Fucking cartels.Men willing to burn cities over imagined leverage.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She meets my gaze evenly.“Because I needed to know something first.”
“What?”
“Whether you were protecting me ...or protecting what you thought I might be worth.”
That’s a brutal, honest assessment.And painfully fair.
“And now?”I ask quietly.
Her eyes don’t waver.“Now I know.”
Silence detonates but this one doesn’t feel unstable.It feels clarifying.Suddenly, it all makes sense.
“You never had anything actionable.”
“No.”She shakes her head.
“Anything current.”
“No.”
“Anything that could hurt this club.”
“No.”
Relief punches through my chest so hard it almost feels like pain.“They misunderstood you completely,” I say.
“Yes.But then again, most people do.”
“They thought you’d trade survival for leverage.”I am astounded at the stupidity of the entire situation.
“Yes.”
I shake my head slowly.“They don’t understand you at all.”
“No,” she agrees softly.“They never did.”
I step closer without thinking.My hand slides along her jaw, thumb brushing beneath her ear like something instinctive and grounding.She doesn’t pull away.
“They were wrong,” I say quietly.
“Yes.”
“And you stayed anyway.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
I lean down, forehead resting against hers.“Jesus Christ, Raven...”
She smiles faintly.“Yeah.”
“You are the most inconvenient woman I’ve ever met.”
“I get that a lot.”
