I barely had time to stand upright before strong arms hooked around my waist and lifted me clean off the ground. Maddox’s laugh vibrated through my spine as he spun me once, feet kicking in the air. “That took balls, menace,” he declared as he set me back down, his grin boyish and wicked all at once. “I knew you had it in you.”
“That makes one of us,” I admitted, brushing hair out of my face. “I doubted myself right up until the last second.”
His expression softened, not something Maddox did often, the cockiness faded, and the worry buried beneath his bravado surfaced. “You did good.” He ruffled my hair.
I smiled up at him only to be whisked away, the moment shattered as Kreed moved in, sliding an arm around my waist and tugging me firmly into his side. “You have too many men in your life, little raven,” he murmured against my temple. “We’re going to have to do something about this.”
I elbowed him lightly. “You brought them into my life. That’s on you. And I like them too much now.”
“Damn straight,” Mason said as he stepped up beside us, clapping Carson on the back hard enough to make him stumble. “Who wouldn’t love us?”
“I said like,” I corrected, squinting at him. “Not love.”
Mason gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to his chest. “You love Kreed.”
“I do.” The words slipped out easily, truth heavy and warm on my tongue.
Mason grinned triumphantly. “Then you can love us.”
I choked. Actually choked.
Kreed growled. “No,” he snapped. “She can’t.”
Maddox laughed. Carson muttered something about cult behavior. Raine, leaning against the hood of the SUV with his arms crossed, simply smirked.
And for a moment, just a fleeting, shining moment, I could see it.
My future.
College. Freedom. Gaining my inheritance. Falling asleep beside Kreed without fear lurking in the walls. Being part of something. A part of them. The Raven Crew.
A family made of jagged edges and bruised knuckles and loyalty that burned fierce and reckless.
I still had to deal with Donovan, but for the first time in so long, it didn’t terrify me.
Not entirely.
I wanted it all.
I foundDonovan in the family room, lounging in a recliner, whiskey swirling lazily in one hand, cigar smoking like a slow-burning fuse in the other. The fire glowed with low amber light, quivering, crackling, and heating the room to just above a comfortable temperature.
We hadn’t spoken since the night he shot Rusty.
I hadn’t wanted to.
But I couldn’t avoid him forever. He had kept his word, and sooner or later, he would come to collect mine.
Except…I couldn’t give him what I promised.
I couldn’t leave Kreed. I couldn’t leave any of them. Walking away from the boy I loved more than oxygen? Impossible. And Donovan knew it.
The bastard always knew more than he let on.
His head didn’t turn when I stepped inside. He only flicked hiseyes up before returning them to the fireplace. “Sit,” he said, tone smooth as polished steel.
It wasn’t a request.
I swallowed and obeyed, perching on the armchair opposite him. My knees were weak, and my fingers immediately sought out the ring on my finger, turning it, twisting it, and clinging to it like a talisman.
