I waited anyway.
I was a lot like my plain house key, just floating around in my own life on a hope and a prayer.
So yeah, maybe it was my own fault that I got hurt, but it didn’t change the fact that it did hurt. And judging by the way I’d turned to putty in his arms back there, it would happen again if I let it.
Protect yourself.
“You’re right.” I agreed, causing surprise to flash over his perfect bone structure. As if my agreeing with him was some sort of miracle.Rude. “We aren’t anything to each other, which is why you need to leave.”
Before he could say or do anything else, I spun, slipped into my apartment, and locked the door between us.
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
Ghost
Shot.
Verbally berated.
Practically naked in the streets.
Toes exposed to the biohazard that was this floor.
Offeredfucking creamerfor a snack.
Let’s not forget the monsoon of tears unleashed upon me.
And now?
A locked door.
The only thing cute about this situation was that he thought four locks could keep me out. The urge to prove how wrong he was had me lunging forward, fists clenched.
But then I stopped.
Sucked in a deep breath and slowly expelled it through my nose. Finger by finger, I unclenched my fist, pressing my palm flat against the door.
So close but so far awaynever had more meaning. I left the building, not looking back until I was outside on the sidewalkbeneath the early afternoon sun that illuminated far too well the state of neglect of the entire street Pip called home.
It was better than being homeless but not even close to what he deserved. A depressing reminder of why I did what I did.
Ten years ago, I was filled with the ideals of a hero.
I learned fast that you don’t send a hero to do a villain’s work. Heroes won’t get dirty, but a villain will stay in the mess to make sure it doesn’t swallow anyone else whole.
Today, I was a champion of consequences. A firm believer that people needed to pay for their actions. A man who made sure they did.
People want to believe in heroes because they need to believe good always wins. It doesn’t. And you can’t win a fight with morals because the corrupt have none.
It was in this gray area that I existed, a ghost lurking in the shadows who had crossed the line so many times he wasn’t even sure it ever existed.
A victim and creation of the broken system he worked for, hoping any innocence he saved would cancel out even a fraction of the sins he’d committed.
Exactly why I shouldn’t have been there. Shadows were meant to protect the light, not swallow it.
Born to die.That’s what this life was—mylife. Dying every day over and over so those less tarnished could live. Doing shit that made me a villain. Shit some people might call justice. To me, it was just damage control.
