“You hadno right!”
She tries to force her way past me, but I grab her by the arm and pull her right up to my face. “I hadeveryright, Sable,” Igrowl, soaking in her scent. “You are mine. I’m done pretending otherwise.”
I wait for an answer, staring into her big, beautiful eyes. But I don’t get one.
Eventually, she wrenches her arm free from my grip and storms out, leaving me with the bodies of the dead.
Something drops inside of me, washing away the adrenaline rush. This was supposed to end it.
It didn’t.
And I may have just destroyed everything.
10
RYKER
I siton the edge of the tub as one of our nurses bandages my arm. She offered to numb me first, but I declined. What would be the point? I don’t even feel it as she stitches me up.
My body is fine. My head, on the other hand, feels like I’m sitting in a vacuum. The house is quiet.Tooquiet. I wish Dad would throw one of his legendary parties so I could get lost and no one would be looking for me.
“If you don’t mind me saying,” the nurse whispers, “you’re very brave. Fighting for your family’s honor.”
Before I can reply, she’s on her way out. I shake my head.
“Right, my family’s honor.”
Honor has nothing to do with why I followed Sable to the deli or put my life on the line in that shootout. It wasn’t for territory or respect; it was forher.
I throw on my shirt and head downstairs, only to find Dad and Valeria waiting for me.
“Well, I guess you handled that, didn’t you?” she asks, raising her eyebrows. I can’t tell if she’s actually impressed or just screwing with me.
“We don’t have to worry about Tony anymore,” I reply, skirting them both and moving into the kitchen. Shootouts always work up a hunger in me.
I grab some cold cuts and cheese and start making myself a turkey sandwich, but they both follow me in and take a seat at the table.
“Yes, Tony is gone,” Dad says.
“But some of his family remains,” Valeria adds. “And my daughter…well, you know her. She can be a bit wild.”
Christ, leave me alone. I just put my life on the line for a woman who apparently has no interest in me, and all I want to do is grab a bite to eat.
“Yeah? And what do you want me to do about it?” I ask, taking a big, angry bite. “Follow her around? Be her own personal bodyguard?”
I’m getting pissed. The pain in my arm is starting to rear its head, and along with my sore knuckles, all I want to do is go to sleep for the next couple of days.
“She’ll listen to you,” Valeria says in a tone I’ve never heard from her. She’s also looking at me with a surprising amount of sincerity.
Surprisingly, her comment stings. “Will she?”
Getting up from her chair, she comes over to me and places a hand on my arm. “Come on, Ryker. We both know you and she have a…special relationship.”
My heart skips a beat. Do they both know? How could they? We’ve been discreet. But they’re both eyeing me right now like we’re all sharing a secret.
And then, with that, they both exit the room, leaving me alone with my heavy thoughts—and my turkey sandwich.
My hands are trembling as I pick it up and take another bite.
