“She’s not going anywhere unless she wants to,” I snap, images of his still-pulsing trachea in my palm flooding my mind once more.
“She hasn’t told you whyshe’s running, has she? If you keep her, the deal, the plan... it’s over. If Octavius finds out Blaze lost her, he’ll have his head on a stick within hours, and then he’s coming for all of you.”
Broadway scoffs, “I’m so done with your cryptic bullshit. Get to the point. What does Octavius want with her?”
“Care to explain why you put on that award-worthy show for Koby this morning and why you’re losing your shit every five fucking minutes? Or should I?” Jax asks Leilani.
She shoots him a look, drains the rest of her wine, and sets the glass down with a soft clink.
And the story of her life pours from her lips like she’s been dying to let it out.
8
Leilani
Icould strangle Jax right about now.
How dare he demand I share the worst years of my life with people I just met?
My throat closes up, so I bring the wine glass to my lips. The rim clinks against my teeth, the sharp burn sliding down my throat. It doesn’t help. Nothing will loosen the knot lodged there, but I drink anyway.
Once there’s not a drop left, I start talking, vaguely painting the picture of what Anton put me through.Veryvaguely. I tell them he promised he’d keep my father safe if I agreed to go with him, but I don’t tell them what thatyescost me.
I don’t tell them about Anton’s peculiar preferences. About what he did and how he treated me. I don’t tell them I’ve been in limbo for three years, slowly losing my sanity, or that crawling out of the ditch he put me in was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
“Let me get this straight,” Ryder mutters once I finish. “Anton spared your father’s life and kept you locked up until Octaviusrescuedyou?”
“He didn’t rescue me,” I huff, glancing at my almost empty glass.
Broadway refilled it while I was talking, and if Koby doesn’t stop breathing in my direction, I’ll need the whole fucking bottle.
And a freezing cold shower.
He’s so close... smells so nice...
Cedar, leather, gunpowder, smoke, then something darker, spicier... masculinity, rough edges, and danger. It consumes my senses with every inhale, and I hate how badly I want more.
I feel the weight of him at my side, filling the space until there’s no air left for me.
Shit. Three years in isolation, with my sense of self stripped bare, and I’m latching onto the first man who doesn’t treat me like I’m some broken little thing he can order around.
That can’t be healthy.
“He took me from Anton to punish him,” I explain, my nails carving crescents into my palm. “It’s supposed to be temporary but I’m not going back there. I’d sooner slit my wrists.”
Koby shifts beside me, the tension radiating off him filling the entire living room. “What did Anton do to you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“She doesn’t trust you enough,” Jax supplies, chuckling into his glass. “It’s a miracle she escaped without much psychological damage. Though...” He tugs his collar aside, showing off the long scratches I marked him with days ago, “...the rage outbursts are inconvenient. Still, on some level, I get it. Anton’s into some fucked-up shit.”
My pulse hammers, embarrassment and fury colliding until I don’t know if I want to cry or push my fingers into hiseye sockets. He makes me sound like some unstable little pet. Broken but amusing.
Koby bristles beside me, his fists tightening until green-blue veins pulse along his forearms.
He’s not helping. In fact, he’s making things worse with his violent protectiveness, with the mint on his warm breath ghosting along my neck, and the scent of his cologne rolling off him in fucking waves.
“Right,” Ryder says. “So Octavius uses you to keep Anton in line. With you so far. Why did he send you to Blaze?”
