She nods once.
Then, after a moment, she whispers, “Do you think they’ll come for me?”
I hold her gaze.
“They’ll try.”
The color drains from her face.
“But if they come for you again, I’ll bury every one of them before they touch you.”
Ruby’s breath shudders.
For the first time since we rode away from Velvet Reign, she looks like she might actually believe that.
I take another sip of tea.
Smoke and cheap herbs.
And somewhere under the anger and the old scars, something shifts.
A reminder.
I’m still here.
Still capable of feeling something other than rage and numbers and war.
Still capable of wanting to protect something that doesn’t belong to the club.
Something that looks at me like I’m the only solid thing left in the room.
I hate how much that matters.
Chapter 4
Ruby
IfIletmymind run, it goes straight back there.
Velvet chairs. Stage lights. My name spoken into a microphone like it belonged to someone else. Luke’s fingers bruising my waist while he told me to be good.
So I keep my focus on the cabin.
Sin moves through the place like he knows every sound it can make. He checks the window, the lock, the corners. He doesn’t pace, but he doesn’t relax either. He looks built out of control and bad nights.
He crouches by the fireplace with a matchbook and a few split logs. When the first flame catches, the room changes. Warmth creeps into the air. Light softens the shadows.
I hate that it helps.
The fire pops once, sharp enough to make me flinch.
Sin turns, steady as ever. “You’re safe.”
My throat tightens. “You keep saying that.”
“Because your body hasn’t caught up yet.”
I don’t answer. He’s right. My body is still in that room.
