pieces of him I have left.
But I don’t know how to tell him that without sounding unhinged.
My brain is still rewriting the map of my life every few hours.But my heart?It feels certain of him in ways I can't explain.
A sharp metallic slam jolts me back to reality.
I whip around.
The steel door shifts and Riot steps back inside.
He's soaked with rain, shaking it off with a rough exhale.His jaw is tight, eyes darting toward the far corner of the room where I’m standing as if drawn by instinct.
