Her arms and legs thrashed about on the bed, and she was crying in her sleep again. Placing my gun on the side table, I climbed in with her and wrapped my body around hers. Holding us both the fuck together.
“It’s okay, baby,” I soothed softly. Riley always joked that she couldn’t sleep without me. That I kept her nightmares at bay. What she didn’t realize, though, was that she did that for me as well. That and so much more. I’d barely slept more than a few hours a night before I’d met Riley, my brain and body constantly on alert.
Pretty standard when you were on edge waiting for your sociopath of a father to drag you out of bed and beat the fuck out of you. Dylan and I had that in common. Evan’s father was more about psychological abuse. Jasper’s was neither; he just ignored his son.
In our world, that was a blessing.
But when I was with Riley, my body was content.
Whatever the fuck was between us, that shit was soul deep. Riley was in my blood, and I wasn’t sure I could live without her.
She’d stopped thrashing about now, content in my arms, her smaller body wrapped around mine as I held her close. My chest ached in the way that only she brought about. Like her tiny hand was around my heart, gripping the fuck out of it.
I had one thought: we had to take these motherfuckers down before my girl got hurt.
If it meant I had to single handedly kill them all one by one, then I would do that for her, consequences be damned.
I’d leave that as plan B though, because I was hoping that there was a way this could all work out and I wouldn’t end up spending the rest of my life in jail. That there was a path that ensured I got to keep Riley, and that we’d have a fucking chance at a normal future. Riley said she had a plan. We’d try it her way first, and maybe, just maybe, there would be some sort of future left for us all when the dust settled.
6
“Get in here,” Selene ordered, grabbing me by the arm and yanking me through her front door. “Not you, tough guy.” She blocked Beck’s entry with her body, placing her hands on her hips and glaring.
Beck opened his mouth—undoubtedly to argue—but I gave him a stern headshake. I’d already warned him that Selene would likely want to talk with me alone.
“I’m fine, Beck. Just wait with Dylan.” I indicated to our friend’s car parked inconspicuously in a driveway across the street. Or as inconspicuous as a half million dollar car really could be in a middle-income neighborhood. He’d driven us, seeing as both Beck and I only had two-seater cars and it was way too much of a battle to argue he stay behind. Jasper and Evan had already been here keeping watch, and they'd taken off now to get some sleep. I was fucking lucky to have these guys in my world.
“Butterfly...” he growled, giving me alook.
“I’m fine,” I repeated. “Go.”
He looked like he was going to argue the subject, but Selene didn’t give him a chance. Planting her palm in the middle of his chest, she shoved him out of the doorway then slammed the door in his face.
For good measure, she flipped the locks before she turned to face me.
“Start talking, Riley. Why the fuck is my brother in jail under suspicion of murder right now?” Her fists were planted on her hips and her scowl fierce, like I was to blame for all the bad shit in Dante’s life.
Maybe I was.
“Babe, don’t interrogate her in the hallway,” Selene’s husband yelled from the living room, then appeared a moment later, looking rough. “Hey Riley, come in.”
He indicated for me to head through to the sitting room and I did so. The shit I needed to ask them—or to tell them—it wasn’t standing conversation.
“Sorry about Selly,” Rob apologized with a pained smile when I sat down. “It’s been a long night. For all of us, I’m sure.”
The way he phrased it sounded like he understood what a spectacularly crappy night it’d been for me, but Selene just snorted and glared at me. She’d sat down but her arms were folded tightly over her bathrobe. Her hair was a mess and plaid, flannel pajama pants showed between her robe and her slippers, but I’d hazard a guess that she hadn’t slept all night.
Neither had her husband if the bags under his eyes were any indication.
“Can I get you some coffee, Riley?” Rob offered. “I suspect this chat needs the caffeine boost.”
I gave him a nod and a tight smile. “That’d be great, thanks Rob.”
He left us to make the coffee, giving Selene a kiss on the forehead as he passed, but she just glared harder.
“So, you had goons watching my house all night,” she stated. “I take it that means Dante’s arrest was something to do with your new life?”
Her aggression was starting to piss me off. After all, she’d known about all of this a hell of a lot longer than I had.
