“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because you've been disappearing every night and I needed to know where you were going. Turns out you've been lying to me.”
“I didn't lie.”
“You didn't tell me the truth. That's the same fucking thing.” I wiped blood from my mouth with the back of my hand. “How long have you been doing this?”
“Years.”
“Years.” I laughed, bitter and tired. “And you never thought to mention it? Never thought I might want to know?”
“It wasn't relevant to you.”
“Bullshit. Rafael knows. I saw him backstage with you. Patching you up like he's done it a thousand times.” The jealousy bled into my voice despite my best efforts. “But I'm not allowed to know. I'm just supposed to sit at home wondering where the fuck you disappear to every night.”
Declan's jaw tightened. “You want to talk about secrets? You've been lying to me about things since you got home. I can see it every time you look at me.”
“That's different.”
“How?”
“Because—” I stopped. Started again, trying to find words that wouldn't give me away. “Because I'm not the one who raised you. I'm not the one who's supposed to be honest.”
“That's bullshit and you know it.”
We stood there glaring at each other. Both bleeding. Both furious. Both carrying too much weight we didn't know how to set down.
“Your arm's bleeding.”
“Your ribs are worse.”
“I'm fine.”
“You're not fine. You can barely stand.” He moved closer and grabbed my jacket with his uninjured hand. “Get in the truck. We're going home. We're patching each other up. And then we're going to figure out who the fuck keeps trying to kill us.”
“I can ride my bike?—”
“Troy. Get in the fucking truck.”
The command in his voice left no room for argument. It went straight through me and settled low in my stomach in a way that made my cock throb.
I got in the truck.
He grabbed my bike and lifted it into the bed like it weighed nothing, all that strength on display even bleeding and exhausted. He got in the driver's seat.
We drove home in silence.
My ribs screamed. My face throbbed. My hands were scraped raw from hitting pavement.
But all I could think about was Declan in the cage. Declan with Rafael. Declan bleeding and still strong enough to fight beside me.
Declan on top of me in that alley. His weight. His heat. The way he had looked at me with those wide shocked eyes.
Declan keeping secrets while I kept mine.
And the horrible certainty that sleeping with Rafael had proven exactly the wrong thing. It had shown me that I didn't want just anyone. I didn't want easy or uncomplicated or convenient.
